Speech by His Excellency President Mwai Kibaki, C.G.H., M.P., on Jamhuri Day, December 12, 2009

Abstract

We thank God that in spite of the mixed fortunes we have remained a strong ssovereign and independent nation. We can, therefore, say with cconfidence that the independence we won forty-six years ago is secure, and will endure to the end. I say this, fellow Kenyans, because we have undergone one of the toughest and most difficult years since independence. The recent drought was probably one of the severest in living memory. This was accompanied by a very challenging year for the national and global economy, at a time when our country sought to entrench and accelerate political reforms. The good news is that in facing these challenges, we have done much better than what was expected. Indeed, despite the difficult economic times, the Government mobilized its scarce resources to minimize the impact of severe drought by feeding over 4.5 million people at a cost of over 2 billion shillings per month….