RAILA ODINGA’S CANDIDACY FOR AFRICAN UNION COMMISSION JOB

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  • The Current Chairperson Moussa Faki To Give Room For The New AU Chairperson.
  • Raila Odinga And Fawzia Yusuf Adam Candidates For AU Chairperson.
  • African Union Commission Election Will Be Held In February 2025.
  • Chief Executive Officer, Legal Representative, and Accounting Are Some Of The Roles In The Office.

 

African Union chairperson candidate Raila Odinga has embarked on lobbying across 55 countries for backing. Odinga, who declared his bid, will first need to consolidate the seven member states of the East African community that comprises Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo, and South Sudan

The African Union (AU) is a continental body consisting of the 55 member states that make up the countries of the African Continent. It was officially launched in 2002 as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU, 1963-1999). The African Union (AU) was officially launched in July 2002 in Durban, South Africa, following a decision in September 1999 by its predecessor, the OAU to create a new continental organization to build on its work. The decision to re-launch Africa’s pan-African organization was the outcome of a consensus by African leaders that to realize Africa’s potential, there was a need to refocus attention from the fight for decolonization and ridding the continent of apartheid, which had been the focus of the OAU, towards increased cooperation and integration of African states to drive Africa’s growth and economic development. Its main function is to achieve greater unity and solidarity between African countries and their people.

An African Union commission election will be held in February 2025 to choose the fifth commission chair to succeed incumbent Chairperson Moussa Faki who hails from Chad. Another candidate is Somalia’s former Foreign Affairs minister Fawzia Yusuf Adam who will be contesting alongside Raila Odinga.

RAILA’S POLITICAL PROFILE

Raila Amolo Odinga (born 7 January 1945) is a Kenyan politician who was the prime minister of Kenya from 2008 to 2013. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Langata Constituency in 1992 and has been the Leader of the Opposition in Kenya since that time. He is the leader of the Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya Alliance Party. In the 1970s and 80s, Odinga was politically active and supported government reforms in Kenya, and in the year 1992, however, he was elected a member of the National Assembly under the banner of the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy–Kenya (FORD–K), the party led by his father. After his father’s death in 1994, Odinga became embroiled in a leadership struggle within the party and in 1996 left the party and joined the National Development Party (NDP).

RAILLA ODINGA
Raila Odinga Served as MP For the Langata constituency in 1992. Image, Kenyan Archives.

In 1997 Odinga vied unsuccessfully as the NDP’s candidate for election as president of Kenya but was able to retain his seat in the National Assembly. Odinga joined Moi’s cabinet as energy minister in 2001, and the NDP was absorbed into the ruling party the following year, with Odinga becoming secretary-general of KANU after giving Moi political support. On April 17, 2008, Raila Odinga was sworn in as Prime Minister after the 2007  general election dispute in which Kibaki was declared the President.

In the run-up to the 2013 elections, Odinga’s ODM formed the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) alliance with Kenyan Vice President Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka’s Wiper Democratic Movement and other parties. Under the CORD banner, Odinga and Musyoka campaigned for the posts of president and vice president, respectively. Among the eight presidential candidates, Odinga and Kenyatta, this time representing the Jubilee Coalition, were front-runners going into the March 4 election, which transpired with relative calm. After a delay in the release of the final results, due to problems with the vote-tallying process, electoral officials announced that Odinga received 43.31 percent of the vote, placing second to Kenyatta, who was declared the winner with 50.07 percent of the vote, just enough to avoid a second round of voting. Odinga did not at first concede. Citing what he maintained were many irregularities with the election, he filed a challenge to the results with the Supreme Court but promised to respect the court’s decision. The court ultimately upheld the election results, and Odinga conceded.

Odinga remained politically active. In the prelude to the 2017 elections, Odinga’s ODM party and the other parties that were previously part of the CORD coalition allied with more parties to form the National Super Alliance (NASA). The new alliance backed Odinga for president and Musyoka for deputy president to stand in the upcoming elections. The run-up to the elections was tense and filled with heated rhetoric, particularly from NASA and Pres. Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party. NASA made repeated claims that the Jubilee-led government would try to rig the elections.

