Kenya

I should like to join previous speakers in warmly congratulating Mr. Hollai on his election to the high and onerous office of Presi¬dent of the thirty seventh session of the General Assembly. His election is proof of the confidence placed in him personally and in his country by the General Assembly. I wish him all the best in guiding the work of the session to a successful conclusion. On behalf of my delegation, I pledge our full support in all his endeavors. Also, I wish to pay a tribute to his predecessor, Mr. Kittani, who successfully and with singular distinction guided the work of the General Assembly throughout the thirty-sixth session and the special and emergency sessions. We owe him a debt of gratitude for his untiring efforts and the wisdom he displayed at all times. This is also a fitting occasion for me to pay a tribute to the Secretary-General and the entire staff of the United Nations for the work they have done during the past year. 216. In the Secretary-General's report on the work of the Organization , we note the many prob¬lems and difficulties he has identified as conflicts between national aims and Charter goals—resort to confrontation, sporadic violence and even war itself in pursuit of w at are perceived as vital interests, claims and aspirations. I wish to assure him that my country will, as always, heed his appeal to all Govern¬ments for their rededication and commitment to the purposes and principles of the Charter. 217. The guiding spirit of my Government, under the leadership of President Daniel Arap Moi, is peace, democracy and justice for all under the rule of law in a system which recognizes the supremacy of Parlia¬ment. Another fundamental objective of the Govern¬ment is the improvement of the economic and social well-being of our people in unity, freedom and love for one another. All our actions—on the domestic front as well as in the international arena, are geared to promote, project and vigorously defend these goals. With all our might and within our resources, our people stand united in their resolve to ensure that our present population and future generations enjoy the fruits of peace, unity and stability while respecting the dignity of the individual in freedom. We extend the hand of friendship and co-operation to all nations and peoples which are, in turn, willing to do the same to us in good faith. 218. As we have gathered here for the thirty-seventh session of the General Assembly, we cannot help looking back and taking stock of the achievements and failures of the Organization. We are certain that when the balance-sheet is drawn up the results will be unmistakably on the side of success. Whenever world peace and security have been threatened, the General Assembly has always exerted maximum pres¬sure in favor of peace, tranquility and mutual under¬standing. It is Kenya's sincere hope that the votes cast in the Assembly will continue to reflect the general will of the international community to maintain peace and security for all nations, as well as their resolve to improve the well-being of mankind as a whole. Those who are entrusted by the Charter with the maintenance of international peace should pay more attention to the resolutions that are adopted year after year by the Assembly. These resolutions truly reflect the concerns of the world community. 219. I should like first to make a brief survey of the African scene in the context of the aims and objectives of the United Nations. When my President addressed the General Assembly at the 11th meeting of the thirty-sixth session, he indicated in his statement that at that time a number of agreed and concrete steps were being taken to re-establish peace and good order in Chad. For the steps being taken to succeed in restoring that peace and good order, it was neces¬sary for those directly concerned faithfully to adhere strictly to, and fully implement in good faith, the established programmes. Developments since then, however, have shown that lasting peace continues to elude the people of Chad. 220. In the case of Western Sahara, the way had finally been cleared for a cease-fire agreement and the holding of a referendum by means of which the people of the Territory were to determine their own future, We all know that the events which ensued led to severe disagreement among African countries and that today the OAU stands partially paralyzed because of these deep-seated differences. It is my Govern¬ment's sincere hope that the ongoing consultations among member States of the OAU will lead to the removal of the obstacles now standing in the way of unity in our continental organization. 221. In South Africa the tragedy of apartheid con¬tinues. The racist South African regime seeks to per¬petuate its illegal occupation of Namibia in defiance of decisions of this body. After decades of condemna¬tion and protests by all peace-loving peoples of the world, including some whites in South Africa itself, the evil and inhuman system of apartheid Continues to flourish, even though it embraces the total denial of political rights to the majority. Opposition to apartheid is met with brutal force against defenseless people, among them children. It is a system which violates all the universal principles of human dignity on which the United Nations itself is based; yet all our efforts to get stronger action to be taken against South Africa continue to meet with resistance. We have adopted in the Assembly countless resolutions condemning the system. We have held many inter¬national gatherings which have exposed and equally condemned the evil system practiced by the racist minority bent on destroying the very tenets of civilized conduct. Are we going to step there? 222. In pursuance of its policies of seeking to per¬petuate racist domination in South Africa and to maintain its illegal occupation of Namibia, as well as to expand its political influence beyond its borders, the regime has resorted to constant acts of aggres¬sion, subversion, destabilization and terrorism against neighbouring independent African States. 