HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 206853,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/206853/?format=api",
"text_counter": 169,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Prof. Mango",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 288,
"legal_name": "Christine Mango",
"slug": "christine-mango"
},
"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I need to add my voice to what had been said earlier. As hon. Members of Parliament, we need to be well acquainted with the foreign policies of our nation, so that as we travel abroad we articulate them. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the world has become a global village. With globalisation, our embassies abroad should have commercial attaches and ambassadors who are well versed in commercial laws and available business opportunities. This will enable them link up Kenyan business people with business people abroad. They should be able to spot all the business opportunities needed to help the Kenyan economy to grow. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, sometimes when we travel abroad there are even employment opportunities which our unemployed youngsters could make use of. Our foreign 3512 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES August 28, 2007 embassies abroad could also spot out such opportunities and help our unemployed youths to take advantage of them. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, some of our staff in foreign embassies are not well- paid. Their allowances are so little that they can hardly make ends meet when they move around. Therefore, I am appealing to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to look into that, so that our representatives abroad can feel that they are representing our country well. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there are a lot of international conventions which our country signed, but they are never domesticated. May I appeal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to organise workshops and seminars for Members of Parliament to understand these conventions before they even come to the Floor of the House? We need to be familiar with what our country commits itself to do. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, regarding the United Nations (UN) jobs, Kenya does not seem to have a fair share. If they are there, they are given out quietly. Many Kenyans do not get them, yet they are very well qualified in many fields. They are well regarded even in international organisations. However, when a Kenyan tries to apply for those jobs when advertised, they do not know how to get them. We should get Kenyans into these UN jobs, so that they can help access what is in the UN for our country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is the question of shared resources like the Lake Victoria. Although Kenya has a very little share of the L. Victoria waters--- I grew up where people fish on the lake. However, there is a lot of harassment from our neighbours. I think as a shared resource, this is one area where the East African Community (EAC) should have one licensing body and license all the canoes on the lake and let everybody fish freely. As it is, fishermen do not know boundaries on the lake. They do not know the boundaries in the waters. They, therefore, end up being arrested, jailed and their fishing nets confiscated. This is something the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should take up with our neighbouring countries. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, foreign missions abroad need to be more concerned about Kenyan students abroad. If necessary, they should have the statistics. Many a time Kenyans die and nobody seems to be concerned. The families feel very stressed about it. They may have gone there privately, but they carry the Kenyan passports and there should be a way to link them up with the embassies. As nationals, whenever there is a problem, they should feel free to get to the Kenyan embassy and be taken care of. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Kenyan embassies abroad need to own their offices and residences. Recently, I was in Namibia and I felt very proud to see the Kenyan flag on a Kenyan house. We were told by the Ambassador there that, that embassy needs resources to refurbish the building. They have a big building in Namibia, which they bought during the days of President Sam Nujoma, and it needs resources to refurbish it. That is an asset and the Kenyan embassy leases it to other people and makes income out of it. The Ambassador was very concerned that it should be refurbished. So, it is a good idea for Kenyan embassies to own their own property and offices. That will save a lot of money that is spent on rents and will help the Kenyan embassy staff to be settled. The Kenyan embassies' staff abroad need to be well-informed, so that they can inform the host country about Kenya. We need people who are well-trained and have the information about our own nation at their finger-tips, so that when there are people visiting the embassies, they can inform them and give them all statistics about the country, so that they educate the foreign people who visit the country. Also, Kenyan embassies could utilise Kenyans who have stayed in those countries for many years and are familiar with the best practices in those countries, especially as regards tourism. There are Kenyans who have lived abroad, for example in Sweden or the US, for 20 years and they understand the thinking of those countries' people. Therefore, where possible, if August 28, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3513 you employ such people in, say, tourism, they will help a lot to link up the nationals of that country to the ones of Kenya. This is so because they know and understand the mentality of those people. They also understand the Kenyan mentality and, therefore, they are in quite a good position to link us up. Since tourism is our best foreign exchange earner, we need to put a lot of money in the foreign missions to educate and sell Kenya's good features to the people of those countries. Many people outside there do not know much about Kenya. You will find them asking you: \"Is that a small village in Nigeria\"? That means that the people are not informed and, therefore, where we have an embassy, we should put in a lot of effort to educate the particular country and foreigners about Kenya, so that we can increase the number of tourists coming to Kenya to increase the revenue of the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support."
}