SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY HON. UHURU KENYATTA, C.G.H.

,
PRESIDENT AND COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE DEFENCE FORCES OF
THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA DURING CORPORATE COUNCIL FOR AFRICA
AT WASHINGTON D.C., U.S.A, ON 7TH AUGUST, 2014
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure to be here with you and have this delightful opportunity to
share with you just a tiny snippet of the great Kenya story. There is good reason
for my wanting to do this here today. Kenya and America are located in
diferent hemispheres of our world, indeed continents apart. et the bond
between our nations and our people!s are as strong as ever. This bond is
historic and immutable because it is not a forced or pretended afectation.
"ather, it is a bond born of #een awareness of shared fundamental values.
As friends of Kenya, you will be aware that we, just li#e the $nited %tates
waged a bitter struggle against colonial domination which eventually led to the
freedom of our peoples. This struggle was inspired by the belief that freedom,
&ustice and e'uality are the inalienable property of every living human being,
and of the righteousness of claims for self determination. (ur freedom
struggles were infused with an abiding love for humanity. It must be made clear
that we did not hate our adversaries in the struggle) we loved freedom
absolutely.
The freedom struggle never dies. It evolves with emerging challenges thrown in
our path by history and humanity!s thirst for progress. All democracies must
successively resist all forms of oppression and ine'uality. Thus, one dimension
of the struggle was freedom from e*ternal domination. The other was freedom
from internal oppression, ine'uality and e*clusion. This is the struggle that
currently occupies democracies the world over. (pen, just democratic societies
possess a certain political and socioeconomic architecture that leadership must
implement. %ome people are putting +nishing touches on their masterpieces
while others grapple with burdensome, shapeless and unwieldy materials.
In Kenya, we have long #nown that prosperity cannot be achieved without an
earnest efort to put this architecture together, because only within it can
citi,ens achieve the freedom to dream, imagine, aspire and achieve. In this
'uest, we draw plenty of inspiration from the $nited %tates! courageous and
determined 'uest to continuously improve on the achievements of past
generations. At Independence, America was confronted by the most daunting
coc#tail of social and political problems. To have slavery, racism, vicious
ideological competition and ine'uality holding you down at the starting bloc#s
is hardly ideal. et America has wor#ed hard, breathing life into its constitution
and #eeping faith with its founding principles. -ven today, we #now that that
that project which .resident (bama calls /perfecting the $nion/ is ongoing.
%imilarly, Kenya after independence has had to evolve into a true democracy. It
has been a lot of wor#. .erhaps, if you will allow me to borrow the e*pression,
we are struggling hard to perfect our "epublic. There are blessings which
accompany unconditional embrace of freedom. These special rewards reside in
the lived e*perience of our people. Individuals naturally see# ful+lment in
enterprise and in e*ercising the human faculty confronting challenges and
solving problems. In our country, the space to do this is truly vast. That is why
Kenya has emerged as a natural leader in industry, commerce and innovation.
0e are a regional and continental hub. 0e realise that it America!s stupendous
progress as a civilisation is due to this commitment to humanity!s dearest
principles and values.
0e are creating jobs, generating wealth, improving lives, reducing poverty and
developing our country on a scale that is simply unprecedented in our national
history. These are the components of our drive to remain a hub for trade,
logistics, ban#ing, leisure, technology and education. 1y 2overnment has
embraced it!s duty to create conditions to ma#e this happen. The American
+rms which have pitched tent in Kenya as regional or continent!s head'uarters
will testify to this dedication.
0e have long realised that a sound economic system must be underpinned by
an e'ually sound political system. That is why in 3454, the people of Kenya
gave themselves a progressive constitution dedicated to the principles of a
free, open and democratic society. This charter proclaims the essential values
of e'uality, human rights, non discrimination, good governance, integrity,
transparency and accountability, and sustainable development. In it, the
individual!s potential for self actualisation is +rmly established, and the %tate!
proclivity for repression fully contained. 0e are enjoined to share political
power as well as national resources e'uitably and to observe efective chec#s
and balances. 0e now have fully empowered institutions to advance these
principles and protect our democratic space.
6ecause of this, .arliament has enacted legislation to facilitate the
transformation of our national institutions and accelerate progress.
2overnment has conse'uently been enabled to reform those institutions
essential for the ease of doing business in Kenya. This has led to ongoing
eforts to digitise all 2overnment records and ta#e transactions to online
platforms. 1oreover, we have greatly reduced and simpli+ed procedures for
registering businesses, conducting property transactions and resolving
disputes. 0e also have a robust intellectual property protection and anti7
counterfeiting regimes.
6ecause of the constitution, we have a reformed &udiciary committed to
integrity, principled and e*peditious resolution of disputes, complemented with
a fully 78edged commercial disputes section. The courts are totally independent
from political or other interference and manipulation, and the procedures are
simple and rational. In short, the constitution has aforded Kenya the ideal
opportunity to accelerate the e*ecution of its development roadmap9 the
Kenya :ational ;ision34<4. This document reduces our national aspiration to
become a newly industrialised, middle income country by 34<4 into a concrete,
doable initiatives.
