Summary: The African country of Kenya has a new president. But that’s creating a new problem. It’s Thursday, and you’re listening to the DailyCast from ESLnewscast.com. Hello, I’m Cory Renzella, and thank you for listening today. Fifty years ago, Kenya became an independent, or free, country. Since then, it has had four presidents. The first was a man named Jomo Kenyatta. The fourth president, who was elected just last week, is the son of Jomo Kenyatta. His name is Uhuru Kenyatta. Although he is only 51 years old, he has worked in Kenya’s government for many years. Last week, when he was inaugurated, or became president, he talked about being the president for all of Kenya’s people. That’s going to be a challenge, because he only won 51% of the vote in last month’s election. That means half of the country’s 40 million people didn’t want him to be president. It’s not surprising that Kenya’s people are so divided. There are different ethnic groups, and ethnic is a word that refers to people’s backgrounds. There is often fighting among these different ethnic groups. Although this last presidential election was peaceful, over 1,000 Kenyans were killed in fighting during the previous election in 2007. Who was responsible for this violence? A lot of people are saying that it was Uhuru Kenyatta. That means the man who has just become Kenya’s president might be a murderer! And that, as I said at the beginning, is the new problem that Kenya has with its new president. The leaders of many other countries don’t know what kind of relationship they should have with Kenyatta. Kenya is one of the most powerful countries in Africa, and its economy has been growing fast. So, American and European leaders want to work with it, although they don’t want to look like they are close friends with Kenyatta. But now, there’s a chance that Uhuru Kenyatta won’t be president for long. The International Criminal Court, or ICC, is a court that many countries created to punish international criminals. The court has accused Kenyatta of being involved in those deaths from 2007, and it will hold a trial to see if he is guilty, meaning he did something wrong, or innocent, meaning he is not guilty. Kenyatta has promised to go to the ICC later this year to defend himself. It will be a strange trial, but no matter what happens at the ICC, it is already a problem for everyone involved. ~~~~~~~~~~ If you were the leader of your country, would you be willing to work with Uhuru Kenyatta? Do you think that the ICC will find him innocent or guilty? Tell us your thoughts by leaving a comment on our website. ESLnewscast.com is “Your English Window to the World”, and wherever you are in the world, I hope you have a good day. Thanks for listening, and I’ll talk to you again tomorrow. Bye-bye.
