President William Ruto (left), opposition leader Raila Odinga and Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni in Kisozi, Uganda, on February 26, 2024.
President William Ruto has invited East African Community (EAC) Heads of State to grace his grand unveiling of Kenya’s candidate for the chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC) Mr Raila Odinga on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday confirmed that all the EAC Heads of State had been invited to the occasion that will mark the official launch of Mr Odinga’s campaigns ahead of the February 2025 elections.
The EAC's membership consists of eight States including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Federal Republic of Somalia, the Republics of Burundi, Rwanda and South Sudan.
Kenya has purposed Mr Odinga’s candidacy to replace outgoing chair Mr Moussa Faki Mahamat, to be that of the EAC and not just the country’s affair and this points to the withdrawal of former Somalia Foreign Affairs Minister Fawzia Yusuf from the race and her subsequent backing of the former Prime Minister.
“The EAC Heads of State have been invited for the unveiling of the candidate at State House, Nairobi which is the venue for the event on Tuesday August 27,” Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Dr Korir Sing’oei told Sunday Nation.
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi who is also the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs revealed that President Ruto will give a formal roadmap for Mr Odinga's campaigns, a move that would instill life in his quest for the top continental post.
“This is more than a candidacy; it is a national mission. Raila Odinga represents Kenya’s voice, values and aspirations on the continent. As he steps forward, let us stand with him, not just as a government but as a united people,” Mr Mudavadi said.
Dr Ruto is expected to name a team of strategists from the government side that will work jointly with Mr Odinga’s team at a joint secretariat already put up in Nairobi to enhance regional campaigns and shuttle diplomacy to secure Mr Odinga the AUC post.
Mr Odinga had already named his team which is composed of experienced diplomats including former Executive secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Mahboub Maalim, former Kenya's ambassador to the United States Elkanah Odembo, Ambassador Anthony Okara as well as Prof Makau Mutua and former Nyeri Deputy Governor Dr Caroline Karugu.
Speaking to Sunday Nation yesterday, Mr Odembo noted that the Tuesday launch will bolster the regional campaigns.
“It will give the campaign the needed visibility and impetus. It will reaffirm Kenya's commitment and seriousness to get Raila Amollo Odinga and Kenya to the top leadership of the AUC.
“It will signal that it is now all systems go,” Mr Odembo said.
On Tuesday, the former envoy noted, president Ruto will reiterate Mr Odinga’s “exceptional qualities and experience that make him, undoubtedly, the best candidate for AUC job.”
“He will do so in the presence of his colleagues whom he has invited to the event including the Diplomatic Corps in Nairobi,” Mr Odembo said.
Mr Odinga is facing Djibouti’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mahmoud Youssouf, former Mauritius Foreign Minster Anil Kumarsingh Gayan and his former Madagascar counterpart Richard James Randriamandrato.
Djibouti, Mauritius, and Madagascar are all Francophone Nations, and Kenya hopes to take advantage of that to boost its bid.
Mauritius and Madagascar are from the Southern African Development Community region.
“Our strategy is to ensure that Kenya enrolls not just full support of East African Community, but that EAC resolve to make the campaign a regional campaign,” added Mr Odembo.
But Djibouti has proved to be Kenya’s nightmare in the race, which is touted as a two-horse race between the two nations.
Mr Odinga’s team says it is “well aware of the Djibouti challenge” in the contest.
“Djibouti is a country strategically located in the Horn of Africa, and there is global competition over Djibouti. As a Port State, Djibouti has some eight overseas military bases...including the US, and France.
“The Horn of Africa security is declining as a result of these overseas interests. We are fully aware of this, and are factoring the same in our campaign,” said a strategist in Mr Odinga’s camp.
He said their team will continue with visits to Kigali, Brazzaville, and Kinshasa which Mr Odinga toured recently.
“Our recent visits there are not one-off visits. The campaign will continually engage with these capitals to ensure that we not only have their respective support, but that we need them to campaign for Kenya, Raila Odinga and EAC in their respective spheres of interest.”
