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{
    "id": 1370586,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1370586/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 157,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": "improved or not. I know for a fact that we have enjoyed good diplomatic relations with this country. That was until the Presidential Inauguration that the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, a breakaway from the Kingdom of Morocco appeared and were formally recognized as part of the delegation; and this caused a tiff between us and them. To the best of my knowledge, that matter has since been sufficiently addressed. It is not Kenya alone that finds itself in this challenge between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Even the rest of the world is in the same position because each time countries break away from the other, they provide a diplomatic challenge to established nations. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on many accounts, when you want to dissociate from them, there are challenges. When you want to associate with them, there are challenges as well. I will leave it to the experts in the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs to come and respond to my friend, Sen. Oketch Gicheru. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I hold a different view from colleagues who are trying to demean the work of Dr. SingOei. I may not agree with him entirely on the process he used to make a correction to a tweet that emanated from the Speaker’s office. If I were in his position, the prudent thing to do would have been to reach out to your office and let you make the correction. I understand what he was trying to do. A formal or an informal complaint may have reached them asking whether that was the position of the Government of Kenya. Let us face it. It is true the way people are saying the Speaker’s office is high ranking in this Republic. That is why when you send out a tweet, other countries are bound to question whether that is the position of the Government. Therefore, it was within his place to try and put the proper position on this particular issue. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the mode he chose to execute it is what can be debated here. However, I want to tell Sen. Osotsi, my good friend, that he cannot hold a candle to the PS, Dr. Abraham SingOei on foreign relations matters. That gentleman has earned his place. Many of our colleagues, including some that have served in this House with him, know his work from both foreign affairs and human rights in marginalized communities. He is celebrated and published as well. Let us desist from this habit of being too critical of people. Dr. SingOei has done a lot of work in trying to restore Kenya’s foreign relations that were dwindling as the past regime was exiting to a point where we are now respected and people want to know Kenya’s position on every matter. If the country did not matter, then Somaliland would never have bothered to confirm our position on this issue. I, therefore, hold the view that even as we hold the Executive to account, let us do it with dignity and decorum. A trend is being set in this House, Mr. Speaker, Sir, where because we have a premium platform, many of us tend to speak on issues without necessarily doing due diligence on a particular item. For example, early this week, I saw Members speak on the issue of privatization where they said they were opposed to that. Mr. Speaker, Sir, that notice is of public participation. You are being invited to give your views on a policy position the Government wants to take. We are here debating and saying that we cannot even pay salaries to our staff because we are in a difficult"
}