‘Meet you in the field!’: Raila exudes confidence in AUC chairmanship race

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has exuded confidence about his African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship prospects.

Speaking at a thanksgiving ceremony in Rangwe, Homa Bay County, on Sunday, Odinga, who this weekend wrapped up his two-day campaign at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia said he has a transformative plan for the continent.

“I am ready to serve Africa, and to those challenging me I say, meet you in the field!” he told attendees.

“My vision is of an Africa where countries are doing business without restrictions; Kenyans selling their products in Nigeria, Algeria and Egypt; Kenyans being able to find employment anywhere on the continent.”

In Addis Ababa, Odinga on Friday pledged to fast-track economic transformation, enhance intra-African trade and infrastructure, financial independence, gender equity and equality, agricultural transformation and climate action if elected the Africa Union Commission Chairperson.

“I roared in Addis Ababa,” the former PM told a cheering crowd on Sunday, “I told them about my leadership vision for this continent. We are the most resourced continent yet we have not always claimed what is ours. It is time we wake up.”

He said Africa should utilise its resources to its benefit instead of exporting them overseas and importing the finished products at very high prices.

Odinga, a former AU High Representative for Infrastructure Development, meanwhile says he plans to intensify his campaigns using a vigorous shuttle diplomacy program during the remaining three months to the AUC chairmanship election.

With the support of his biggest backer, President William Ruto, Odinga hopes to achieve what Kenya’s candidate, Ambassador Amina Mohamed, did not in the 2017 AUC chair race.

The race has attracted Djibouti’s top diplomat Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, former Mauritanian Foreign Affairs Minister Anil Gayan, and Madagascar’s former Foreign Affairs Minister James Randriamandrato.

The four seek to succeed Moussa Faki Mahamat, whose eight-year term expires in February 2025.