Nairobi — Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Leader Raila Odinga has lifted the lid on the intrigues that led to his termination as the African Union (AU) envoy for Infrastructure and Development.
While pointing out that he exited from the role voluntarily, Odinga disclosed that President William Ruto had petitioned the AU to terminate his contract.
Odinga noted that President Ruto had requested the AU Chairperson Moussa Faki to fire him when he visited Ethiopia, Addis Ababa on February 17 to attend the 36th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU Assembly.
"I did not lose it because I had already indicated to Faki that I would exit because I had done my best but there was a lot of demand for my time back home," he said on Tuesday during an interview on KTN News.
Odinga stressed that President Ruto had no hand in his exit from the AU body and that Faki had indeed briefed the Head of State on his request to leave the agency.
"It is not him who had sacked me," Odinga said adding that if he had not fronted his request to leave Faki would have declined President Ruto's request.
Odinga left his role following the coming into force of the African Union Development Agency (AUDA).
AUDA marks a transition from the New Partnership for Africa's Development program -- NEPAD
The former Prime Minister noted that his departure from the agency was simply a coincidence at the time when changes at the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) were taking place.
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Odinga took up the High Representative role in October 2018 months after ending an anti-government civil disobedience campaign.
-Protests-
The veteran opposition leader who lost in his fifth attempt to ascend to power in August 2022 maintains that his victory was stolen in favor of President Ruto.
He claims that he won the election by a margin of 2 million votes and has since asked the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to open its servers.
President Ruto has however told him off insisting that Kenya had moved on from the election and the endless politicking.
Odinga who issued a 14-day ultimatum to the government on February 23, 2023, threatened to lead nationwide protests if the government fails to among other things facilitate the opening of the IEBC servers and lower the high cost of living.
A section of President Ruto's allies are in the meantime seeking to impose travel sanctions on Odinga over his mass action plan. Odinga has dismissed the plot.
