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{
    "id": 1559954,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1559954/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 945,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Funyula, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) Ojiambo Oundo",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "yet, you make reckless statements and manoeuvres that leave one wondering what it is all about. Hon. Millie Odhiambo gave an example of having a boyfriend who starts looking for another girl. I just want to correct her that it may not necessarily be because you have a problem. It may simply be that the man wants to sample other girls. In any case, sharing at times is caring. Kenya and the world should not have a problem with sharing because we are supposed to interact and do business with everybody. Therefore, we must anchor our foreign policy in such a way that, as we deal with the East, we do not antagonise the West. The West should not feel as though we are abandoning them for the East. That requires tact, skill, training and experience. However, the people who are making those top-level decisions do not have the training and experience. That is why we keep oscillating. We find ourselves leaning towards the West in one regime and towards the East in the next regime. We get stuck on one side, and when we try to go back to the other side, we end up with very expensive loans and programs that are of no value to the people of Kenya. A foreign policy should transcend personal interests. The tiff we have with Sudan was avoidable. A personal business relationship between two people should not have led us to where we are now. The fact that a foreign country can petition the national parliament of a country to intervene is a very telling statement. We need to put our act together. Kenya was highly rated many years ago but that is no longer the case now. Kenya is no longer revered or respected as it once was. If we were, we would not have been taken on a roulette route in Addis Ababa, where Baba Raila Odinga, with his status on this Continent, could have been made to concede defeat in favour of an unknown individual from a small country in order to avoid a lengthy process. This shows that much needs to be done in our foreign policy. I call upon the oversight committee to ensure that we get our act together. We must truly oversee and not pander to the Executive. We should not be ‘yes people’, going to praise and worship even where the mistakes and shortcomings are seen. We must have the guts and courage to point them out so that we address the issues. Of course, a sessional paper on foreign policy is not static. It must be alive to changing circumstances. Donald Trump has turned the world upside down. He says, ‘‘America first’’, and for the rest of you, he does not care. He can impose tariffs on any country because he knows that the American economy is strong enough to withstand any shocks. As we go along, I hope we will be alive to the changes in the world and how world leaders respond to them. How will world leaders perceive them and us? We need to re-assess and realign our foreign policy to the changing international arena. With those many remarks, I support."
}