Kenya is working against time to officially nominate Azimio leader Raila Odinga for the chairmanship of the African Union Commission. The government missed its June 30 deadline, citing the recent three-week protests as the cause for the delay.
Kenya now aims to submit Raila’s candidacy by mid-July, having expedited the process on Monday. Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei chaired the first technical committee meeting, which included representatives from both the government and Raila’s teams, following a prolonged period of inactivity that raised concerns about Kenya’s nomination.
“The committee reviewed the progress made towards submission of the formal application, the official launch of candidature and the outreach programme,” Sing’oei said after the meeting.
Raila Odinga’s campaign strategy team for the African Union Commission (AUC) includes Kenya’s former ambassador to the US Elkanah Odembo, former Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) Executive Director Mahboub Maalim, ambassador Anthony Okara, professor Makau Mutua, and former Nyeri Deputy Governor Caroline Karugu. Mahboub and Mutua were present at the Monday meeting.
“The government is firm in support of this bid,” stated Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei. The teams are expected to increase meetings to align and build consensus on Raila’s curriculum vitae (CV), vision statement, and application for submission this month. Odembo indicated that they aim for a mid-July submission to the AU secretariat.
With the campaign expected to require significant resources, the government may need to relax its austerity measures to establish the joint campaign secretariat and deploy envoys for shuttle diplomacy. In Kenya’s 2017 AUC bid, the country spent Sh437.7 million on campaigns for former Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed, who ultimately lost to Moussa Faki.
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, also the Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Cabinet Secretary, had announced last month that Kenya would submit its candidature to the African Union secretariat by the end of June. However, Kenya could not meet this deadline due to a lack of consensus on nomination details and the harmonization of Raila’s application. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is now racing to finalize Raila’s nomination ahead of the AUC’s August 6 deadline.
According to a communiqué issued by the Office of the Legal Council in May, each candidate for the position of chairperson is required to submit a CV in the approved AU format along with a brief vision statement.
The statement by the candidates should outline how they intend to address the most pressing issues facing the AU and the continent in at least two of the union’s working languages.
“However, member states of the eastern region are encouraged to submit the CVs and vision of the candidates in all the six languages of the union,” the communiqué stated.
This means that Kenya will submit the candidacy of Raila, his CV and vision statement in English, Arabic, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Kiswahili.
Sing’oei had on Monday told the Star that Raila’s bid is yet to be submitted due to the chaos and confusion that has rampaged the country over the past two weeks.
“The country has been in a state of chaos and confusion over the past two weeks following anti-Finance Bill protests and that is why we have not submitted it,” he said in a phone interview.
Korir further stated that the process for Raila’s candidacy bid will be submitted before the set deadline and in good time.
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.
Raila’s candidacy has also secured the backing of other African states including Malawi and Zambia, boosting his bid to succeed Moussa Faki at the helm of the AUC.
