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.

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