THE SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY HON.

UHURU
KENYATTA, C.G.H., PRESIDENT AND COMMANDER IN
CHIEF OF THE DEFENCE FORCES OF THE REPUBLIC OF
KENYA, DURING THE REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON
COUNTERING
VIOLENT
EXTREMISM
AT
KICC
ON
SATURDAY, JUNE 27, 2015
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good Morning,
1. Let me say how pleased I am to join you this morning at this
important Conference. I note with satisfaction we have quite a
number of participants who have travelled from afar to
generously share with us their knowledge of the threat of
terrorism and violent extremism to our global community.
2. Welcome you to Nairobi and feel at home. Indeed we
appreciate your presence as it is a proof of the strength of our
common determination and resolve to defeat this threat.
3. Let me also seize this early opportunity to extend my special
thanks to President Barack Obama, who inspired this
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initiative by hosting the White House Summit on Countering

Violent Extremism in February this year.

Since then, there

have been several conferences, including this one, that have

sought to find the best way to counter violent extremism.
4. I look forward to taking the results of your deliberations into my
discussions with President Obama in the coming month, and
to the summit on countering violent extremism that will take
place on the sidelines of the 70th Session of the General
Assembly.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
5. We are living at a moment of unprecedented opportunity in the
history of humankind.

Not for many centuries have so many

lived free from the yoke of despotism and has had a chance to
build sustained, inclusive prosperity.
6. Every day, we grow in understanding of how to build prosperity,
how to harness nature without destroying her, and how to build
harmony among diverse religions and cultures. A brighter day
of

shared

prosperity,

environmental

sustainability,

cohesion, and widespread citizen security beckons.

2

social

7. Unfortunately, for reasons that normally we would consider

irrational, these advances, these hopes, are under profound
threat.

In various parts of the world, including Africa,

terrorists and violent extremists are on the march.

8. They have murdered tens of thousands of innocent people.
They threaten the continuity of states. They are determined to
destroy the global order of sovereign states and respect for
diverse cultures and nationalities.
9. These terrorists in their various shades -- Al Shabaab, Al
Qaeda, Boko Haram, ISIS, and their affiliates - - reject the
principles of pluralism, the rights of women, and the freedom of
religion, association and speech.
10.
Al Qaeda and its ilk regard democracy as evil, and
have even rehabilitated the ancient evil of slavery in the
twenty-first century.
11.
Never before has such a small minority of opinion and
means, as represented by the terrorists and violent extremists,
attempted to change the course of humanity. Their attacks and
propaganda

seek

to

divide,

disorient,

and

terrorize

communities, and to collapse states in pursuit of a fanatical

ideology that promises continuous mass murder and permanent

oppression.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
12.
Only yesterday was the world reminded, yet again, of
how murderous and callous these groups are and how each and
every one of us is at risk. In Tunisia, 29 people in two hotels
and 25 Burundi Peace Keepers in Somalia were all
murdered in cold blood by terrorists.
13.
The worlds security agencies, multilateral institutions,
civil society, and the overwhelming majority of mankind stand
against them.
14.
In every continent, armies and police forces are fighting
them, urged on by millions of citizens anxious to live in peace.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
15.
There is no doubt security efforts are key to countering
terrorists and protecting both citizens and states.

This tool set

is valuable when dealing with hardcore terrorists that have

already been radicalized into violent extremism.

16.

But security efforts must be complemented with other

steps whose focus is to shrink, empty the pools of possible

terrorists and reduce the potential for people being recruited
into violent extremists.
17.
To ensure that civilization prevails, we must, therefore,
combine strengthened conventional security measures with a
determination to de-legitimize their ideologies. The crucial first
step is to understand and openly describe those ideologies in
order to expose their stubbornness and harm to our societies.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
18.
At the moment, the greatest threat to global peace and
security is an ideology that falsely claims to be a defense of
Islam and to be in pursuit of a global Caliphate. However, as
you have heard in the course of this Conference, that is not
true.

Rather, groups like Al Shabaab offer a fundamental

distortion of religious faith that is, nevertheless, managing to

gain recruits from young Muslims here in Kenya, and globally.
19.
This radicalization has broken out across the world; no
corner of our planet is safe. Though we must admit that this is
one of the dark sides of the rise of the internet, and cheaper
communication, we dare not forget that our own schools,
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prisons, social centres, and religious institutions, have been

incubators of these ideas.
20.
Young people, especially those who live in a state of
social alienation and loneliness, or who seek to make amends
for mistakes they have made in pursuing crime, or who simply
seek economic opportunity, are vulnerable to a sophisticated
effort to indoctrinate them and turn them into killers.
21.
In Kenya, caliphate has cost us too many Kenyan lives
men and women cruelly murdered, hoping to terrorize us into
submission. We remain saddened by the attack on 2nd April,
2015 of Garissa University College, that saw many of our
young men and women students - with their brightest days
ahead of them, cut short. In the Horn of Africa, Somalia and
Uganda have borne the brunt of similar attacks, making the
region one of the global epicentres of terrorism.

