Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s bid to chair the African Union Commission will progress on June 30 when Kenya will submit his candidacy to the AU secretariat.
The submission of Raila’s credentials to the African Union Secretariat will mark a significant step in the Azimio leader’s push for the top continental job ahead of the February 2025 poll.
Raila has already heightened his shuttle diplomacy, meeting diplomats in Nairobi and across the continent to secure their crucial backing.
His application, resume, and other documents will be translated and submitted in the six AU languages for admission before the former premier officially becomes a candidate.
The AUC election rules require that a candidate’s application documents and resume must be translated into French, English, Kiswahili, Arabic, Portuguese and Spanish and submitted by June 30.
The Kenyan secretariat is preparing briefs for use by Raila, campaign materials including his digital presence, and is expected to prepare for an anticipated public debate to be broadcast to African citizens.
The Star has established the secretariat is domiciled at the Railways Building which houses the office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi.
The AUC election rules provide that all the candidate's requisite materials must be ready and available by June 30, at least six months before next year’s poll.
President William Ruto’s government has promised to pull out all the stops to ensure Raila secures the highly coveted seat that would catapult him to the stature of head of state.
Two weeks ago, President Ruto secured crucial support from Algeria during the 50th G7 Summit in Apulia, Italy, after meeting with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on the sidelines.
Ruto announced the breakthrough on X, formerly twitter.
“I have held discussion with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune... who has pledged support for Kenya’s Africa Union Commission chairmanship bid,” Ruto said.
The support came after Ruto secured the support of Ghana when he held bilateral talks with President Nana Akufo-Addo.
Ruto said Kenya will in turn support Ghana’s candidature for the Secretary General of the Commonwealth.
“Your Excellency, my Dear Brother, I thank you most sincerely for accepting to support Kenya’s candidature for the position of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (2025-2028),” Ruto said
Raila’s campaign secretariat, which includes top state diplomats and the candidate’s strategy team, last week released strategic campaign materials, signalling the beginning of the lobbying.
The secretariat released videos titled, “It’s time for Kenya,” detailing Raila’s vision, the Kenyan government’s support and an appeal for support as the road for the AUC top job takes shape.
The videos were then shared on the social media accounts of top government officials and other Cabinet Secretaries including Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs CS Musalia Mudavadi.
The Secretariat, he noted, will prepare all the briefs for use by the candidate, develop campaign materials including a digital presence, and prepare for the public debate to be broadcast to African citizens.
Mudavadi has affirmed the government’s support for Raila’s campaigns, insisting they will be led by the state with top diplomats and strategists at the forefront.
“Overall, the campaigns are led by the State with highly experienced and knowledgeable officers. The State Department for Foreign Affairs has established a campaign Secretariat which includes the candidate’s strategy team,” Mudavadi said.
Raila’s candidacy has secured the backing of other African states including Malawi and Zambia, boosting his bid to succeed Moussa Faki at the helm of the AUC.
The two countries have vowed to push Raila’s campaign at the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional bloc.
This follows Raila’s visit to Malawi where he represented President Ruto during the funeral service of deceased Malawi Vice President Saulos Chilima on June 17.
Raila held talks with Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera and his strategists, former Kenyan ambassador to the United States Elkana Odembo and ex-Nyeri deputy governor Caroline Karugu.
“Following the State funeral at the national stadium, President Lazarus Chakwera invited Raila to State House for bi-lateral talks and later in his hotel hosted Malawi’s Foreign and Finance Ministers accompanied by two MPs from the city of Lilongwe,’’ Odembo said.
According to Odembo, Raila also held a “lengthy conversation with Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema’’.
“Both Zambia and Malawi not only assured Kenya of their support but also promised to campaign for Raila among SADC partner states,’’ he said.
Raila has said he was vying for a position in Africa, not in the government or the Republic of Kenya.
“…but I need the endorsement of the government of Kenya for that Africa position. At this meeting, we exchanged notes on the state of the quest so far, the preparations from my side and the government’s side and the next steps,” he said when he held a joint briefing with Mudavadi.
He said he was seeking the position as a Kenyan and that nobody had asked him to contest.
“The Kenyan government did not ask me. I made the decision to serve the continent, and as you know, you cannot run for this position without being sponsored by your country,” Raila said.
“Your candidature is not valid until your country says ‘yes’. I was pleasantly surprised when the Kenyan government said they would support me. I expected them to say ‘no’, I don’t know why they said ‘yes’, that’s their own decision, not mine,” he added.