Barbados Prime Minister, Mia Mottley today accepted, on behalf of her regional colleagues, space in an ultra-modern business complex in Nairobi, Kenya to be the home of a joint diplomatic mission.
It was the first major engagement for the Prime Minister on Day 1 of her official visit to the African nation.
The office, located in the heart of the country’s diplomatic district and across the street from the United Nation’s principal home on the continent, is expected to be a hive of activity in the near future as Caribbean governments set out to deepen relations with their African counterparts.
Mottley said she found the occasion to be very emotional, given the blood, sweat and tears a number of persons had expended to get to this stage after centuries of exploitation.
“Our region and Africa have been separated, not just by the Atlantic Ocean, but by centuries of division and exploitation,” she told those attending the ceremony, including Kenya’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Monica Juma.
“And we as a region are adamant that we will not allow this separation to continue any further. When we claim our Atlantic destiny, we are conscious that we are coming home; we are conscious that we are igniting the bonds that may have been sparked by our predecessors in North Atlantic capitals, but borne out of common values and a common battle.
“We believe that it is incumbent on our generation to move to the next level and that we have no one else to blame now but ourselves if we do not remove the separation that was foisted upon us for centuries.”
She reminded those attending that the promise to secure a place for a regional mission was made by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, when he visited Barbados earlier this year, when all parties agreed that the forging of closer ties was an “historic necessity”.
“This is but only one of many steps we will take in the next few months that will communicate to our people, as well as to those who are watching from outside, that this is not a fly-by-night relationship.
“It is one that will be anchored deeply and which is intended to unleash people-to-people communication and cooperation and the trade and investment opportunities such that our nations can prosper by relying on each other, and not simply on those from the North Atlantic,” the Prime Minister said, in the presence of a Barbados delegation that included Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Dr Jerome Walcott.
Mottley also promised that when she takes over as Chairman of CARICOM in just over a month she would work closely with the Kenyan government and business community to “make real, the first CARICOM/Africa summit”.
Speaking ahead of Mottley, Kenya’s Foreign Minister Juma congratulated CARICOM leaders for the significant “strategic move” of setting up the mission.
“You have a strong advocate in Uhuru Kenyatta and you can be assured of Kenya’s solidarity,” she said. “Our Afrocentric foreign policy in unambiguous in its focus to strengthen our relations within the continent and to reach out to people of African origin . . . We will continue to forge closer ties with people of African origin at the bilateral level as well as through the African Union.
After addressing the group, Prime Minister Mottley unveiled a plaque and cut a ribbon at the entrance to the office and then stood on the balcony of the high-rise complex to take in the view that will greet those regional representatives who will eventually be stationed there. (PMO)
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What I fail to understand is why Kenya?
What do they have to offer us?
What does the Caribbean Nations have in common with Kenya? Absolutely nothing except them and most of us in the Caribbean are black.
They were never part of the Atlantic Slave Trade, few if any of the slaves in the Caribbean came from Kenya or East Africa. Almost all our enslaved ancestors came from West Africa.
Why do we always want to get close to Africa and Africans? We are Caribbean’s and living a better life here than our ancestors lived in Africa. They were captured, enslaved, and sold by West Africans; there is little for which we have to thank Africa.
Today slavery is still very much a part of life in Africa, including in Kenya. In the Caribbean, we are free. Why do we want to be friends of slavers and enslavers?
The global slavery index estimates that 188,800 people are living in slavery in Kenya. Kenya is also a hotspot for human trafficking in the region, not only are an awful lot of people living in slavery in Kenya, but there are also a lot of Kenyan people being trafficked into slavery in other countries and people of different nationalities being trafficked through Kenya into neighbouring countries. Kenya is still a dirty country where slavery is concerned. Are we considering buying slaves?
Human Rights under Kenyatta are abysmal. Lack of accountability for serious human rights violations, mainly perpetrated by security forces, remains a significant concern in 2018. The 2017 presidential election period saw abusive police operations in opposition strongholds, with police beating and shooting to death at least 100 opposition protesters and bystanders. Many women and girls were raped and sexually harassed by police during these operations.
A March 2018 peace deal between President Uhuru Kenyatta and the main opposition leader, Raila Odinga, eased political tensions. Still, at the time of writing, authorities had not taken any significant steps to ensure accountability for police brutality. Human rights abuse is out of control
Kenyatta, on numerous occasions, publicly promised to respect freedom of expression and media. However, the working environment for journalists and activists remains hostile. In 2017 and early 2018, police threatened journalists and bloggers, arrested and detained journalists, and shut down at least three television stations.
https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/kenya
The Kenyans want the Caribbean Nations via CARICOM to try and bring some credibility to a very nasty regime. We are entirely being used, and Mrs. Mottley has just had her brain enslaved.