Raila Odinga makes his remarks during the launch of his bid for the African Union Commission Chairmanship at State House, Nairobi on August 27, 2024.
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi on Tuesday said campaigns for Raila Odinga’s African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship bid were on course, as the former Prime Minister launched overdrive campaigns among West African nations.
As Mr Odinga continues to crisscross West Africa where he held his latest meeting with Senegal President Bassirou Diomaye Faye on Tuesday, the government last week pitched for his bid in Southern Africa and among Great Lakes Region nations.
“Thank you H.E. President Bassirou Diomaye Faye of Senegal for the warm welcome in Dakar. It was an honour discussing ...the vision I have for our continent. I was delighted to hear your ideas on how to build a united, peaceful and prosperous Africa,” Mr Odinga said.
Mr Odinga was also in Abidjan where he held talks with Cote d'Ivoire President Alassane Ouattara and now heads to Abuja, Nigeria, in a bid to win Nigeria’s Bola Ahmed Tinubu ahead of next year’s election.
Speaking during a media briefing on 60 years of Kenya’s diplomatic journey, held at the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs headquarters in Nairobi on Tuesday, Mr Mudavadi, who is also in charge of the Ministry, said Kenya was on course with the AUC campaigns.
“Kenya has not led the commission and this is the best opportunity we have. I left Angola yesterday (Monday), where I put up our case among the Great Lakes region nations.
“President Ruto has also reached out to many Heads of State, I have equally reached out to many others and we are hopeful that we shall carry the day in the elections in Addis Ababa next year,” said Mr Mudavadi.
Mr Odinga has held a series of meetings with leaders from a string of West African nations in the past one week, and on Monday discussed his candidacy with President Adama Barrow in Gambia.
On Sunday, Mr Odinga held talks with Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo in the country’s capital Accra, just a day after meeting Togo’s Faure Gnassingbé in Lome on Saturday to campaign for his bid. In his X account, Mr Odinga lauded President Addo for “hosting me on this leg of my West African tour.”
“It was a pleasure discussing my AUC Chairmanship bid and issues affecting the continent. I commend Ghana for its leading role as a progressive voice in African affairs,” he said.
He pointed out that previously, he held fruitful talks with President Gnassingbé of Togo, as he rallied his support ahead of the February 2025 election.
In his whirlwind tour of West Africa in the hunt for votes, Mr Odinga also visited Cotonou, Benin, where he held talks with the West African nation's foreign minister, Olushegun Adjadi Bakari on Thursday last week.
Kenya’s opposition chief has stepped up his campaigns in critical West Africa in a bid to shore up his backing ahead of the elections to succeed Moussa Faki Mahamat.
He is facing Djibouti’s foreign minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, former Mauritius Foreign Minster Anil Kumarsingh Gayan and his former Madagascar counterpart Richard James Randriamandrato in the coming election.
While Mr Odinga has pitched tent in West Africa, Mr Mudavadi vouched for his bid in Southern Africa and among Great Lakes Region nations during the 18th Ordinary Session of the Inter-Ministerial Committee of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) held in Luanda, Angola on Sunday.
Mr Odinga has secured the support of seven out of the eight East African Community (EAC) nations.
EAC has eight member states; Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, South Sudan and Somalia, which the latter has stated that it will bid for the Djiboutian candidate.
EAC Chairman Salva Kiir Mayardit, who is also the president of South Sudan led the regional presidents in endorsing Mr Odinga for the top continental post during his campaign launch at State House, Nairobi on August 27.
President Mayardit, among his EAC colleagues Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (Uganda), Samia Suluhu Hassan (Tanzania), Burundi Prime Minister Gervais Ndirakobuca, Rwanda President Paul Kagame’s representative – Foreign Affairs Minister James Kabarebe all declared in unequivocal terms their country’s support for Mr Odinga.
Also in attendance were former Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete and his Nigeria counterpart Olusegun Obasanjo, among other dignitaries.
