Ruto wants Raila to take up the AU Chairperson job
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President Ruto to campaign for Raila to replace Moussa Faki Mahamat AU (African Union Commission) Chairperson
President Ruto to campaign for Raila to replace Moussa Faki Mahamat AU (African Union Commission) Chairperson.
Kenya’s government is angling for longstanding opposition leader Raila Odinga to replace Moussa Faki Mahamat at the helm of the African Union Commission (AU).
Faki’s tenure as the AU Commission chairperson will be ending in 2025 four years into his re-election.
According to sources, President William Ruto is committed to selling Raila’s candidature at the AU secretariat.
According to People Daily, the Kenyan government had been striving to convince Raila to consider going for the post.
With the ODM boss’s confirmation, Ruto would embark on pushing his candidacy in Addis Ababa.
Highly placed sources disclosed that there has been intense lobbying by people within President William Ruto’s administration to convince Raila to offer himself for the AU office.
A source from Raila’s inner circles disclosed that President Ruto personally approached the ODM leader with the proposal and promised to rally the government’s support for his AU office candidature should he accept the offer.
Mahamat, who is a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, is set to leave office in March next year.
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The push from Ruto’s administration to try and convince Raila to take the helm at the AU chairperson position is being seen as a target to keep him busy away from the political arena where he has been a headache for Ruto.
Though likely to raise Raila’s stature, the move, according to those privy to the President’s thinking, will effectively mellow down the Opposition chief who will be required to adopt a diplomatic mien that is demanded of the continental job.
Besides, it will gag him from active political campaigns for himself or another candidate, perceived to be Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka.
With Raila currently standing out as Ruto’s fiercest political threat, pundits and governance experts believe by taking the AU position, the opposition leader would have automatically bolstered the incumbent’s chances of re-election in 2027.
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