Editor's Review

According to the lawmaker, Ruto was not genuine in his support for Raila and only sought to contain the latter politically.

Murang'a senator Joe Nyutu now says the political temperatures in Kenya had a bearing on the outcome of the African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship election in Addis Ababa.

On Saturday, February 15, the African heads of state and government convened in Addis Ababa for the 38th Ordinary Session of the AU General Assembly.

The highlight of the summit was the election of the AU Commission chairperson later in the day.

Djibouti Foreign Affairs Minister Mahmoud Youssouf defeated Kenya's Raila Odinga and Richard Randramandriato of Madagascar to win the election.

Mahmoud garnered 33 votes in the seventh and last round to be declared the winner.

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Murang'a senator Joe Nyutu.

According to Nyutu, the African presidents voting in the election were alive to the political reality in Kenya hence deciding in the way they did.

The senator observed that the presidents might have detected that Ruto was not genuine in fronting Raila for the seat, and was only seeking to use the election to retire Raila out of the local politics.

"Those presidents know our politics. There are those who have held that President Ruto did not support Raila for the AUC seat for the good of Africa, they knew he wanted to use the opportunity to send Raila out of Kenya so that he could dominate Kenyan politics. Those presidents have researchers and this might be among their findings. The presidents did not want to be used to settle the local politics, hence their decision," Nyutu said.

The election courted much of the country's attention owing to the dynamics that were at play in the course of the campaign.

A good section of the Kenyan public was opposed to any possibility of Raila's win given that it would translate to an increase in political scores for Ruto.

The president has lately been unpopular among a huge section of the country's populace which wants him out of office for supposedly running down the country.

Had Raila won, Ruto would have used it as a card to court support from the ODM leader's traditional vote bases, and hence enhance his chances for re-election in 2027.