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"speaker_name": "Mr. Muite",
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"content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, if you can recollect, when the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Tuju, was moving the Motion, he took a bit of his time to focus on Kenyans in the diaspora. This is an issue that was also revisited by hon. Ligale in his contribution. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Minister said that as a country, the Kenyans in the diaspora are contributing a lot of money towards our Domestic Gross Product (GDP). This is true. However, I would like to take this opportunity to invite the Minister to walk the talk. It is not platitudes that Kenyans in the diaspora are interested in. It is concrete action. The Minister is aware that one of the planks in the Bill that we were mentioning earlier; the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2007, which was as a result of the consensus in County Hall talks, is granting of dual-citizenship to Kenyans in the diaspora. That is what we want to do. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, my challenge to the Minister, through the Chair, is that he should now lead in persuading his Cabinet colleagues and the Government of Kenya to ensure that this Bill is brought to the House before we adjourn, so that we grant dual-citizenship to Kenyans in the diaspora. They should not be disadvantaged in any way. Look at how our runners, who are the pride of all of us, are treated. In the name of wanting to earn money to look after themselves and families back in Kenya, they are told they must become citizens of Quatar and other Middle East countries. Here we kick them out. We deny them what is rightfully theirs. We cannot continue telling them that because they have taken up citizenship of those other countries, they have lost their right to be Kenyan citizens. Nothing is more urgent than granting dual-citizenship to Kenyans in the diaspora. Therefore, if the Minister truly wants to focus on Kenyans in the diaspora, let him join hands with those of us who are saying this Bill should come here for debate and enactment. That is when he will be able to match his good statement, so that they cease to be platitudes and become a platform for action. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the second issue I would like to comment on is that; if I were asked today, I would say that we rename the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the Ministry of International Trade and Foreign Affairs. Why do I say so? What is important is not our ambassadors attending the cocktail parties they attend all the time and I am not saying that they should not attend them. It is not just about being present in a particular country. You heard the Minister say that there are some other countries in which we have opened embassies. To run an embassy in a particular country is an expensive affair. What do we get in return? It is not just to show that Kenya has her presence in a particular country. In my submission, it is to promote trade between Kenya and the country in which we have established an embassy. In fact, when talking about the most important nations; the United Kingdom (UK), the ambassador to Washington DC, in terms of the international standing, I would do away with all that. What is important is the trade between Kenya and that other country. Therefore, the country with maximum trade, where we export most and get most should be the most important country. The most senior ambassador should be posted there. In fact, promotion of the ambassadors should be dependent on the graph of the level of trade. It should show, \"when you were appointed as Kenyan ambassador to a particular country, this was the level of trade, how you have improved the balance of trade to be in favour of Kenya against the countries where you were appointed as an ambassador\". That should be the criteria and that is why even the name should give recognition to this. It should communicate that our emphasis is on trade and not mere opening of embassies and the ambassadors spend all their time in cocktail parties. That is what other countries are doing. It is not enough to have a trade attachee who is not empowered. We are not adopting the aggressive pro-active policy of saying that, \"your number one priority Mister or Mrs. Ambassador, 3492 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES August 28, 2007 is to promote trade between Kenya and the country where you have been posted\". Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to comment about the moulding of foreign policy. At the moment, these issues are left entirely to the exclusive discretion of the Executive and yet, the foreign policy affects what happens to you and I. It affects what happens to Kenya. When we pursue foreign policies that, for example, make Kenya vulnerable to terrorist attacks--- If our foreign policy is not sensitive to our interest as a nation and we become vulnerable, it is the ordinary Kenyans who become collateral damaged."
}