Djibouti and Kenya belong to the IGAD with other member States being Uganda, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan and Eritrea.
But Sudan is suspended from taking part in African Union activities for now and is ineligible to vote following the coup in October 2021.
Djibouti has challenged Kenya before in international elections when it bid for the UN Security Council membership even after the AU had endorsed Nairobi for the non-permanent position.
Djibouti would lose in the second round after Kenya garnered the required two-thirds majority vote for the seat for 2021-22 term, and Nairobi hopes to beat Djibouti once again in the AUC quest next year, even though Kenya is taking no chances.
Mr Odinga has since declared that he was moving from Kenyan to African continental politics in his quest for the AUC post, signaling his possible exit from active local politics.
He said that he will not be very active in Kenyan politics henceforth as he focuses his attention on the continental campaign.
It however, remains unclear whether he will relinquish his party leadership positions.
Mr Odinga is the leader of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition.
Speaking during a second joint-press briefing with Mr Mudavadi at the PCS's Railways offices in Nairobi on Wednesday, Mr Odinga said it was all systems go in his campaigns after formal submission of his candidacy.
"I'm going to begin to work with the continent once I'm elected and that's going to be in February next year.
"At the moment I'm involved in the campaign but that does not mean Kenya ceases to exist," Mr Odinga said.
He went on: "I'm not going to be very active in Kenyan politics henceforth as I continue to focus my attention on the continental campaign. But it’s a transitional phase from active participation in Kenyan politics to moving towards African continental politics," he said
Mr Mudavadi has urged Kenyans to rally behind the former Premier.
“To fellow Kenyans, as a nation, we have always come together to stand behind our own, whether on the tracks, the fields, or on the global stage. Just as we cheered our athletes in the recent Olympics, let us lend our full support to Hon. Raila as he carries the Kenya flag high in the race for the Chairmanship of the African Union Commission.”
Mr Odinga said he was glad that the Kenyan government had formalized his candidature.
“We have already submitted our application as required by AU at the secretariat and from now on its all systems go.
“I want to thank the leadership of the continent who have expressed confidence and also the people of my country Kenya, I will need your support in this campaign,” he said.
He noted that African Union needs to be strengthened to be able to realize the dream of the founding fathers of the continent which envisages a united, peaceful and prosperous Africa.
Once elected in February next year’s election, Mr Odinga said he will pay keen attention to the challenges bedeviling the African continent.
Mr Mudavadi said he would not give the figures regarding the country’s budget for the AUC campaigns, but confirmed financial obligations for the operations.
In Kenya’s previous failed bid to capture the AUC chairmanship, it spent Sh437.7 million in the campaign that was led by then Deputy President William Ruto, now the Head of State.
Data submitted to Parliament then showed that Sh437,776, 982 was spent in the campaigns, exceeding the set confidential expenditure by Sh52,095,299.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had earmarked Sh385,681,683 for expenditure linked to campaigns for the then Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed’s bid for the post in the year to June 2017.
"AUC campaign expenditure as captured in the initial working schedules, however, stood at Sh437,776,982 which differs from the certified amount by Sh52,095,299,” Mr Macharia Kamau, the then Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary, told Parliament.
"This difference relates to the AUC campaigns conducted by the Deputy President and were initially charged under the AUC campaign funds, but were later transferred to State Visits expenditure," he added.
Ms Mohamed lost her bid to be the continent’s top diplomat to her Chad counterpart, Moussa Faki Mahamat, in the vote.
Mr Odinga is expected to preside over the opening of the fifth World of Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture, popularly known as Festac in Kisumu tomorrow (Monday) before heading back to Nairobi for his official unveiling as the AUC candidate.
He will host other key African leaders at the fete including Festac patron – ex Nigeria President Olusegun Obasanjo, chairman Yinka Abioye, former first lady of Mozambique and South Africa Graca Machel among other leaders.
Festac, a post-independence Africa’s oldest festival was conceived by pioneer Pan Africanists Kwame Nkrumah and Leopold Senghor and celebrates the continent’s cultural wealth and diversity through music, visual arts, dance, fashion and sports.
