Uhuru criticises Britain’s record
President Kenyatta is invited for a dance by a member of Kenyan Girls Choir at Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi on August 11, 2015. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- In a largely sombre and reflective address to the more than 400 delegates, President Kenyatta also castigated attempts by British historians to suggest that the empire that oversaw colonisation was good.
- Saying that it would not be useful to dwell on these issues, he asked the MPs to take advantage of the fact that African states and nations are stronger than they have been since independence to develop the continent.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday asked Britain to stop sanitizing its brutal colonial past in Africa.
Speaking to MPs from 18 African states at the Commonwealth meeting in Nairobi, the President accused the former colonial oppressors of attempting to revise the history of the brutality and misrule Africans were subjected to before they secured their independence.
In a largely sombre and reflective address to the more than 400 delegates, President Kenyatta also castigated attempts by British historians to suggest that the empire that oversaw colonisation was good.
“Those claims are hard to square with the actual experience of those who lived through colonial times. Those claims are even harder to square with the actual evidence that has recently come out of Britain’s own archives. The past is far more painful than the glib revisionists would wish us to believe,” he said.
Saying that it would not be useful to dwell on these issues, he asked the MPs to take advantage of the fact that African states and nations are stronger than they have been since independence to develop the continent.
He also asked lawmakers to help eradicate poverty.
“Even though we won our political freedom, too many of Africa’s young men and, our women, have yet to taste the fruits of our independence,” he said at the opening ceremony of the conference.
“The basic problem remains: The liberty we won has not yet been extended to every African… It is obvious to me, and it has been clear to many thoughtful Africans for most of the last half century, that what we need most is more fully representative government,” he added.
He said that since Africans know the meaning of struggle, they should ensure everyone is represented.
“If some voices are left out, if some of us remain unheard, then we cannot say that the liberty for which our fathers fought has been equally shared,” he added.
National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi said he has forwarded legislative proposals on the matter to the relevant committees for scrutiny.
