Mancham says Kenyan politicians lack statesmanship |01 February 2013

An article published in The Standard of Kenya quotes Mr Mancham as saying most (Kenyan) politicians are driven by personal interests rather than the country’s needs.

Mr Mancham says that statesmen would promote social cohesion, unlike most politicians who have contributed to the division in the country - a situation likely to discourage investment and job creation.

“The problem is that there are too many politicians and not enough statesmen,” said Mr Mancham, who is in Kenya to promote the need to have peaceful elections among the youth through a leadership development conference.

The conference dubbed National Youth Summit 2013, whose main agenda is to encourage the youth to take up leadership and promote peace, opened yesterday morning in Nairobi.

“There will be no peace and development unless the spirit of Harambee prevails,” added the former President, when he paid a courtesy call to the Standard Group on Wednesday.

Mr Mancham said that Kenya risked losing the international goodwill from foreign investors currently enjoyed should a breakout of chaos reminiscent of the 2007/08 post-poll violence recur, citing that the recently launched Konza City project would be financed more than 95 per cent by private investors.