Raila Odinga, the longtime leader of Kenya’s opposition, has declared his intention to seek for the role of chairman of the African Union Commission (AUC).
In 2018, as part of the African Union’s effort to accelerate the continent’s integration through infrastructure, the 78-year-old businessman was named High Representative for Infrastructure Development in Africa. He claimed to be qualified to lead the continental organization.
The African Union Commission, the AU’s secretariat, is headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and is responsible for managing the Union’s daily operations.
The leader of the opposition group Azimio la Umoja in Kenya is the son of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, the country’s first vice president upon independence. From 2008 to 2013, he was Kenya’s prime minister.
“I would like to announce to the world that I am prepared, yes, to run for the chairmanship of the African Union,” Odinga declared during a press conference on Thursday, February 15, in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president of Nigeria and AU envoy, accompanied Odinga, a five-time loser as a presidential contender for Kenya. The “brain drain” of Africa’s talent to other continents was denounced by Odinga.
“Seeing young Africans drown in the Mediterranean Sea while trying to leave the continent in search of greener pastures is horrifying,” he remarked.
“I’m inclined to accept the challenge because it’s a tragedy that should be reversed,” the speaker said.
“I am willing to serve the leadership of Africa if they so desire, and I make myself available to do so.”
The continental body will pick a new chairperson in 2025 to succeed Amb Moussa Faki Mahamat of Chad, who was re-elected in February 2021. 2017 saw Faki’s initial appointment.
The general assembly of the continental organization chooses the chairman of the Commission, a position that is renewable once every four years.
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