President Uhuru Kenyatta Wednesday made a passionate plea for peace as the country heads to the polls on August 9.
The President during Madaraka day celebrations wound up his long speech that mainly outlined his achievements since he took power in 2013 with a call to foster national unity, saying it is the only single greatest enabler for sustainable development and shared prosperity for all.
The national fete marked at the new Uhuru Gardens National Monument and Museum is the last for Kenyatta who is serving his second and final term that ends in August when Kenyans go to the polls to elect their fifth president.
While taking pride in his major accomplishments under the Jubilee administration, President Kenyatta said he had laid the foundation for the next government to take the country to the next level.
“The Fourth Administration, that I had the privilege to lead, has laid the foundation upon which the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and all future administrations can build on,” he said.
He warned that Kenyans shared aspirations can only be realized in an environment that is free from political strife crediting his successes to political stability achieved through and because of the handshake.
“Successive administrations are called upon to foster national unity…. Our first collective national duty is in the forthcoming general elections on 9th August 2022 – choose peace and stability over fear; hope over hate, and progress over retrogression” he told thousands who had gathered at Uhuru Gardens.
President Kenyatta had to ask for water in the middle of his 24-page speech that took close to three hours to read.
He took several pauses during his speech to hit out at his critics for making noise over his transformational projects across all sectors.
“Three, Big Push Investments are bold investments. They call for surgical, and sometimes ruthless execution. Such undertakings cannot be fed on the milk of meekness. They need an attitude that shows the contempt card to those who dwell in negativity and naysaying” he said.
“I have built more roads than any other regimes combined, na huo ndiyo ukweli wa mambo, wapende wasipende (this is the truth whether (critics) they like or not),” he added.
He stated that under his leadership great strides had been made adding that even though Kenya was not yet fully there, it was moving in the right direction
“Whereas we are claiming progress, we do not claim perfection. Yes, we have made commendable progress on our socio-economic front, but we cannot claim to have reached the pinnacle of our nation’s potential. There is much more to be done to move our nation to the next level of development” he said.
Challenges
However, he did not end his speech without pointing out challenges he has had to grapple with such as the drought situation as a result of climate change, the Covid19 pandemic, unemployment, global tensions triggering inflation and high cost of living.
Expressing his desire for a prosperous, stable Kenya, he challenged whoever will be his successor to address issues of employment, insecurity and decay of moral values which required attention and vigilance.
“We are also still faced with security challenges in parts of the country including Kerio Valley where bandits cannot even spare our children, robbing us our future; Unemployment is still a major challenge, dampening the spirits of our youth and disheartening their parents” he pointed out.
He added “Equally important to highlight is the threat to our traditional values and the family as the basic unit of our Society. The evolving face of the Kenyan family is characterized in the 2019 national census where families headed by single parents rose from 25.1% in 2009 to 38.2% in 2019. If unchecked, this trend shall destroy the fundamental character of Kenya and reap untold harm onto our most vulnerable and precious members of society; our children”