223. Speaking in this Hall, our col¬league the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Angola out¬lined in precise terms the extent of the military aggres¬sion carried out by the racist regime of South Africa against the front-line States and the continuing military occupation by South Africa of large parts of his country, Angola. Was the General Assembly estab¬lished to listen impotently to such horror stories of aggression, military occupation and deliberate destabilization year after year without corresponding action by the world community to put an end to the shame and indignity narrated by such stories? 224. In resolution 418 (1977) the Security Council, in a modest step forward, imposed an arms embargo against South Africa. The Security Council decided that the sale of arms to South Africa represented a threat to international peace and security. We all know that it is not the sale of arms that represents the threat, for South Africa is already heavily armed and has a sophisticated arms industry of its own. Rather it is the regime itself and its policy of apartheid that represents the threat to international peace and security. 225. The time has come when the international community must wake up to the gravity of the situa¬tion in this area. There is no longer any time left for ambiguity and for prevarication over apartheid, We must therefore urge the international community, the Security Council and particularly those permanent numbers of the Council, friends of South Africa, to declare without any qualification that the situation in South Africa poses a threat to international peace and security under the provisions of Chapter VII of the Charter, 226. Information has come to us through the public media to the effect that the racist regime is making moves to remove petty apartheid in public places. Let us not be confused by such information. We have all along been calling for the total eradication of apartheid. My country, Kenya, will not allow itself to be deceived by such propaganda. We must reject such deceit. We must remain confident that the struggleto put an end to the apartheid system itself will succeed. We must continue to give every assistance possible to our freedom fighters in South Africa and Namibia in their legitimate struggle under the leadership of their respective liberation movements until final victory is won. 227. In the 37 years of the United Nations history voluminous records exist of the illegal and brutal occupation of Namibia by South Africa. Not content with the illegal occupation, South Africa has converted Namibia into a military base, a spring-board from which it has carried out frequent, regular, unprovoked armed attacks against neighbouring States. South Africa has, since 1966, defiantly resisted every move towards a peaceful termination of its illegal occupation of Namibia. All such proposals have been spurned with impunity by the regime. Indeed, Africa and the entire world community is bound to ask what it is that South Africa wants. Four years ago the United Nations plan for the independence of Namibia was adopted by the Security Council in its resolution 435 (1978). At the time that resolution was adopted, we had hoped that South Africa had regained its senses and was ready to co-operate in implementing a peaceful tran¬sition to independence for Namibia. Our hope has been rudely dashed by South Africa's intransigence. Instead of moving towards the implementation of the United Nations plan for Namibian independence the regime has resorted to an intensified war against the liberation forces—the forces of SWAPO—and against the neighbouring States, particularly Angola and Mozambique. Has not the time come for the United Nations to act decisively? We say yes and the time is now. Over the years in our negotiations for the liberation of Namibia we have been patient. We have shown flexibility. We have been reasonable. SWAPO has made significant concessions with regard to the unreasonable demands made by South Africa. On the other hand, South Africa has taken advantage of our patience and moderation and has in fact escalated its offensive beyond the borders of Namibia. 229. In our continued commitment to a peaceful solution the Namibian problem, Africa has not lost hope m the negotiating machinery despite the duplicity shown by South Africa. During the last eight weeks or so the African contact group has been negotiating with the five Western States for the implementation of the United Nations plan for Namibia's independence according to resolution 435 (1978). Although these negotiations have been going on for some time, pronouncements coming from South Africa offer little proof that it is now ready for the implementation of Namibia's independence as laid down in the United Nations plan. Some of those involved in the negotia¬tions say that South Africa is now ready to comply with the United Nations plan. This is not the first time we have heard this. We must remain cautious about such statements, because while the current negotiations are under way, South Africa continues its aggression against Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and indeed against all its neighbors. We have every reason for serious doubts of South Africa's sincerity in all these negotiations, given its past history of wrecking negotiations at the eleventh hour. As soon as SWAPO makes one concession, South Africa brings forward more unacceptable demands to be fulfilled as a condi¬tion for making further progress. It is therefore not difficult to see the cause of our frustration and the reasons for our impatience. 