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"id": 206821,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Kembi-Gitura",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs",
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"legal_name": "James Kembi Gitura",
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"content": " Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. In supporting this Ministry's Vote, I would like to make a few remarks. One of the greatest things that have happened in this country in as many years as we have been independent, is the introduction of performance contracting in the various Ministries and also in all the Government departments. The reason I say this is because what gets measured gets done. So, you can know where you are starting and are able to know, at the end of the day, whether or not you have achieved what it is that you wanted to achieve. The only issue that arises is whether or not we set goals that maybe are too low or too high for us, and whether we are able to achieve what it is that we have set to achieve in the performance contracting. At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there is a foreign policy. This has been said continuously at great length by everybody who has stood up to speak. Even if the same has not been tabled in this House, the document is there and it is being worked on. We believe that we will be able to finalise with it in a very short time. If need be, table it in this House, so that hon. Members are able to discuss it and determine which is the best way forward. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, what has given me strength as I listened to the debate here, is that those hon. Members who have contributed to the debate are not saying that the Ministry has not done what it is supposed to be doing. Instead, they have talked about things that have happened in the past and those that we are continuously rectifying. In over 40 years of Independence, there has never been that document which can be referred to as a policy of the Government in matters of foreign affairs. But, currently, we are proud to say that this is a document that has been formulated. It is the document upon which we are basing most of the things that we are trying to achieve. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, some hon. Members have spoken about economic diplomacy. That is not a simple thing. I would agree with almost all the hon. Members who have spoken, including Ms. Abdalla, Mr. Muite, Mr. Muturi and all the others; that as we move towards economic diplomacy because there is nothing better that can be done, at the moment, if there is nothing else to look forward to, except the development of our country and our people. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have the issue of regional economic communities or blocs. These are quite obviously going to be - if they are not already - the building blocks upon which we shall be able to build a united Africa in the context of the African Union (AU). That is the only way we will be able to compete with the other regions of the world that have formed economic communities. In our diplomacy, we need to move more towards the regions that we think alike, if we are to release the Vision 2030. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the peace in the region that we are working so hard on and, which every speaker has touched on, in the Horn of Africa; including Somalia and other countries in that region, is not for the sake of it. Peace is very important and that cannot be gainsaid. Peace is good for the countries that are seeking it. It is also very important for those countries in the region. If there is no peace in the region that we are in, the Horn of Africa and, specifically, in Somalia, then there cannot be peace, security, stability and prosperity in Kenya. That is why this country has spent so much time, money and resources to see to it that there is 3500 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES August 28, 2007 peace in Somalia. We believe that this time round, for the first time in 17 years, we are going to find lasting peace in Somalia, pursuant to the efforts that this country and the people of Somalia have made, in the Peace and Reconciliation Commission that is currently going on in Mogadishu, and which will close on Thursday. We must all support that peace. We all know that part of the reason why we have so much insecurity and proliferation of small arms in this country is because of lack of peace in the region. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, Mr. Muite, in his contribution, talked about Somaliland. I would like to remind him and other colleagues who think about Somaliland to remember that the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) Charter was formulated in Kenya. I wish that hon. Members could look at it in greater detail and see its terms. We cannot be the people who formulated the peace document for Somalia and, at the same time talk, at this moment, about things that will not help us in attaining peace there. What we want to see immediately is peace in Somalia. If that happens, the people of Somalia - and that includes Somaliland, Puntland and the Somalia that is currently at war, will be able to patch up and, maybe, work out in terms of federations and confederations, so that they are able to have lasting peace in their country. What is most important to us, at the moment, is that there is peace in Somalia, Southern Sudan and other areas that are nearer, so that we can have peace in this economic region, that is the East Africa Community (EAC). The vision, of course, is the realisation that when we finally have peace in the whole of this region, the EAC could, maybe one day, extend all the way from Somalia, through Kenya to the current Burundi and Rwanda, and then out to the western coast of Africa. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, one hon. Member, while contributing to this Vote, asked whether or not we are getting enough, as a country, for all the pains that we have taken to broker peace in this region. Even as we argue about that particular question, we should realise that there are things that Kenya is able to do at the moment, and there are other things that Kenya is not able to do currently. Hon. Members have talked about the deployment of armed forces to Somalia. But we need to understand that Kenya, at the moment, is not in a position to send armed forces in Somalia. It is not the agreement in terms of IGAD and other interested bodies. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the issue of the rationalisation of embassies has been discussed. I do not need to talk too much about that. But suffice it to say, when the Minister for Foreign Affairs was moving this Vote, he indicated the work that the Ministry is doing in founding and setting up missions in areas like Brussels, China, Kampala, Dar-es-Salaam and Abuja. That shows you quite clearly that the policy of the Ministry is economic, rather than political diplomacy. Kampala is currently our most important mission in terms of the trade that is going on between our two countries. Dar-es-Salaam, which is our neighbouring capital, is also very important in terms of the trade that we are transacting between ourselves and Tanzania. I agree with hon. Members who have said that, maybe, the seniority of the missions that we have should be based more on the amount of trade and interaction that we are having with those countries, because that is the only measure. I would, again, challenge hon. Members to look at the performance contract of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to see exactly what it is that we are trying to achieve in terms of diplomacy and rationalisation of both missions. Finally, I want to talk about the issue of dual citizenship. Issues have been raised in this House in the past, about Kenyans in the diaspora and the amount of money that they remit to this country monthly and annually. We recognise the importance of the diaspora. We recognise the need for dual citizenship in this country. But that is not an area for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is upon this House to determine and decide whether we want minimum or major reforms, and whether or not we are going to allow dual citizenship in this country. We appreciate the importance of it. We know that, once that comes into force, we are going to deal more seriously and properly with the Kenyans in the diaspora. August 28, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3501 Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support."
}