Odinga canvasses for support

16 Jan 2025

Africa requires a visionary and transformative leadership, Kenya’s former Prime Minister, Mr Raila Odinga said yesterday as he continued to canvass support for his candidature for the African Union Commission (AUC) chairpersonship by meeting President Advocate Duma Boko.

During his courtesy call at Office of the President, Mr Odinga, a veteran Kenyan politician who in the immediate past has served as the AU High Representative for Infrastructure Development, extolled his merits of his candidacy ahead of the AUC vote for the administrative head of the continental body.

Mr Odinga told President Boko that Botswana and Kenya had much in common, and Africa could learn much from Botswana’s experience in democracy and good governance.

He said he had first come to the country as the then deputy director of the Kenya Bureau of Standards in 1981, “when Gaborone was still a small village,” and was impressed with how far the country had come in terms of development, through diamond mining and other diversified contributors to the economy.

Mr Odinga further said Botswana was an example of what he would like to see happen elsewhere, citing the democratic transition that took place after the country’s previous general elections.

He revealed that he had been on a whirlwind tour of Southern Africa, as he had just been to Windhoek, Namibia, Harare, Zimbabwe and Lusaka, Zambia, and after his Gaborone stop would proceed to Pretoria, South Africa to continue his campaign.

Welcoming Mr Odinga, President Boko said he had had telephone conversations with Kenyan President, Mr William Ruto on the AUC candidacy issue and other matters of mutual interest, and Botswana was now pleased to receive Mr Odinga’s physical visit.

In an interview after the meeting, the Minister of International Relations, Dr Phenyo Butale said Mr Odinga had pitched his candidature to Botswana, and the country would now weigh various factors before deciding on whom to vote for.

“He presented mainly his candidature, vision and credentials for the position of AUC chair, which will be voted for at the upcoming AU Summit in February. This position is filled on rotational basis, this time the Eastern Region is eligible to fill the post. As a country we will take into consideration all the three candidates, and weigh our support looking at experience, suitability, vision and our relations with the nation the candidate comes from,” Dr Butale said.

Mr Odinga will contest against Mr Mahmoud Youssouf of Djibouti and Mr Richard Randriamandrato of Madagascar to replace Mr Moussa Mahamat of Chad who has been AUC chair, the administrative head of the AU at its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in the eight years since 2017. ENDS

Source : BOPA

Author : Pako Lebanna

Location : GABORONE

Event : Meeting

Date : 16 Jan 2025