VZCZCXRO4597
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHNR #2773/01 1870719
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 060719Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0852
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 2328
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 2266
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL//POLAD//
RHMFIUU/CDR USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL//POLAD//
RHMFIUU/CJTF HOA //POLAD//
RUFTNAB/COMUSNAVCENT //N2//

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NAIROBI 002773 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR AF A/S FRAZER FROM THE AMBASSADOR 
LONDON, PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KEDM KE
SUBJECT: JULY 4 - HIGHLIGHTING BILATERAL PARTNERSHIP AND DEMOCRATIC 
VALUES 
 
¶1. The Mission used the July 4 reception to highlight the 
U.S.-Kenyan partnership and to focus on shared democratic values. 
(See text of Ambassador's remarks in paragraph 6.) These themes have 
increasingly strong resonance with all sectors of Kenyan society and 
politics.  As a result, the turnout of well over 1,000 was the most 
extensive and diverse seen in decades for a Mission function.  The 
event was extensively covered by the media. Though the cloudy day 
threatened rain, the skies opened as if on cue for a brief period of 
sunshine just as the formal ceremony concluded. 
 
¶2. Vice President Awori attended along with Minister of Security 
Michuki, and a number of other ministers.  Former President Moi 
attended.  All the senior opposition leaders - led by Raila Odinga, 
Kalonzo Musyoka, Uhuru Kenyatta, and Musalia Mudavadi -- attended. 
Kenya's most prominent representative of civil society, Nobel Prize 
Winner Wangari Maathai, was also there. 
 
¶3. The attendance at any national day reception -- or even official 
Kenyan national functions -- by such an inclusive group was 
unprecedented in Kenya.  During the course of the reception all of 
these participants talked together extensively.  A couple of the 
opposition leaders even met in the Ambassador's living room on the 
margins of the reception and reported that they made some modest 
progress on one of the issues related to the opposition Orange 
Democratic Movement's efforts to select a consensus candidate. 
 
¶4. Michuki, the minister designated as the government spokesman for 
the event, warmly saluted the U.S.-Kenyan partnership as vital to 
Kenya's well-being. He talked about shared interests, including 
collaboration to fight terrorism. In comments clearly aimed at the 
broader Kenyan audience through the media, Vice President Awori 
spoke in Swahili to laud the U.S.-Kenyan partnership and to 
emphasize the government's commitment to a non-violent, transparent, 
and inclusive electoral process.  Symbolic of this, Awori insisted 
that Uhuru Kenyatta, the parliamentary leader of the opposition, and 
Wangari Maathai, as a prominent civil society leader, join him, the 
Ambassador, and Michuki on the dais.  (The Ambassador in his remarks 
noted to the gathering that it was presumably a good sign that while 
the vice president made his remarks in Swahili, the leader of the 
opposition quietly translated for the Ambassador.) 
 
¶5. Kenyans at the reception commented very positively and 
enthusiastically about the unprecedented presence of Moi, Awori, so 
many ministers, and the opposition leaders.  Though major 
differences separate these personalities, they readily posed for 
group photos, highlighting a broad show of unity in support of the 
democratic process. Any number of prominent Kenyans noted that only 
we could have pulled together such a group, and pointed out that 
this underscores the key role that the U.S. should continue to play 
in helping to keep the electoral process on track. 
 
¶6. The text of the Ambassador's speech follows. 
 
Begin text. 
 
Celebration of the 231st Anniversary of the Independence of the 
United States of America 
 
Remarks By 
 
Ambassador Michael E. Ranneberger 
July 4, 2007 
 
Honorable Minister, Ministers, Colleagues, Guests, and Friends: 
 
I want to extend a very warm welcome to all of you who are here to 
help us celebrate the 231st anniversary of the independence of the 
United States of America.  Here in Kenya, we are making this event a 
celebration of the vibrant, strong, and expanding partnership 
between our two countries.  This is fitting because that partnership 
is based on the democratic values and friendship we share. 
 
Those universal democratic values were immortally articulated by one 
of our founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson, in the Declaration of 
Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men 
are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with 
certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and 
the pursuit of happiness." 
 
As we reflect upon this independence anniversary and the partnership 
we share, I am reminded of the Kenyan proverb:  "Nia zikiwa moja 
kilicho mbali huja" (people with similar goals will achieve more 
 
NAIROBI 00002773  002 OF 002 
 
 
from very far). 
 
During the past 231 years Americans have consolidated institutions 
intended to ensure democratic government of, by, and for the people. 
 The progress we have made over these many years has often been 
difficult, sometimes painfully slow, and occasionally bloody. 
Examining this history tells us with certainty that the process of 
building democracy is never easy and is never complete.  To the 
extent we have been successful, we have benefited from the 
extraordinary achievement of our founding fathers, for they put in 
place a constitutional framework based on the principle of checks 
and balances.  That system was based on a hard-headed assessment 
that, in order to protect the interests of all citizens, the power 
of any one institution, individual, or group must be limited. 
Indeed, the challenge to balance respect for the will of the 
majority with the necessity to protect the rights of minorities is a 
constant struggle in all democracies. 
 
Among the many things that we share, the United States and Kenya are 
both communities which encompass great diversity of cultures, ethnic 
and racial groups, and religions. That diversity enriches and 
strengthens our nations. The approach of elections in our two 
countries provides a timely opportunity to reflect upon how we 
strive to accommodate this diversity and, in so doing, to perfect 
our democratic systems.  Though Americans have had far more time to 
build our democracy than Kenya has, we can truly say that neither 
democratic system is perfect.  In both countries we struggle to 
fight corruption, to promote communal harmony, to foster security, 
and to bring about gender equity. 
 
Acutely aware of our own imperfections, we support the efforts of 
the Kenyan people to address these difficult challenges, which we 
also confront.  The old Swahili saying that "kila mlango na ufunguo 
wake" (every door has its own key) means that Kenyans have to solve 
their problems in their own ways.  The Kenyan people have made 
remarkable progress in recent years, but the work of deepening and 
broadening democracy and improving governance is never done.  As a 
reliable friend, we will continue to assist your efforts and to 
support the positive momentum underway. 
 
The United States and Kenya have much to learn from each other. 
Drawing on our long experience with democracy, we seek to assist 
Kenya to consolidate its democracy, most importantly this year 
through inclusive, non-violent, and transparent elections.  We hope 
that there will be very broad participation in Kenya's elections in 
a way that may, perhaps, inspire Americans, whose participation in 
even national elections barely rises above fifty percent of 
registered voters. 
 
Americans and Kenyans also share a belief in the power of the 
collective spirit, profoundly illustrated by both countries' 
journeys to independence.  I am struck by two Swahili sayings that 
seem to capture, long before America was founded, a sense of this 
faith in the will of the people.  One says: Penye wengi pana Mungu 
(Where there are many people, there God is).  Another reads: Panapo 
wengi hapaharibiki neno (where there are many, nothing goes wrong). 
Ladies and gentlemen, we're many, and we trust that this gathering 
is blessed. 
 
Please join me in raising our glasses in a toast to the 231st 
anniversary of the independence of the United States of America, and 
to Kenya's democratic progress, to the rich partnership between the 
United States and Kenya, and to the health of Presidents Kibaki and 
Bush. 
 
End text. 
 
RANNEBERGER