Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1315907,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1315907/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 121,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Vihiga, ANC",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Ernest Kivai",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "cultures are different from ours. It is very important to appreciate the different cultures of the places we go to. So, let them have a good pre-departure briefing so that they know what to expect where they are going as Ambassadors and High Commissioners. I have an appeal to these nominees in relation to what they will do to encourage Kenyans to register with the embassies that they will serve. Having lived in the UK, I will give an example of the late Ambassador Shadrack Kimalel – may his soul rest in peace. That gentleman had an arrangement where every Friday he had a social meeting at the Embassy. That encouraged a lot of our people to come from wherever they were to the Embassy. So, we need to see a lot of our people registering. What is our expectation from these diplomats? We should move to economic diplomacy. We want these people to go abroad and create opportunities for us. So, they should focus on issues of economic diplomacy apart from the usual consular services. One of the responsibilities that I urge our nominees to undertake when they go to these missions abroad, is to safeguard our assets abroad. How often do you go to a mission and find a pile of vehicles all over and dilapidated buildings? They should know that it is their job to safeguard our assets abroad. The other point I want to make is an appeal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the President. It is about our diplomatic footprints in various parts of the world, especially in Africa and South America. I have noted that in a vast continent like South America, we only have one embassy in Brazil. We should consider having a very strong diplomatic footprint all over the world. I appreciate that in Africa we have done very well. We were lagging behind in West Africa where we used to have one Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria. Now a lot has changed and we have a good foot print there. I will encourage that we have a big footprint in the South America continent, especially in Argentina and Colombia. We are in Brazil and Cuba only. How do we judge the performance of our Ambassadors and High Commissioners? There should be a yardstick on how we judge them. The clear yardstick should be how much they contribute in consular issues and economic diplomacy. Last is on an issue that bedevils us, which is the issue of people getting stranded in foreign countries. I am aware that the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, together with the Ministry of Labour, are coming up with a Migrant Welfare Fund for such people. The creation of such a fund should be fast-tracked because it will be an important fund. When our people are stranded out there, something will always be done to help them because often times, the embassies are unable to do anything about people who are stranded outside the country. So, I encourage the Government to fast-track the actualisation of the Migrant Welfare Fund, which will take care of stress when our people are out there. With those many remarks, I support."
}