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"speaker_name": "Mr. Wamunyinyi",
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"legal_name": "Athanas Misiko Wafula Wamunyinyi",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to also contribute to the debate on this very important Ministry's Vote. I believe that the hon. Members who spoke before me have very well articulated the main issues of concern to us all. So, I do not want to repeat many of them. I want to also say that Members of Parliament travel widely. They visit many countries on parliamentary work, educational tours, et cetera . Such visits bring hon. Members into contact with Members of the Parliaments they visit. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is, sometimes, very difficult for Members of Parliament to discuss the foreign policy of this country when questions on matters relating to foreign policy are put to them. So, I want to join my colleagues in emphasising the fact that it is important for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to enhance its relationship with the National Assembly, and ensure that this country's foreign policy is made very clear and availed to all Members of Parliament, so that in the event that they travel abroad, they remain good ambassadors of this country. I have not seen any Sessional Paper in the House about the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. So, I am not sure whether anything to do with foreign policy has been brought to the House for hon. Members' attention. If any such a policy Paper has, indeed, been brought to the House, I have not had the opportunity of seeing it. It is important that such a move is made to ensure that the information on this country's foreign policy is made available to Members of Parliament. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, you will agree that you and I visited a certain country, during one of our foreign trips, and we were asked about this country's foreign policy on certain issues, but none of us was ready with facts to explain anything! So, it is very embarrassing that we can sometimes have Members of Parliament travelling abroad and not being very well versed with our foreign policy. It is also important because we also look at the interests of our country when we go out. When you do not have the facts clear, you cannot work towards protecting this country's interests. So, I join my colleagues in appealing to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to get this foreign policy very clear and availed to Members of Parliament and, generally, to other leadership levels in the country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the manner in which our missions abroad are opened is also very important. I am sure that if one understands Kenya's foreign policy, one would understand why we have missions in certain countries, and not in others. There are also certain moves which are made, particularly in terms of expenditure, at our missions abroad. For example, when we last visited India, we were told that the Kenyan High Commission was allocated some plot in the 1960s, but it was later repossessed by the local authorities when the Kenyan Government failed to develop that plot. So, our High Commission in New Delhi continues to occupy premises which are rented at very high rates because the Government of Kenya failed to develop that plot. These are some of the issues which concern us. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spends so much money paying for office and residences for the High Commissioner and the Commission's staff in New Delhi, when the Ministry had property there, but it failed to develop it. The Government lost that property because it failed to develop it for a certain number of years. This is the case in many other missions. Kenya has missions in several countries, but I think efforts should be made to ensure that a country like India, with which we have had a good relationship for a long time, and where the Ministry of Foreign Affairs got land, which was allocated by the Indian Government, and it failed to develop the same--- That is why I think that the Ministry needs to re-look at its August 28, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3509 foreign policies and what our interests really are when we open up missions in various countries. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there are many countries where there are many Kenyans and a lot of trade activities take place there. However, there are no missions in those countries. So, it is important that this policy also stipulates clearly which areas should be emphasised, and what the compelling factors are in opening up missions in some countries. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, Parliament should also be informed not only about the opening of missions in other countries, but also about cases where the property of the Government of Kenya, for example like it happened in the Hague or somewhere, where the property of Government of Kenya was being threatened with attachment. We have not, ever since, heard more about it. We do not know what happened to the property. Parliament has not been informed about it. The Kenyan public does not know. Did we lose the property at the Hague? Was it attached? What happened? Why is the Ministry mean with information?"
}