It had been regarded as the Kenya's greatest speech of all time. A speech delivered by Rt. Hon Raila Odinga during the promulgation of the New Kenya's Constitution.
Here is the full speech .........
' SPEECH BY THE RT. HON. RAILA ODINGA, PRIME MINISTER OF THE REPUBLIC
OF KENYA, DURING THE ENACTMENT OF A NEW CONSTITUTION FOR KENYA AT UHURU
PARK, NAIROBI; AUGUST 27, 2010.
Your Excellency the President,
Your Excellencies Heads of State and Government
Your Excellencies the ambassadors;
Members of the diplomatic Corp;
Citizens and friends of Kenya:
Today, we mark the end of one journey, as we embark on the beginning of another.
On the Fourth of August this year, Kenyans stood one by one in the
solitude of the polling booths and voted in favour of a new national
Constitution. In that moment, so fleeting and yet so historic, decades
of struggle for a better future were finally rewarded.
The Fourth of August will go down in history as the date on which we,
the people of Kenya, formed a more united nation, and established the
groundwork for justice, unity and the full blessings of liberty for
ourselves and for posterity.
No one could have thought that out of the bitter harvest of the
disputed election and the violence that pitted our people against each
other just two years ago, we would be witnessing today the birth of a
national unity that has eluded us for more than 40 years.
Today, we close a long chapter in our history. We put repression,
exclusion and heroic struggle behind us once and for all. We have opened
a clean new page in our book. On that page, we begin writing the story
of an equal and just society.
We gather here now to ratify the pledge we made to ourselves and to
the world, that Kenya shall redeem herself and extend the frontiers of
democracy and freedom. This freedom has eluded us for more than forty
years. Each time we came close to attaining it, it slipped from our
grasp.
Each time we missed it; ever-greater repression seemed to replace the justice we sought.
But a time comes in the life of every nation when citizens have to
choose between the status quo and a future that is full of promise.
In dedicating this Supreme Law, we pay our respects to those who
walked this land before us, who saw its beauty, and who fought for
fulfillment for all its citizens.
We remember Pio Gama Pinto, Josiah Mwangi Kariuki, Jaramogi Oginga
Odinga, Alexander Kipsang Arap Muge, Masinde Muliro, George Anyona,
Katama Mkangi, Jean Marie Seroney, Henry Okullu, among many others who
struggled for this day to come but did not live to see it.
We honour Kenneth Matiba, Charles Rubia, Martin Shikuku, Wangari
Maaithai, Chelagat Mutai, and the Young Turks of the Second Liberation
who pushed us closer to this day.
These are but a few of the Kenyan patriots who sacrificed to make
today a reality. At great risks to their lives, they challenged
dictatorship.
They paid great prices to liberate our country from impunity.
Collectively, we owe them a debt of gratitude. In the words of the late
Sir Winston Churchill…. “Never have so many, owed so much, to so few…”
We thank and honour our President, Mwai Kibaki, who has today signed
into law what we endorsed on the Fourth of August.
In 1992, when multiparty politics were restored to our country, Mr
Kibaki joined hands with the Opposition. Ten years later, he led our
country into a new era and towards the Constitution that we now unveil.
We thank the Grand Coalition Government for pulling together to
deliver this critical item of our National Accord. We salute the women
and the youth of Kenya for their heroic participation in the rebirth of
our Nation.
We owe gratitude to His Excellency Dr Kofi Anan, a true friend of
Kenya, and the team of Eminent African Personalities who stood with us
at our lowest moment in our history and helped us trace our way back
into sanity.
We proclaim this new Supreme Law in the firm belief that lasting
peace and security and prosperity for all can only come if we all enjoy
freedom and justice as equals.
The promise of this new beginning will be challenged by our
traditional enemies; corruption and negative ethnicity. We must be
vigilant and stop corruption from stealing our future and negative
ethnicity from weakening our nationhood.
To those in charge of public affairs, may public service be what it
is; public service; not self-service. This new beginning must mark the
end of shallow political partisanship and herald the start of mature
competition among political parties.
To all the people of Kenya, I say, thank you for taking your destiny into your own hands.
Among us today are representatives of the international community,
some of whom have stood with us in good and bad times as we have
continued our search for these new laws. We thank you. This Constitution
is our humble contribution to the culture of democracy and human rights
worldwide that you represent.
It is our solemn pledge that never again shall the laws of our land
divide and authorise the repression and oppression of our people.
I have never said this with a fuller heart: God bless you all, and God bless Kenya.
Thank you.'
Source -Prime Minister Press Service.
