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{
    "id": 16105,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/16105/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 632,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Keynan",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 41,
        "legal_name": "Adan Wehliye Keynan",
        "slug": "adan-keynan"
    },
    "content": "Over the last 20 years, Kenya was among the few countries, because of our unique position, to happen to have renewed its diplomatic commitment with the people of Somalia. Again, we want to demonstrate our goodwill. Since now we have AMISOM which has completely taken charge of different parts of Mogadishu, our mission representative should have the courage to move to Mogadishu. In conclusion, one of the things that we are trying to inculcate as a country is the concept of parliamentary diplomacy. In the past, Parliament was taken as a necessary irritant in the management of the affairs of the Republic of Kenya. I want to tell my colleagues here that the concept of parliamentary diplomacy is a critical component of the management of any country that wants to develop. Therefore, I want to urge my colleagues here to get involved in familiarizing ourselves with the tenets of our foreign policy, so that we can critique and understand how this unique country is projected, promoted and articulated as far as our friends across are concerned, so that parliamentarians can position themselves and appreciate the unique role our foreign policy is supposed to play. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I say this because some time back - and you will appreciate this - it was very difficult for a Member of Parliament to interrogate the foreign policy because we were always told that it reflects the whims and the aspirations of the President. That time is long gone. Our foreign policy today is a reflection of our constitutional mechanisms. Therefore, we have moved away from that culture of one man’s aspirations to the aspirations of 40 million Kenyans. We need to thank those who have given us the new constitutional dispensation. I want to urge you, so that when you go out of this country, you should be familiar with our foreign policy. If for example, Prof. Olweny visits any of our missions abroad, in discharging his functions as an Assistant Minister, he should also be familiar with the intrigues of our foreign policy, so that as he promotes our country as an Assistant Minister in the line of education, he is also familiar with other aspects. He can market our country. So that every Kenyan is multi-skilled and multi-tasked and always prepared to project our country in whichever area he moves to. This is the only way we can proudly say anywhere we go that “I am a Kenyan, you can read my face, you can watch my lips, you can look at my hair and you can even see the way I walk. This is the way I want to project Kenya”. This is one thing that we really need, so that you do not look upon that particular diplomat in the field for guidance. Again, because of this uniqueness of foreign policy, I want to urge the Government to introduce curriculum, in particular in primary and secondary schools, so that our children are familiar with our policy. Right now, they are only taught at the level of civic education. That is not enough."
}