Opposition leader Raila Odinga’s bid for the African Union Commission chairman position is in limbo, after it emerged that the government is yet to formally submit his candidature ahead of elections next year.
While President William Ruto’s led Kenya Kwanza administration had said that it would submit Odinga’s name by June 30, 2024, sources within government indicate that the name was yet to be submitted.
The new development comes even as the ODM leader launched fresh attacks on the government following the two weeks demonstrations against the Finance Bill 2024.
Odinga, during the burial of comedian Fred Omondi in Ugenya, Siaya county criticized the deployment of the Kenya Defence Forces by President Ruto to restore calm in the country in the wake of the demonstrations held over the last two weeks.
“What happened was a vote of no confidence. The people of Kenya spoke loudly that they don’t have confidence in Parliament and occupied it, even eating food from there,” Odinga said.
Prime cabinet secretary and foreign affairs CS Musalia Mudavadi, had during a joint press briefing with Odinga in June, said that the government was working on modalities of submitting the name by the end of June.
However, despite the statement, sources conversant with the campaign said that the matter was yet to be prosecuted.
The delay, the Nairobi Law Monthly has learnt, is largely tied to a failure by both the government and Odinga’s team to harmonise details on what is supposed to be submitted to the AU secretariat.
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The AU commission had in June asked all candidates interested in the AUC chairman position to submit their curriculum vitae written in the approved AU format as well as a description on their vision for the commission once elected.
Odinga, had earlier this year declared his candidature for the AUC chairman position and receiving the endorsement of President Ruto and other heads of state across the region.
The government, had also in June, announced the formation of a campaign secretariat to work with the ODM leader in his bid to contest for the position.
Mudavadi, in a joint press briefing alongside Odinga, said that the decision was made following consultations with the Azimio leader as well as the need to put up a strong campaign for the Azimio leader.
He added that Odinga’s candidacy campaigns will now be led by the state and the created secretariat will work closely with the Orange party leader’s consultation team.
“We have no doubt that the candidate will pursue excellence in line with the continent’s collective aspirations of the Africa we want in 2063 as framed in the AUC development framework,” Mudavadi said.
“The secretariat will prepare all the briefs for use by the candidate, develop campaign materials including digital presence, and prepare for the public debate to be broadcast live for African citizens,” he added.
The PSC argued that the submission preparations for Odinga’s candidature will be made by the end of June ahead of the deadline for regional submissions set for August 6, 2024.
“The team is firming up preparatory and application documents together with requisite translations of the resume into 6 languages of Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, French, English, and Kiswahili,” Mudavadi said.
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