President Uhuru Kenyatta has hailed the flagging off of Sh1.2 billion shillings worth of oil as a special moment and a new dawn in the history of Kenya.
In his speech in the Port City of Mombasa on Monday, the head of state said that the event was a turning point in the history of the nation.
"In the history of any nation, there are special moments and seminal events that mark a turning point in the destiny of a country. Today`s events the first export of crude oil by our nation, therefore, marks a special moment in our history as a people," the president said.
Oil was first discovered in commercially viable quantities in 2012 in Lokichar Basin, Turkana County and Kenya took deliberate steps to explore, the president explained.
Uhuru said that the flag-off was just the beginning of a long journey that would benefit the country as a whole.
He pledged to ensure that local communities in Turkana are major beneficiaries of the oil windfall, saying that the export of oil would add new impetus to the development in the country.
The export of the oil effectively marked Kenya joining the ranks of oil-exporting nations of the world.
President Uhuru expressed hope that the discovery and export of oil would help bring the country together.
The event was also attended by a number of governors led by Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho