Raila Odinga Arrives Today For LEADERSHIP Conference And Awards

 Former Kenyan Prime Minister, Raila Amolo Odinga, is billed to touch down at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja today (Monday) January 30, 2023, to participate as the keynote speaker at the 14th edition of annual LEADERSHIP Conference and Awards.

An advance team of the former Prime Minister, led by Philip Etale, arrived in Abuja yesterday ahead of the event scheduled to hold on Tuesday January 31, 2023 at the International Conference Centre, Abuja. Also in the team is Odinga’s daughter, Rosemary, and Carolyn Ochieng.

Speaking to LEADERSHIP on the expectations of Odinga’s keynote address, Mr. Etale said the former Prime Minister will give a very important speech on African economic transition, free and fair election and, above all, on making the people’s vote count, devoid of manipulation by forces both internal and external.

Etale also reiterated that Odinga is a social democrat, who “believes that resources must be shared equitably among the people to ensure social good in the largest possible scale. ”

He said, “Odinga believes that Africa should not depend so much on the West because the continent has all the resources and potential to transform its people and be among the first world.”

On arrival in Abuja today, Odinga will be accompanied by Hon. Godffrey Osotsi, Prof Makau Mutua and Mr. Maurice Ogeta.

LEADERSHIP had earlier reported that Odinga, who represented Lang’ata constituency at the Kenyan Parliament and served as the country’s Prime Minister from 2008 to 2013, will speak on the theme of the Conference, “Credible Elections and an Economy in Transition”.

Odinga, who is the African Union Special Representative for Infrastructure Development in Africa, is currently in the US on President Joe Biden’s invitation, to speak on the role of infrastructure in the growth of the region’s economy, at the ongoing US-Africa summit.

Currently leader of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) in his country, he is expected to share his thoughts on how African countries can ensure free, fair and credible polls as a means of further consolidating democracy on the continent.

A statement by the management of LEADERSHIP said Odinga was invited as keynote speaker because of his dream of Africa’s liberation from poverty through good leadership and deliberate evolution of strategies to take ownership of its internal and external relations in respect of politics, economics and technology.

“The theme of this year’s conference, which is coincidentally taking place at a time the country is going into a general election, resonates well with Odinga’s sustained clamour for free, fair, credible and hitch-free elections.

“Hence, we expect him to dissect this topic at the conference and, ultimately, offer his views on how African countries can have enduring democracy through credible polls,” the newspaper said.

Born on January 7, 1945 to Kenya’s first vice president, Hon Jaramogi Oginga Odinga and Mama Mary, Ralia Odinga is the leader of the 2022 election coalition, Azimio la Umoja, One Kenya Coalition, on whose ticket he contested the country’s August 9 general election as the presidential candidate.

A savvy politician, Odinga joined parliamentary politics in 1992 when he vied for the Lang’ata parliamentary seat on Ford Kenya Party ticket which was led by his father, the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga.

He won the seat, beating the incumbent, Hon. Philip Leakey, who was then an assistant minister in President Daniel Arap Moi’s regime.

Odinga was successfully reelected for four terms. In 2010, while serving as Prime Minister together with President Mwai Kibaki, he led a review of Kenya’s constitution. The new constitution provides for a presidential system and disallows presidential candidates from being members of parliament.

He has contested for the country’s top seat five times – 1997, 2007, 2013, 2017 and 2022, and has been detained for championing the second liberation of the country.

As a social democrat, he believes in equality and equitable distribution of resources and has consistently championed good governance. He is also a champion of free press and freedom of expression. His wish for Africa is to have elections that are free from manipulation and for the will of the people to prevail.

The LEADERSHIP conference is one of the two-legged activities, with the other being the presentation of the newspaper’s awards to some deserving Nigerians and organisations.