Raila Odinga's performance in the African Union Commission (AUC) elections sends an unmistakable message: Kenya's diplomatic clout in Africa has grown under the deft stewardship of Musalia Mudavadi and Noordin Haji.
Despite operating in an arena riddled with deep-seated religious, linguistic, and geopolitical divides, Kenya made unprecedented strides that solidify its continental influence.
The assumption by local politics and pundits that AUC elections are won purely through lobbying ignores the institution's history as a battleground for Africa's entrenched divides - Francophone versus Anglophone, Muslim-majority versus Christian-majority, North versus sub-Saharan Africa.
The AUC chairpersonship has never been awarded on merit alone but has always been the subject of regional and confessional power-brokering.
