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{
    "id": 1106054,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1106054/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 298,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki)",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Therefore, this Bill is timely in terms of encouraging those Kenyans and helping them to feel that they are part of our nation. We love and appreciate them. We also wish them well. They are always welcome should they want to participate in the affairs of their country. Should they want to retire here, maybe after the children have grown up, this Bill addresses how we can support our colleagues who have decided to make a living outside our country. I do not think it makes somebody a lesser citizen simply because they are working abroad. In fact, those who have ventured abroad have a bigger contribution to the development of our country. Those who work abroad promote trade. The discourse in the World Trade Organization (WTO) is now moving from being dominated by trade in goods to trade in services. Therefore, many teachers, nurses, architects, engineers and lawyers who are out there working and engaging in services in those countries, and maybe sending money home, are promoting Kenya’s international trade in services. Kenyans abroad have made huge contributions in terms of remittances from abroad, which is a major contribution to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). There have been areas of concern. One of them is the issue of psychosocial and legal support for our colleagues out there. We have had cases of distress. Recently, there was a major humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. Many countries invested heavily in terms of trying to locate their nationals in those countries and evacuating them because of the crisis in that country. I did not see much effort by our country, yet I know there are many Kenyans there. I even know two people from Tharaka-Nithi who have been working in Afghanistan for the past 15 years, but we could not reach them. Up to now, we even do not know where they are. There was no coordinated effort by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to assist people to trace their relatives or even evacuate citizens who could still be in Afghanistan. I do not have to repeat, but we have cases in Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East where Kenyans have been stranded. Therefore, this puts into sharp focus the role of our diplomatic missions abroad. I am afraid to say that many of our embassies and diplomatic missions cannot give you a clear picture of how many Kenyans are in the countries of their jurisdiction, where they reside and what they do for a living. What they do is just to host Madaraka Day celebrations in the embassies once every year and invite people living around the city where the ambassador is a resident. I urge our embassies and diplomatic missions to see the many Kenyans who are out there working in their jurisdictions as an asset to our country and part of the core mandate of our diplomatic missions abroad."
}