SPEECH RY HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT MZEE JOMO KENYATTA ON THE OCCASION OF MADARAKA DAY

 lst JUNE 1968 

       

Five years ago, I promised that my Government would be dedicated to the advancement and welfare of our people. 

     Moving past the later milestones of Uhuru and Jamhuri, and always with the mandate of the people, we have stood by the principles of democratic African Socialism. The Government has defended the integrity of Kenya against many attempts at disruption or domination. In our economic efforts and achievements, we have come a long way. 

      This is one of those annual occasions when 1 can speak to all of you, reflectively. But today, and on behalf of all my friends and colleagues of mature years, I shall have in mind the younger people. The human composition of this country is rich in the number and the quality of its youth. It is most important that those now approaching or beginning their adult lives and careers should understand, what Madaraka meant to us in terms of victory and human dignity. The future will lie in their hands. But first they must appreciate the recent history of this Republic, and the enormous challenges that have been met and overcome. 

     At the time of Madaraka Day in 1963, very few of the foundations of a modern and prosperous State existed at all. We had emerged from a long political struggle, in which I had myself been engaged for over forty years. It was a battle for freedom and self-respect and human values, waged against misguided men whose long traditions were rooted in the arrogance of race. And even our future-five years ago-was politically complex. The Constitution of this country the~ _was in a state of compromise. It held many of the pro~1s1ons needed for the launchino of Uhuru, but wrapped up m oldfashioned safeguards o; divide-and-rule techniques. Many changes have had to be made, to establish a Constitution understood by the people and endorsed by our Parliament today.

      After the swearing-in ceremony on the first Madaraka Day, I made reference to the struggle that must then begin, against poverty and ignorance and disease. Those who listened to my words understood, that what we were really confronting was a whole fabric of social injustice. And the only solution acceptable was to build a fresh society.

      Our resources for getting to grips with this task, in all human and practical terms. were meagre. It is possible now to talk of the colonial system without bitterness. It has become one of many dead leaves in the forest of human progress. But it is never easy to avoid regret, for all the wastage of creative talent, and all the abuse of the human spirit, spread over so many years. 

     Within any kind of imperialism, including systems which exist today, there is a basis for dominance. This may be vested in racial oppression. or in economic might, or in the ideology of a Party. Throughout half a century in Kenya, the first two of these factors held the stage. 

       The situation which we confronted in 1963 showed all the attributes of a long period of organized privilege and discrimination. The ingredients of colonial rule in Kenya included the grasp of certain economic and strategic assets. But this rule was not maintained with active hatred. The rulers in London, fully encouraged by officials and settlers in our country, were themselves governed by simple convictions and careful training. They believed it was appropriate that Africans should always be second-class citizens here, and that all decrees or decisions should be taken by men of a superior breed. They found it convenient that Africans should always be available in very large numbers, to perform the manual and menial tasks on farms and in businesses and households. They dismissed, either curtly or with paternal good humour, any idea that Africans could and should be fitted for leadership, in politics and planning and the practical affairs of the nation. 

     So it was that, on the first Madaraka Day, everything was out of O balance. Ther~ was_ scarcely any opportunity or enc?ura::.ement for Afncans, m fields of land ownership and agncultural producti?n· Within commerce and industry, there were hardly any Af ncans trained as technicians or executives. In all the Public Services, including the Provincial Adminis- ~rat_ion an?. the Army, Africans generally occupied only the Jumor positions. 

    In spirit, our people were dedicated and ready to meet all the tasks of nation building. But in every practical sense, they had not been prepared. Facilities for education, provided during half a century of colonial rule, were appallingly inadequate. Provisions for any advanced or applied training barely existed. Health services and standards of housing were far below the level needed to sustain any thriving population in a modern State. 

    My Government in 1963 had to face all these facts. But there were other realities as well. We were entering a future in which-for some time- prospects of investment might be uncertain. Our own economic resources were slender. Natural resources in Kenya had been neglected. And we inherited very little, by modern standards, in the way of air or road communications, and electric power supplies.      

