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"id": 206813,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. G.G. Kariuki",
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"legal_name": "Godfrey Gitahi Kariuki",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is because the operator of the machine was not looking at this side. So, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to say the following: In the current corrupt world, I think it is very important for us to have a written foreign policy. That way, when a new Minister comes in with his staff, there is something to guide him or her as Kenya's foreign policy. That would be very important and very beneficial to Kenya. That is because any incoming Government would know there is a policy to be followed. But now, it is just the Minister and the Government who decide which way to go on a day to day basis, when they are dealing with foreign affairs. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, having said that, I want to add that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working very hard to make sure that, that document is published and, perhaps, presented to this House. But that is not to say that time has not been wasted. We have been dealing with this matter for the last four years. We wanted to have this policy document laid on the Table of the House and also published as an accepted document to guide this country on foreign matters. It is important that a system must created. The only way you can create a system, which would be stronger than a personality who comes in, is to have a document that is accepted by the House. That is what I think the Minister and his officers are trying to do. But it has taken a long time. I am sorry I have to repeat that. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have heard from the Minister about the countries that we do business with. One of them is Uganda. Uganda is the biggest country that trades with Kenya. The biggest question that I want to ask here is: If Uganda is so important, what benefit do the people who work in our foreign mission in Uganda have over the others? There must be an attraction. If a country is so important, even the people who work there should be given special treatment. That way, other staff working in other missions will try to emulate those who are working in Uganda. Tanzania is also close to us. There is also Sudan and other countries which are around here. We must ask ourselves: Why Uganda? Is it because we have worked so hard to get Uganda to trade with Kenya? Is it because Uganda is a land-locked country? Therefore, we cannot praise ourselves as having done much in selling Kenya to Uganda. It is because we are their heart- line and, therefore, nothing can happen in Uganda unless it goes through Kenya. Their economic development depends on Kenya. Therefore, we are praising ourselves when we are dealing with a weak partner. Why have we failed to do the same in Tanzania? Our foreign Ministry was established during the Cold War, many years back in the 1960s. That is when many foreign Ministries were created, especially in Kenya and East Africa. The whole idea was: Where did Kenya belong? Which iron curtain? Was it western or eastern world? The foreign policy and philosophy was guided because of what existed at that time. That has taken too long - over 40 years to change. The collapse of communism happened in 1986. Kenya as a country needed to have taken the advantage. We had to get out of the Cold War into the new world. Now, if you look at Kenya, some of us are still carrying that problem. They think we are not free. Of late, my observation is that the Ministry, with some of the officials - the Minister himself and the Permanent Secretary whom I respect a lot - are now trying to get out of that quagmire. They want us to be free from those old days when worked as servants of the Minister. Now, you can see that they are trying to come out of that quagmire to become Kenyans. That is where we want all of them to feel they belong. There is no reason why any expert in any foreign office should have any fear in expressing his or her ideas. We have done quite a lot. We have visited several countries. We have talked to our ambassadors. We have told them to come out of 3496 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES August 28, 2007 that problem that they used to have. We want them to reform. The tradition here - and it has almost become a norm - is that when a civil servant is employed, he or she becomes so loyal to that system to the point that, even if the system is drowning in the sea, he will agree to drown with it! Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, that really bothers me a lot. Civil servants are qualified people. They are responsible people. They need to know that they belong to Kenya. Therefore, they have to articulate policies and new ideas which can assist this country. They should not just rely on old international policies. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Ministry requires about Kshs6 billion for Recurrent Expenditure. The question is: How do you decide how much needs to be spent? Is it based on performance? Is it based on tribalisation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs? That is because nowadays, there are some areas where the face of Kenya cannot be seen, if some tribes are not represented. Are we sent to those missions because of the expertise that we have? Are we spending Kshs6 billion because we are able to earn the same amount of money from our ambassadors or embassies? Do we just want to be seen as if we are like Uganda and other countries? Wherever Uganda has a consular or an embassy, we want to have ours there! Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, wherever we have an ambassador or a High Commissioner, we need to understand whether he is going to represent the interests of Kenya. What are those interests? It is not international politics. It is how much we can benefit from those countries. I think it is important for the Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to start thinking along those lines. There is no point of having an ambassador in Japan just for the sake of it! Some years ago, when an ambassador was posted to New York or London for that matter, he or she was taken as a very important person. But I think the person who represents Kenya in Uganda, in my view, should be promoted to a higher level if he or she returns. He should come back to the Ministry and head a certain department which is very important in performing our trade. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I think the Ministry has tried so hard to produce the document that I am talking about. I cannot understand the problem, although I know it is not very easy to write a foreign policy. That is because foreign policies change as the world changes. They are not static! You always change with your interests. When the interest changes internationally, you also change the foreign policy immediately. That is because you cannot live in your own world. What we are asking here is just a guiding paper for incoming Ministers and Government of what we regard as our foreign policy. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, our most strategic interest internationally, according to the Minister, is commercial. It should not just be the commercial interest. We have a problem here! When you have ambassadors accredited to this country behaving as if they are politicians--- You know! Working in Kenya and ill-speaking about Kenyans! Kenya has its own Parliament, you wonder what sort of a person that guy could be! You heard, very recently, the American Ambassador declaring that he is willing to support any dissident group which is ready to overthrow this Government. In fact, that matter was played down---"
}