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{
"id": 1402812,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1402812/?format=api",
"text_counter": 80,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Eldas, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Adan Keynan",
"speaker": {
"id": 41,
"legal_name": "Adan Wehliye Keynan",
"slug": "adan-keynan"
},
"content": "our diplomatic engagements were written and made as part of our written foreign policy. Before then, our foreign policy was just at the whims of the President and the Members of the Executive. I want to really appreciate the role you played at that particular time and appreciate today that the tenets of our foreign policy are written. With this, our diplomatic engagement over the years has metamorphosed, taking into account our unique regional and international global interest. That is the essence of diplomatic engagements. I want to thank the President for nominating individuals, both from the career diplomats and political appointees. That blend is what is going to project, promote and protect our image in international forums. Over the years, the emphasis of our diplomatic engagement has been political diplomacy, but things have changed totally. Today, the emphasis should be economic diplomacy. This premium nation called Kenya, prides itself as not only a peace hub, but also as a security, infrastructural, a conference and a critical economic hub. As we approve the appointments of those key individuals, one thing that should inform the basic requirement of the job description is the enhancement of our economic engagement with the international community. That should be the basis of their everyday job description. In the old days during the communism and the capitalism time, you would be required to report on political espionage or on idealism. Those things are gone. What we require is to flourish and ensure that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of this country expands and grows because of our diplomatic engagements. Hon. Speaker, I want to thank the Members of the Committee as they have sieved through. I have seen individuals who are rejected and I entirely agree with the Committee. The first thing that should have formed the basis of the nomination of those individuals is their expertise and knowledge. Not only professional knowledge, but educational requirement of that particular job description. Therefore, I want to thank the Committee led by the Chairman, the Vice-chairman and the other Members, for this well-informed decision. I want to believe with the House to agree with them. Once upon a time, this country, which is a collection of many nation States, embodied the aspirations of the people of Kenya. Today, where we are in this era of globalisation and global competition, this country has been reduced to just one of the struggling nations. There is a saying in my mother tongue that if you do not solve a problem as a leader, there comes a time when the problem becomes the leader and you as a leader, become the problem. That has been one thing that has affected this nation. It is high time we agreed with the President that we need to make tough decisions that will catapult us to the next stage in joining the league of developed nations. That can only happen if we have well informed, highly educated and well- seasoned diplomats. Hon. Speaker, in conclusion, this is a very difficult job. For those who have been given this job, once you are approved, I want to urge them, wherever they are, to remain committed to the economic, social and political image upliftment of the people of Kenya. That is what will take us to the next stage. I wish to support this. Thank you, Hon. Speaker."
}