Kenya launches bid to chair AU Commission with Odinga as candidate
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00:00The race is on to replace current African Union Chief Musefaki Mahamad.
00:04The chair of the AU Commission served since 2017
00:08and member states are set to vote for his successor at the bodies
00:12summit next February. Senior politicians from Djibouti, Madagascar,
00:16Mauritius and Kenya have all thrown their hats into the ring.
00:20Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga says that he sees the promotion of
00:24continental unity as an absolute priority.
00:30My selection to be Kenya's candidate is not about one man's ambition
00:37but an African's journey to serve the motherland.
00:45The inter-African trade today stands at only 15 percent.
00:50Inter-European trade stands at 70 percent.
00:54Inter-Asian trade stands at 60 percent. Inter-South American trade stands at 35 percent.
01:03We need to ensure that Africa trades more with itself.
01:08For more on Odinga's bid, Bastian Renwi brings us more
01:11from Nairobi. Heads of state were in Nairobi this Tuesday to take part
01:17in the launch of Raila Odinga's campaign to become the next chairman of the
01:21African Union. The event was organized by Kenya's
01:24president William Ruto and he had one thing in mind. He was
01:28trying to show that all the leaders of the
01:30region are behind one man, Raila Odinga. Since his youth he has
01:35been fighting alongside the opposition here in Kenya but he is also
01:39widely considered as a pan-Africanist, as someone who fought for democracy
01:43in Africa. I can tell you that here in Kenya
01:46many are happy about this candidacy but several political analysts also
01:51believe that President Ruto has something in mind
01:54that he is trying to bring Raila Odinga away from Kenya in order to
01:58weaken the opposition. Democracy is always fragile
02:02and there are always sorts of threats but I think there's enough
02:06strength in the country to continue with or without individuals
02:10and Raila is just an individual, nothing else. So as to the question about
02:15politicians, yes they want to imagine themselves
02:19and present themselves as the effective opposition with or
02:23without Raila Odinga. In fact they are saying they don't need
02:26him and he can go to the AU or wherever he wants to go
02:29but the opposition will continue to be there. If Raila Odinga is elected it will
02:34be a new beginning for Kenyan politics. He is currently 79. Chances are very
02:39high that if he becomes the next African Union
02:42chairman he will not take part in Kenyan politics anymore. Recently he's
02:46been criticized by his supporters for being too close to
02:49President Ruto. They even say that he started an
02:52unofficial alliance with the president so being elected as
02:56the AU chairman would add a final positive step in
03:00his legacy but he needs to be elected. He will face
03:03three other candidates, the former foreign affairs ministers
03:07of Madagascar, Mauritius and Djibouti. The election
03:10will take place in February 2025.