Speech by His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta, C.G.H., on Jamhuri Day, December 12, 2020

Abstract

Today, we commemorate 57 years of our independence and nationhood as a People. On this day, in 1963; the Union Jack of Britain came down and we hoisted our beautiful National Flag. On the same day in 1964, the Dominion of Kenya became an independent Republic. And that same night, the British Governor of Kenya departed from our land, marking the end of 78 years of colonial rule. On that memorable day, the journey to create, build and nurture a nation commenced. As we celebrate our Independence Day today, we must also pay allegiance to the two symbols of our nationhood. Both our National Anthem and the National Flag were gifted to us by the Founding Fathers as representations of our nationhood. The National Anthem was composed from a Pokomo lullaby as a prayer by an expectant nation; a celebration of the fertility of our land; and a call to action whenever anything Kenyan is threatened. And this is why each time the nation gathers; our opening act is always the singing of this beautiful anthem. On its part, the National Flag is a symbol of our national wounds and the scars we bear from the struggle we started 100 years ago in the 1920s…