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It is all systems go as Kenya’s candidate for the African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship, Raila Odinga embarks on an intensive campaign across the continent ahead of the elections slated for February 2025.

Odinga who has already submitted the requisite documents to the AUC secretariat continues to enjoy the backing of President William Ruto in the bid as the government pledged to support his campaign trail in all African nations.

Five months before the elections, Ruto is scheduled to officially launch Odinga’s candidacy for AUC chair on Tuesday next week.

He is set to face off three other candidates namely Madagascar’s Richard Ran driamandrato, Djibouti Foreign Affairs Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf and Anil Kumarsingh Gayan of Mauritius, at the ballot.

“To be a candidate, apart from you fitting the bill in terms of competence, it will also require substantial resources, because you are traversing the continent, a continent of 55 countries and a population of 1.4 billion people. The government will play its part, because this is a Kenya nominee,” Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi said during a joint press conference with Odinga yesterday.

Odinga said that if elected for the position, he will focus on uniting Africa and strengthening the African Union (AU) to give it the impetus of champion the dreams of its members on the rate of unemployment as some of the major issues affecting the continent that requires urgent intervention.

“As you know that many young African boys drown in the Mediterranean as they’re trying to run away from the poverty in the continent, seeking greener pastures in Europe. This does not have to happen if we create a conducive and enabling environment for these people to be more employed on the continent of Africa,” Odinga said.

According to Odinga, Africa which is also paying the ultimate price of climate change yet it accounts for the lowest percentage of pollutants being discharged into the environment needs a stronger voice at the negotiating table.

Terming the continent as the victim rather than the main offender, he noted that the burden is heavy on Africa’s shoulders as nations continue to experience erratic weather patterns oscillating between floods and droughts.

“Many of our people perish, livestock die in those periods. How do we arrest this phenomenon? How can we make a contribution? And how can we also negotiate more effectively for compensation from the offenders who continue to discharge carbon monoxide into the atmosphere? We need a stronger voice,” Odinga stated.

He pointed out that most countries suffer from energy deficiency despite the abundance of resources for renewable energy which can be harnessed to make Africa energy self-sufficient.

Odinga who hopes to succeed Chad’s Moussa Faki Mahamat at the helm of AUC said he will scale down his participation in national politics as he eyes to bag the continental top seat.

“I’m not going to be very active in Kenyan politics henceforth as I continue now to focus my attention on the continental campaign. But it’s a phase, it’s a transitional phase from active participation in Kenyan politics to moving towards African continental politics,” he said.