President Uhuru Kenyatta on Sunday urged the international
community to respect decisions made by Kenya in pulling out of
international missions and agreements that no longer worked in its
interests.
The President regretted the replacement of the Lt-Gen Johnson Ondieki as
commander of the UN Mission in South Sudan, and defended the country’s
decision to withdraw a contingent of the Kenya Defence Forces on a peace
mission in the youngest nation.
“Kenya will not agree to be scapegoated by a mission that has failed to execute its mandate. Pulling out troops will, however, not affect Kenya’s position in regional peace”, the President said in Kampala, Uganda.
Although
speaking broadly about the unequal treatment of Africa in the
international order, President Kenyatta appeared to set the stage for
the country’s withdrawal from other treaties currently not serving its
agenda.
Kenya, which has introduced a Bill in Parliament for withdrawing from the Rome Statute that
created the International Criminal Court, is expected to follow South
Africa, Burundi and the Gambia that have formally submitted proposals to
pull out of the treaty.
DEMAND EQUAL TREATMENT
In the wake of Kenya pulling its troops out of South Sudan, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and the US, criticised the decision asking
the country to reconsider its position.
Speaking
during the 2nd annual Diplomatic Forum organised by the Diplomatic corps
in Uganda, President Kenyatta said Africans should demand equal
treatment when engaging with other countries on the illegitimate and the
unfair international order.
The President said since
African countries accepted the sovereign decisions of other States,
their rights to the same should be respected.
“I can’t
think of any African I know who did not accept that the United Kingdom
had the right to choose to leave the European Union. But if Africans
attempt to exercise their sovereign will, we hear a barrage of voices
which tell us we can’t,” the President said.
He said
global peace and stability will be realised when countries engage as
partners. “Even in the face of an international order stacked against
us, built on our backs, Africans have made painful progress. For our
partners from around the world, let it be clear that we are partners.
Mutual respect is what we seek”, he said.
INCREASE TRADE
He
told African countries to open borders, connect people, increase trade,
support innovation and promote African knowledge in their quest to
compete equally with the rest of the world. “As we seek to make the most
of our potential now, we will need to drive the Pan-African agenda as a
tremendous ideological wave that will lift all the boats of African
socioeconomic transformation,” he added.
He said rapid
sustainable development was the last agenda of Africa’s freedom struggle
and called on Africans to speak with one voice.
The
President said rapid sustainable development, was the last agenda of
Africa’s freedom struggle, and called on Africans to unite and to speak
with one voice.
“Let us therefore strengthen the
bonds of brotherhood and solidarity throughout Africa. At the same
time, let us engage abroad to ensure that our voice is heard and
interests secured,” he said.
President Kenyatta
underscored the important role African diplomats’ play in the vanguard
of Africa’s modern iteration of the freedom struggle.
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