ADDRESS TO THE NATION BY HIS EXCELLENCY PRESIDENT UHURU KENYATTA, C.G.H., ON MONDAY 5TH SEPTEMBER 2022

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Fellow Kenyans,

On the 9^th of August of 2022, Kenyans participated in an election that ushered in new leaders at all levels of our governance realm.

 

Following a dispute in the presidential election, a petition was filed in our Supreme Court for determination of the validity of the results and the Supreme Court has today pronounced itself on this matter.

 

When I was sworn in as your President, I made a pledge to the country – pledge to uphold the rule of law and the decisions made by the judiciary on all matters appertaining to our governance.

 

Today the Supreme Court made a ruling on the presidential dispute, upholding the results announced by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) on the 15^th of August 2022. And in keeping to the pledge that I made to uphold the rule of law when I took the oath of office, I commit to executing the orders of this court to the letter.

 

The process of handing over is in progress through the Assumption of Office Committee, which actually has already begun its work as of August 10^th 2022.

 

And indeed it is my intention to oversee a smooth transition to the next administration and all the necessary orders to facilitate this process have already been issued.

 

And because democracy is a work in progress, I urge the country to respect the institutions that midwife our new leaders. And in doing so, I also urge citizens to constantly put them under scrutiny. For this is the civic duty of every single Kenyan. In particular, this civic duty requires every citizen to constantly put the truth presented by our constitutional institutions to test. And they must test them for coherence but also for correspondence. They must constantly scrutinize the coherence of the truth given by these institutions and to ask themselves whether the truth has been coherent from one election to another. Has there been a consistent pattern that is acceptable toward democratic ethos? We must ask ourselves is it about numbers or is it about process? Which of these two is it? And can our institutions rule one way in one election and another way in another election without scrutiny? I do invite you Kenyans to keep vigil and, indeed, hold all institutions to account.

 

The second thing we must place under scrutiny is whether the truth given by institutions has correspondence – that is, do the truths given by our institutions correspond with what is observable by the citizens.

 

True beliefs and true judgments must correspond to the actual state of affairs. But do our constitutional institutions meet this threshold? While we must appreciate these institutions, we must also hold them to account at every juncture and their truth has to be consistent and coherent. This is the only way we will build our democracy.

 

I want to take this opportunity to thank every single Kenyan for holding a peaceful election. And for this, I want to thank God and I want to thank our political parties. But I also want to thank every single individual Kenyan for bringing us thus far.

 

I want to wish well all who have won as they guide our country into the future. And I thank you all for the opportunity to serve. And I say, may God bless you all and may God bless this great Republic of Kenya.