By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga
Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Kenya’s candidate for Africa Union (AU) Commission chairman, is currently doing a door-to-door campaign in West Africa.
He has met a number of the country’s heads of state and shared with each his vision and agenda for Africa continent.
As a result, he has managed to convince them to support his candidature.
He had earlier made similar forays to some other regions of Africa and received similar backing.
As we know, Raila hails from East Africa, a bloc which is composed of eight countries. Except Somalia, the rest seven member states are supporting his candidature. The seven heads of state endorsed him during a meeting chaired by President William Ruto at State House Nairobi.
Of the four candidates eyeing the AU seat, I’m persuaded to believe that Raila Odinga has the best credentials and qualifications when it comes to the needs and aspirations of the black African people.
The latest media reports indicate that the candidate of Mauritius has stepped aside and thrown his weight behind Raila.
This comes at a time when a 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.
When he hosted East Africa Community (EAC) heads of state and government, President Ruto minced no word showcasing Raila’s credentials and presenting him as the best candidate.
In response, each of the leader stated. Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga is now our candidate for AU commission chairmanship. President Ruto has requested us to mobilize support for him from other heads of state and government from Africa. We want assure you and honorable Raila that we will do this.
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
