Cape Town — Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who describes himself as a simple man driven to help his country prosper, faced challenging questions at a World Economic Forum session here on Friday.
Swearing his innocence, Kenyatta denied charges leveled against him by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. "I have a duty to my family to have these charges dropped and clear my family's name," he said.
Kenyatta, who narrowly won election last March, and four others are accused of orchestrating ethnic violence following polls in 2007 that resulted in a second term for Mwai Kibaki. The unrest left more than 1,000 people dead and forced hundreds of thousands of others from their homes.
Kenya's government recently asked the UN Security Council to halt the charges against Kenyatta, but the 15-member body says it is unable to stop the case.
Kenyatta's deputy, William Ruto, also faces ICC charges for his alleged role in helping foment the violence.
Kenyatta, who believes that he should not be judged by The Hague court, says his goal is to work with other governments to deliver the necessary services to the people of Kenya. In questioning by the BBC, Kenyatta was asked to explain his government's vision for Kenya's future.
"Under Kenya's new constitutional dispensation, we will, as government, be able to create an all-inclusive society, where the new form of government would be able to develop a model to ensure that economic growth is not just growth but growth that is also equitable across the country, so that all citizens can feel that they are part and parcel of the development agenda of the nation," he said.
Kenyatta was also asked to elaborate on the development plan Vision 2030 introduced by his predecessor, Kibaki.
"Vision 2030 is the mission statement for Kenya that will ultimately bring services to the people, and that seeks to build on a number of blocks - namely social, economic, political - all aiming to make Kenya a middle income country by the year 2030," said Kenyatta.
He added that progress had already been achieved in political, economic and infrastructural development through molding the new constitution.
The issue of unemployment, a recurring theme during the World Economic Forum, was again touched on when Kenyatta was asked to explain what he intended to do help Kenya's 16 million youths - 80 percent of whom have no formal jobs.
"The new vision ... includes creating more jobs for young people by including creating specific youth funds, to be able to gain financial access and increasing vocational skills among others," Kenyatta said.