22.

The response by states and peoples, however, has been

the opposite of that intended by the terrorists and violent

extremists.

As never before, the region has united militarily,

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politically, and in the sharing of intelligence to meet this threat

with the firmness it requires.
23.
The African Union

Mission

to

Somalia

is

demonstration of Africas will, as well as the international

communitys cooperation, in destroying Al Shabaabs ability to
hold vital territory or readily access financing.
24.
The terrorists are desperate to cling on. Their attacks,
destructive as they are, now seem aimed more at survival than
at victory.

My Government will not relent in this war. And I

am, indeed, happy that Kenyans from all walks of life have
appreciated the precious values that we are all fighting for.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
25.
My Government will work with civil society, the private
sector, neighbouring states, and the international community to
counter violent extremism and terrorism.
26.
I am happy to note this Conference has offered practical
and insightful recommendations for the work we will do
together.

Chief among them is the need to strengthen

communities so that they can ward off extremists and work

confidently with security agencies to root out terrorists and

prevent radicalization.
27.
We must act.

The state must close gaps in its

presence, and it must effectively and in an inclusive manner

deliver basic services to its people.
28.
These are the minimum requirements if we are to rob
the radicalization project of its false claims of communal
marginalization.
29.
My Government has commenced work with local leaders
and NGOs and CSOs that are proving effective and determined
to reverse extremism within the community. Equally significant
is the development paradigm we have adopted as a country in
the form of dedicated resources to focus attention on some of
the structural issues that may contribute to vulnerability.
30.
We are implementing specifically targeted strategic
interventions in various regions of our country that have been
lagging behind in terms of development.

Today, more than

40% of the allocated revenue are going to less than 15

counties, counties that are the most vulnerable ecologically.
31.
We have stepped up efforts to rehabilitate and
reintegrate recruits, particularly those that have returned home
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voluntary.

In this regard, my administration gave an

unconditional amnesty to all the youths that have been in

foreign lands.
32.
This strategy has begun to bear fruits. So far a good
level of trust is being built between government agencies and
those returning, I wish to take this opportunity to urge any
Kenyan youth that may desire to reintegrate and contribute to
this great nation, to take advantage of this window of
opportunity. Indeed, the African habit of mutual assistance and
communal harmony is an asset that can reclaim radicalized
youth.
33.
In addition, I want to urge those of you in this room, and
indeed every Kenyan and African, to reflect on what is a
profoundly important issue. It is nations united in their
determination to fight for a way of life defined by a celebration
of pluralism, religious freedom and free association that will
finally defeat terrorism and violent extremism.
34.
Kenya is one such nation. Throughout our history, we
have never forgotten that we belong to different faiths and
speak different tongues; but we have never forgotten that these
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differences are a gift, and an opportunity to learn from one

another. Our history shows our commitment to the democratic
and constitutional values that our new constitution finally
enshrined.
35.
In Kenya, we have made our choice. We are engaged
in a struggle to protect and uphold our values that will forge
Kenya and every other African nation willing to try into the
strong nation we aspire to be. I know that the terrorists who
are attacking Kenyans will never win because all they have
done is to remind us of the fierceness and determination with
which we fought for our independence, and for the values we
espouse in our constitution.
36.
Their attacks have uncovered the resolve of a nation
that has overcome mighty odds to exist; a people standing in
embrace of our diversity; and a profound understanding that
our diversity is best protected by democracy.
37.

This is the narrative and reality the violent extremists

and terrorists seek to counter in their futile pursuit of a

caliphate in Kenya and the Horn of Africa. They will never
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succeed, and we shall, in time, become the prosperous,

diverse, open and democratic continent that Africans yearn for.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
38.
In concluding my remarks, I wish to take this
opportunity to reemphasize my Governments commitment to
win the war against terrorism. You can count on Kenya as a
reliable partner in this collective struggle to build a better
world. In this regard, I promise to put to action the outcome of
your deliberations and encourage all of us in the region to do
so.
Thank you and God Bless you.

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