Raila Odinga, the veteran leader of opposition politics in the country has today declared his interest to succeed outgoing African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki whose term is set to expire this year.
Odinga while publicly announcing this move had revealed that he had consulted widely before reaching at the decision to announce his Candidature for the top AU seat.
With this public announcement, eyes now have turned to the reality of Raila not participating in the next general elections of 2027 should he succeed to be elected as the next AUC Chair.
According to the AUC regulations, a person is elected as AUC chairperson for a period of 4 years only renewable once.
This in essence means that if Raila should be elected and assume his role as AUC chairperson this year, then it means he only be leaving the office in 2028, a year after the Kenyan general elections of 2027. This in essence means Raila will be locked out of the race and Azimio will have to find another candidate to compete with President William Ruto.
AU envoy, former Nigerian President Olesugun Obasanjo has already endorsed Odinga for this job. It is reported that former President Uhuru Kenyatta is also eyeing the same seat but the Kenyan government led by President William Ruto supports Odinga for this role.
It should be noted that, AUC chairperson should also not be a sitting president.
Raila had served as AU Envoy for Infrastructure before later resigning to pursue other interests.
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