Kenya is ready and willing to take over the leadership of the African Union, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has said.
He said the country has a legitimate and timely opportunity to offer leadership to the AU, even as the urged EAC member states to rally together and support Kenya.
Mudavadi affirmed Kenya’s commitment to take the continent’s leadership the next level.
“I will not want to divulge into our campaign strategy but we are thinking very seriously about it and we want to work collectively as a country and as a region so that East Africa can have an opportunity to lead Africa,” he said.
Mudavadi has said the country and a region’s leadership has set the eye on the ball, and efforts are underway to ensure that the opportunity does not slide away. The rest he says it is a matter of time before the real deal is struck.
He was speaking during a media briefing on the second day of his tour of Lamu County.
“If you go into the past since the African Union was set-up, we have had leadership from the West African block, South Africa and Central Africa too,” noted Mudavadi.
“If you go alphabetically, you can see the strategic advantage that is now coming towards the East African region and we say we now have an opportunity as a region,” added Mudavadi.
Mudavadi noted that Africa is facing a lot of challenges and the crisis is bigger than what many might think of.
If Africans do not take charge of their issues, Mudavadi said the rest of the world might not give much attention to Africa.
“Africa is facing a lot of challenges and conflicts. If you look at it statistically without underplaying or downplaying the challenges in other parts of the world then Africa has more displaced people than those other regions that are facing challenges,” said Mudavadi.
Adding that “Africa has more schools that have been disrupted than those other regions globally; Africa has almost 100 million children out of school because of the challenges and crisis we are facing.”
Mudavadi says the East African leadership has resolved to bite the bullet and face the challenges head-on in trying to fix key areas that have dragged the continent backwards and plunged it into unnecessary tension and instability.
He says many might not appreciate the bitter reality that Africa is one of the continents with a very serious food security challenge, with concentration being driven to other regions while Africans remain drowned in silent suffering.
“Democracy is under threat in several African countries. When you listen to the debate even Africans are talking more about the conflicts outside Africa than the conflicts in Africa, they are concentrating more on conflicts outside Africa than looking for ways to address their challenges,” regrated Mudavadi saying African issues require urgent attention and focus by Africans themselves working towards offering solutions to their problems.
Mudavadi said peace and stability is key urging African leaders to unite and rally together for the common good, citing that there is no winner in war.
He said for Africa to realize its potential it calls for a leadership that will ensure there is calmness and progressive integration in facets that contribute to a collective and mutual benefit to the citizenry.
“When you look at statistics it shows you that the crisis is much bigger in Africa and that is where we should give adequate attention, though taking cognisance of the global challenges. Let Africans reflect and look internally to see how we can stem the crisis within Africa,” noted Mudavadi.
During the Media briefing Mudavadi was flanked by Lamu Governor Issa Timamy, Lamu Deputy Governor Raphael Munyua, Nairobi Deputy Governor James Muchiri, Principal Secretary-State Department for Investment Promotion in Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry, Abubakar Hassan Abubakar, Matuga MP Kassim Tandaza among a host of members of County Assembly from Lamu County.
