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{
    "id": 1229469,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1229469/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 213,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Saku, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Ali Raso",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I rise to support this Report on the Ratification of the Agreement Between Kenya and the United Kingdom on Defence Co-operation. I want to congratulate the Committee for the Report. They have gone the extra mile to try to dig out the teething issues. I want to tell them that issues of individuals committing crimes should be separated from the relationship between countries. This is because a criminal act by an individual remains so. I also want to congratulate the Members for what they have done as far as the issue of Agnes is concerned. You must keep on pushing until justice is delivered to that family. The United Kingdom remains Kenya’s major partner in matters defence, which include defence transformation, training tactics, operations and strategy. Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) continues to borrow heavily from UK defence industry. That is how much our relations are embedded. The purpose of this Agreement is to put ink on paper so that it becomes an agreement between two equal nations. The UK will not be superior or Kenya be inferior by signing this Agreement. During the 12th Parliament, Members of this Committee refused to bring this particular Agreement to the Floor of the House. This was as a result of the ping-pong that was happening around the issue of Agnes. As a Committees of Parliament, we must do due diligence so that, at the end of the day, justice is delivered for Kenyans who are unfairly killed or punished by people who appear to be larger than life. In Laikipia, Isiolo and Samburu counties, there are cases of unexploded ordinance devices, rapes reported and accidents by BATUK vehicles. Through this Agreement, we are asking that justice be served in the courts of Kenya, and not in the UK courts. Agnes’s case was raised in the House of Commons, and not in the Kenyan Parliament at the beginning. This is because the soldiers were joking and one of them said that one of their colleagues had killed a Kenyan lady. That should not happen. Further, through this agreement, we must call on the UK Ministry of Defence to take responsibility for actions of their soldiers when they are in Kenya. Finally, visiting forces everywhere in the world obey the laws of those countries once they arrive. BATUK trains in pastoral areas and the pastoralists are normally herders who look after cattle, goats, sheep and camels. Their areas are sparsely populated and nobody should take advantage of them. Finally, they could suffer disadvantages because many of them are illiterate and people with lower incomes. This Government should not allow foreigners to take advantage of our people. I thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker."
}