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{
"id": 1156177,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1156177/?format=api",
"text_counter": 84,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Sakaja",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13131,
"legal_name": "Johnson Arthur Sakaja",
"slug": "johnson-arthur-sakaja"
},
"content": "What we need to work on is removing the imaginary lines we call borders. Before the scramble for Africa, the borders did not exist; we were one people. I remember when the President of Tanzania, Her Excellency Samia Suluhu Hassan came to Kenya, she explained that we are now blocking people from entering Tanzania and Kenya, but during the wildebeest migration, when the animals from Serengeti in Tanzania and Maasai Mara give birth, are the young animals Tanzanian or Kenyan? The artificial boundaries that we have between us is what has held Africa behind. Today, it is easier for you to go to Dubai than Nigeria or the United States of America (USA) than Conakry. In Kenya, our biggest trading partner is not the USA but Uganda, followed by Tanzania, yet we have more hurdles between Africa. Personally, I am embarrassed and made a commitment to myself that I will visit more African countries. I have visited many countries. For example, in Europe, there is no place I have not gone to. In Asia, we go to Singapore and do visits as Parliament to places like Fiji. However, if you ask which Committee has gone to Tunisia, Zambia, Malawi or Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that is now part of EAC, there is none. Therefore, we need to bring back the Pan African thinking. That, one, we are stronger together and, two, our unity is key to our prosperity, especially after the African Continent Free Trade Area Agreement that has been done. That is the future of our continent. It will give us the possibilities for us to reduce the level of imports, change the balance of trade and do business together as children of one continent as the same people. If you take a setting today in Goma Market and take a photo, you might as well think it is Luanda Market in Western, or a market in Kilifi. Our people are the same. They dress the same and our culture is similar. We love music and treat food the same way. I always give an example of those who have herded goats. If you tie a rope to the goat and tether it to a tree for an hour or two, when you come after two hours and remove that rope, the goat will never move away from the circumference you have created. These imaginary lines we have were set by the colonialists, not by us. However, we have found ourselves still stuck there. This is why I love what Bob Marley says, that we need to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds. When we got independence, we got emancipation from physical slavery. However, the mental one and the vertical and horizontal barriers between what an African can do are still there. It is only us who can emancipate ourselves. I remember that song playing, for the first time I went to Europe. I was driving from the Netherlands into Germany and, at the border, there was no stop, no toll, no policeman, just a signpost saying “welcome.” It was like moving from a country to another. Try going to Kiambu today. You will find roadblocks and the police will look at your license and ask whether you are going to Kiambu or Machakos. Therefore, we must emancipate ourselves from mental slavery. I thank Sen. Madzayo and the team for these engagements. Let us make them more practical. The last step we need is to translate what these economic blocs mean to the ordinary Kenyan. Kenyans do not understand what you are doing at EAC."
}