The elections were held on August 8, 2017, and were generally peaceful. Before the results were announced, however, Odinga and other NASA members alleged that electoral irregularities had taken place and that the servers of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) had been hacked and called the election unfair. When the results were released a few days later, the IEBC announced that Kenyatta won the election with more than 54 percent of the vote and that Odinga trailed him with almost 45 percent. Raila Odinga filed the case to the Supreme Court and the court declared the results null and void and that the election was to be conducted again, but Odinga did not involve himself in the election saying that the demand to re-unify the IEBC was not taken seriously.

David Maraga
David Maraga declared the  2017 presidential election null and void. Image, The Standard.

In December 2021 Odinga formally declared his candidacy for president in the 2022 election. He was running as the candidate of the Azimio la Umoja alliance, which had been formed in preparation for the election and included the ODM as well as Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party. Odinga was officially endorsed by the ODM as well as by Kenyatta and the ruling Jubilee Party in February 2022. He chose Martha Karua as his running mate in May.

Odinga faced three other candidates in the August 9, 2022, presidential election: Deputy Pres. William Ruto, David Mwaure Waihiga, and George Wajackoyah. Election day was lauded for being peaceful, and, over the next few days, a transparent vote-tabulation process showed Odinga in a tight race with Ruto. Shortly before the results were released on August 15, however, one of Odinga’s election agents said they could not verify some of the results and had reports of electoral malfeasance but did not provide details, this was closely followed by four of the seven IEBC commissioners’ refusing to validate the presidential election results, saying that they were unable to do so because the final stage of the tabulation process had been “opaque.” Regardless, the results were announced, showing Ruto as the winner with 50.49 percent of the vote to Odinga’s 48.85 percent. Odinga filed the case to the Supreme Court but this time, Ruto’s victory was upheld, stating that there was no evidence for the allegations.

 

ROLES THAT RAILA WILL PLAY IF HE GETS THE  POSITION

A candidate for AU Commission chairman must be fronted by a member state, meaning President Ruto’s administration will be spearheading Raila’s candidature. Should he become the next AU Commission chair, it means that he will have to exit the country’s political space. A holder of such a position is expected at all times to remain neutral on issues related to development, conflicts, and politics in all African countries. This means that he will become a critical player in major international happenings not just in Africa, but across the globe. It also means that he will not be available to take part in the country’s political scene, come 2027.  The former Prime Minister can only take part in the election as an ordinary voter, but cannot go out campaigning for his preferred candidate or participate as a candidate. The only way he can actively take part in the election is if he relinquishes the position of AU Commission by stepping down.

If elected, Raila will take charge of the commission in January 2025 and will be expected to serve for four years. This means his term at the AUC will come to an end in 2028, a year after Kenya’s next general election. Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei says President William Ruto’s administration is ready to support Raila Odinga’s bid for the African Union Commission chairperson job. Kenyans have however questioned the speed at which President Ruto has endorsed Raila and deem it to be a calculated move to keep him away from the 2027 presidential elections as well as to weaken the opposition.

korir singoei
”President William Ruto’s administration is ready to support Raila Odinga’s bid for the African Union Commission chairperson job”- Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei. Image, The Star

It also means that the Azimio coalition, which constitutes several parties will have to look for someone who will become its leader and He declared Opranya and Joho to manage the party while at Mombasa.  Other principals in the coalition have been gunning to lead the coalition ahead of the 2027 elections. The Orange Democratic Movement party will also have to start preparing for life without the active participation of the former Prime Minister.

At the AUC, Raila will also assume the role of Chief Executive Officer, Legal Representative, and Accounting Officer of the Union. He will chair all Commission meetings and deliberations to determine the order of the agenda items and undertake measures aimed at promoting and popularising AU’s objectives. He will also facilitate the functioning, decision-making, and reporting of all AU organ meetings and consult and coordinate with Member States’ governments, other institutions, and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) on AU’s activities.

He will also carry out the AU’s diplomatic representations and assume overall responsibility for the Commission’s administration and finances to ensure efficient and effective undertaking of the Commission’s mandate. Other roles include ensuring the smooth and efficient functioning of AU statutory meetings, liaising closely with organs of the Union to guide and support, and monitoring the performance of the Union to ensure conformity and harmony with agreed policies and strategies. Raila will also ensure the preparation of annual reports on the AU and its organs’ activities and supervise the performance and delivery of the Commission’s senior leadership team.

 

Article by Abisai Maloba

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