Age factor will not deter my AU chairmanship quest, Raila says

Azimio leader Raila Odinga has criticised a group of leaders in the country who oppose his African Union Chairmanship (AUC) on the grounds of age.

 Odinga made the remarks at a Nairobi hotel on Saturday night during the 74th birthday party of his wife Ida.

 "Age is just a number. The difference between the old and the young is only one thing: the old were once young and the old have experience because they have been around," said the Azimio leader.

 At the same time, he told off those of the opinion that he should now retire and go home citing that the criticism will not deter his quest for leadership.

 "Next year I will be turning 80 years old. From then I still have another 40 years to move on," he stated.

 The election of the new chairperson to replace the outgoing chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat from Chad will be held in February next year and President William Ruto is leading a campaign to rally other African leaders to vote for Odinga.

 Ruto is expected on Tuesday this week to officially launch Odinga’s candidature for the Africa Union Commission chairmanship.

 The government has so far formed a joint campaign secretariat consisting of Raila's team and government bureaucrats to strategise and spearhead the campaign.

 Last week Odinga and Mudavadi held a joint press conference where Mudavadi said that Odinga represents Kenya's voice, values and aspirations on the continent.

 "As he steps forward, let us stand with him, not just as a government, but as a united people. Odinga is a statesman and the government is fully behind him,"Mudavadi told the press.

 He urged the rest of   Kenyans to support him saying that as a nation, we have always come together to stand with our own whether on the tracks, field or the global stage.

 “Let us lend our full support to Raila as he carries the Kenyan flag high in the race for the chairmanship of the African Union Commission."

 During the birthday event, Odinga heaped many praises on his wife saying that she endured him as a politician and continues to lead a selfless life of caring for others more specifically the less privileged.

 "Ida supported many students and children across the country when she was a teacher at Kenya High School in the 1980s. She established an exchange program between students in Kenya and those in Germany where those in Germany could come here for months and those here go to Germany too and I thank her for that," said Odinga.

 Other speakers who were present too described Ida as a woman who had a good heart and was full of motherly care.

 On her part, Ida thanked all those who wished her a happy birthday and attended the event.

 She also asked people to take seriously the issue of mental health awareness adding that its negligence has led to many bad things happening in the country including people killing themselves by suicide.

 "My birthday today is pegged on mental health awareness so I urge every one of us to take the matter seriously, help people affected by it and seek guidance and counselling for it," added Ida.

 Among those who attended the only invite event were cabinet secretaries Hassan Joho (Maritime) and Opiyo Wandayi (energy), Governors Abdulswamad Sharrif (Mombasa), Gladys Wanga (Homabay), Wavinya Ndeti (Machakos), Anne Waiguru (Kirinyaga) and the host Governor Johnson Sakaja.