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Kenya: Obama Praises 'Significant Step for Democracy'

5 August 2010

Interim Independent Electoral Commission chairman Ahmed Isaack Hassan during a briefing on the Kenyan referendum. (Photo Courtesy William Oeri)

President Barack Obama of the United States today lauded Kenya's approval of its new constitution in a referendum as "a significant step forward" for the country's democracy.

The "overwhelming" approval of the draft constitution reflected the desire of Kenyans "to put their country on a path toward improved governance, greater stability, and increased prosperity," Obama said in a statement issued by the White House in Washington, DC.

"Kenyans across the political, social, and ethnic spectrum now have a chance to come together to support implementation through an inclusive dialogue," he said.

With results in from 196 of 210 constituencies, the vote in favour of the new constitution was running at nearly 70 percent. The new constitution was negotiated as part of the settlement brokered after the country erupted into ethnically-based violence after its last national elections.

Read the text of Obama's statement

Tagged: East Africa, External Relations, Governance, Kenya, U.S., Canada and Africa

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