230. But we must not confuse the issue of Namibia's dependence and the territorial integrity of Angola. We should like to make it clear, as we have always done before, that the problem regarding Namibia's independence stems solely from South Africa's refusal to get out of Namibia, which it con¬tinues to occupy illegally. We shall not accept pro¬paganda conceived in super-Power context in order to justify South Africa's presence in Namibia and its continued aggression against Angola. We view the situation with great concern. By now South Africa should know that its puppets inthe so-called Demo¬cratic Tumhalle Alliance have no political support in Namibia and cannot win a fair election. These puppets will be rejected by the people of Namibia just and the puppets of Ian Smith were rejected by the people of Zimbabwe. In fact it is this fear, the fear of this truth, which frightens the racist regime of South Africa. 231. The international community must face its responsibility in Namibia squarely. We remain extremely concerned that the United Nations efforts have been frustrated by the use of the veto in the Security Council. We have the rather anomalous situation where those whose efforts for the inde¬pendence of Namibia are being spurned by South Africa are at the same time those who are protecting South Africa with vetoes against the stronger action called for by South Africa's intransigence. Something must be done to end that anomaly. 232. We in Africa have come a long way in our struggle to liberate our continent from regimes based on race and colonialism. We will not stop in our drive at the border of Namibia. That should serve as a clear message to South Africa and its friends. 233. I will now draw the Assembly's attention to one of the most dangerous areas on the international scene today. I refer to events in the Middle East, specifically in Lebanon. The situation in this area has remained tense, with violent conflicts flaring up, over the past three decades and that long-standing conflict is still not resolved. Despite the efforts of the international community over the years aimed at finding a peaceful solution, intransigence has not given way to compromise. Instead, one community has sought to annihilate another community. In the past three months, we have all witnessed a new onslaught launched by Israel in total disregard of all the rules of international law and morality. Israel arbitrarily and militarily occupied the sovereign State of Lebanon, a State Member of the United Nations. The destruction of life that has taken place in Lebanon leaver us all shocked and horrified, particularly with regard to the recent massacre of Palestinian refugees in Beirut. That indiscriminate killing of innocent people, including women and children, in the refugee coups in Beirut is a gross viola on of human rights and accepted international law and morality. As my Presi¬dent said in his statement on the tragedy, this callous and barbaric act against defenseless Palestinians, coming as it did soon after the evacuation of Palestinian military personnel from Lebanon, shocked the con¬science of the world and must be vigorously con¬demned by all peace-loving nations. President Moi has repeatedly stated that Kenya values human life and will always condemn acts which destroy life. I wish to reiterate here Kenya's conviction that no lasting peace in the Middle East can be achieved without due recognition of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to inde¬pendence and to a sovereign homeland of their own. Once again, Kenya calls for the immediate withdrawal of Israeli and all other foreign troops from Lebanese territory, in the interest of peace and stability in the region. 234. I wish to make some observations on another matter that continues to be of concern to the Organi¬zation. Kenya has supported in the past and will continue to support in the future the proposal that the Indian Ocean be designated a zone of peace. Hence, for us in Kenya, the Indian Ocean as a zone of peace is not a political slogan; rather, it is imperative for our own security in our attempts to safeguard our territorial integrity. In this spirit, Kenya supports the call for an international conference to consider all the aspects of this problem. We urge all the maritime States to co-operate fully in the preparations for such a conference. 235. This regular session of the Assembly is taking place soon after the conclusion of the second special session on disarmament. I expressed the views of my Government on that matter when I addressed the Assembly at the 19th meeting of the twelfth special session. The outcome of that special session will of course be interpreted differently by different Govern¬ments, but in the opinion of my Government, the results of that session were too meager to confer upon it the label of success. Most regrettably, at the second special session on disarmament held in June and July of this year the Assembly failed to elaborate and adopt a comprehensive program of disarm¬ament. On reviewing the implementation of the recommendations and decisions of the first special session, at the second special session concrete and practical proposals for removing the impediments to progress in disarmament negotiations could not even be agreed on. 236. The continuing deterioration of the international situation and the intensification of the arms race have brought the world to the brink of a nuclear catastrophe. In such a political climate, no progress can be made on disarmament negotiations. We therefore call on all States, in particular the nuclear Powers and other militarily significant States, to demonstrate the political will and firm commitment necessary for the implemen¬tation of the recommendations made and the decisions taken in the field of disarmament. 