Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has embarked on running a vicious continental campaign across African states to lobby for a resounding win to be the Chairperson of the African Union Commission.
President William Ruto has, on his part, marshalled top ministries in his government to run the campaigns on behalf of Mr. Odinga.
This comes after the AU permanent representatives on Friday cleared hurdles for Mr. Odinga ahead of the 2025 AU vote in Addis Ababa.
The former premier has since crafted a detailed cross-Africa campaign that starts with visiting South Sudan to hold a meeting with President Salva Kiir in Juba.
In the same month of April, Mr. Odinga returns to Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, to hold a meeting with President Samia Suluhu Hassan in a bid to solidify the East Africa voting bloc.
Mr. Odinga has already met the President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni in the company of President Ruto and last week held another meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, with President Paul Kagame accompanied by two of his close allies.
He has also scheduled meetings in the Horn of Africa in April with visits to Djibouti and Ethiopia, as seen inside his calendar.
The former premier has since crafted a detailed cross Africa campaign that starts with visiting South Sudan to hold a meeting with President Salva Kiir in Juba.
In the same month of April, Mr. Odinga returns to Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, to hold a meeting with President Samia Suluhu Hassan in a bid to solidify the East Africa voting bloc.
Mr. Odinga has already met President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni in the company of President Ruto and last week held another meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, with President Paul Kagame accompanied by two of his close allies.
He has also scheduled meetings in the horn of Africa in April with visits to Djibouti and Ethiopia, as seen inside his calendar.
Mr. Odinga will in May look South with scheduled visits to Zimbabwe, Malawi, Angola, Zambia and Botswana.
The visit to South Africa remains unclear with the Cyril Ramaphosa-led nation at the homestretch of its election campaigns set for May 29th. ANC’s Ramaposa and EFF candidate Julius Malema are both eying the presidency.
Mr. Odinga’s allies allude that he is keenly following the South African May elections and will meet the President-elect in Cape Town in June.
For President Ruto, the month of April has been set aside for States visits in Africa, with the Head of State scheduled to travel to Ghana on 2nd and 3rd April.
He will on the sidelines hold meetings with President Nana Akufo-Addo regarding Kenya’s AU Commission bid.
On 15th and 16th of April, President Ruto will make a State visit to Egypt hosted by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
At the end of April, President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe will host President Ruto for a two-day State visit in Harare that is also expected to boost Kenya’s AU Commission bid.
