LONDON, May 9 – Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has urged Kenyans in the Diaspora to be good ambassadors not only of their country but also the African continent as a whole.
Speaking during a meeting with Kenyans in London on Wednesday, he regretted that Africa had continued to be portrayed negatively in major media outlets in the world as a hopeless continent bedeviled by poverty, conflicts and disease.
Saying that all countries in the world experienced challenges, the Head of State noted that despite a history of difficulties, Africa was now a rising continent and a place of hope and opportunity.
Lamu Senator Abu Chiaba, who also attended the meeting, said there were many opportunities for investments that the Kenyan diaspora should exploit.
He cited the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor as a project with road, rail, refinery and pipeline components which offered lucrative investment opportunities.
Kenyan High Commissioner (Ambasssador) to Britain Ephraim Ngare emphasised the need to mainstream the diaspora in the development process. He said Kenyans living abroad were keen on investing back home.
He noted that there were presently about three million Kenyans living abroad and remitting approximately US$891 million each year back to the country.
“To tap this huge potential for development, there is need to put in place the necessary infrastructure, including innovative financial instruments, that will enable the Kenyan Diaspora to invest in their own development as well as the development of their country,” said Kiarie.
Speaking on behalf of the Diaspora during the meeting, Councillor Wanjiru Kangethe of the Parsoles ward in the Borough of Backing & Dagenham and Sam Ochieng, the former chair of the UK Kenyan Diaspora, urged the Government to step up the necessary measures that will enable the Kenyan Diaspora to fully participate in the next general election.
Present during the meeting were the Attorney General Githu Muigai and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Thuita Mwangi among other senior government officials.
– BERNAMA
