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{
    "id": 198951,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/198951/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 94,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Ms. Abdalla",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 245,
        "legal_name": "Abdallah Jumaa Ngozi",
        "slug": "abdallah-ngozi"
    },
    "content": "The importance of ratifying this instrument is not only economic but it is social. It has very many ripple effects for all of us. So, if we do not take into account this matter, we will not be doing great service to our nation. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I get very worried because the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is missing a very important point. I have said in this House before that we are a net exporter of human resource to all the countries that are signatories of the Great Lakes Peace Agreement. When I was in Somalia, there were over 100 Kenyans working there, 30 per cent of whom do not have proper documentation because they are doing jobs that are not meant for international staff. For example, there would be a Kenyan of Somali descent who is a good secretary or who has better command of the English language and can interpret from English to Somali but would not get the job if he went there as a Kenyan. So, if you do not have special consideration of knowing that if there are many jobs in any of these countries, there would be many expatriates who are not formal expatriates in the true sense. I would like to go back to the issue of when there is war in these countries and people are streaming in as refugees who later claim to be Kenyans, we must give due process the time required so that we can ascertain that these persons are truly Kenyans. For example, if there is a problem in the self-declared Republic of Somaliland, where I worked for two years, I can assure you that you would discover that there are over 100 Kenyans who are working there as pseudo expatriates and masquerading as Somalis so that they can get those lucrative jobs intended for Somalis that they are not qualified for. If the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not appreciate the unemployment situation in Kenya and the fact that Kenyans are making clever moves to ensure that they get proper income, we will not go very far. Sadly and very crucial in terms of economic benefits of some of these instruments, I was involved in what they call the Nile Basin Initiative where the countries from the region were October 17, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 4533 discussing how to benefit and to override the consent of the 1961 Peace Agreement on the use of the Nile waters. When we are divided, as a region, it is very difficult for it to compete and negotiate with Egypt and Sudan about the use of the waters. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am glad that when hon. Karua was the Minister for Water and Irrigation, that is one of the achievements that she put forth. For once, Kenya as a nation did not participate as a timid member of the Nine Basin Nations. I think that ratifying this instrument has one major advantage. Some of the countries in our region are timid because of less exposure and are able to be divided more easily when they are dealing on a one to one basis with those who have benefited for longer on the Nile waters. If these instruments had been ratified, we would be able to achieve a stronger negotiating block. We would also ensure that we are able to make the investments needed to make our nations more developed through having the right to do power plants and dams without necessarily having some god-father influence. That is what the two countries that have benefited more than the rest are doing. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I support this Motion. I would like to say that it is extremely timely. We look forward to a foreign Ministry that will be able to account for the investments in the negotiations that we, as a country, invest in when we are coming up with these instruments."
}