Azimio la Umoja leader Raila Odinga now says he was surprised to hear the government supporting his African Union Commission chairmanship bid.
Speaking during a joint press briefing with Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi on Wednesday, June 5, Raila said he did not expect to be supported by the President William Ruto-led administration.
The former Prime Minister noted that he made a decision to offer his service to the African continent and was not asked by the government to vie for the AU top seat.
“The Kenyan government did not ask me to run for the African Union Commission chairmanship, I made a decision that I want to offer myself to serve the continent. You cannot run for this position without being sponsored by your country, your candidature is not valid until your country says yes,” said Raila.
He continued,” I was pleasantly surprised that the Kenyan government said that they will support me. I was expecting them to say No.
I don’t know the reason they said yes.”Mudavadi on his part disclosed that the government is supporting the Azimio leader because he is competent and has the requisite experience.The Prime Cabinet Secretary further mentioned that Raila’s candidature would offer Kenya an opportunity to offer leadership in the AU.
“We said yes because Raila is competent and we are looking at Kenya’s national interests and Africa’s interests so this is not about our local issues and we really want the fourth estate to help us to protect the national interests of Kenya because it will be a first for Kenya and will be an opportunity for Kenya to offer leadership to the African Union and Raila has the requisite experience,” Mudavadi explained.
