Deputy President Kithure Kindiki Wednesday affirmed the government’s determination to preserve the country’s ocean in order to draw better economic benefits presently and in the future.
The DP said the ocean is key to Kenya’s economic growth hence the interest in guarding it against destructive activities including climate change and related vagaries.
“We have an obligation as the current generation to return the ocean to our children cleaner, richer and more resilient than we found it. That is how profound our obligation is,” DP said.
He spoke on Wednesday when he officially opened the 11th Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa on behalf of President William Ruto.
In a video-link address, President Ruto highlighted the importance of the ocean to the country stating that it powers industries and feeds families but that it faces a multiplicity of threats like global warming, plastic pollution, illegal fishing and the silent disappearance of life beneath the waves.
The Head of State said Kenya is not looking from afar but playing its role in preserving a section of the ocean.
“Kenya is already at work. We are restoring mangroves, cleaning our waters, reforming fisheries and strengthening ocean governance. We are opening the doors to blue finance, science and innovation so that conservation creates opportunities,” the President indicated.
The Conference themed Our Ocean, Our Heritage, Our Future is the first to be held in Africa and represents Kenya and Africa’s readiness to be part of the quest for better oceans.
Prof. Kindiki echoed the President adding that the greatest inheritance the current generation can bequeath the next is a better environment than they inherited.
“We need to take care of our marine biodiversity, manage the effects of climate change, and protect sensitive marine ecosystems. It has been said that we do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; instead, we borrow it from our children,” DP said.
To further this commitment, the Deputy President said, is the establishment of the Ministry of Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs which is a first one for the country and looks after all the issues around the nation’s waters.
“The creation of a special ministry responsible for the Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs is not an accident nor an afterthought, but a continuation of a long journey that this country has travelled,” DP stated.
The Oceans Conference is a brainchild of former United States State Secretary John Kerry who was in attendance.
Also present were Cabinet Secretaries Hassan Joho (Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs), Soipan Tuya (Defense), Salim Mvurya (Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports), Lee Kinyanjui (Investments, Trade, and Industry), Beatrice Askul (East Africa Community), Governors Abdulswamad Nassir (Mombasa), Gideon Mungaro (Kilifi), Issa Timamy (Lamu), Dhadho Godhana (Tana River), Andrew Mwadime (Taita Taveta), Wilber Ottichilo (Vihiga) and Dr. Ida Odinga, (Kenya’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Members of Parliament, among other dignitaries.
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