Kenya at 60: President William Ruto's full Madaraka Day speech

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On this day, 60 years ago, Kenya formally gained its right of internal self-government. Madaraka, the mandate of majority African self-determination, was a major step towards the emergence of this nation as a Republic later that year.

That first Madaraka Day, then, was the golden dawn of our country's sovereignty: Freedom from colonial oppression, autonomy from racist repression and liberty from foreign suppression. In fighting for our sovereignty, our noble freedom fighters had primarily waged a political struggle to liberate a people violated, humiliated and impoverished under a predatory system whose institutions were vicious and extractive.