Politician Raila Odinga, who has been competing for the leadership of Kenya, recently announced that he is eyeing the position of President of the African Union Commission, replacing Moussa Faki Mahamat who has been in that role since March 14, 2017.
When President William Ruto and Raila Odinga met in Uganda with President Museveni on February 26, 2024, they discussed various topics including supporting the candidacy of Raila Odinga for the position of President of the African Union Commission.
Elections are scheduled for the beginning of next year 2025, but the recruitment process to replace the incumbent, Moussa Faki Mahamat from Chad, will begin in the near future.
After Raila Odinga announced his plan to lead the African Union Commission, some observers of Kenyan politics have pointed out that this is a project by President William Ruto’s government to remove him from the country’s politics, now that he has run for the presidency. Kenya failed five times and was followed by deadly riots.
Raila Odinga, if he succeeds to lead the African Union, next year, when the general election of the President of the country in Kenya will be held in 2027, he will find himself on his mandate as the President of the African Union Commission, with two years left, it appears as the trap for Odinga is that he does not see how he can leave that position to run for the leadership of Kenya.
If it happens that Odinga leaves that position and goes to compete in the presidential elections in Kenya, he would follow in the footsteps of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who refused a second term in 2017, and go to compete in the presidential elections in South Africa. and it ended up in the middle of nowhere, because he was defeated in the election.
The East African newspaper, which is written in Kenya, reports that Nairobi strongly believes that Raila Odinga will win this position and a special team is being prepared to campaign for him and all the necessary things are being prepared by the government.
If Raila Odinga becomes the President of the AU Commission, it would be a victory for the East African Region, since the Vice President of this Commission at the moment, is Dr Monique Nsanzabaganwa, who is from Rwanda.
In 2020, Monique Nsanzabaganwa, who was already the Vice Governor of the Central Bank of Rwanda, was nominated as Rwanda’s candidate for the post of Deputy Chairman of the African Union Commission.
It means that in 2021, Dr. Nsanzabaganwa started his duties in the second term of Moussa Faki Mahamat, and he has the opportunity to be extended for another term as stipulated by the AU law.
Speaking to the media, Raila Odinga said that due to the role he was given in the AU, in 2019 as the head of infrastructure development, it left him with experience that he will build on because he was able to learn about each country.
In January 2011, Raila Odinga was also accredited by the AU and sent to Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire as the AU’s mediator to help resolve the political conflict between Laurent Gbagbo and Allasane Ouattara following the presidential election. ‘The country. Only Gbagbo’s side accused him of bias and resigned from those duties.
The President of the African Union Commission is a high-level official, and is also considered the head of the AU Secretariat, who is elected every four years, and his term can be extended once.
He is responsible for the general management and finances of the Commission, and he must promote and promote the goals of the AU and improve its performance. Most importantly, he must consult and coordinate with stakeholders such as Member States, Development Partners, and regional economic organizations.
Article 38 of the Rules of Procedure of the AU requires that the candidate for the position must have a good record in the Government, the Parliament in his country, international organizations or other various institutions he has worked for.
This article many say that otherwise Raila Odinga would have beaten him due to the violent activities promoted by his party mostly following the Kenyan Presidential elections.
Candidates for the office of the President of the AU Commission and his deputy, their candidacies are sent to the member countries at least three months before the elections
