NAIROBI, Kenya | Xinhua | Kenya has formally submitted the nomination of Raila Odinga, a veteran opposition leader and former prime minister, to contest for the African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship in elections slated for February 2025, an official said Monday.
Kenyan Principal Secretary of Foreign Affairs Korir Sing’Oei said he has submitted Odinga’s application to the Dean of Eastern Region Dharmraj Busgeeth, who is also the ambassador of Mauritius.
“Under the authority of the Government of Kenya and as per the Statutes and Rules of the African Union Commission, we have today formally submitted requisite documentation of Kenya’s nominee for the Chairmanship of African Union,” Sing’Oei said.
The AUC chairperson’s seat is set to fall vacant in February 2025 as its current occupant Chad’s Moussa Faki will finish his second term.
Faki was first appointed in 2017 and won a second term in 2021.
The Chairperson of the AUC is elected by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government for a four-year term, renewable once.
Based on the principle of inter-regional rotation, it is the turn of the Eastern Africa region to submit candidates for the role of chairperson.
The Kenyan foreign ministry said that Odinga’s candidature comes at a critical moment in history, noting that despite the milestones achieved so far in the continent, Africa continues to experience economic distress, environmental challenges, conflicts, terrorism, and general social discord, exacerbated by geopolitical competition.
“Perhaps at no time in the history of the African Union has the continent needed a more visionary leader, an accomplished statesman and a quintessential pan-Africanist,” the ministry said in a statement.
Odinga, who has unsuccessfully vied for the presidency in Kenya for five times, is expected to compete for the post against three candidates from the Eastern Africa bloc, including Djiboutian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Youssouf, former Deputy Prime Minister and current lawmaker of Somalia Fawzia Yusuf, and former Vice President of Seychelles Vincent Meriton.
The Kenyan opposition leader has served as prime minister and in various ministerial portfolios, and importantly, as the AU High Representative for Infrastructure. ■