Nairobi: Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has called for forgiveness and reconciliation during his state of the nation address. "If there was anything I said last year that hurt or wounded you, if I damaged the unity of this country in any way, I ask you to forgive me, and to join me in repairing that harm," Kenyatta said.
Kenyatta was criticized for calling the judges "thugs" after the Supreme Court annulled his election win in August 2017. He won a re-run, which was boycotted by his main rival Raila Odinga. Kenyatta called Odinga "a mad man." "I pray that all of us will spend the days and weeks after this address repairing the bonds that frayed last year," he said during the address.
"Let us apologize for our words, and for the anger and malice that Kenyans heard." The President won an heated election re-run last October, which Odinga had boycotted. Around 150 people were killed in election-related violence, with police accused of using excessive force to quell opposition-organised protests. Odinga and Kenyatta shook hands in March to promote reconciliation.
Kenyatta vows to crush al-Shabaab terrorists
Meanwhile, Kenyatta mourned the death of nine Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers and vowed to crash the al-Shabaab terrorists. Kenyatta described the KDF soldiers as true patriots who paid the ultimate price with their lives while protecting the country from the dangerous militia.
The soldiers were killed on May 6, after their vehicle was blown off by an Improved Explosive Devices (IED) planted on a road in Dhobley town between the Kenyan-Somali border. After blowing off the vehicle, al-Shabaab fighters ambushed the soldiers with heavy artillery fire at Sheftuk between Dagalema and Dhobley areas. The attack came hot on the heels of a warning by the American government of an impending terror attack on highly populated areas.
“The mission for which they gave everything will continue until the evil terrorists of al-Shabaab are defeated, and the people of Somalia are safe once more. We owe victory to the fallen. You may be sure we will win, for we have right and might on our side,” Kenyatta said. The country has been relatively calm with few terror attacks reported as the country’s security agencies sustain war on criminal elements within and beyond the borders. KDF has been in Somalia for many years in an operation meant to wipe out al-Shabaab terrorists and their sympathisers.