     Above all, we were standing alone. There was the likelihood of some measure, decreasing as time went on, of financial or technical aid. But virtually everything, in constructive and budgetary senses, was seen to depend on what we ourselves could do and what the people could achieve. Starting almost from nothing. the Government had to promote ambitious and countrywide development projects. Education and health and other social services had to be geared to the new Kenya, recognizing that the population- which now exceeds ten million-was rapidly increasing. As a free country, we had to absorb and then expand the Public Services. We ourselve_s became responsible for all defence exp~nditure, and f ?r conti:ibutions to international monetary bodies, and for d1plomat1c missions overseas. 

      That is some of the background, to the meaning of Madaraka and how it all seemed. Five years since then is just a flash of time. Some results of the planning and preparation of these years are only now taking · shape. But I tell you today that I am proud, of the progress and achievements of this nation. Our future generations may look back and be inspired, by all that has been done here, in only five years. 1 tell you also that, despite the efforts of subversive men, this progress springs from political stability and the strength of Kenya nationalism which unites us all. All this has been expressed through faith in the Government and the hard work of the people. 

    The Republic of Kenya is thriving, on the road to consolidation of the society-giving all an equal stake in freedom and prosperity-which we set out to build. To illustrate this fact, 1 propose now to give some selected facts and figures. These will add perspective to the concrete evidence of national achievement, by throwing light on how many of the disabilities of 1963 have since been overcome. 

     Our people are busy. Today, there are about six hundred thousand Africans in recorded employment, which is a hundred thousand more than in 1963. These figures relate to jobs-up to the highest level-in the Public Service, or in private industry and commerce, or in large-scale agriculture. There are probably forty thousand more Africans employed in small road transport enterprises, or in 1-Jarambee schools and self-help nurseries, or in domestic service. It is estimated that a hundred and twenty thousand people find wage employ~ ment on smallholdings outside the settlement schemes. The schemes themselves provide rewarding occupation for a hundred thousand adults, and produce jobs as well for nearly twenty thousand labourers in any year. The annual wage bill in Kenya has soared above the old levels of bare subsistence, and now-supplemented by provisions for social security-has reached about one hundred and thirty-five million pounds. Apart from all this, more than twice as many other people use their initiative and skills to earn a living as self-employed farmers or tradesmen or artisans. . T. menti?ned earlier the expansion and readjustment of the Civil Service. When':"~ beg~n, this body was just large enough for status quo admm1strat1on and was dom· t d b . , ma e y expa- triates. Today, all branc~es h~ve been swelled into the spearhead of the Governments dnve for development and service t~ t_he pe~ple. We have now a total of seventy-two thousand C1v1l_ ~erv1ce posts, and ninety-three per cent of these are filled by citizens of Kenya. 

    On  the first Madaraka Day, the Kenya Army was underestabhshed and poorly equipped. with very few Africans at any command level at all. Today our Army is vioorous and mobile. All its different units are well equipped, :nd ninetynine per cent of the entire Army structure is Kenyan. When we started, this country had no Navy and no Air Force at all. After only five years, both these Services are flourishing. Training has proceeded so well that Africans are already manning about eighty-five per cent of the Navy, and seventy per cent of the Air Force, at all ranks and levels. 

       In 1963, there was no such institution as the National Youth Service. By last year, this Service had already reached its initial target of five thousand volunteers. Our Youth Service has done an immeasurable amount of good, as a disciplined body, and in performing many tasks vital to nation building, and in training young men and women for worthwhile careers.

