Præsident Uhuru Kenyatta understregede i sin tale torsdag på 50 års uafhængigheds-dagen for Kenya, at Afrika er “blevet voksent” og bør behandles med respekt på den internationale scene.
Tens of thousands of Kenyans sang and waved the national flag as he spoke at a rally in the capital, Nairobi.At midnight, the scene when Kenya gained independence was re-enacted, writes BBC online Friday.
Mr Kenyatta said it was important for foreign powers to realise that Africa had come of age.
“We will embrace partnerships based on mutual respect and win-win scenarios. We will not accept partnerships that do not recognise we also have the intellectual capacity to engage on equal terms,” he said.
“Africa has a voice. Fifty years after independence, Africa demands that its voice must be heard,” the president added.
He was elected to office in 2012, despite being charged by the International Court (ICC) with crimes against humanity.
Many voters rallied behind him after he accused the ICC and Western governments, including the UK and US, of meddling in Kenya’s affairs.
Mr Kenyatta is accused of fuelling violence after disputed elections in 2007. He denies the charges. About 1.200 people were killed in the violence.
The ICC has resisted calls by Kenya and the African Union (AU) to suspend the trial until his presidential term ends.
The Kenyan flag was raised in Nairobi’s Uhuru (meaning freedom in the Swahili language) Gardens at midnight, re-enacting the moment when colonial rule ended.
Mr Kenyatta addressed the crowds, as his father did in 1963. “From that night the Empire waned and a proud new nation was born… Finally Kenyans were masters of their own destiny,” the president said, to wild cheers.
Se meget mere om Uhuru Kenyatta på
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uhuru_Kenyatta
Se også en video og kampagnesang for Uhuru på
http://www.youtube.com/user/UhuruKenyattaTV
