Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has announced that Kenya will submit its candidacy for the African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson seat by June 30, ahead of the August 6 deadline.
Speaking on Wednesday during a joint briefing with Kenya’s AUC candidate Raila Odinga, Mudavadi noted that “highly experienced and knowledgeable officers” from the State Department for Foreign Affairs were leading Kenya’s campaign.
Mudavadi disclosed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has established a campaign secretariat, which includes Odinga’s strategy team, to bolster Kenya’s chances of winning the seat.
Further, he explained that the team will prepare briefs for the candidate, develop campaign materials, and prepare for a televised debate among candidates in September.
“The team is firming up preparatory and application documents together with requisite translations of the resume into six languages; Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, French, English, and Kiswahili,” he said.
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In addition, he revealed that the secretariat had developed an “empirical” campaign strategy that identified the opportunities, challenges, and risks that Kenya’s candidature faced.
He reiterated that Odinga is well qualified to lead the AUC.
“Kenya is certain that our candidate, Odinga, has credentials and the passion to advocate for Africa’s interests globally and champion more opportunities for Africa and her people,” he said.
Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga thanked the government for the support, reiterating the need for coordination and synergy in the campaign.
He emphasized the need to cut bureaucracy to improve his chances of becoming the winner.
Odinga said he was trying to tap into his experience, relationships, and understanding of the continent to win the support of “as many nations as possible.”
“With committed and proper coordination between my team and the government, we should be able to clinch the seat. We agreed that synergy is going to be critical as we embark on the next steps that include the submission of my application,” he said.
Odinga will be battling for the seat with several candidates from the region who are eying the seat, including Somalia’s Fawzia Yusuf Adam, Seychelles’ Vincent Meriton, and Djibouti’s Mahmoud Ali Youssouf.