     I have told you many times that a Government has the duty, and can assemble the talent, to draw up development plans for any nation. But to give these real meaning demands the total energy and dedication of the people. In our country, the response of the people throughout these five years has been magnificent. Even by 1966, our national income-or what is called gross domestic product- was the highest since any re.cords of this kind were kept in Kenya. Despite unfavourable world price patterns, which a single small country can never control, our exports then exceeded the 1963 level by fourteen million pounds. Production and trade have been growing a1l the time. Some of its pr_incipal items. have been coffee: tea, petroleum products, hides and skms, wattle extract, cement, pyrethrum, cotton. But many smaller enterprises have also contributed, such as pineapples, cashew nuts, 1 ,:: meat products, wood carvings, soda ash. In the year of Madaraka, about three and a quarter million tons of goods were handled at Kilindini. Since then we have enlarged the port with two new deepwater berths and in other ways, and now the fioure is well over five million tons. The amount of air freight t,handled in Kenya has passed the significant milestone of ten thousand tons. 

      I spoke earlier of opportunities and encouragement for the African people in fields of primary production. Let me just outline some of the things that have been achieved since 1963. The gross value of marketed agricultural produce has shown a substantial increase. But whereas once the contribution of the small farm sector was only about twenty-five per cent of the total, our small farmers now are producing forty per cent or more of a much larger total. They are increasingly assisted by extension services, and loan schemes, and access to machinery and fertilizers. Moreover, about twenty-five thousand farmers and agricultural instructors attended courses last year in Farmers Training Centres throughout the country. 

        The last full year for which records are now being completed is of course 1967. A number of striking figures are already becoming apparent. For example, the total cash income of small farmers reached about twenty-five million pounds, with their income from coffee outstripping estate income for the first time. Nearly thirty thousand smallholder tea growers were established. We saw in 1967 a large increase in sugar output from the Muhoroni factory, soon to be expanded further by Chemelil. Over three hundred thousand acres were sown to new high-yielding varieties of hybrid maize, and the Masai wheat scheme was extended by a further ten thousand acres. More than thirteen thousand tons of rice were harvested in 1967 from Mwea-Tebere, while deliveries of cattle to the K.M.C. were a record. All these are solid examples of progress and nation building. 

      In other fields of primary production, tremendous and rewarding efforts have been made by the people. The milestone of two hundred thousand acres of coniferous forest was reached in Kenya more than a year ago, with a further twelve 1L' thousand acres planted last year to provide raw material for new industries. Starling from nothing, there are now five African-manned sawmills in full operation. The total production of fish last year-from the sea and all inland lakes and rivers-was a record thirty thousand tons valued at four and a half million pounds. 

    The million-acre resettlement scheme has been widely regarded as one of the most remarkable technical and administrative achievements in Commonwealth history. By the beginning of last year, thirty-five thousand families had been settled on schemes, with title deeds issued to plotholders in many cases. The value of produce sold annually through scheme co-operatives is now well in excess of a million pounds. As you know, several thousand more acres are to be bought, over the next few years, for Harambee settlement schemes. All this has represented a vast change in the pattern of land ownership in Kenya, but in accordance with law, and in a manner which has kept up the volume of production from the land. In addition to the settlement schemes, a large acreage of land has also been bought by African co-operatives or partnerships in many areas. The registration of land has today covered about two million acres in nineteen districts, compared with less than quarter of a million acres in only eight districts in 1963. 

        There has been enormous advance since the first Madaraka Day in the output of manufacturing industry. Some principal contributions to this have been made by the oil refinery, textiles and clothing, the cement industry, grain-milling, brewing, soap and chemicals. The record of industry is now being further stepped up by plastics, a new woollen mill, and largescale manufacture of fertilizers. As a measure of business enterprise, nearly two thousand local companies have . been registered since 1963, with a nominal capital approaching sixty million pounds. 

       We have established the Development Finance Company of Kenya, which is a partner now in many major enterprises. We also set up the Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation. By early last year, this body had invested more_than 17 two million pounds in large-scale undertakings, and was supporting through loans or share capital over two hundred African business ventures of medium size.       

       The building and construction industry is now booming. Last year, the value of building plans approved by Nairobi City Council was higher than for the whole of the previous three years taken together. 

    Great industrial expansion has been increasingly served by generation and spread of our own power supplies. and the first phase of the Tana hydro-electric scheme at Kindaruma is practically completed. Supply of electricity has been newly installed in thirteen townships or rural centres since I 963, with many other villages or suburbs served by extensions to existing schemes. Ways have been found as well to provide electricity for agricultural processing and rural commerce. 

