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Nairobi, November 28, 2004

President Mwai Kibaki receives the declaration of Landmines Survivors Summit from victims of Landmines Sabaa Cerady (on wheelchair) of Yemen, Suleiman Ghnenal of Jordan (left) and Aleksandar Kecman of Bosnia, Herzegovina during the official opening of the Nairobi Mine-Free World Summit, at KICC, Nairobi.

President reaffirms commitment to eradicate landmines

President Mwai Kibaki today reaffirmed Kenya's commitment to the eradication of landmines and appealed to countries that have not ratified the Mine-Ban Treaty to join in freeing the world of the destructive weapons.

He said Kenya has taken necessary steps to destroy the landmines stockpile in accordance with the treaty obligations and was in the final stages of making those obligations part of the domestic legislation.

"I encourage you all and those who have ratified the Mine-Ban Treaty not to relent on the crusade against these devastating and destructive weapons but to continue highlighting the dangers of mines and lobbying the citizens of those governments that remain outside the Mine-Ban Treaty to join the noble efforts to eradicate landmines," President Kibaki said.

The President was speaking at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Nairobi where he presided over the official opening of the Nairobi Mine-Free World Summit.

Noting that the problem of anti-personnel mines was currently one of the most pressing humanitarian and development issue, President Kibaki said the world cannot afford to rest until every landmine is destroyed.

Said the President: "Our conscience cannot be at peace until every minefield is cleared and until all those persons injured or maimed by landmines are assisted and re-integrated into their societies."

He added that unless all the existing stocks are destroyed and production of the lethal weapons brought to an end, the threat posed by landmines will continue to cause untold pain and suffering.

Noting that every year more than 22,000 people are killed, maimed or mutilated by uncleared landmines throughout the world, the President stressed that the world was in a position to prevent the suffering of the victims most of whom were civilians affected long after conflicts had ceased.

He observed that in some countries landmines have compounded the problem of hunger and malnutrition by rendering huge areas of land unusable.

"In addition, surviving landmine victims are often severely maimed and therefore become a burden to society," the Head of State pointed out.

In this regard, President Kibaki said mine action must be treated as a development priority and incorporated in all development plans and initiatives.

He said it was also necessary to increase funding levels for mine action if the momentum was to be sustained.

Saying conflicts create conditions for production and use of anti-personnel landmines, President Kibaki insisted that conflict resolution efforts must be intensified.

"We should support and strengthen mechanisms established to resolve conflicts before these escalate into full-scale war," he advised.

The President, at the same time, said merchants of war who seek to make quick profit from situations of conflict must be told that landmines kill innocent civilians and should not be traded.

Noting that poverty breeds conflicts, President Kibaki expressed the need to reduce expenditure on defence while increasing development assistance to poor and needy countries.

He said the Nairobi summit, which is the first review summit of the convention on the prohibition of the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines, marks the most significant gathering of world leaders to address the landmine problem since the historic signing of the December 1997 Ottawa convention.

The President said it was encouraging that Africa was well represented at the conference and that all African countries, apart from four states, were party to the convention.

"At the global level, the Mine-Ban Treaty has been ratified by 143 countries out of the total UN membership of 191 countries," the President noted.

During the occasion, president Kibaki received the declaration of Landmines survivors summit.

The conference was also addressed by the Nairobi summit President-Designate Amb. Wolfgang Petritsch and Secretary-General Designate Amb. Esther Tolle among others.