Ruto Flies To Ethiopia For AU Meeting After Raila Declaration

President William Ruto will on Friday afternoon, February 16 fly out of the country for Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.

According to a statement from State House spokesperson Hussein Mohamed, the Head of State will attend the 37th African Union Summit of Heads of State and Government.

"The theme of the summit is on building resilient education systems for Africa's 21st-century human capital.

"President Ruto will speak on the education inequalities that have left 98 million children in Africa without access to schooling," read the statement in part.

In his capacity as the chair of the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC), the President will also deliver a report on the strides the continent has made in mitigating the climate crisis.

This includes the Nairobi Declaration, agreed upon during the first-ever Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi last September.

The document is Africa's authoritative blueprint for addressing the climate change crisis and proposes reform of the global financial system as well as the Multilateral Development Banks.

"The Head of State will also participate in a mini-East African Community Summit focusing on the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and other regional concerns.

"Additionally, he will hold meetings with fellow Heads of State, heads of international agencies, and business leaders," added the statement.

The visit comes days after President Ruto returned from a state visit to Japan and held a series of bilateral engagements focusing on economic cooperation in health, ICT, infrastructure, energy, and financial services.

Before flying to Japan, President Ruto visited Rome Italy to participate in the Italy-Africa Summit.

Ruto's attendance at the AU summit may offer him a chance to vouch for the candidacy of former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, who declared his interest in succeeding Moussa Faki as the African Union Chairperson.

Odinga, who declared his bid on Thursday, February 15 will need to lobby the 55 member states for backing for the prestigious position.

He will first need to consolidate the seven member states of the East African Community (EAC) which comprises Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo and South Sudan.

Raila will need support either by consensus or at least a two-thirds majority vote by member states represented by their heads if he is to bag the AU prestigious post.