Speech by His Excellency President William Samoei Ruto, Phd., C.G.H on Madaraka Day June 1, 2023

Abstract

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. 2. 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. So, although the freedom struggle was political and the first Madaraka Day represented political autonomy, every Kenya African understood it to be the beginning of the hard and noble work of securing and enhancing social and economic freedom as well.