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{
    "id": 123681,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/123681/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 261,
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    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I say this, I stress and request this House to consider, when we are moving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Vote, the special relationship that the Kenyan High Commission in South Africa plays with regard to hosting missions. We have a very hard working High Commission staff in South Africa. They spend a lot of time receiving Kenyan Ministers and dignitaries almost on a daily basis. When we attend the Pan African Parliament, the High Commission staff more or less shifts from the official office to Midrand, where the sessions of this Parliament are held and they spend a lot of their time and resources there. I request the Government to consider, when setting aside funding, to make a further allocation to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with regard to the activities of the Pan African Parliament because the Kenyan High Commissioner in South Africa also serves as a representative of the Government of Kenya in the Secretariat that is represented in Addis Ababa. This is a consideration that is being urged in view of the demanding tasks that are made on our mission in South Africa, considering that they have to travel on a regular basis to Addis Ababa. Having said that, I would also like to pay tribute to the membership of the Kenyan delegation to Pan African Parliament and particularly, to Mr. Bahari, who was recently elected as the Deputy Chair of the Finance Committee. Pan African Parliament has gone through a very difficult time financially with allegations of misuse of funds and abuse of office by serving officers. It is the work of Mr. Bahari and others that have led to the recent reforms that are likely to lead to the restoration of the good relationship between the Pan African Parliament and the African Union. The African Union is an important organ of the Pan African Parliament. Finally, the elections of the new office bearers follows one item in the agenda which is the transformation of the Pan African Parliament from being a consultative body to a full legislative body with universal sovereignty as a means of electing, so that every African country will be electing Members of Parliament to serve in the Pan African Parliament directly. The Members serving the Pan African Parliament will no longer have to serve in their Parliaments. This is a similar fashion as that of the European Union. As we move to that, it is important for us, as a House, to let the hon. Members know that we are moving towards ceding authority and part of our sovereignty to the Pan African Parliament. As we prepare for that, hon. Members of this House need to reach out to understand what goes on in other parts of Africa. This is because Kenya is being seen as an example. Although during that period when the events in Kenya came up for discussion, we were not held in very high esteem because they could not understand how a loser and a winner of an election could govern a country. However, the events after that seemed to have changed the perception that we did not have anything to offer. The events in Zimbabwe and more recently, in Madagascar, clearly indicate that a proper functioning Coalition Government can be useful in resolving some of the problems that bedevil the African Continent. As I urge hon. Members to adopt this Report, I commend and request that serious consideration be given to increasing the resources of the Kenyan Mission in South African. We should also increase the representation of our Parliamentary Secretariat staff at the Pan African Parliament. We have had the opportunity of providing leadership in regional assemblies; that is in the East African Legislative Assembly and more"
}