I Have No Reason to Doubt That Raila Is Poised To Win The Election Of AUC Chairman
The Mt Kenya Times 
Raila Odinga
By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga
Worth Noting:
- The decision on who will become the chairperson of AUC lies with the African heads of state who will cast their votes in elections scheduled for February next year.
- In eve of Big Debate, I had written an opinion article stating why Raila stood a high chance of bagging the seat. This was my observations.
- I have been hearing the critics of President William Ruto claiming that his collaboration with former Prime Minister Raila Odinga could jeopardize the latter’s chances of bagging the coveted seat of Africa Union Commission (AUC) chairman.
I had an opportunity to watch the live coverage of Mjadala Africa leadership Debate that took place at Africa Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Though the debate seemed skewed in favor of Djibouti candidate, Kenya’s candidate Raila Odinga performed very well in terms of responding to the questions lined up.
He was well conversant with problems of Africa and his strategy of tackling them was awesome.
I had the other two candidates speaking the same language of Arabic.
This was an advantage to Raila Odinga because they will split the votes.
The decision on who will become the chairperson of AUC lies with the African heads of state who will cast their votes in elections scheduled for February next year.
In eve of Big Debate, I had written an opinion article stating why Raila stood a high chance of bagging the seat. This was my observations.
I have been hearing the critics of President William Ruto claiming that his collaboration with former Prime Minister Raila Odinga could jeopardize the latter’s chances of bagging the coveted seat of Africa Union Commission (AUC) chairman.
These claims were false and made in bad faith.
Locally, President Ruto’s style of leadership is admired. This because he was doing well in terms of tackling and addressing the problems facing the people of Kenya. This is while compared with most of other African leaders.
Besides, he had curved a niche of being a true Pan-Africanist.
In AU forums and international stage, he has been demonstrating a high level of boldness, consistency and focus.
This is when articulating the needs and aspirations of the African people and ensuring the resolutions passed were implemented.
Just a few days ago, the eight heads of state of East Africa community (EAC) had appointed Dr Ruto as the chairperson of EAC.
This happened at a time when former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Kenya’s candidate for Africa Union (AU) seat, was concluding his door-to-door campaign in West Africa.
After sharing his vision and agenda for Africa with Presidents of this bloc, Raila managed to convince each to support his candidature.
He had earlier made similar forays to some other regions of Africa and received similar backing.
Hon. Raila hails from East Africa, a bloc which is composed of eight countries. Except Somalia, the rest seven member states fully support his candidature.
The EAC heads of state had earlier honored President Ruto’s invitation to attend the official inauguration of Raila as Kenya’s candidate and official launch of his campaign.
During this meeting at State House Nairobi, the President Ruto successfully lobbied each to support Raila’s candidature.
Initially, five countries were eyeing the AU top job. The two candidates fronted by Mauritius and Seychelles respectively have since stepped aside and each and their countries have thrown full weight behind Raila Odinga.
Raila’s candidature is enjoying the support of many countries in Africa continent because of his credentials. Putting aside his academic qualifications, he is the most experienced contender. His grasp of the needs and aspirations of the black African people is immeasurable.
Recently, an opinion poll conducted by AU Think- Tank showed that Raila was ahead of his perceived close rival, Djibouti candidate.
It is worth to recall Raila curved a niche of being a leading light in African when he served as African High Representative for Infrastructure Development.
Apart from initiating mega projects, he espoused the ideals of being a true pan-Africanist. He has since been championing the course of a United State of Africa under the slogan of One Africa One People.
While articulating the virtues of democracy, good governance and development in Africa, Raila has been mincing no word in reiterating that Africa is the richest continent because of its vast resources.
Africa, however, lags behind because of lack of unity.
If I win, I will strive to ensure that Africa speaks in one voice.
The second reason why Raila is poised to win is because President William Ruto is spearheading his campaign.
During the State House meeting, each of EAC head of state agreed to mobilize support for Honorable Raila Odinga from other countries of Africa.
Since then, President Ruto has been seizing every opportunity to drum support for Raila.
He did this during China-Africa summit held in Beijing China and also during a similar gathering of African leaders in Germany and USA.
For President Ruto, the main purpose of these visits has always been to represent and articulate the interests of Kenyan people. He therefore met these leaders on the sidelines of the summits.
The President always returned back with bagful of goodies.
Besides East Africa leaders, Dr Ruto has reached out to other heads of State in Africa and convinced them to vote for Raila during the election slated for February next year.
In his latest trip to Addis Ababa Ethiopia, he managed to persuade and rally more leaders to support Kenyan candidate.
Raila, who accompanied him in this trip, took this opportunity to showcase his credentials.
He once again made a very powerful presentation and many leaders were convinced that he is most suitable leader to represent Africa.
Joseph Mutua Ndonga Is A Writer And Social Commentator
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