African Union High Representative for Infrastructural Development Raila Odinga on Thursday left the country for neighbouring Ethiopia, spokesman Dennis Onyango has confirmed.
Mr Odinga will be out for theee days, a move that technically means that he will not be around to oversee ODM party nominations for Kibra by-election.
The party is set to conduct the nominations on Saturday, with government already deploying over 100 police officers to man the region that is prone to violence.
"H.E Raila Odinga has left the country for a three day visit to Ethiopia. Mr Odinga left this country this evening for the 14th Global Forum on Human Settlements in Addis Ababa.
"The GFHS 2019 runs between 5th and 6th September 2019 and will focus on the Sustainable Development of Cities and Human Settlements in the Digital Era," wrote Onyango.
Mr Odinga is scheduled to make a case for greater investment in the infrastructure of African cities to make them more competitive and livable. He will return to the country at the weekend.
The former Prime Minister was appointed AU special envoy following his truce with President Uhuru Kenyatta, which caught many leaders unaware.
He has mainly focused on infrastructure and energy, a move that has seen him travel to many countries across the globe with Indonesia being the most recent.