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"id": 104633,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Wetangula",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Foreign Affairs",
"speaker": {
"id": 210,
"legal_name": "Moses Masika Wetangula",
"slug": "moses-wetangula"
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"content": "but the best within the best. I can assure you and I have colleagues here like my able Assistant Minister, Maj-Gen. Nkaisserry and you can ask any other Minister, go to the AU Council of Ministers, Kenya has the most respected voice. We are listened to and our opinions are taken into account on everything. We give this country very adequate representation. It is simply not possible for my oversight Committee to sit and advise me to rationalize the posting of officers in my Ministry and at the same time, urge me to open a diaspora office in every mission. We are in an era of multi-skilling officers; making sure that an officer who is posted as an ambassador must have knowledge of accounts, human resource and be able to deal with Kenyans who go for services. Every ambassador is a diaspora officer. So, we do not need to open any desk in any mission to put diaspora officers because that is the role of the ambassadors; to make sure that Kenyans get the best. We have instructed them very firmly. On national days and any other days, each mission has a web on which they post all issues Kenyan. We urge all Kenyans to continuously look at the Ministry web and see what is available for them to apply. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if I may add, through the diaspora desk, the vice- president of the largest bank in South Africa is a Kenyan who procured the job through our Ministry; the diaspora desk that I set up as part of reforms in my Ministry. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the question of rationalizing and closing missions, because the team visited only three countries, Ireland is a special case. Those of you who follow Economics and History know that for the last ten years, Ireland was a phenomenally growing economy. It was the biggest growing economy in the entire European Union. It was a success story in the evolution of Information Technology (IT) and everything. The Irish were uncomfortable for Kenya to continue having a representation in their country from elsewhere. Ireland has a very serious engagement in this country. I do not know if you are Catholic; I am. In almost every area where we have Catholics, there are Irish priests working and teaching. Every Catholic secondary school in this country has a history of having Irish teachers. Those teachers are here on Irish aid. They are not here for free. We do not pay them. The Irish Government pays them. Yes, Ireland has gone through a very tumultuous economic situation. It is now not as booming as it was. But in international relations, you do not just open and close offices like you close and open doors in a house. There are many variables. Ireland may not be engaged with Kenya in trade terms today, but it is a critical vote for Kenya when some malicious friends of Kenya want to take away United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) from Kenya. We count on them. When there was a move through some of the European countries to take away Habitat and UNEP, I want to tell this House that Ireland was one of the few European countries that stood with the Group of 77 plus China to support Kenya, that UNEP and Habitat must not only remain in Kenya, but must be strengthened. So, the diplomatic engagement goes way beyond just the tenets of trade and commerce. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, take Namibia, for example. Kenya was the team leader at the Independence of Namibia. We sent Gen. Opande â Maj-Gen. Nkaisserry can bear me witness â and led the UN team. After that, out of respect and continental pride, we opened a mission in Windhoek, but we have very little trade with Namibia."
}