NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 27 — South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit, who also serves as the Chairperson of the East African Community (EAC) Summit, has arrived in Kenya ahead a key diplomatic event that will see Kenya formally unveil its candidature for African Union Commission.
Kiir arrived in Nairobi on Tuesday morning ahead of Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni and Tanazania’s Samia Suluhu who are also expected to grace Kenya’s camapign launch for the AUC Chairperson seat.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shared images of Kiir’s arrival at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi where he was received by Salim Mvurya, Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Investments, Trade, and Industry.
President William Ruto, the event’s host, is banking on the support of key allies in the EAC bloc to help marshall support for fromer Prime Minister Raila Odinga who he has fronted the the AUC slot.
Odinga will be battling for the seat with several candidates from the region who are eying the seat including 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.
Kenya is hoping to build momentum to the Februarry 2025 voting by securing endorsements from a majority of the States withing the Eastern region bloc.
Nairobi has so far bagged several endorsements including from Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Sudan and Ghana.
