Kenya can go far but leaders must end ethnicity and corruption, says Obama

US President Barack Obama on Sunday challenged Kenyans to confront corruption, ethnicity and inequality.

Highlighting Kenya’s potential for growth, President Obama said the country had done well in governance by enacting a new Constitution and was on the verge of economic take-off.

Although he noted that Kenya was at a crossroads, he said the country’s future is filled with hope.

“You are poised for a bigger role in the world,” he said in his address to Kenyans from the Safaricom Sports Gymnasium at the Kasarani Stadium, just hours before he left for Ethiopia.

He said spreading wealth fairly and taming corruption and ethnicity remained challenges to be overcome. He also said the war on terrorism should be waged without ethnic or religious profiling and challenged the government to give women and the youth opportunities in education and employment.

In what was probably the most important speech of his visit, he gave Kenyans what he described as a four pillar programme for the country to prosper; fighting corruption, ensuring prosperity was reaching everyone and opportunities were open to all, a stronger, inclusive democracy and peace and national reconciliation.

COST OF CORRUPTION

Citing studies, Mr Obama said corruption costs the Kenyan economy 250,000 jobs annually.

He said every shilling paid in bribes and other corrupt deals is a salary missed by an unemployed Kenyan. His sentiment was greeted with wild cheering by the crowd.

Mr Obama said he had personally told President Kenyatta how impressed he was with Kenya’s economic growth and the path the country had taken towards a stronger democracy with enactment of a new Constitution.

And in a light-hearted comment, Mr Obama described himself as the “first Kenyan-American President”.

Mr Obama arrived in Kenya on Friday night at the start of a three-day visit to the country, the first by an American President.

He co-hosted the Global Entrepreneurship Summit with President Uhuru Kenyatta at the Unep headquarters in Gigiri, Nairobi. They also held bilateral talks and addressed a joint news conference at State House on Saturday.

The summit, which President Obama initiated in 2009, connects young entrepreneurs and start-ups with established global businesses for future partnerships.

His other engagements on Sunday included opening the Young Leadership Centre at Kenyatta University, meeting opposition leaders Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka, Moses Wetang’ula and Martha Karua; and meeting members of the civil society.

KIDERO BARRED

President Obama’s aircraft, Air Force One, took off from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at 4.20pm.

Before flying out, President Obama, who was seen off by President Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto, chatted briefly with Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua. However, Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero was barred by Secret Service agents.

When Mr Obama visited Kenya as a senator in 2006, Dr Mutua described him as a junior senator and criticised him for speaking out against corruption.
Earlier in the day, President Obama had said that free speech was crucial to keep leaders on their toes.

He praised Kenya for its regional leadership and said the US Government was grateful for the role Kenya played in the African Union Mission in Somalia that is stabilising the Horn of Africa country.

He said America would stand “shoulder to shoulder with Kenya” in combating the threat posed by terrorists, whose main objective is to turn Kenyans against each other.

EXPLORE POTENTIAL

On the economy, he asked Kenyan youth to explore their potential locally instead of seeking to travel abroad. Kenyans should also avoid the temptation to look outside for solutions to their problems and needs and work to improve their status.

He also praised Kenyans for championing reconciliation and national cohesion after the 2007 post election violence.

At some point, he said, he watched with horror as he was running for his first term as American President, at the prospect of Kenya breaking up on ethnic lines.

“Kenyans chose to stay together. In part because of this political maturity, the economy is prospering,” he said.

President Obama said he watches and celebrates as Kenyan marathon runners and other long distance athletes triumph worldwide.

“There is a good news story here,” he said.

However, he warned that the picture is far from perfect.

“As an American, economic development is not complete if the wealth is not well shared. Today studies show that a child born in Nyanza is four times likely to die than the one born in Central. That is a gap that has to be closed.”

He said similar gaps exist in education between other parts of the country.

TEAR COUNTRY APART

President Obama said politics based on ethnicity was doomed to tear the country apart. He added that political gains made so far must be protected.

America is great today because its citizens always strive to perfect the union. “What is true of America is true of Kenya,” he said.

A strong, inclusive and transparent democracy begins with elections but does not end with elections. Unchecked power is dangerous to democracy and power must be devolved to local communities, he said.

President Obama said democracy is messy and sometimes leaders get frustrated when demands are being made but this was necessary to ensure continuous improvement.

He said though corruption is experienced everywhere, in Kenya it is tolerated “because that is the way it has always been”.

Though the government has started taking steps against corruption, ordinary Kenyans should assist the fight by saying enough is enough.

“If you take these steps, I assure you that America will stand by you,” he said.

He asked Kenyans to frown on wife beating, female genital mutilation and cultures that do not support education of girls.