Kenyans in the UK mark Jamhuri Day

The Kenyan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Manoah Esipisu. [File, Standard]

Kenya’s Mission to London held Diaspora Jamhuri Day celebrations virtually on the evening of December 11, 2020.

The Kenyan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Manoah Esipisu led the diplomatic mission team, Kenyans living in diaspora and delegates from various missions in marking the virtual celebrations.

The former Statehouse spokesperson noted that Kenya was celebrating the freedom and liberty that was secured after decades of struggle against the colonial rule.

The diplomat said that 2020 has been a challenging year but also a successful year for Kenya when it comes to matters of social and economic development cooperation with the United Kingdom.

‘’Today's celebrations have found the United Kingdom at various levels of national restrictions which the host government hopes will slow down the Covid-19 infections,’’ noted Esipisu.

He further thanked Kenyans for remaining resilient during the hard times.

‘’Let me assure you that the health, welfare and safety of Kenyans living in the United Kingdom remain a priority for the mission and the government of the Republic of Kenya,’’ promised the envoy.

The envoy highlighted key partnerships that Nairobi and London had pursued at the beginning of the year, noting the launching of the strategic partnership during the UK-Africa investment summit which was held in London.

The strategic partnership is based on five core pillars, namely, mutual prosperity, security and stability, sustainable development, climate change, and people to people partnerships.

The launch was witnessed by President Uhuru Kenyatta and Britain Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

 The UK-Kenya strategic partnership serves as the framework that defines a new trade arrangement between the two states post-Brexit.

Kenya signed a trade deal with the UK on Tuesday, December 8, which provides for Kenya’s duty-free, quota-free access to the UK market on specified products.

UK-Kenya defence cooperation agreement came as Manoah’s third agenda- noting that the two nations had managed to achieve a milestone.

‘’The ministry of defence in the UK continued support and cooperation with Kenya’s ministry of defence can only become stronger as envisaged in the Kenya-UK strategic partnership agreement,’’ he said.

Kenya looks forward to continued strong results next year, especially in terms of intelligence sharing, joint training and exercises and more capacity building for Kenya’s defence forces.

Nairobi and London relationship is based on deep and mutual respect.

Other major collaborations mentioned were; education scholarships opportunities offered by the UK government and training and capacity building for Kenyan medical professionals.