     At the end of half a century of colonial rule, there were nearly nine hundred miles of tarmac roads in Kenya. About six hundred more miles have been added in the short period since then. Last year alone, the Ministry of Works completed a hundred and twenty miles of bitumen and nearly five hundred miles of improved gravel roads. You are all aware of progress on the main Mombasa road, and that work to complete tarmac links with Tanzania and Uganda is now beginning. Important access or connecting roads have been built up to tarmac standards in many parts of the country. 

       Other forms of personal and business communication have not been forgotten. About seventy new Post Offices have been opened in Kenya in these few years, and there are now nearly fifteen thousand more telephones in operation than in 1963.

      I should not leave the whole subject of creative enterprise without mentioning tourism. This industry has proved increasingly vital as a leading source of foreign exchange, and in terms of employment opportunity. As an outcome of Kenya's stability and progress, underlying our incomparable attractions of wildlife and the coastal scene, there has been an enormous expansion of toll!rism. Even by 1966, there were twice as many visitors to Kenya as in 1963, and last year this figure reached about a hundred and twenty thousand. 

       All_ that I have said illustrates how the full productive capacity of our country has been generated. It was necessary to a?opt this approach at the outset, so that ways to overcome the immense shortfall in social services could be found. Education was perhaps our greatest priority, and must still be so regarded, so that more and more of our young people can be prepared for future tasks calling for executive skills and grasp of technology. At the time of Madaraka, a four-year primary course was given in the so-called African primary schools. One of our first tasks was to plan and bring about a changeover to a seven-year course, and the integration of all primary education into a single system. Even with our limited resources, the number of primary schools has now been increased to more than six thousand. Total primary enrolment in I 963 was less than nine hundred thousand. Today, it is approaching one and a quarter million, which means that enrolment has been outpacing human need and population increase. 

    The greatest neglect of the colonial era was in the field of secondary education. My Government set out to rectify this with full vigour. Even by 1966, we had twice as many secondary schools as in I 963, with enrolments in Forms I and II more than double the 1963 level. The position today is that our people have available three times as many secondary schools as at Madaraka. Of the total, a hundred and ninety are Government maintained, twenty more are· assisted, and two hundred and forty are unaided, representing the dedication and sacrifice of the people themselves. Secondary enrolments, which were only thirty thousand in 1963, have reached about eighty thousand today. 

     You will have watched with growing satisfaction the increasing scope and status of the University College in Nairobi. Here again, in just these few years, expansion has included the Department of Education, an Institute for Development Studies, the new Faculty of Medicine, and active current plans for a Faculty of Agriculture. 

     Adult literacy has not been forgotten, and a major campaign which began in ten districts about two years ago will be continued and stepped up. 

     About two thousand new hospital beds have been provided in Kenya since Madaraka, and active work is now going on to complete many more. But this figure alone gives just a bare glimpse of expanded health services. All over the country, new out-patient departments and operating theatres and X-ray units have been established, with a network of Health Centres as well. We can truly say that the generation of children now growing up in our country will be fitter and freer from disease than ever before. This has resulted from the Government's efforts in such fields as hygiene and sanitation projects; maternity and child care services; installation of clean water supplies; inoculations against many diseases; and campaigns to eradicate flies and mosquitoes and tsetse. 

     Government initiative in every sphere of activity has-for obvious reasons-been essential. But I am especially proud of the local nation-building projects, of almost every kind, that have been undertaken by well over five thousand self-help groups in every part of Kenya. This is called community development. It brings to life the inspiration of the Harambee spirit, which has brought us so far in so short a span of time.

     In this Address, I set out to describe the meaning and the surrounding circumstances of the first Madaraka Day. Since that time, the Government and people of Kenya- working as one-have laid and built on the vital foundations of progress as a modern State, and have given true meaning to the victory of Madaraka. This was, and must remain, the constructive pursuit of human dignity in freedom.