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"id": 1519183,
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Omogeni",
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"legal_name": "Erick Okong'o Mogeni",
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"content": "chairmanship. The salary that pays that chairperson is also my taxes. By being taxed and by my country making a contribution, then I also expect that one day, one time, I will proudly stand up and say a fellow countryman or woman is chairing the AUC. In terms of going forward, I hope when there is a summit of the AU, our president, President William Ruto, will put this issue on the table. We can have the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in West Africa chairing, next time, let it go to the South African Development Community (SADC) the other time, we had South Africa, then it can go to the Common Market for Eastern and South African (COMESA) region, then it comes to East Africa Community (EAC). Sen. Methu, we want fairness. The second point I want to make is that it is not Hon. Raila Odinga who lost this election. The person who lost this election is our President and his foreign policy. The way we handled this matter left us with very little option of winning. When you are doing a campaign like this, you must be conscious of the geopolitics and what your actions will mean to the person you want to vote for you. Even if the way it is said, and I know it is true, that President Tshisekedi is a personal friend of Raila Odinga, how does he feel when, again, and I am using my words very carefully, it is rumoured that somebody has hosted the M23 leadership in Nairobi? President Tshisekedi is a human being. He will bolt. How will President Kagame feel if the actions of a country that is, you know, fronting a candidate seems to be hostile to the interests of Rwanda, South Africa or Tanzania? I want to appeal to my President William Ruto to talk less, do his foreign policy, at times under the carpet, and avoid stepping on so many presidents’ toes. They are also human beings. Everything that you do here impacts on your relations with another country, either positively or negatively. I know the Principal Secretary (PS) of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Sing’oei, is a colleague and a lawyer like me. I feel so proud and honoured when I see a lawyer occupying the position of PS in the Foreign Affairs Ministry. However, I also want to speak to my friend, Dr. Sing’oei, to be very cautious before speaking on a matter that may touch on our relations with other countries. You remember SADC wrote a letter. PS Sing’oei responded with a public criticism. That did not augur well with SADC countries. The best thing they say is that you should learn from your failures. Let us learn from our failures. What happened to us as a country? We should sit down, evaluate and take some key lessons from what happened. On Saturday, and God Almighty is my witness, and my pastors in Nyamira County are also my witnesses, I told my pastors that instead of going to Addis Ababa, I will be on my knees in Nyamira praying for Baba, Kenya's candidate, to win the AUC chairmanship in Addis Ababa. I was at Misowe SDA in Ikonge with pastors and we prayed for Raila Amolo Odinga. Those who chose to accompany him to Addis Ababa, that was good. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, how did we conduct ourselves? If you have been a member of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and I know you have been, and you are a member in good standing, you know what happened when I was the President of the The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}