What development without free speech?

President Uhuru Kenyatta and First Lady Margaret Kenyatta with Deputy President William Ruto and Mrs Rachel Ruto in a celebratory mood at the Kenya @50 Celebrations at the Safaricom Stadium, Kasarani.  Photo/NATION TEAM

 

In Summary

• The message looked at some of accomplishments of the Jubilee coalition government in the short time since its inauguration last April, and looked ahead to what Kenyans can expect in the coming weeks and months.
• He also urged the national and county governments to partner in the implementation Vision 2030, goals he declared can be attained a decade earlier.
• In regard to protecting basic freedoms, the government’s record in its short tenure has not been very good.

advertisement

The New Year message delivered by President Kenyatta was titled “Reconciliation and Unity Towards Inclusive Growth” as one of the government’s key plans for 2014.

The message looked at some of accomplishments of the Jubilee coalition government in the short time since its inauguration last April, and looked ahead to what Kenyans can expect in the coming weeks and months.

It highlighted free maternity services, the free laptops programme for primary schools set to be launched soon, and the job creation expected to be spurred by massive investment in infrastructure development, including the new railway, the one-million-acre irrigation scheme and new energy projects.

The President reiterated his government’s commitment to growth that improves the lives of the people, transforms the political, economic and social structures, and ensures access to basics such as education, clean water, and healthcare.

To that end, he called on all Kenyans to play their rightful roles to make the shared dream of growth and prosperity a reality.

He also urged the national and county governments to partner in the implementation Vision 2030, goals he declared can be attained a decade earlier.

Key to the achievement of these goals, the President said, was leaders moving forward together devoid of parochial and divisive politics.

He asked for a national agenda that centred on improving the welfare of the people; one that is progressive, pledging that his government will encourage responsible engagement among leaders; between the three arms of government; and between the government and the private sector.

LOFTY RHETORIC
We agree fully with the vision and the prognosis expounded in the President’s New Year address to the nation.

However, we would add that exhortations towards national unity as a key element towards the attainment of development goals must not be taken in the context where dissenting views are discouraged.

Aside from lofty rhetoric, the government must lead from the front in displaying an appreciation for full and undiluted democracy that recognises the basic liberties for all guaranteed in the extensive Bill of Rights that came with the new Constitution.

In regard to protecting basic freedoms, the government’s record in its short tenure has not been very good.

The Executive and a Legislature dominated by the Jubilee coalition have already earned poor marks for passing laws that flout the constitutional guarantees for independent media.

It goes without saying that curbs on a free media are also curbs on the rights of citizens to express themselves and to receive and impart ideas without undue hindrance.

Until the anti-media laws are repealed and all other tendencies towards autocracy and dictatorship curbed, all these appeals for unity and reconciliation will ring hollow.

Kenyans, indeed, have shared goals and therefore must work in unison towards economic and social development, which must never mean the stifling of divergent views.