NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 5 — Kenya will submit its candidacy for the African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson seat by June 30, ahead of the August 6 deadline.
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi said Wednesday, during a joint briefing with Kenya’s AUC candidate Raila Odinga, that “highly experienced and knowledgeable officers” from the State Department for Foreign Affairs were leading Kenya’s campaign.
Mudavadi disclosed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has established a campaign secretariat which includes Odinga’s strategy team to bolster Kenya’s chances of winning the seat.
The PCS explained the team will prepare briefs for the candidate, develop campaign materials, and prepare for a televised debate among candidates slated for September.
“The team is firming up preparatory and application documents together with requisite translations of the resume into six languages; Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, French, English, and Kiswahili,” he said.
Further Mudavadi said the secretariat had developed an “empirical” campaign strategy that has identified opportunities, challenges, and risks that Kenya’s candidature faces.
Campaign strategy
He reiterated that Odinga is well qualified to lead the AUC.
“Kenya is certain that our candidate, Odinga, has credentials and the passion to advocate for Africa’s interests globally and champion more opportunities for Africa and her people,” he said.
Odinga thanked the government for the support, reiterating the need for coordination and synergy in the campaign.
The former Prime Minister further emphasized the need to cut bureaucracy to improve his chances of emerging the winner.
Odinga said that he was making all efforts to tap into his experience, relationships, and understanding of the continent to win the support of “as many nations as possible.”
“With committed and proper coordination between my team and the government, we should be able to clinch the seat. We agreed that synergy is going to be critical as we embark on the next steps that include the submission of my application,” he said.
Odinga will be battling for the seat with several candidates from the region who are eying the seat including Somalia’s Fawzia Yusuf Adam, the Seychelles’ Vincent Meriton and Djibouti’s Mahmoud Ali Youssouf.
The African Union unanimously adopted the right of the Eastern Africa region to produce the next Chairperson of the African Union Commission on March 25.
The AU will apply the principle of inter-regional rotation in the election slated for February 2025, giving a chance to fourteen States in the Eastern bloc to produce the Commission Chairperson.
The Northern bloc will produce a Deputy Chairperson while Central, Southern, and Western regions submit at least two candidates (one female and one male) for the six Commissioner portfolios.
AUC comprises a Chairperson, a Deputy Chairperson, and six Commissioners.
AU adopted the structure in 2021 following institutional reforms in November 2018.
