Speech by His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta, C.G.H., on Madaraka Day, June 1, 2016

Abstract

Let me start by thanking the people ·of Nakuru County for their warm welcome today. The decision to share the celebrations of our nationhood among the counties is part of the Jubilee administration's desire to include every Kenyan, in word and in deed. We gather to commemorate the day, fifty three years ago, when Kenyans finally took control of their own government: the day we began to govern ourselves; the day we took responsibility for our social, economic and political destiny. Today, ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to be Kenyan for three reasons. First, after half a century of self-rule, we have shown our ability to renew and re-imagine our nationhood. We won our independence and became a centralized state; today we have constitutionally devolved the responsibilities of governance to 47 counties. Our journey since that first Madaraka day has been one of growing political and administrative maturity. In embracing devolution, we set the stage for equitable access to resources and opportunity, brought government services closer to Kenyans, and reshaped our representative politics…