Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has embarked on crafting his “winning formula” for the chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC) after the organ’s Executive Council gave his candidacy a greenlight last Friday.
This followed recommendations during the 22nd Extraordinary Session of the Executive Council ministerial meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
To ensure all five regions of the union – Eastern, Northern, Central, Southern and Western have a fair chance at leadership posts, the council endorsed the principle of inter-regional rotation.
It approved the proposal to allow the Eastern region produce the next AUC chair and Northern to have deputy and ensure that the principle of gender parity in the election is applied, meaning that if the Chairperson is male, then Deputy Chairperson is female, and vice versa.
Following the decision, Prime Cabinet Secretary and CS for Foreign Affairs Musalia Mudavadi explained that "it is now clear that the Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga will be in the race for the AU Commission Chairperson."
"This is a major breakthrough for the Eastern Africa region to present candidates for the position of Chairperson of the AUC. Effectively, there are no more technical or legal hurdles preventing Kenya from submitting its candidate," he said.
Mr Odinga’s campaign team consisting of former Kenya’s ambassador to the United States Elkanah Odembo, ex-Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Mahboub Maalim and Prof Makau Mutua, disclosed that they were now crafting a winning formula to deliver the seat.
The team is bolstered by the entire government apparatus, under President Ruto, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs led by Mr Mudavadi and Kenya’s diplomatic missions across Africa, which are playing a key role in engaging with other member states and building support.
“Our resolve is to unite all Kenyans in supporting Hon. Odinga, who has demonstrated his vision for a more united, prosperous, and peaceful Africa,” Mr Mudavadi explained.
On Sunday, Mr Odembo told the Nation that Mr Odinga has personally reached out to several current and former Heads of State who have endorsed his candidature, in addition to President Ruto and Mr Mudavadi’s efforts.
Nation established that Mr Odinga is immensely banking on President Ruto in addition to his own efforts, after bagging the support of Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame.
“The candidate has also reached out to the Presidents of Mozambique Filipe Nyusi, Ghana’s Nana Akufo-Addo, Democratic Republic of Congo’s Felix Tshisekedi, Namibia’ Nangolo Mbumba and Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Mnangagwa,” Mr Odembo told Nation.
Mr Odinga is also banking on his longtime ally – South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa and Zambia’s Hakainde Hichilema, in addition to Côte d'Ivoire president Alassane Ouattara, Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu and Burundi’s Evariste Ndashimiye.
Mr Odinga is also relying on some former Heads of State and government including former Nigeria President Olusegun Obasanjo who has endorsed his candidacy.
“Our strategy is to ensure that the Eastern Region is fully backing Kenya ASAP. That Eastern Region is basically EAC, IGAD, plus Mauritius, Madagascar, Seychelles, Comoros that equals to 15 countries,” explained Mr Odembo.
He pointed out that they are targeting key blocs including; the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Maghreb and Central regions in the campaigns.
“ In addition to an aggressive campaign in Francophonie, we must now also pay close attention to the Northern Region as that is where the Deputy Chairperson will come from. The DCP's main responsibilities are in Administration and Finance.”
“Experience and history tell us that an effective DCP determines the performance of the Commission and, provides critical support that enables the Chairperson to focus on the big picture, strategic issues of the continent, representation, and influencing on the global arena,” Mr Odembo added.
Mr Mudavadi said Kenya will work closely within the 14 member-state Eastern Africa region to build consensus around its candidate.
“These efforts are ongoing and will continue, to include all the other regions to ensure that the opportunity for electing effective leadership of the AUC provides a platform for uniting the entire continent.”
Kenya is seeking to rectify its faults which saw its candidate Amina Mohamed lose to the outgoing AUC Chair Faki Mahamat in the 2017 elections.
A last-minute change of the agenda and the refusal by Uganda, Djibouti and Burundi to vote for Kenya were blamed for the defeat of Ms Amina, the former Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary., even after the country spent about Sh350 million in the campaigns.
The Chadian foreign minister, who had said he would take a bullet for the sake of Africa, became the fourth AUC chairperson from francophone Africa out of five heads since 2002.
With the decision to grant the Eastern region an opportunity to lead the union in next year’s election, Kenya would be gearing up to take up the top regional post.
While declaring his candidacy for the post last Month, Mr Odinga said that having served AU in the capacity of High representative for infrastructure, it gave him a good advantage to learn about each African countries and their comparative advantages.
“I believe that working together with these countries we can be able to emancipate Africa. There is brain drain out of our continent which is a tragedy that ought to be reversed,” the former premier said.
He went on: “I accept the challenge. Should the leadership of Africa want my services, I am ready and offer myself to be of service to this continent.”
“I have no doubt in my mind that my friend is a viable candidate. That’s of course the subject to the views, feelings and of course the position and presentation of our leaders in the East African sub region and then if the region puts the candidate forward the rest of the continent will go a long way with that. That’s what I’m consulting about. That’s what I’m working on and I hope God will help us,” Mr Obasanjo.
He said that: “Throughout his career, Odinga has demonstrated leadership qualities characterized by integrity, inclusivity, and resilience. He has been actively involved in mediating conflicts and promoting democratic principles, earning him respect both regionally and internationally.”
