Githunguri MP Gathoni Wamuchomba has said if Raila Odinga does not clinch the African Union Commission (AUC) chairman position, he should retire from politics.
Speaking during an interview with Citizen TV, Wamuchomba however said Raila should win the seat and leave the country's political space.
"If he (Raila) does not get it (AUC chairmanship) he just needs to go and retire at Bondo. We will give him a very good retirement package as an ex-Prime Minister,” she said.
She said in the event he loses the position, Raila should not come back to be on the ballot for presidential campaigns.
She said it is time for the young politicians to be voted in, stating that the older generation has had their chances, and that is over now.
“Next election we will elect a young president and a young woman deputy president. We are not going to allow those previous leaders who have been at it,” she added.
“Raila should get the seat so that he can exit the political scene and leave the new energies to occupy,” she said.
In the election slate for Saturday, February 15, the winning candidate will be required to have two-thirds of the votes. Out of 55 African countries, 48 AU states are eligible to vote.
Under the African Union (AU) rules, the voting is done by secret ballot and shall continue until one of the candidates obtains the two-thirds majority vote.
The rules further provide for several votes before the AUC chair is picked and failure of the final candidate to garner two-thirds votes could force the summit to postpone the vote to July 2025.
Raila will be battling it out with Djobouti’s candidate Mahamoud Ali Youssouf and Madagascar’s Richard Randriamandrato.
A source at Raila’s Nairobi secretariat confided to the Star that the Addis Ababa event has attracted immense interest from across the political divide.
Pundits say Raila’s biggest threat is the Djiboutian candidate, who is believed to have the backing of Muslim and Arab countries.
The new AU chairman will be faced with the enormous task of tackling Africa’s high poverty levels, unemployment, run-away debt, insecurity, illiteracy, poor health services, and energy needs, among other issues.
