HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 218634,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/218634/?format=api",
"text_counter": 131,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Mwancha",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other problem is that of arrears. Many countries are not able to contribute to Pan African Parliament. They do not contribute because of the various financial problems they have in their respective countries. It is, therefore, common to find that in some countries, Members do not come at all. In some others, they come for only two or three days. In some cases, you will find that out of five Members, two come for two or five days and the other three come for the rest of the time. There are serious financial problems that the Pan African Parliament is facing. We urge the African countries - Kenya included because it is one of the countries which have not paid the arrears - to ensure that the arrears are paid on time so that the Parliament can run as expected. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, during this Session, the Parliament considered the Report of a ship that docked at the Port of Abidjan and off-loaded tonnes and tonnes of toxic waste which led to the death of 12 people and over 107,000 being hospitalised. Africa is telling the Western countries with one voice, that as we talk about globalization, the West should not think that Africa is a dumping ground of that kind of waste. The unfortunate thing is that it is the African countries which allow such toxic wastes to be deposited in their countries. Unfortunately, the unscrupulous companies which deposit the waste in Africa target countries which are unstable. This is why we think that peace in Africa is extremely important because some of those vices would not be perpetrated in an African country that is stable. Because of that, the team leader, Mr. Oparanya, gave us various reports of the spots of instability in Africa which the Pan African Parliament has been able to sent missions to, who have reported and the reports discussed in the Pan African Parliament. As he said, these include, key problems in Cote d'Ivoire, Chad, Sudan, Somalia, DRC and others. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, Africa is saying that we are no more a dark continent as it was said before. We are telling the West with one voice that there is no way Africa can be a dark continent when the equator passes through Africa and when the tropics pass through Africa. It June 12, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1711 was resolved that all the African countries which have not signed the Bamako Convention against the disposal of toxic waste in Africa, the Basel Convention which bans the disposal of toxic waste in the African-Caribbean and Pacific Countries to sign those conventions immediately so that in future, Africans do not die like in Ivory Coast where 12 people died and over 107,000 others hospitalised. The other problem that was highlighted by the Pan African Parliament is that of desertification and global warming. It is dawning on Africa that the problems that Africa is now having are not caused by Africa itself but the Western countries. As you may be aware, Lake Bogoria is drying up and the snow caps on Mt. Kenya and Mt. Kilimanjaro are depleting largely because of global warming. It was reported to the Pan African Parliament that it is the developed countries like Europe, Japan, United States of America, China and to some extent India that are causing global warming. There is no contribution from Africa or if it is there, then it is negligible. The problems of diseases that have emanated in Africa--- My own district used to be very cold and we knew that malaria was a problem in the lake region because it was warmer. But due to global warming, we now have malaria in Kisii Highlands which was never there. These problems caused by global warming are real. They are now facing us and we need to tackle them. Africa is telling the West with one voice that it has to do something about the carbon imbalance that it is causing, which is the one depleting the ozone layer and, hence, causing the global warming. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we also discussed desertification. The Pan African Parliament was informed that we are losing 10 million hectares of arable land to the desert. It was also informed that the sand dunes and hamatan winds in West Africa have increased in intensity because of the increasing desertification. Africa has to face this problem with one voice. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, poverty is an issue that is actually being caused by the Western countries. Global warming, increased diseases and reduction of rains due to increased desertification cause poverty in the African countries. The West is part and parcel of this problem. It has to do something about it. The Pan African Parliament has taken up this issue. This month, the Heads of states of African countries are meeting in West Africa to discuss the issue of the Union Government of Africa. We are looking forward to the time when the Head of the Union Government of Africa will be presenting the Budget of the Pan African Parliament, so that we can deal with health, global warming and communication issues. As hon. Salat said, many hon. Members travelling to North African countries including Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, until this day, still have to go through France. These are the issues that the African countries are looking into through the Pan African Parliament. Members of Parliament have sufficient time to look, in detail, at the various reports before they can make resolutions to be considered by the Heads of states. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support."
}