Ruto, Raila seek to avoid mistakes of 2017 in the push for AU top seat

Some of the reasons included the failure of the country to convince even its closest allies from East Africa. There was also a feeling that the right candidate needed to be an insider at AU, and also the Anglophone and Francophone politics, which needed aligning.

"South Sudan voted for Kenya but it is surprising that Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti and Tanzania did not vote for Kenya during the stages. We think it has to do with how Kenya relates with its neighbours. Burundi said Kenya interferes with her internal affairs by condemning the conflict there," then South Sudan's ambassador to Ethiopia, James Morgan, said.