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"id": 1153149,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Wetangula",
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"legal_name": "Moses Masika Wetangula",
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"content": "Kenyans, but we also want His Excellency the late Mwai Kibaki to have his space in the history of this country. Mr. Speaker, Sir, nothing can be remembered even more about His Excellency the late Mwai Kibaki than his commitment to the peace and security to this region. It is through His Excellency the late Mwai Kibaki that we created the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to look after the challenges of peace in Somalia. We created AMISOM and rallied our neighbours. He entrusted me as his Minister of Foreign Affairs, to work with the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) to make sure that we bring peace and normalcy in our neighbour, Somalia. Mr. Speaker, Sir, when there was a flare up in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with the Banyamulenge, he sent me overnight to look for Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, the Secretary-General of United Nations. Within 24 hours, we had assembled in Kenya the Presidents of Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan, Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Nigeria, South Africa the UN and the head of AU, to sit in Windsor hotel. We had to bring and put together President Obasanjo and President Mkapa, as eminent persons, to bring peace and normalcy to Congo. Another President would have said, who cares? I do not share a boundary with Congo. In fact, there are two other countries in between. Let the burning burn. However, he had that feeling for every African. That whatever happens in Congo affects Kenya. Peace in Congo is peace in Kenya, instability in Congo can be instability in the whole region. Mr. Speaker, Sir, when we had electoral challenges in the year 2007, His Excellency the late Mwai Kibaki demonstrated statesmanship beyond any comparison. We in his side of Government, who believed we had won elections and some of my colleagues who are hard liners, would not hear anything like let us engage the other side. However, within that frightening period, when the country was burning, His Excellency the late Mwai Kibaki called and told me, my Minister of Foreign Affairs, can you run to the AU and call them to come arbitrate what is going on here. That is how we brought in President Kufuor as the Chairperson of AU at that time. That is how we agreed on the eminent persons of Dr. Kofi Annan, President Benjamin Mkapa and Mama Graca Machel. Mama Graca Machel, of the three, is the only one living. May the other two souls rest in eternal peace. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the eminent persons came to Kenya and we had long-protracted sittings at the Nairobi Serena Hotel under Dr. Koffi Annan. Sometimes, things were not working and when things were irretrievably breaking down, His Excellency the late Mwai Kibaki called us and said that I will take charge of this because leadership alone cannot let us burn our country. We must sit together as compatriots. The Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga and his group are not our enemies. They are our compatriots. The fact that we do not agree politically does not mean that we burn our country. Where do our children go? We sat together. He then asked me to call President Jakaya Kikwete, who was not a member of the eminent persons, but had taken over as the Chairman of the AU from President Kufuor. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}