Azimio leader Raila Odinga has said that it is time for the African continent to reignite its power and reclaim its rightful place.
His sentiments come in the wake of the Africa Union chairmanship campaign.
Local and International leaders have thrown their weight behind the Azimio leader after he declared his bid for the AU chairmanship job.
“We have to awaken the dormant strength of the African continent, it’s time for us to reignite our power and reclaim our rightful place in the world,” Raila said.
The Azimio boss posted a picture of him on a flight travelling to an undisclosed location as he ramps up support for AU chairmanship.
President William Ruto is fronting Raila for the post to replace Moussa Faki whose term is coming to an end.
Raila has since affirmed that his AU bid will not stifle the opposition’s voice.
The Opposition leader will from April begin traversing Africa to lobby heads of state to back his bid for the AU job.
An insider calendar seen by the Star showed that the former prime minister will heighten his campaigns in the coming months ahead of the AUC elections slated for February 2025.
The former Prime Minister has since crafted a detailed cross-Africa campaign that starts with visiting South Sudan to hold a meeting with President Salva Kiir in Juba next month.
In the same month, Raila will return to Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, to hold a meeting with President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
Raila who met Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni alongside Ruto, is keen to solidify the East Africa voting bloc.
The ODM leader was also in Kigali, Rwanda, where he met President Paul Kagame accompanied by two of his close allies.
He has also scheduled meetings in the Horn of Africa in April with visits to Djibouti and Ethiopia.
In May, Raila will head South with scheduled visits to Zimbabwe, Malawi, Angola, Zambia and Botswana.
Raila is set to visit Cape Town in June for a meeting with the new president.
The calendar showed that President Ruto will also beef up Raila’s continental campaigns with State visits to Ghana on April 2 and 3.
During the visit, the president is expected to hold talks with President Nana Akufo-Addo regarding Kenya’s AU Commission bid.
On April 15 and 16, President Ruto will make a State visit to Egypt hosted by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
At the end of April, President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe will host President Ruto for a two-day State visit in Harare.
The president will use the opportunity to lobby Mnangagwa to support Raila’s AU bid.