(ne of the cardinal re'uisites of ;ision34<4 is the e*pansion and
modernisation of Kenya!s transport, energy, and I=T infrastructure to meet
world class standards. Towards this end, my 2overnment is doubling the paved
road networ# by 345>, and building a new, faster, high capacity standard
gauge rail system to connect the country and our region. (n our own, and
within regional infrastructure collaborative initiatives, we are e*panding our
sea port in 1ombasa to achieve the capacity to service a growing national
economy and an e*panding regional mar#et. (ur international airport in :airobi
has already been e*panded to handle over 34 million travellers annually.
1y 2overnment is also leveraging natural resources in the energy sector to
power increased industrial and commercial activity. Aside from stabilising our
hydro power generation capacity, we have gone all out to increase geothermal
generation to meet increasing demand, and lower energy costs. In the ne*t <
years, we will be guaranteed of ?444 1egawatts of reliable electric power. In
fact, our challenge is about to shift from meeting demand, to encouraging
enterprises to e*pand and ma#e use of our power capacity.
0e have a huge population of highly trained, disciplined and competitive young
people. This has given us a great edge in attracting investors and
entrepreneurs to our country. It has also made Kenya a natural I=T hub. 0e
have resolved to strengthen our continental I=T leadership position by setting
up the %ilicon %avanna at the Kenya Techno=ity, where innovators and
entrepreneurs can collaborate and device nifty I=T solutions. The ambitious
e*pansion and modernisation of our transport, energy and I=T infrastructure is
calculated to reduce the costs of goods and services by a tremendous margin.
The idea is to ma#e Kenya the most competitive investment destination. In
fact, we hope that these initiatives will drive our 'uest to become a compelling
least cost destination.
The fact that giant global brands li#e =oca =ola, 2eneral -lectric, 2oogle, I61
and :o#ia@%iemens as well as do,ens of American +rms have +rmly set up their
regional head'uarters in Kenya has inspired us to reward their faith and attract
every forward loo#ing enterprise to ma#e Kenya their home.
.rogress is not an accident. In Kenya, we have done our best with what we had.
6ecause we are so competitive and highly ran#ed in Africa, many people forget
that we have not had reserves of oil and gas, diamond, platinum or other
mineral resources to power our development. Aowever, serendipity favours the
prepared mind. 6ecause we have been totally dedicated to prosper no matter
what, new opportunities to grow emerge day by day. 0e are now e*porting
titanium and have discovered viable reserves of petroleum and natural gas in
various parts of our country. As if to emphasise this stupendous hint of
providential favour, we even found a huge ac'uifer of fresh water, suBcient to
supply our national demand for over >4years7 in a semi desertC 6ecause we
already have a plan, this boon has only catalysed our impetus to attain
prosperity.
(f course there are challenges. =orruption has been a huge hindrance to
development, and immense national wealth has been lost to theft. 0e are
relying on the rule of law, and recent constitution mandated reforms in our
2overnance, &ustice Law and (rder sector to help us eradicate corruption. I
can guarantee you this very moment that impunity and corruption have
become high ris#, high cost activities in Kenya. As our legal and institutional
arrangements entrench further, we e*pect to see rapid progress in the war
against impunity.
Insecurity stemming from terrorism is a grave challenge that we continue to
e*perience. It has not been easy. As a matter of fact, our tourism industry, a
#ey economic driver, has sufered intense shoc# from terrorist activity
concentrated around our major tourism regions. 0e have ta#en the challenge
head on. Dirst, the Kenya Eefence Dorces are in %omalia to complement a
continental initiative to stabilise the country and eradicate the breeding nest of
terrorists in -astern Africa. %econdly, we have intensi+ed our investment in
security personnel, e'uipment and technology. Thirdly, we have deepened our
collaboration with regional and international allies in the global war on terror.
In this regard, I want to celebrate America!s un8inching resolve to stand with us
in combating this evil. 6y sharing s#ills and intelligence, and in bringing more
hands on dec#, we have substantially pushed bac# the menace in our region.
Although it is slow, the war on terror is being won steadily. As we celebrate this
efective partnership, I must urge the entire global community to be cautious
and avoid antagonising all 1uslims. 0e must distinguish terrorists from
1uslims, and spea#, act and relate in a manner that does not create
unnecessary stigma and pro+ling. I must however state emphatically that our
alliance against terrorism is principled and non negotiable. Terrorism must be
defeated, and will be defeated.
0hat more can I sayF As you can now see, Kenya is ready to deal. 0e are doing
our best, and getting better at it. 0e are the gateway to -ast Africa, and a
fantastic foothold to accessing our 3G4,444,444 strong regional mar#et. 0e
enjoy the proud reputation of being a warm, hospitable and versatile people
inhabiting one of the most breathta#ingly splendid spots in the whole world. In
!Ereams Drom 1y Dather! .resident 6arac# (bama paints a paradisiacal
panorama in graceful lyrics. et he neither deceived nor e*aggerated) Kenya!s
beauty can only be accurately represented in poetic e*pression. Kenya is
magical. 0e want this magic to transcend every sphere of human endeavour
and enchant American visitors and the while world.
All G4 million Kenyans are waiting to provide you with the opportunity to grow.
(ur shared values and traditions guarantee that Kenyans American
partnerships will always prosper. They have prospered before in the political,
economic, educational and personal spheres, and they will prosper as our
traditional bonds deepen.
1y 2overnment welcomes you with open arms, and guarantees that you will be
accorded every facilitation necessary to ma#e your business in Kenya
successful. 0elcome to Kenya. Karibuni nyumbani.
2od bless you all.