The Second Country Review Mission of Kenya was officially launched at “Harambee House Office” in Nairobi on 18 July 2011. On that occasion, Professor Amos Sawyer, Member of the APR Panel in charge of the Process, expressed optimism to the people of Kenya that their “diversity can be deployed as building blocks for unity and development” if they “transcend their divisions and put KENYA FIRST.”

Addressing a distinguished audience that included President Mwai Kibaki, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru and other senior officials, Prof. Sawyer added, “we are confident that your government can successfully lead Kenya through this transformational process and at the end of the day, this will be the legacy of this government, this power sharing governance arrangement.”

Kenya was one of the pioneers of the APRM process, having signed the Memorandum of Accession in March 2003, during the Abuja Summit that set the mechanism in motion. Since then, the country has gone through the various stages of the APRM process, and was peer reviewed by the APR Forum at its Summit in Banjul, The Gambia, in June 2006.

Professor Sawyer remarked that “the APRM and all of Africa were gratified that Kenya has embarked upon a comprehensive process of transformation” that includes addressing the challenges previously highlighted in the Country Review Mission led by his predecessor, Dr. Graca Machel. He also noted with satisfaction that those challenges had been made the core of Kenya’s Reform Program, adding, “The new Kenyan constitution has been hailed as one of the world’s most progressive, modern and transforming constitutions.”

Professor Sawyer is accompanied on this mission by some of Africa’s finest experts in the various areas of governance, drawn from countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe and Tanzania, as well as experts from the APRM’s three strategic partners, UNDP, AfDB and UNECA. The mission coordinator is Dr. Rachel Mukamunana, the APRM’s governance expert and country review specialist.

• Download the full text of Professor Sawyer’s statement.