President’s speech -Pamoja Initiative
SPEECH
BY H.E. HON. UHURU KENYATTA, C.G.H., PRESIDENT AND COMMANDER IN CHIEF
OF THE DEFENCE FORCES OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA DURING THE LAUNCH OF THE
NATIONAL AND COUNTY COHESION AND INTEGRATION DIALOGUE FORUMS, NAIROBI,
10TH JUNE, 2014
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to join you at this historic conference. Let me begin by most warmly commending the National Council of Churches of Kenya, the Inter-Religious Council of Kenya, the
National Cohesion and Integration Commission and the Danish
International Development Agency for partnering with my government in
this dialogue about our nationhood.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Last year, we celebrated the Jubilee – the 50thAnniversary of our independence. We remembered the dark days of our past, and we rejoiced in the progress we had made towards fulfilling the vision of our founders. They sacrificed their comforts, their blood – some of them their lives – so that we might be free.
If they returned today, what would they think of us?
We have not squandered our inheritance. Today, we live longer than they did. We are better educated than they were. Right now, we are freer than they were fifty years ago. But if our founders visited us today, the depth of our discord would disappoint them, and they would warn us that a house divided against itself cannot stand.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This truth was never clearer than in 2007, when we failed to agree on the results of that year’s presidential elections. In the end, Kenyans pulled together, and preserved their nation.
The recent atrocious attacks by some terrorists have also brought terrible suffering. In another country, that pain would have been the soil in which the seed of hatred grew.
The fact is that Kenyans have a gift for bringing good from evil. Three years after 2007, we chose a new constitution for ourselves: one that enshrined the values of cohesion and unity. Now, as we face new threats to our cohesion and nationhood, we meet to see how we can realize the dreams of our founders, and the promise of that new constitution.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We must unify our people and our communities. That is how we will become the nation we were meant to be. But the process cannot be merely theoretical. We must have a very clear grasp of what cohesion and integration asks of us.
First, we must recognize our diversity. Kenyans are equal, but we differ in the languages we speak at home, in the ways we worship, and in the colour of our skins.
Second, we must admit that we disagree about our nation’s past, and the course our path should take in years to come.
None of these differences justify division or hatred. None of them degrades the dignity of any Kenyan. What they call for is respect and reconciliation. When we have wronged one another, there is no shame in admitting the fault. When we disagree, we learn patience for another Kenyan’s view. Our basic commitments to equality, respect and reconciliation hold the nation together.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
If we are truly to dwell in unity, every institution, and every Kenyan, must do their part to foster these virtues.
Our experience in 2007 taught us many things, chief among them that competitive politics is not enmity. We hold competitive elections every few years. We freely choose our political leaders. The way to win that contest is to talk respectfully to Kenyans at the appropriate time, and to convince a majority of them that you are better able to serve their needs.
Kenyans know that their leaders must serve the nation,not merely their supporters. They know that under the new constitution they chose for themselves, leaders are obliged to serve every Kenyan equally and impartially.
Kenyans know from bitter experience that political enmity threatens our very nationhood.
If that is what Kenyans expect of
their leaders, then it is my duty to remind every leader – and this
should be taken to include every public officer at every level of
government – that they have a responsibility to serve the cause of
national cohesion by treating every Kenyan equally.
My Government will lead the effort. We will commit even more of our resources to cohesion and integration efforts, and we will give every support to organizations that are loyal to the cause of building cohesion in the country.
Here, let me say that it would
be good to see the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Cohesion and Equal
Opportunity hasten the appointments of the commissioners to the National
Cohesion and Integration Commission.
I must also urge the National Assembly to prioritize and consider the various policy papers before it that relate to cohesion, integration and tolerance. It
will be especially important to prioritize and pass without delay
pending legislation that touches on national cohesion and peace-building
efforts across the country.
But all this will have to be complemented by the work of ordinary Kenyans.
This nation would not be what it is if it did not have a common life – that is what makes us a nation, rather than a group of strangers. Our common life is made up of our individual choices. When we choose to live in peace with our neighbor of a different ethnicity or religion, we make a choice to strengthen our nation. When we choose to reconcile with those who have hurt us, we choose Kenya over our grievances. And when we choose strife, then in our own small way we weaken our country.
In the end, it is the daily choices of ordinary Kenyans that matter most. Since
our history teaches us that in their daily lives the majority of
Kenyans make the choice for nationhood, that is cause for optimism.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We reconcile and heal the wounds of the nation by talking to each other. The whole work of the PamojaInitiative in facilitating dialogue between and within groups is not just noble, it is nation-building.
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