237. As stated earlier, the international political situa¬tion has not taken a turn for the better. We are disap-pointed that despite the Organization's call for the withdrawal of Vietnamese troops from Kampuchea and of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, no movement in that direction has been taken by those concerned. Similarly, the United Nations resolutions on Cyprus continue to be ignored, and the intercommunal talks which we have supported appear to be unnecessarily protracted. We also note with continuing disappoint¬ment and deep regret that the conflict between Iran and Iraq has not ended, in spite of intensive efforts from many quarters. We hope that the two non- aligned nations will allow good sense to prevail and will cease the senseless hostilities that have taken such a toll in human lives and untold economic disruption. In the same vein, we support the aspirations of the Korean people for the peaceful reunification of their country. In our statement to the General Assembly at the 27th meeting of the thirty-fifth session, my delegation expressed concern at the unilateral suspen¬sion of the then ongoing South-North working level contacts by North Korea and urged the South and the North of Korea, the two parties directly con¬cerned, to resume the dialogue immediately in accordance with the letter and spirit of the joint communique of 4 July 1972 in order to ease tension and to improve relations. No progress seems to have been made so far, and my delegation would like to renew that appeal. 238. The Government of Kenya is gravely concerned about the critical situation in which the world economy finds itself today. The effects of the deepening reces¬sion hurt the developing countries the most, because it is those countries that experience acute problems of balance of payments, falling per capita income, rapidly rising unemployment and high rates of inflation, to mention only a few. Those problems are magnified by the reluctance of the developed countries to acknowledge the importance of multilateral co-oper¬ation in the solution of international economic problems. The transfer of resources in real terms to developing countries has been steadily declining and the growth of the gross domestic product in the developing nations has decelerated to a level of 0.6 per cent from an average of 5.5 per cent achieved during the 1970s. That trend in the world economic situation paints a very gloomy picture of the eco¬nomies of the developing countries, which are adversely affected by external factors. 239. Energy is undoubtedly an essential element of the development process, but it continues to be a very serious problem, particularly for developing nations like my own, Kenya, which are most adversely affected by the energy crisis. The need to shift the dependency of nations from petroleum to a greater reliance on alternative sources of energy was one of the points I stressed when I addressed the Assembly on 7 October 1980. On that occasion, I said, infer for It is our hope that the United Nations Con¬ference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy, to be held at Nairobi in August 1981, will offer the world community a rare opportunity to find alternative solutions to our energy problems. 240. As you will recall, that Conference was held in Nairobi as planned, and its outcome was the Nairobi Programme of Action for the Development and Utiliza¬tion of New and Renewable Sources of Energy.for As you also know, the Assembly last year took some important decisions on the Nairobi Conference on energy pursuant to the provisions of Assembly resolution 35/204. Noteworthy among the actions of the Assembly at its thirty-sixth session were the decisions concerning the financial and institutional arrangements for new and renewable sources of energy, which have to be finalized at this session of the Assembly. The Interim Committee established pursuant to General Assembly resolution 36/193 met in Rome in June of this year, but it did not succeed in its primary task regarding the immediate launching of the imple¬mentation of the Nairobi Programme of Action. It is thus clear that at this session the Assembly has to take certain fundamental decisions as a follow-up to the Nairobi Conference on energy. First, we have to decide on the question of mobilization of financial resources for harnessing new and renewable energy resources. In this regard, the role of the United Nations must be recognized, and bilateral arrange¬ments for raising funds should supplement, but not replace, multilateral arrangements. Secondly, United Nations activities carried out in implementation of the Nairobi Programme of Action must be well co-ordi¬nated. In this connection, my delegation deems it necessary to establish a secretariat which would also service an intergovernmental body, which the Assembly should designate, for new and renewable energy sources. The delegation of Kenya stands ready to participate actively in the discussions of this item now and in the future. 241. Turning now to the question of science and technology for development, I should like to stress again the significance which my Government attaches to the strengthening of the capacity of the developing countries in the fields of science and technology. We have always been keenly interested and have actively participated at high governmental levels in international conferences and good-will missions constituted to discuss issues of science and technology for development, especially of the developing coun¬tries, because we believe that science and technology are crucial vehicles not only for the implementation of the Third United Nations Development Decade, but also for the early attainment of the new inter¬national economic order. It is regrettable that, three years after the conclusion of the Vienna Programme of Action on Science and Technology for Development no substantial agreement has been reached on the establishment of a permanent United Nations financing system for science and technology for development. My Government calls urgently for the early resolution of the unresolved issues in the Vienna Programme of Action through intensified negotiations within the appropriate United Nations bodies, including the Intergovernmental Committee for Science and Technology for Development. 