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"id": 206825,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Sungu",
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"legal_name": "Gor Eric Sungu",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I hope that I will have the one minute that I have lost! I now have a chance to say a few words. I support this Vote of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I want to congratulate the Minister because he is the first Minister to bring this Vote to the Floor of the House for discussions. The Minister said that our foreign policy is based on national interest. In addition to that, it is also based on domestic policies. While going through the internet I also noted that human rights issues are going to be at the forefront. I hope that this Ministry is going to advise the Government properly on human rights issues as they are existing in other countries, so that the same is applied here. Allow me to also say that, if national interest was the issue, then this Ministry would be liaising with various Ministries, for example, the Ministry of Roads and Public Works. It should advise the Ministry of Roads and Public Works to construct roads to, for example, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania, so that we can properly take advantage and achieve our national interests. We have sacrificed even in Somalia, to make the peace process work. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if you have had a chance to leave this country, the best sight you can see is that of another Kenyan, particularly if that Kenyan meets you at the airport. I want to congratulate the Ministry on the activities of the various embassies outside there, which have given us protocol services whenever we make official trips. But consular activities have never been the mainstay of our embassies. I want to encourage this Ministry. It is very important to note that there are many Kenyans living in the diaspora. There are many students out there. In Russia, they molest and do all kinds of things against foreigners, particularly black students. We expect our embassy to be at the fore-front. In this country, if anything happened to any Russian, the ambassador would be at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs delivering a protest note. We know that many Kenyans have died in the diaspora. Some of those families may need help. Some of them have been involved in accidents. For example, my own daughter! One would expect the embassy to come forward and try to help those poor Kenyans when they are out there. That is because their parents are not there and they may be helpless. But other embassies do help their own. I want to raise an issue over what I saw in the Press today. The United Kingdom (UK) Government snubbed the Vice-President and Minister for Home Affairs. What is happening there? We, as a Parliament, need to know. I hope that when the Minister responds, he will refer to that. Is it corruption? What is it? Floriculture and horticulture are very important to us. When we export them to those countries, we expect to earn something. It is just like when Britain exports its goods to this country. The question of balance of trade must be looked at equitable. When our own High Commissioner raises issues with that Government, he is not listened to. Our Vice-President and Minister for Home Affairs goes there and, again, he is snubbed, Me, as a Kenyan, feel hurt. That is a very serious matter which should be of priority to this Government. We need to have equitable relationships. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the issue of trade, particularly the balance of trade, the nation of China really raises some concern. Right now, there are many goods coming from China. However, are our consumers protected? Do we have, in our Embassy, a Trade Attache? If we do, are there any inspection services in conjunction with the Central Bank of Kenya, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and with the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS)? We know of 3502 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES August 28, 2007 goods which are now being brought to this country, and are of substandard quality. These are also part of our national interests. If taking care of our national interests was our goal, then this Ministry would have advised the Government of the Republic of Kenya about people like the Artur brothers who came here. Their background information is well known all over the world. They have dubious backgrounds, and yet they were not screened enough. They were allowed to come into this country and go to the centre of power, to the extent that they embarrassed us at the airport. I want to differ with my colleague who talked about us not having intelligence officers in our embassies. As much as we do not want to admit that they exist, we know that each country must have its own intelligence service, so as to know what is going on and the trends in those countries. We also need to know if there are any criminals who are planning to come into our country. Those are some of our national interests. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, our most important national interest is security. Looking after our national interests means advising this Government on the current international trends. It also means advising this Government on what is going on out there, for example, about health issues. There are new communicable diseases out there like the bird flu which is resistant in other areas. We expect the Government to be informed about drug-trafficking, child-trafficking and women-trafficking. These are issues of transparency. This Ministry must be informed of people who have bad intentions against this Government. Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the issue of chanceries protection is very important. You will note that some countries have their own security services to protect their chanceries. I know that it is expensive. However, it is important that we get Kenyans to protect our own. Our interests are of importance to this country that we cannot dare leave the security of our embassies in the hands of foreigners. I want to refer to an incident that occurred in our Embassy in Iran. A Kenyan was sacked because he raised an issue regarding the Ambassador allowing a foreigner free access to the chancery day and night. This was despite the fact that there were sensitive communications equipment in that embassy. This is detrimental to our interests and it is not good. We should not allow it to happen again. Any foreigner who is going to work for us and who has unfettered access to any part of the embassy must be properly vetted so that we know for sure that our interests are taken care of. The issue of dual-citizenship has been talked about. I cannot say much more than what has been said. However, it is important to note that we, as a country, must protect the interests of our people. The interests of our people in the diaspora are paramount because as one of my colleagues has said, when these people come to this country, they are not treated as Kenyans. They are supposed to be seen as foreigners and must pay visa fees and yet they are Kenyans who help this country and hold this country dear. They also contribute to our economic wellbeing. I hope that the Minister will use the powers vested in him, alongside doubling as the Chairman of NARC(K), to make sure that this Government brings the Minimum Reforms Bill to this House so that we can pass it and entrench dual citizenship in our Constitution and protect our people. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}