President Kenyatta urges Africans to challenge unfair international order

President Uhuru Kenyatta has called on Africans to demand equal treatment when engaging with other countries on the illegitimate and the unfair international order.

President Kenyatta regretted that while African countries accepted the sovereign decisions of other countries, their rights to exercise sovereignty and democratically set aside international commitments which no longer work for them should be respected.

“I cannot think of any African I know who did not accept that the United Kingdom had the right to choose to leave the European Union.  But if Africans attempt to exercise their sovereign will, we hear a barrage of voices which tell us we can’t,” the president said.

The Head of State who spoke last night in Kampala during the 2^nd annual Diplomatic Forum organised by the Diplomatic Corps in Uganda, said global peace and stability will be realised when countries engage as partners.

“Even in the face of an international order stacked against us, built on our backs, Africans have made painful progress. For our partners from around the world, let it be clear that we are partners.  Mutual respect is what we seek”, the president said.

He told African countries to open borders, connect people, increase trade, support innovation and promote African knowledge in their collaborative approach to successful competition with the rest of the world.

“As we seek to make the most of our potential now, we will need to drive the Pan-African agenda as a tremendous ideological wave that will lift all the boats of African socioeconomic transformation,” President Kenyatta added.

The president said rapid sustainable development, being the last agenda of Africa’s freedom struggle, requires Africans to unite and to speak with one voice.

“Let us, therefore, strengthen the bonds of brotherhood and solidarity throughout Africa.  At the same time, let us engage abroad to ensure that our voice is heard and interests secured,” President Kenyatta said.

The president’s statement come at a time when the country is faced with criticism following a decision to close the Daadab refugee camp and repatriate the over 600,000 refugees who have called the camp home for over two decades.

The government had announced plans to repatriate the refugees and close the camp over claims that it haboured al Shabaab terrorists who launched attacks on various places in the country.

The move to close the camp saw the government come under sharp criticism from international human rights bodies, which accused it of contravening international agreements on hosting and repatriating refugees.

Despite the opposition, the government stood its ground and began the process which was given a six-month extension last week.

Meanwhile, President Kenyatta jetted back into the country Sunday morning from Kampala, Uganda.