242. Of particular importance to my country as a developing nation is the question of economic and technical co-operation among developing countries themselves. Kenya has repeatedly called on developing nations to intensify their activities at subregional, regional and interregional levels and in all fields. It was in this spirit that we participated in the formula¬tion and adoption of the Caracas Programme of Action, the implementation of which has been enhanced by the North-South meetings held during this year, which included the meeting of the Group of 77 held last month in Manila to review the imple¬mentation of the Caracas Programme of Action. In certain regionsalso new initiatives for interregional and subregional co-operation have emerged. These have included the intensive negotiations held among 18 countries of eastern and southern Africa, including my own country, which resulted in the signing in Lusaka, in December 1981 of a treaty establishing a preferential trade area for that African region. 243. With regard to industrial development, we wel¬come the recommendations of the sixteenth session of the Industrial Development Board and call for their early implementation. We note with appreciation the full recognition in the Industrial Development Board's report on that session of the significance of the Industrial Development Decade for Africa. As the Assembly knows, Kenya will play host to the Fourth General Conference of UNIDO, in 1984, and the success of that Conference will depend to a large extent on the attitude nations display during the preparatory process for it. We there¬fore hope that this process will be intensified in order to ensure positive results from this forthcoming UNIDO Conference in Nairobi. 244. We are aware of the report submitted to the Assembly on the work of the fifth session of the Commission on Human Settlements and of the two sessions held this year by the Governing Council of UNEP. The important recommenda¬tions of those sessions need to be implemented, and for that to be done adequate financial resources are necessary. My delegation therefore calls on the devel¬oped donor countries, and others in a position to do so, to make substantial contributions towards the implementation of the planned activities in the fields of the environment and human settlements. 245. Kenya would like to see a substantial increase in the trade of developing nations in manufactures. We condemn protectionism in all its forms, and we believe that at the sixth session of UNCTAD, to be held in 1983, serious attempts will be made to tackle all the critical issues encountered by the international community in the Held of trade and development. My delegation therefore calls upon the Assembly to take concrete action at this session to ensure the success of the sixth session of UNCTAD. 246. The critical economic situation facing Africa, which is the least developed of all the continents, requires concerted international action. It was in this spirit that the Lagos Plan of Action for the Imple¬mentation of the Monrovia Strategy for the Economic Development of Africa was adopted. Kenya calls on the international community to extend the technical and financial assistance necessary for the implemen¬tation of the Lagos Plan of Action in its entirety. 247. Africa also faces acute food problems, as recent reports have shown. Food and agricultural production has drastically declined in recent years, owing, inter alia to changes in climatic conditions, inadequate investment in the food sector, and lack of storage facilities. The international community must take urgent collective measures to alleviate the critical food shortages and attain collective self-sufficiency in food, to increase food and agricultural production, food storage, and food security, as well as to increase capital from external resources. We look forward to greater assistance from both bilateral donors and multilateral sources. More assistance from FAO and the World Food Council would be greatly appreciated, particularly by the food-deficient coun¬tries of the developing world. 248. I wish now to turn to the issue of special eco¬nomic and disaster-relief assistance. My Government commends the efforts of the Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Co-ordinator. We reiterate our full support for the activities of that Office and call on all donor countries to increase their contributions to that important body in order to enable it to deal more efficiently and promptly with disasters, wherever and whenever they occur in the disaster-stricken and disaster-prone areas of the world, especially in Africa. The Kenyan delegation will continue to attach special importance to this problem and to participate actively ininternational deliberations on it. 249. One of the historic events of this decade has been the adoption of the Convention on the Law of the Sea. The occasion not only marked the emergence of a new legal regime governing the exploration and exploitation of the seas, the sea-bed, and the ocean floor and the subsoil thereof; it also demonstrated clearly the importance of equitable compromise in the interest of all mankind. The Convention has been the result of hard negotiations over a period, of many years, and it is Kenya's hope that even those coun¬tries which were not able to support the Convention at its adoption will find it necessary and possible to support it in future in order to ensure uniformity in its implementation and use. We also hope that the same spirit displayed by nations at the adoption of the Convention will be demonstrated by their ratification of it. 250. In this and other forums we have consistently condemned the activities of mercenaries. In the recent past we have witnessed increased use of mercenaries against the territorial integrity and independence of many developing countries. We cannot stress strongly enough the need to bring this heinous crime to an end through concerted international action. AH those participating in mercenary activities belong to States, and urgent measures are required to outlaw mercena¬ries and to stop their activities permanently. Peace- loving people everywhere are anxiously awaiting action to eliminate this heinous crime. We cannot afford to disappoint our peoples. 251. I should like to conclude my remarks by reiter¬ating Kenya's total faith in the principles underlying the Charter of the United Nations and our belief that in the end the nations of this world will have to swim together—or sink together.