President Uhuru Kenyatta at the African Peer Review Mechanism in Ethiopia. [Photo/ PSCU]
By PSCU
President Uhuru Kenyatta has urged Africa to play its part in funding an aggressive reform agenda to grow the continent and improve the lives of its people.
At a summit of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), which he has chaired for the past two years, President Kenyatta said Africa was making progress in improving its governance structures and institutions, but countries needed to up their game in funding continental initiatives.
“The responsibility to adequately resource our Mechanism financially rests squarely on our collective shoulders. Allow me to insist that charity begins at home. Even as we look outwards for support, we must play our part in meeting our obligations,” President Kenyatta told fellow leaders in Ethiopia.
“Member states should remit their annual contributions on time and paying up arrears,” he said, adding that it was important for Africa to make its own strong contribution in funding programmes that grow the continent.
APRM focuses on improved governance as a vehicle for accelerated development on the continent.The president emphasized that “peer reviews” – in which countries assess each other’s progress in governance -- will only maintain relevance and meaningfulness if they continue to deliver significant improvement in governance across the continent.
“We must not lose sight of the most important element of peer reviews – the need to improve governance as a prerequisite of accelerated and shared development across our continent,” the president said.