Wednesday, January 16, 2013
The Israeli Government has urged Kenyans to vote for responsible leaders in the coming General Election.
Israel Ambassador to Kenya Gil Haskel expressed confidence that Kenyans would choose their leaders in a ‘smart and responsible’ way.
The Israeli Government, he said, would work hand in hand with the next Government regardless of who is elected. “The backbone of Kenya and Israel relations is the people to people relationship, which is totally independent of which Government is ruling at a time,” the ambassador said.
He pointed out that the fate of the country’s political future is in the hands of Kenyans as only they can make the decision at the ballot box.
He assured Kenyans that the Israeli Government had no intentions of interfering with any internal processes and will work with the next Government that comes into power.
Ballot box
“Every nation deserves good, honest leaders and good governance. We encourage this but do not intervene,” he said. He hoped that Kenyans had learnt from the post-election violence that erupted after the disputed 2007 presidential polls and will not resort to violence in this year’s elections.
“The only way of resolving elections is by the ballot box and through counting votes. Nothing else can resolve the fate of elections,” Mr Haskel said.
He lauded Kenya’s efforts in preventing violence during the election period but encouraged the Government to seek Crowd Control Technology from Israel.
If requested by the State, he stated, the Israeli Government would share the technology, which he pointed out has very significant results during elections. He was speaking during the commemoration of 50 years of Israel and Kenya relations at a Nairobi hotel.
On direct flights to and from Israel, Haskel said they would only resume when the Kenyan government ensures that there are no security threats.