Kenyan opposition politician Raila Odinga has announced that he wants to join the African Union Commission (AUC).
The 78-year-old businessman, in 2018, was appointed as the head of the infrastructure development department in Africa at AUC.
It is a place he went to for the purpose of cooperation and accelerating the development of the continent through infrastructure.
Odinga has announced that he has the ability to lead the commission that unites African countries.
The African Union Commission is based in Ethiopia, in Addis Ababa, which is the secretariat of the African Union (AU) in its daily activities.
Odiga, who served as the Prime Minister of Kenya from 2008-2013, is a compatriot of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, who was also the First Vice President of Kenya after independence.
Raila currently heads the opposition party Azimio la Umoja in Kenya.
In an interview with the media in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, on Thursday, February 15, 2024, Odinga said: “I want to make it public that I am ready to become the head of the African Union Commission”.
Odinga has contested in the presidential election five times and lost.
He said: “This episode shows that you need me to be the leader, you need my hands, I am ready to give everything I can to bring you forward.”
Odinga said that when he worked at the African Union (AU) in 2018, it gave him the experience to know and understand what African economies depend on to continue growing.
“Being in that position gave me the opportunity to examine each African country, I hope that if all African countries agree to join together, it would improve the continent,” he said.
Odinga started working in politics in Kenya, starting in the 1970s, the last time he lost for the fifth time in the 2022 presidential election in Kenya, where the current President William Ruto won.
Odinga had also campaigned in the 1997, 2007, 2013 and 2017 elections.
The Director General of the African Union Commission is expected to be elected in the next year 2025, where he should replace the current Mussa Fakki Mahamat from Chad, who was elected for a second term in 2021, he first went to that position in 2017.
The Director-General of the Commission is elected by the General Assembly of the African Union, and is elected for a four-year term and is allowed to run for re-election once.
