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"speaker_name": "Mr. Wetangula",
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"content": " Thank you for the information, Mr. Kajwang. That is exactly the point I am making. The importance of this Report and our commitment to our relationship with the EU, will, in part, help us in solving those kind of problems. You may also wish to know that Lake Victoria, which is one of the points of focus in the EU, has in some areas receded by as much as 60 meters in the last two years because of the destruction of the environment in catchment areas. The EU, through this ACP-EU initiative, is supporting those kind of programmes. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is absolutely critical that this House gets acquainted and knowledgable about the workings of the EU. As I said, most of the funds they give us are grants and not loans. There are many programmes that if we pay attention, they can solve a lot of 488 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 10, 2007 our problems. This is in terms of regional security, infrastructure and economic development. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, one of the key commissioners of the EU; Commissioner Loui Mitchell, has developed a blue print for peace and security in the Horn of Africa. This covers Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Sudan and Uganda. I have seen a paragraph that talks about peace in this region. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this blueprint emphasizes the point that our Nobel Laureate, Prof. Maathai has been singing over and over; on responsible, equitable and just management and access to resources, especially water resources. It is the lack of responsible management, exploitation and sharing of resources that has, in many ways, erupted into conflict. This blueprint lays clearly on the line, what we need to address to limit possible inter-State and intra-State conflicts emerging from resource-sharing or lack of sharing of resources. That is an issue that our representatives in the ACP-EU Assembly; Mr. Kamotho and Mr. Poghisio, should spearhead with the support of the House to even call a workshop so that we all can be acquainted with all these issues. Indeed, the issues contained in this Report, would be best disseminated to our colleagues through some workshop than a debate on the Floor of the House. I sat here and listened to one of our colleagues who obviously had not seen the report but went on and on. That does not help much when we are dealing with an organization whose relationship is so critical to us. I also want to urge Parliament to pay a little more attention than we actually are paying on the affairs of the East African Community (EAC). The affairs of this Community are not exclusively the affairs of the Executive. They are the affairs of the people of East Africa including all of us. The Executive will lead and give direction but as representatives of the people, if we do not show sufficient interest in what is going on in an organization that is so critical to this region, you may very well find that our aggressive neighbours are taking full advantage of whatever is available and we are left behind given that this is going to be the anchor-point of resource direction from the ACP-EU co-operation. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, to this end, I would like to suggest that once we have sorted out our problems at EALA, we do have a regular consultative forum between our Members of the East African Community and Members of the National Assembly here, so that they could keep us abreast with issues that are going on in the East African Community. We have many issues, some of which I have already mentioned. Even when we go to negotiations, for example, in the World Trade Organization (WTO), it is these regional groupings that form the blocks of negotiation. It is through the East African Community that we broaden our interests into the Common Market for Eastern and South African (COMESA) countries and we are able to link up with the rest of the African Union, not only to negotiate for better deals for our farmers and our people, but also to take common positions on even human resource allocations within the international organization like the United Nations (UN), UNICEF, WTO, FAO, UNESCO and so on. It can be a very critical tool that we, as Africans, in our engagements with the EU can be able to take common positions. If the EU takes a common position with you, then you know that you can surmount any opposition from whatever direction. It is also through this, that we would be able to arrest and fore-stall the intellectual property frauds that have been going on against some of our countries. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, you will be shocked to learn that India is now fighting tooth and nail to reclaim patent from an American company that has patented Basmati rice which the Indians have been growing for the last 5,000 years. A company, perhaps, that has never grown rice since its formation. We have, in the public domain, the issue of our kikoi, the Ethiopian coffee and so on. Soon or later, they might patent our tea or the Maasai Mara. We need to be extra alert. It April 10, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 489 is through those linkages with ACP-EU that we can to protect our heritage, our discoveries and our properties. That is absolutely critical and as a Government, we want to work hand in hand with Parliament to make sure that whatever is Kenya's or East Africa's remains our own. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to conclude by urging my colleagues that this is a Report worth reading. It is a Report which Mr. Kamotho wants passed but I still urge him to ask the Speaker's office to allow him to conduct a workshop so that all our colleagues can be properly informed and speak from a point of knowledge on issues of ACP-EU. It is only through those linkages that we are also able to correct our historical injustices and imbalances. You know the whole of Europe and the United States of America (USA) has developed on the sweat, blood and tears of Africa. It is through those linkages that we can redress the imbalances and have development that has been skewed against the South corrected, so that we can also have people enjoying the discoveries of science and development of technology. With those few remarks, I want to voice the Government's support for this document."
}