NASA leader Raila Odinga’s appointment as African Union Special Envoy elevated him to a continental statesman whose time will now be divided across Africa.
The African Union envoy is in Namibia on a trip that will see him tour several of the country’s projects.
On Friday, Mr. Odinga and his wife Ida were at the Walvis Bay Container Terminal that is expected to have a capacity of at least 750,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per annum.
“The terminal is being constructed on reclaimed land to increase the handling capacity of the Port which forms an integral part of infrastructure development in the SADC region and the entire continent,” Mr. Odinga said.
Accompanied by Mama @IdaOdinga we were delighted to meet officials of the National Port Authority in Namibia led by their acting CEO Elias Mwenyo, for a briefing and tour of the Walvis Bay Container Terminal Project. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/bNmZGrg2lR
— Raila Odinga (@RailaOdinga) December 28, 2018
The terminal is being constructed on reclaimed land to increase the handling capacity of the Port which forms an integral part of infrastructure development in the SADC region and the entire continent. 2/2
— Raila Odinga (@RailaOdinga) December 28, 2018
Raila joined the league of former presidents and senior leaders in the continent and this places him near a climax of his pursuit as a Pan Africanist.
With a lot of travel around the continent rallying political support to his new cause, Raila might find himself divorced from local politics.
But just where does this appointment place the opposition leader?
This is to enable him to push for better integration of member states through infrastructure that links different African countries, he said.
Top on his agenda is the missing links along the transnational highway corridors identified as part of the Trans-African Highways Network.
As a special envoy of the AU chairperson, Raila will have an office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, but with frequent travel across the continent.
He will mediate in peace negotiations and conflict resolution. Raila will also have a fully-furnished office in Nairobi, with staff and advisers to boost his local presence and unity programmes with President Uhuru Kenyatta.