Kenya must be allowed to heal and reconcile – Uhuru Kenyatta

Kenya must be allowed to heal, reconcile and look into the future with hope without being dragged into the past, President Uhuru Kenyatta has said.

Expressing his joy following the collapse of the cases against Deputy President William Ruto and Mr Joshua Sang at the ICC, President Kenyatta said the country’s focus now shifts to consolidating peace, progress, stability and unity.

“Peace, progress, stability, health, education and opportunity for our young people now be should be our focus, our goal and objective,” said President Kenyatta, who was accompanied by First Lady Margaret Kenyatta.

“Kenya has been vindicated. We said the truth would eventually surface. And today the truth has surfaced,” he added.

The President spoke last evening in Paris when he addressed the Kenyan diaspora in France as he wound up his State visit that saw him hold talks with French President François Hollande and witness the signing of deals that will pump into the Kenyan economy 250 million Euros.

President Kenyatta emphasized that Kenyans must be given space to work together to ensure justice for the 2007-2008 post election violence, but history should not be allowed to prevent them from achieving the country’s development goals.

“Justice is not by achieved by doing injustice to another Kenyan. We must get justice but not through a second injustice,” President Kenyatta said.

He said Kenyans are capable and have already done a lot to heal and reconcile.

“We want to be left alone to continue on our path so that we can focus on our true objectives as a nation,” said the Head of State.

Noting the unity exhibited by Kenyans living and working abroad, the president challenged the Kenyan diaspora to spread the same spirit back home.

“You have the ability to best exemplify what it means to be Kenyan, to break the boundaries of ethnicity and religious intolerance because while you are here you all see yourselves in terms of Kenyans not individuals from different tribes,” said President Kenyatta.

Responding to issues raised by the Kenyan diaspora in France, President Kenyatta assured that the government was committed to addressing the challenges they were facing, including the slow processing of dual citizenship and issuance of Kenyan national identity cards and passports.

“It is our responsibility to make sure we facilitate and make it easier for you to live in the countries where you reside and work,” President Kenyatta said.

Other speakers include Foreign Affairs and International Trade Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed, Kenyan Ambassador to France Salma Ahmed and Prof George Godia, the Kenyan Ambassador/Permanent Delegate to the UNESCO.

The diaspora meeting was also attended by Cabinet Secretaries Najib Balala and Eugene Wamalwa among others.

President Kenyatta is scheduled to travel to Berlin on Wednesday (today) at the start of the second leg of his France and Germany visits.