News24 | Bye bye Kenya, hello Africa: Odinga to shift focus from local politics as he angles for AU top job

Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga is one of four men vying for the AU Commission chair position. (Simon Maina/AFP)

• Kenya’s Raila Odinga is one of four men vying for the AU Commission chair position.
• The four candidates will go through public debates months before secret ballot voting by heads of state and government in February next year.
• Kenyans were urged to support Odinga like they do for their Olympic athletes.

Kenyan political journeyman Raila Odinga will disappear from the domestic scene as he sets his eye on winning the African Union (AU) Commission chair position that will be vacant in less than a year.

Moussa Faki Mahamat, a former Chadian prime minister, finished his two terms in February 2025.

Responding to questions from journalists at a press conference to launch his bid in Nairobi, Odinga said people would see less of him in local politics.

He said: “I am not going to be very active in Kenyan politics henceforth, as I continue to focus my attention on the continental campaign. It is a transitional phase.”

Odinga leads the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), a centre-left party.

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In 2022, he lost the presidential vote by 200 000 votes to William Ruto of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA).

But this time, Ruto is rallying behind Odinga for the international job.

If he gets it, it won’t be the first time he’s been taken away from local politics. In 2018, Odinga was the inaugural AU High Representative for Infrastructure Development, a post created by Mahamat.

The job was frozen after Odinga’s departure.

It was largely seen as a way of neutralising Odinga after a disputed re-election of Uhuru Kenyatta that was followed by political violence.

Campaign for AU

According to the Kenyan government, Odinga has been “energetic and strategic” in his charm offensive lately across the continent and beyond.

Kenya’s Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi said that in his application to the AU Panel of Experts, Odinga promised to work on “African integration and infrastructure development, the economic transformation of the continent, enhancing intra-African trade, financial independence, agricultural transformation, climate action, peace and security, youth empowerment, and gender equity and equality”.

This time, the chairperson should come from the eastern region.

Other challengers to the position are Djibouti Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, former Mauritian foreign minister Anil Kumarsingh Gayan, and former Madagascan foreign minister Richard James Randriamandrato.

READ | Kenya’s Ruto names Odinga allies to unity cabinet, protesters slam ‘corrupt’ deal

The panel of experts vetting the candidates comprises of South Africa’s Nozipho Joyce Mxakato-Diseko, Burundian academic Paul Ngarambe, Ethiopian diplomat Konjit SineGiorgis, and retired Ghanaian diplomat Patrick Hayford.

Odinga will take part in a televised debate known as Mjadala Afrika against other candidates to outline his plans for the AU.

This has been the case since the 2017 election that brought in Mahamat.

Thereafter, in February next year, heads of state and government will vote through a secret ballot for the next AU Commission chairperson.

Mudavadi said support for Odinga was a national agenda that everyone must support just like they do for Kenyan athletes.

“To fellow Kenyans, as a nation, we have always come together to stand behind our own, whether on the tracks, the fields, or on the global stage. Just as we cheered our athletes in the recent Olympics, let us lend our full support to Honourable Raila as he carries the Kenya flag high in the race for the chairmanship of the African Union Commission.

“This is more than a candidacy; it is a national mission. Honourable Raila Odinga represents Kenya’s voice, values and aspirations on the continent. As he steps forward, let us stand with him, not just as a government but as a united people,” he said.

The News24 Africa Desk is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The stories produced through the Africa Desk and the opinions and statements that may be contained herein do not reflect those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.