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"speaker_name": "Mr. J. Koech",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for East African Community",
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to say something on the Report. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this is a good Report. I appreciate the fact that various meetings were held by the Members of Parliament to discuss issues affecting human development. This Report has very good recommendations. If these recommendations were to be implemented, Kenya will realise greater mileage in development. I urge the Chairman and Members of those committees to meet the representatives of various ministries, discuss their views on those recommendations and see how best to implement them. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, such meetings are very important in solving conflicts in different countries. In most developed countries, the Members of Parliament play very crucial roles in discussing various issues with the Government. We find that the position taken by the Government is not quite different from that of hon. Members. So, I would urge hon. Members who attend meetings in different parts of the world to be meeting with representatives of respective ministries to discuss the recommendations made at such meetings and the way forward. The Ministries can also read those reports and make use of their recommendations. I am very happy that various Committees of this Parliament are doing a lot of work. It is not 572 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 11, 2007 like before when Members of Parliament could not travel and share their views with other parliamentarians. In fact, the Kenyan Parliament is very active all over the world in various inter- parliamentary committees. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I think we should commend ourselves on our level of political development. We should not continue lamenting that we are not doing very well. Instead we should congratulate ourselves for what we have achieved. We should face all challenges and seek solutions to our problems. This is because if we continue criticising and not offering constructive criticisms, we will never succeed. Sometimes we blame our Government for quite a good number of issues. What role do we, as individuals, play in the development of this nation? What roles are we playing as Africans in the economic development of our people or improving their lives in our own small ways? Are we only there to complain and blame other people instead of doing something for ourselves? Most of the manufacturing industries in this country and in East Africa are not run by indigenous people despite the fact that we have highly qualified Africans. We have left trade to foreigners. Why do we have people who are highly educated in the region; many professors, doctors and businessmen, yet, there are very many backward people? Does it mean that we go to school for the sake of it? Do we get degree certificates and put them in boxes? I think the time has come for us to be practical in whatever we say. We should not just criticize everything. Why is it that the Asians or non-indigenous Kenyans are dominating the business in this country? Are the Africans' hands tied, so that we do not develop? Is it because we do not have patience and honesty among ourselves? We only talk about governance. Even if we had the best governance, we can never develop. Some of the countries in Asia which, in fact, are very much dictatorial, have advanced so much when it comes to economic development. However, in this country we always \"cry\" about the need for good governance. What are we doing, as individuals, to develop our people? We have many resources in this country, and yet, we only talk about the need for good governance. If we continue doing so, this nation will not develop. It is the entrepreneurial ability of our people that can bring about development in this region. But if we continue crying about the need for good governance, yet, we have not initiated anything--- I am impressed by the Asian community because their amount of networking in the world when they are doing business is wonderful. Some of the products manufactured in industries run by Asians in Mombasa are sold in Europe. The sufurias which are manufactured in Mombasa are being sold in Europe. Likewise, some of the products which are manufactured in Kisumu, for example, mabatis, are sold in the United States of America (USA). This is happening because these people are very serious. Under which political situation are they working, for them to do all this? Let us be true and re-assess ourselves. Let us take stock of our failures, take a challenge from them and see how we are going to develop. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when it comes to trade, of course, the negotiations have been a problem. We have been driven by the West, because they have got their own interests. But we need to come up also, as regional groups, and see how we are going to negotiate with the European Union (EU) and other organizations, so that we can find practical solutions; not just theories. In terms of negotiations, we must make sure that we not only speak, but also know how we are going to link ourselves and work with the rest of the world. I have had a chance to go for negotiations in some of the programmes in several parts of the world. During such negotiations, you will find that the Europeans can negotiate the whole night until morning. But by midnight, you will find that all the Africans have disappeared from the negotiations. It is only the whites who are negotiating among themselves. Why is that so? Why can we also not take time and be patient during negotiations? You cannot have your cake and eat it yourself. If we want to enjoy ourselves, yet, we are not patient in whatever we do, we shall always be crying about development in this nation. April 11, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 573 I am happy with what the group has negotiated on Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). However, despite the negotiations we still have a problem, because we have not come up with a tangible agreement. But we do not need to worry about this. Everything has its own time. We will continue negotiating until finally we get something out of it. We should not expect to negotiate overnight and agree. We must have different stages of negotiating. If we find out that the negotiations that we are undertaking are not practical, let us change tactics. Let us how we can negotiate with Europe, so that we also get an advantage. But if we do not create time and be very serious in our work, we shall always be overcome by the European countries. This is because they have got programmes, time and patience, which we do not have. So, I think most African countries have to be patient among themselves. Whatever we do, let us do it with the seriousness it deserves. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to say a few things about the regional blocs, which are, of course, very useful. In the East African Region, we have the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the East African Community (EAC). In the EAC, we are going on very well with the establishment of the Customs Union. I think we will soon negotiate on a common market. I hope that we shall succeed in the negotiations. Kenya is bound to benefit from these negotiations, because the East African region is very important to us, given that Kenyans are very enterprising and industrious. I want to assure hon. Members that we are gaining a lot of momentum and success from economic integrations. But we need a little bit more power at the centre, so that the implementation of the programmes which we come up with in Arusha, become visible. There should be more power in the regions. That is why we are talking about political federations. We should not be worried so much about political federations. It does not mean that we have got to cede power at the national level. We could have sufficient power in the region, which is going to make the implementation of programmes which we have, to be possible. This is because without some authority at the regional level, we shall not be able to implement quite a good number of programmes. So, I would like to urge the hon. Members to find time to talk about the East African region and the federation of the three states, because that is going to bring development in this region and usher in a new era of greater economic development. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I end, I want to reiterate further that Kenya is a wonderful country, and we are moving forward. As we move towards the General Elections, let the sentiments which are not for development not override the good work that we have already done. Let us not over-emphasize the issue of tribalism. We talk about tribalism sometimes, because it benefits us politically. If we are honest about tribalism, we should not dictate to our people as to what they should do. Let us have tribalism on the positive aspects. There will be no time when I will stop being a Kipsigis. With many inter-marriages, people will realise that tribalism is not necessary. But let us not talk about tribalism, as if we can eradicate it today. Hon. ole Ntimama seated over there is a Maasai and there is no time he will stop being one. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other friend there is a Luo and there is no time that he will stop being one. So, let us not belabour the obvious. We have different tribes in this country. But let us find practical ways and means of ending tribalism. We will not end it through hatred. Let us be friendly and talk to each other, so that we can remove the negative aspects of tribalism. Otherwise, tribalism itself is not bad. It is only the negative aspects of it that are, of course, affecting us. Let us remove those aspects. Let us not have a lot of hatred against other tribes. Let us talk and work together. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support."
}