President Uhuru Kenyatta spoke of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) in high regard in his first public address since arriving in Washington, D.C. for a National Prayer Breakfast to be held on Wednesday, January 5.
Addressing the Atlantic Council, a governance think tank, before the prayer breakfast, Uhuru told attendees that the initiative was important and necessary, listing reasons why he chose to pursue the famous March 9, 2018 handshake with opposition leader Raila Odinga.
"Political, social and governance engineering is what we are embarking on in Kenya with our Building Bridges Initiative.
"In a nutshell, the BBI is a homegrown solution for a divisive political culture that has often sparked electoral crises over the last thirty years," he noted.
Uhuru went on to give three reasons why the initiative was necessary for the country to move towards accelerated growth and development.
"Its intention is to advance three goals, the first, to pre-empt any further escalation in the cycle of no-holds-barred political competition by taking early and decisive action to reach out across the aisle. I did this with the Honorable Raila Odinga in March 2018 at a time when few in Kenya or anywhere imagined this was possible
"The second is to use inclusivity to strengthen the center of politics which is necessary for democracy in our country to be successful. That center is identified by being able to manifest the qualities of moderation, pragmatism and a willingness to compromise
"Our stepping forward toward one another, without doubt, has helped us disorient the politics of extremism and division.
"The third is to ensure that the strengthened and more stable center is able to deliver bold reforms that advance inclusion, economic uplift, counters corruption and strengthens our institutions," he asserted.
Uhuru advised the think tank to delve deeper into the initiative, further noting that other countries had approached them seeking to learn from the program to implement similar initiatives in their nations.
The President further criticized Western discourse on Africa centered around the perceived struggle between the United States and China for control of Africa's resources.
""I have noticed in the conversations in Western countries and their counterparts in Asia and the Middle East are returned to competition over Africa, in some cases… behaving like Africa is for the taking.
"Well I want to tell you it is not," Uhuru declared.
Watch a video of Uhuru's speech below:
