KENYA HAS POTENTIAL’: US Ambassador to Kenya Kyle McCarter
• Tells Kenya to make choice between Big Four and corruption.
• The US is supporting DCI ‘100 per cent’.
Corrupt Kenyans will neither be allowed into the US nor pay for their children’s education there, US ambassador to Kenya Kyle McCarter said in Nairobi. The ambassador, while attending the Junior Achievement Organisation 100 years celebration, said the ‘big fish’ in the country get away with theft of billions whereas the common mwananchi is brutally punished for the theft of smaller amounts of money.
“You cannot allow somebody to steal Sh20 billion and fine them Sh10 billion. We deal with thieves in a very brutal way, not even according to the law,” he said. “Somehow, we tolerate the theft of billions in Kenya. If we stop tolerating thievery, Kenya will be a shining star for democracy and prosperity in Africa.”
McCarter said Kenya would have to make a choice between the Big Four agenda and theft, adding that without corruption, the Big Four agenda is achievable. “The cost of this is the same cost ironically as the Big Four. It could become a reality if we got rid of thievery,” he said.The USA is now working with the DCI and DPP to ensure that corruption is a thing of the past. In a tweet, the ambassador said there will be very little rest for those tasked with fighting theft in Kenya.
The envoy assured DCI George Kinoti that “the USA is backing you 100 per cent”. In his address, the US ambassador emphasised on the need for Kenya to be an environment free of corruption. With the high unemployment rates among the youth in Kenya, citizens are urged to take up measures to salvage the current unemployment status since the youth could get into harmful activities.
“We have a group of young people that are bitter and if we do not do anything, other people will employ them to harm,” McCarter said. With many learned Kenyan youth and limited opportunities, the ambassador said, preparing a workforce does no good if there is no opportunity. Opportunities are to be created for the prepared but unemployed workforce.
McCarter has urged the Kenyan youth to make use of their God-given talents and invest in other people in order to boost the economy by eradicating unemployment. He termed to the two per cent and three per cent GDP growth as little, saying Kenya has a greater potential. “Two per cent, three per cent GDP growth is complete rubbish…you can double the size of the economy,” he said. In the fight against unemployment, McCarter said the government is not the solution.
“The government is not the answer to the problem but a government that remembers that the people are the ones that pay the salary,” he said. According to the envoy, the private sector is an answer to doubling the size of the Kenyan economy. He added that Kenya cannot afford to fail in giving opportunities to those 30 years and below who make up about 70 per cent of the Kenyan population full of potential. The young people in Kenya have been urged to serve and create opportunities where they have come from.
Source: The Star Kenya