Several African leaders and other high profile personalities are in Djibouti for the inauguration of President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh.
The 73-year-old Guelleh won the April elections with a 97.44% of the vote automatically scaling him into the 5th term at the helm of this horn of Africa nation.
Guelleh faced off against his only rival businessman Zakaria Farah, who won less than 5,000 votes (2.48%). Farah sharply criticized the absence of his delegates from the polling stations, appearing to suggest that they had been barred from entering.
President Guelleh is the second president of Djibouti since independence from France in 1977. He was first elected as President in 1999 as the handpicked successor to his uncle, Hassan Gouled Aptidon, who had ruled Djibouti since independence in 1977.
As per the age limit set by Djibouti’S Constitution, Guelleh will be over 75 years old by the next presidential election in 2026.
President Uhuru Kenyatta the current Chairperson of the East African Community has arrived in Djibouti to attend the inauguration of President Ismail Omar Guelleh.
Here under is the full speech by President Ismael Guelleh at his inauguration. The original version was in the French language.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Before God and Men, I have just taken an oath to assume, in the continuity of our institutions and my mandate, the Supreme Magistracy.
On the threshold of this new five-year term, I want to remember what, by heart and by reason, Djiboutians aspire and for which they have renewed their confidence in me: namely, stability, civil harmony, the safeguard of the values of our Republic as well as the search for the inclusive and accelerated development of our country.
I think when you love your country deeply, you get involved. It was on this conviction that I got involved in politics. This is my idea of my mission.
That of being a sincere guarantor of the values of our Republic. That of being with each Djiboutian, attentive to their needs.
And the expectations of my people, in this particularly demanding time in which we live, are numerous and stubborn.
The Covid 19 pandemic has turned the world economy upside down. Climate change is forcing us to revolutionize our way of life. Digitization is disrupting communication and production circuits. Demographic pressure is a reality for our continent
These major developments offer us as many challenges as they offer opportunities to actively prepare for the world to come.
Committing ourselves resolutely and fearlessly to the future requires courage, but also a lot of wisdom.
It is resolutely from us that we will draw the necessary resources to create the conditions for a new deal.
Djibouti is a large country but modest in size, a crossroads between East and West, a meeting point between Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.
Djibouti is a young republic, but a strong, lively republic, a dynamic republic, united by our desire to take part in this new situation.
We are united, in peace, we live in a stable country. And that’s a Blessing.
History has taught us that peace, stability and unity are a prerequisite, a sine qua non for any long-term economic and social development policy.
History also teaches us that there is nothing learned in the matter. That tomorrow, like yesterday, we must work together tirelessly to protect this stability,
to strengthen our institutions, to sanctify peace and to live it together, to make the Republic live in harmony.
We must also protect our freedom of choice and decisions without which there is no real sovereignty.
We have been able to forge long-term partnerships with great friendly powers.
We have been able to maintain the balance of our alliances and ensure our security obligations on the Strait of Bab el Mandeb. We are taking our part in the humanitarian action of solidarity.
We are an African country, we are an Arab country and we are a Muslim country. We hold to our triple identity, to this fruitful diversity, the source of our vitality.
We want to play an active role in the emergence and integration of our continent. We deeply believe in bringing peoples and economies together to prevent sterile rivalries and contradict those who condemn us to fratricidal conflicts.
That is why I have always supported efforts and initiatives in favour of the rapprochement and integration of African economies, particularly in our region.
We must prioritize our common commitment to development, a culture of peace and stability. We must make this commitment in the name of new generations.
So that all this does not remain a wishful thinking, we must go beyond our deadly conflicts, go beyond the interests of the short term to see far.
We must, once, get rid of this belief which condemns us to individualism and which wants to oppose us to each other even when our wealth is more than abundant if we make the choice of intelligent union.
Africa will be powerful if it is united, it will be rich if we are together, if our countries cooperate to complement each other and pursue our common vision of having strong and effective states.
We are fully engaged in our region, in this Horn of Africa which must be the common home of all the peoples who live there.
And we are fully engaged in the processes of continental construction. I am thinking in particular of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). Africa is said to be the continent of the future. It’s up to us to transform this perspective into reality.
We are, finally, fully engaged in the consolidation of our Ummah, of our community of believers. To face extremism and violence, we will oppose our tolerance, our just faith, our deep identity.
We therefore follow with emotion the events affecting our Palestinian sisters and brothers. We call, as we have always done in the past, for a just political resolution of the conflict. And at the end of the Israeli occupation, the only way to the peace of the brave
Djibouti is a nation shaped by the Strait of Bab El Mandeb. A strait through which more than a third of world trade passes.
We have been able to rely on our geographical position, on the creativity of our people, to build a development project.
In twenty years, Djibouti has established itself as an international logistics and port hub. Today we are the African leader in port infrastructure.
We have achieved more than a decade of growth, our GDP has multiplied by six, income per capita by five.
In the early days of this new presidential term, our goal is to pick up the pace, taking into account the changes in the world.
We need to invest in services, communications, digital technologies. We have immense potential in terms of renewable energies
We also need to invest in industry, produce ourselves and get others to produce in Djibouti, especially as part of our free zones policy.
We must promote the emergence of these sectors that create added value for the country and create jobs for Djiboutians.
There are many opportunities in bunkering, shipyards, oil and gas terminals, light industry. We can serve the whole sub-region. It is in this perspective that the major projects of the Damerjog industrial park and the redevelopment of the historic port of Djibouti city fall.
For 2021 and beyond, our growth is expected to remain strong, one of the strongest in Africa, despite the repercussions of the covid 19 pandemic.
But growth, emergence is not an end in itself. They must be first and foremost at the service of our fellow citizens.
The goal of development is to increase income, invest in human capital, in social sectors, health, education, training, water, access to electricity.
The objective is also the establishment of a more inclusive economy, with a rebalancing of territories, a more efficient sharing of wealth. We have already done a lot.
We are aware of the challenges that face us. Poverty and unemployment remain a reality as in many of our African countries.
The need for infrastructure too.
I am determined with the Djiboutians to act.
Act to consolidate our Republic.
Take action to get rid of the burden of poverty.
Act for emergence.
Act for the Djibouti of tomorrow, for these young generations to come, whose commitment is essential to the success of our collective project. And which must take their place in the modern world.
We have no other choice than ambition.
No other means than work.
I am confident I know we can be successful.
Together.
Long live the Republic,
Long live our peoples
Long live Africa
Thank you.