South Sudan President Salva Kiir has promised to rally the entire East African Community (EAC) to support Raila Odinga’s candidacy for the African Union Commission (AUC) chairperson role.

This was during a meeting between Azimio leader and President Salva Kiir at State House in Juba on Wednesday July 3, 2024.

“Had a very productive meeting in Juba with the President of South Sudan. Thank you, H.E. Salva Kiir Mayardit, for hosting me. 

“Your support and commitment to rallying the entire EAC block behind my AUC Chair candidacy are greatly appreciated,” Raila stated. 

Meanwhile, the Government of Kenya formed a campaign secretariat to work with Raila to support his candidature for the African Union Commission (AUC) chairperson role.

Speaking at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in Nairobi on June 5, 2024, Cabinet Secretary (CS) Musalia Mudavadi disclosed that they held a consultative meeting with Raila and his team as part of preparation for the AUC  job.

Mudavadi said that a campaign secretariat which includes Raila’s strategy team has been established.

“I want to laud President Ruto for fully endorsing the candidacy of Raila Odinga and continuing to extensively engage with his counterparts in diverse regions of the continent. So far, our candidature has been positively received,” said Mudavadi.

“In Raila Odinga, we [Kenya] have a visionary leader to fire up the African Union to greater levels.

“Raila is a pan-Africanist who naturally espouses the ‘think-Africa above all’ guiding principle of the AU Commission. 

“He holds dear the AU’s ambition of being a people-centered organization,” he added.

Raila is seeking to take over from the current AUC chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat, whose term comes to an end in February 2025.