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"id": 227330,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Syongo",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. The important difference between those two Reports is that whereas the Report that we have just concluded debating deals with issues related to the relationship between the ACP countries and the EU, the Report that Mr. Kamotho has just presented focuses on key issues within the ACP countries themselves. It is important for us to understand the issues that affect countries which are within the same grouping with Kenya and which, in fact, form the basis of their negotiation with the EU and other trade partners, as well as inform policies as far as economic and social development is concerned. In that way, we are then able to gauge ourselves and, in a way, have a coherent development policy. The issue of East Africa as contained in this Report is critical, particularly in relation to regional economic groups such as the East African Community and the COMESA. These are the building blocks for negotiating at both the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as well as with the European Union, and even in terms of a bilateral agreement with the United States of America in relation to AGOA. April 10, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 499 However, we should be cognizant of the fact that, presently, there is some kind of an attempt by forces from the southern part of Africa to, deliberately, disintegrate COMESA and even undermine the integrity of the East African Community. In the last two weeks, you saw how Tanzania and the DR Congo were being deliberately drawn into the Southern African Development Community(SADC). That is not something which Kenyan Members of Parliament should take lightly, because in that move you can see a deliberate effort to essentially undermine the integral role that Kenya plays within this sub-region. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in fact, if you look at the issues related to conflict in East Africa, and even at the issues of the small arms proliferation, as contained in this Report, you can clearly see that a number of members of the COMESA economic grouping, including Somalia, Ethiopia and others that are fairly stable such as Ethiopia, are being brought on board, but in a disparaging manner. Obviously, the aim is to dismantle the COMESA region as a viable and reliable trading block for purposes of negotiating as well as for developing internal trading mechanisms. A regional economic trading block like COMESA, which is the second most important source of our foreign exchange earnings after the EU, and which I think has, in fact, surpassed the EU now, is presently targeted for dismantling. So, it is important that we stay alert to the manoeuvres from the south. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I will now speak on the issue of impact of tourism on ACP countries. Whereas tourism contributes significantly to creation of employment as well as foreign exchange earnings, which we need to industrialise and develop - we have had to rely on capital goods and technology from abroad to develop our economy and resource base - we need to be aware of the adverse impact of tourism on our societies. For example, tourism is, definitely, a challenge to us in terms of our cultures. The moment we commercialise our cultures, we lose their significance to us. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, our cultures are not just about the way we dress and eat. They have deeper implications for our societies in terms of how we relate to one another. In fact, they define the core issues that are related to our peace and co-existence with one another and even within the family. It is not unusual to read in the newspapers about a father having raped his daughters, or a man having killed his wife and children. This is because of the things we watch on television, all of which are imported from outside. That is basically part of the culture change that has been brought about. There is complete erosion of respect between father and daughter, and between mother and son. These are serious issues. We have issues of disease control. To a large control, tourism has contributed towards the escalation of HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases in society. Therefore, one needs to factor in all these considerations. When looking at the benefits of tourism, we need to look at the adverse effects and ask for the main sources of our tourists. This knowledge will help us deal with the adverse effect resulting from our mingling with tourists, even though they give us some benefits. The same goes for sex tourism, etcetera . Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the issue of water resources, we should be very firm. Even as we need access to the European markets for our various food items, including livestock products, we need to focus on the water component in our development. We need water for pastoralists in order to develop our livestock sector. We need to have clean water in urban centres to control diseases and, of course, improve our health standards. We need abundant fresh water every year from rainfall in our lakes. This will control pollution levels in order for our lakes to remain major and healthy bases for the growth of our fisheries sector. 500 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 10, 2007"
}