The National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula has urged Pan-African Parliament representatives to rally behind the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s African Union Commission (AUC) Chairmanship bid.
Speaking during a courtesy call by the representatives of the Pan- African Parliament in his office, on Wednesday, December 4, 2024, the speaker disclosed that Raila is the most suitable candidate to defend the interests of African Nations and facilitate the attainment of meaningful reforms.
In addition, the third in command asked the representatives to persuade their respective Foreign Ministers and Presidents to support Raila stating that Kenya has a strong candidate for AUC Chairperson.
“Kenya has a strong candidate for AUC Chairperson. When you go back home, ask your Foreign Ministers and Presidents to support him,” Wetang’ula said.
The delegation which is in the country on a fact-finding mission for remedies to counter climate change and desertification to ensure effective soil management to enhance food sufficiency, is composed of representatives from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Uganda, Zambia, Tunisia and Kenya.
The elections are slated for February 25, 2025, and Raila is seeking to succeed the former prime minister of Chad Moussa Faki Mahamat, whose term is coming to an end.
Wetang’ula on food security
Apart from Raila’s AUC bid, Wetang’ula noted that there is an urgent need to develop strategies that would address the issue of food security in Africa.
He noted that while Africa was resource-rich and had great potential, its population was still largely poor and yet to reap the benefits of its sub-soil resources, adding that Africa produces what it does not consume and consumes what it does not produce.
“Africa lives on the soils. However we produce what we don’t consume and consume what we don’t produce,” he stressed.
Commendating the delegation for taking the lead in initiating the development of legislation on soil management in Africa, Wetang’ula highlighted the need for effective soil management for food security and climate change mitigation.
“Over the last 30 months or so, our country has been lucky as there has been constant rain in the food basket, we are sugar-sufficient, we are sufficient in cereal (maize) but when the rain stops, we are back to the drawing board. We need to move away from rain-fed agriculture and go back to storing rain and stormwater and embrace engineered agriculture,” Wetang’ula added
He went on to stress the need to focus on soil resuscitation proposing management of challenges such as wind and water erosion, high acidity and general poor soil management habits.
