Abridged version of the President’s Madaraka speech

Distinguished guests, fellow Kenyans,

Fifty one years ago today - within the memory of many still living - this nation, regained its self-rule, after nearly a century of painful struggle. We pay tribute to the men and women who gave all they had so that we might be free, and we will always remember those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom.  This nation is their gift to us.

 On that first day of our self-government, we rallied behind leaders who demanded not just sovereignty, but also freedom from ignorance, poverty, and disease. Ours is to complete the journey they began.

The road has been long.  But while we cannot claim that every Kenyan lives in dignity and freedom, there is no doubt that we have made immense progress.

At the dawn of our freedom in 1963, the average Kenyan could expect to live 35 years. Today, thanks to the investment in health undertaken by Kenyans and their government over the last 51 years, the average Kenyan can expect to live to 64 years.

We have fought ignorance valiantly. Fifty one years ago, just over 800,000 of our children were in primary school.  Today, 10 million children have the chance of an education paid for by the State.

 Fifty one years ago, there were 82 secondary schools in Kenya. Today, there are nearly 10,000. Fifty one years ago, we had a single public university. Now, we have 22 and nine constituent colleges, while the private sector has established 19 universities and five constituent colleges.

We take pride in the fact that our armed services have defended our sovereignty, and contributed to peace in our region. Let me pause now to remember those who fell in recent missions.

 We also take special pride in the bold reform of our most basic law in 2010, to let every Kenyan taste the fruits of our freedom. Of course, these achievements did not come by our strength alone; the grace of God has led us through difficult times. There have been failures, setbacks and missed opportunities.

But instead of lamenting what might have been, we are grateful for the distance we have travelled, and we look forward to what is to come.

  We should also admit the difficulties and dangers of self-government.

Madaraka does not require unanimity: In a country as diverse as Kenya, we will always find issues to disagree about. What Madaraka asks of us is that when we disagree, we reason together respectfully. Kila Mkenya astahili heshima.

 Some of us have forgotten these truths. Some of us have forgotten that self-rule comes with responsibility. They have yielded to a narrative of negativity, which sees every ill in their motherland, and their countrymen, and rejects every good.

 Our self-rule faces other challenges. Our young people want to match the self-reliance of their elders. But too many of them cannot start their own businesses, or find the work that would give them freedom.

  Let us also admit a hard truth: 51 years after independence, poverty still robs too many Kenyans of their dignity. And let us admit another: Kenya is not yet food secure.

  As if that were not enough, we must confront a new breed of terrorists, who use our freedom and tolerance against us, and use our commitment to the security and prosperity of our friends and neighbours as an excuse for murder.

These extremists will attack even a child, like Satrin Osinya. Nothing can justify such heinous acts, and nothing will stop us from bringing their perpetrators to justice.

common prosperity

Madaraka demands that we respond to our trials as a free people in control of our destiny. As we have done since independence, Kenya will meet these challenges.

  For half a century, too many of us took education to be little more than a path to a job. But experience has taught that we need many more young Kenyans to start the businesses that will grow our common prosperity. That is why the Youth Enterprise and Development Fund distributed more than Sh1.8 billion to 130,000 of our young people last year, in 21,000 groups across the nation.

   That is also why my government established the Uwezo Fund, which is supplying Sh6 billion in the capital and training that our enterprising young people so urgently need.

   If we are to create the opportunities that our youth deserve, our economy must grow and diversify. In my government’s first year in power, we attained GDP growth of 4.7%. When we meet at next year’s celebration, I expect to report even better performance.

 If we look away from sheer growth, our economy is diversifying - we are on course for the transformation required to deliver opportunity and work for every Kenyan.

That is as it should be, for even though we have 16 years to make Vision 2030 a reality, it is now clear that we can achieve it sooner.  Guided by this goal, my government has prepared a number of programmes.

 The central part is Kenya’s first all-inclusive budget for the 2014/15 financial year, aimed at delivering direct benefits to each household.