Kikuyu Member of Parliament Kimani Ichung'wah on Tuesday, February 18, explained Raila Odinga's decision to withdraw from the African Union Commission (AUC) chairperson race was the candidate's own choice.
Ichung'wah, who was Raila's Chief Agent in the elections, explained that the former Prime Minister had the choice to stick it out in the race, a decision that would force AU to suspend the election and subject candidates to another round of campaigns.
Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday, the Kikuyu MP credited Raila for his decision to withdraw from the race during the sixth round of voting that led to Djibouti's candidate Mohamoud Youssouf clinching victory in the seventh round after garnering 33 votes. "I cannot fail to note with immense gratitude to Raila Odinga that even as he was leading in the first and second rounds of voting and despite having a fighting chance in the latter rounds, he opted out in the spirit of Pan-Africanism, not to take that assembly through another round of campaigning and elections," Ichung'wah expressed.
Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga on the sidelines of the African Union Commission Chairmanship elections on Saturday, February 15, 2025 in the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
