Kalonzo pays tribute to Kenyans abroad

Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka on Saturday kicked off his tour of the United States with an address to Kenyans in Boston where he said citizens living abroad should participate in the government because they remit nearly $1 billion every year.

Mr Musyoka said the next government will involve Kenyans living and working abroad in key decision-making organs because of the critical role they play in boosting the economy through their remittances.

The VP praised overseas Kenyans saying they have been at the forefront of the agitation for more civil liberties in the country that have now been realised through the enactment of a new constitution.

“You work hard to remit billions of shillings home, it is important now that the next government which I hope to lead will tap your ideas, creativity and innovation to propel the country forward,” Mr Musyoka told hundreds of Kenyans gathered at the Boston Marriott Hotel.

The tour will take him to Texas, Atlanta, Minneapolis and Washington DC.

Mr Musyoka, who is accompanied by Maragua MP Elias Mbau, Kamukunji MP Yusuf Hassan and Kibwezi MP Philip Kaloki, acknowledged that Kenya’s history was replete with mistakes but also full of successes.

“We know and acknowledge our past – the good and the bad. We seek leadership so as to correct mistakes of the past and build on the successes.” Kenya’s Ambassador to the US Elkana Odembo also accompanied the VP.

He told the Kenyans that key institutions critical to the implementation of the new constitution have been established, paving the way for the entrenchment of the new dispensation.

Kenya, Mr Musyoka said, was a young nation with 65 per cent of its population classified as youth, and therefore wealth and job creation must be the priority of the next administration.

But he added that for economic prosperity to take root and in order for the country to take advantage of the benefits of regional integration, peace and tranquillity must prevail in East Africa and the Horn of Africa region.

“We are therefore concerned at what is happening between North and South Sudan and urge them to give peace a chance in order to safeguard the comprehensive peace agreement”.

Mr Musyoka said he was passionate about national healing, reconciliation and integration because the country cannot develop if negative ethnicity is allowed to thrive.

“I have worked for peace in other countries and doing so at home is now my personal mission” Mr Musyoka said.

Mr Mbau said for the country to realise Vision 2030 there was a need for sobriety, continuity and focus in the next leadership.

Various members of the audience engaged the VP in an extensive question-and-answer session that expressed the high expectations of the Kenyan diaspora for the new Kenya.

“We are now ready to work hand-in-hand with our brothers and sisters back home, and we hope that the leadership will create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive,” said Mr Joseph Odhiambo, a Kenyan businessman living in Boston.