Salasya urges Kenyans to pray for Raila’s AUC election victory
By Valerian Khakayi, February 13, 2025Mumias East Member of Parliament (MP) Peter Salasya has called upon Kenyans to pray for former Prime Minister Raila Odinga to secure the African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship as the selection process progresses.
In the spirit of solidarity Salasya, in a statement via his Instagram account on Thursday, February 13, 2025, emphasized that Odinga has faced numerous challenges and injustices in his political career and winning the seat would significantly boost his political career.
“Kindly let’s pray for Raila to win AUC. Baba has gone through a lot.Ameibiwa ya kutosha . Enough is enough. The spirit of shame the spirit of confusion must be defeated not for Kenya but for him, “Salasya urged Kenyans.
He further urged Kenyans to defeat the spirit of shame and confusion not just for Kenya’s sake but for Odinga personally.
Salasya on Raila’s AUC bid
This is not the first time Salasya has shown support for Odinga’s bid on Monday, January 27, 2025, speaking during the launch of the Democratic Action Party-Kenya (DAP-K) headquarters, he expressed his hope that Odinga will secure the seat.
According to Salasya, if Odinga attains this position, it would prevent him from re-engaging in Kenyan politics, which he suggests has been a source of confusion.
“I’m praying Raila gets the AUC chairmanship seat so he doesn’t come and confuse us,” Salasya said.
AUC election
The AUC chairmanship election is scheduled for February 15 and 16 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where the former prime minister is among the contestants and its outcome is anticipated to have significant implications for both the African Union and Kenya’s domestic politics.
According to the African Union’s (AU) election guidelines the voting process begins with all candidates on the ballot and to win, a candidate must secure a two-thirds majority and candidates may face elimination after three rounds of voting if they fail to secure the majority.
In addition, the union stated that if no candidate secures the necessary majority after three rounds, only the two candidates with the highest votes will be eligible for further voting process.
“In the election for the Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson, and Commissioners, voting continues until one (1) of the candidates obtains the two-thirds majority.
“The voting process begins with all the candidates on the ballot. Voting is conducted three times and if the third ballot remains inconclusive without any candidate garnering the two-thirds majority, the next ballot shall be restricted to the two (2) candidates who obtained the highest number of votes and the candidate with fewer votes is withdrawn, “AU’s election guidelines read.
While explaining the voting process, the commission added that in cases where only one candidate remains but still fails to achieve the required two-thirds majority, the incumbent chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat is mandated to suspend the election.
“Where there are only two (2) candidates initially and neither candidate obtains the majority required after the third ballot, the candidate with fewer votes is withdrawn and the remaining candidate proceeds to the next round.
“If the remaining candidate fails to obtain the two-thirds majority required in that round, the Chairperson is required to suspend the election. Where there is only one (1) candidate initially and he or she fails to obtain the two-thirds majority required after the third ballot, the current Chairperson is required to suspend the election,” AU said.