Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader Raila Odinga has disclosed the motive behind him running for the African Union Chairperson (AUC).
Speaking during the signing of a Joint Framework, working relationship with Kenya Kwanza government under President William Ruto, at the Kenyatta International Convention Center (KICC) on Friday, March 7, Raila said he was approached by African leaders.
He further stated that the leaders used former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, to persuade him, following his agenda and knowledge of Pan-Africanism.
“I was approached by senior leaders in the continent. They approached me as a leader with Pan-Africanism ideology. They even send Obasanjo to come and persuade me to run. After a lot of soul-searching, I made a decision to run,” Raila disclosed.
He further said he was not expecting support from the Kenya Kwanza government, and was shocked after the president declared his support for his candidature, though with no clue of his motive.
“I didn’t expect to be supported by the Kenyan government. From out of blues. President William Ruto announced to support me. His support was genuine. he gave all the machineries required, and went to over 40 countries to rally for my candidature,” Raila further stated.
Weighing his thoughts, Ruto said he did not support Raila Odinga for him to support him, but supported him as a Kenyan, and that he required the government support also. He further dismissed claims of his support to wipe-out Raila out.
“It was obvious to me, as a citizen of this country I owed him support and it was also clear to me that knowing him as a Pan-Africanist, as leader with experience and that he had immense understanding of issues Africa, he qualified for not only my support and that of the Kenyan government, and that is why we went out of our way to support his candidature,” Ruto clarified.
He said further reiterated that him supporting Raila was not to empower him to come and compete with him, as Odinga was a better candidate, and required deserved his support.
“There are those who said that i supported him so that Incan exit him from the stage, but there are those who said that by supporting him to be the chairman of the union, I will be empowering him, so that he can come and compete with me. And I had a very clear answer, my support for Raila is not conditioned on him supporting me or him surrendering his aspirations for whatever reason. the support was deserved as a Kenyan. He was a great candidate and went out of his way,” he further stated.
Raila lost the position after Djibouti Foreign Affairs Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf defeated him with 33 votes on the seventh round, after he dropped out of the race on the sixth round.
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