Hiiraan Online
Thursday May 3, 2018
President Uhuru Kenyatta making the 2018 State of the Nation address. /Photo:PSCU
Nairobi (HOL) - Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said that the troubles of Somalia are caused by “foreign agents” who seek to destabilize the country and divide Somali’s.
“The region is not at peace. Somalia remains troubled, largely by foreign agents who weaken its government, who divide its peoples, and who threaten to reverse the gains we have so painfully won under AMISOM.”
Speaking to Kenyans during the annual State of the Nation address on Wednesday, Kenyatta said that bringing regional stability to Somalia and Sudan will be at the top of his agenda in his final term.
“Beyond terrorism, we remain vulnerable to other security threats; many of them, from terrorism to trafficking, across borders. So we cannot be self-absorbed: we must be our neighbour’s keeper no less than our brother’s. The same principles that guide us at home govern relations with our neighbours.”
He added that the prosperity of Somalia and Kenya are intertwined.
“Through it all, we remember that if our brothers and sisters in Somalia prosper, we prosper; if they are safe, so are we. It has been our policy, then, to help them regain the peace and prosperity they once knew.”
“We worked, and continue to work, to secure foreign funding and support commensurate to Somalia’s challenges; we helped, and will continue to help, the people of Somalia build a strong and stable government.”
The Kenyan President admitted that the problems facing its Eastern neighbours are minuscule when compared to Kenya’s Northwestern neighbour, calling the situation in South Sudan a “crisis".
“If Somalia remains unsettled, let us admit that South Sudan nation remains in crisis.”
He called on the leaders of South Sudan to put the interest of their people before their own to form a lasting peace.
"Equally, we have lent our support to the multilateral peace process, and we continue to urge the leaders of South Sudan to put the interests of their people and motherland above their own. As we have in the past year, Kenya stands with the people of South Sudan in their search for lasting peace.”