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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do not know which technical procedure we should follow to combine the two Motions on the Floor of the House as suggested by the hon. Member. These two Motions are close, but they are different. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move the following Motion:- THAT, this House adopts the Report of the 4th Session of the ACP Parliamentary Assembly and the 11th Session of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly held in Vienna, Austria, from 15th June to 22nd June, 2006, laid on the Table of the House on Tuesday, October 3rd, 2006. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the African Caribbean Pacific-European Union (ACP- 456 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 5, 2007 EU) is a long time co-operation dating back to 1975 when the First Lome Convention was signed between the two parties. It is guided by the Cotonou Partnership Agreement signed in June 2000 and revised in Luxembourg in June 2005 with the objective of eventually reducing poverty in ACP countries. The main objective of the Cotonou Agreement is to promote the development of a common strategic approach to poverty reduction consistent with the objectives of sustainable development and the gradual integration of ACP countries into the world economy. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) presently has 79 members from ACP member states with an equal number from European Union (EU) member countries. It plays a central role in creating awareness of the role of the parliamentary networking among Members of Parliament and exchange of views between European and ACP parliamentarians in the form that is the only one of its kind. The Assembly sits biannually with sessions being held in rotation in an ACP state and an EU member country. The JPA, like any other parliament, has its standing committees which have helped in transforming the Assembly into a genuine parliamentary assembly. This has created new forums of debate and made it possible for resolutions on important development issues to be prepared in a much better way. It has also created room for wider parliamentary scrutiny of the ACP-EC Commission and Council. Through the JPA, parliaments are now getting more involved in exercising oversight over executives and monitoring development polices at national, sub-regional and regional levels. Kenya plays a very key role in the JPA, because it represents the eastern region in the most important organ of the JPA, namely, the ACP-EU Bureau, in addition to representing the region in the Assembly's Committee on Economic Development, Finance and Trade. The other committees are the Committee on Political Affairs and the Committee on Social Affairs and Environment. During the 11th Session, a number of important issues were discussed, including Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). The JPA took stock of the economic partnership negotiations and discussed the future actions and the role of parliamentarians in the negotiation processes. The Assembly reaffirmed that the review should be all-inclusive and consultative with all the stakeholders, including non-state actors and parliamentarians; conducted at the national and regional level. It was emphasized that it was necessary to involve parliamentarians at every stage of the negotiations. It is worth noting that although the European Union (EU) is Kenya's largest grant and development partner, and Kenya is negotiating the EPAs with it, under the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) configuration; and although the negotiations have been going on for a long time, very few Members of Parliament understand what they are about, or even which countries form the ESA. I take this opportunity, therefore, through the Chair, to appeal to the Minister for Trade and Industry to bring an updated report of the EPAs for the ESA region to this House for debate. Other issues discussed during the 11th Session included the energy problem in ACP countries, the avian influenza, the role of regional integration in the promotion of peace and security, fisheries and their social and environmental aspects in developing countries and the situation in Sudan in general, including Darfur, among other issues. There are resolutions that the Assembly arrived at on each of these items, which form part of the Report. Hon. Members may wish to take time to study the resolutions, which they will find quite useful. Parliamentarians deliberated on the evaluation of the work of the various committees, identified elements that have hindered their work and formulated proposals for improving their activities. Of the key hindrances identified was lack of financing on the part of the ACP. I take this opportunity to urge our Government to ensure that our subscriptions are paid on time, because it would be embarrassing on our part, as a country, to find Kenya in the brief of countries owing in subscriptions. Subscribing on time also helps the ACP Secretariat run its affairs more effectively April 5, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 457 and efficiently. The JPA organizes fact-finding missions on various issues affecting the citizenry of member states. Several missions were undertaken prior to the 11th Session of the ACP-EU JPA and their reports presented during the Session. These included fact-finding missions to Mauritania, Togo, Swaziland, Mauritius and Kenya. On the mission to Kenya, whose objective was food security and sustenability of life, Mr. Poghisio and I participated during that particular mission. Concern was raised over the high levels of poverty and the widening gap between the rich and the poor in the country. The mission visited Kibera and Mandera and met a number of senior leaders, including His Excellency the President, the Vice-President and Minister for Home Affairs, the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Official Leader of Opposition, several Cabinet Ministers and senior Government officials. I wish, on behalf of the mission participants, to thank His Excellency the President, the Vice-President and Minister for Home Affairs, and Mr. Speaker, for honouring the delegation by finding time to meet them. On the situation in Kibera and Mandera, I wish to state that in both cases, it was appalling. There is urgent need to address the plight of suffering Kenyans, especially children. The mission called on the international community to look into the problem and do whatever they can to help resolve those problems. The mission expressed concern that parliamentarians in Kenya and, indeed, in many other ACP countries, were not being engaged in deliberations pertaining to the European Development Fund (EDF). The mission emphasized that national indicative programmes should be drawn with Parliament's input and urged ACP parliamentarians to make their presence felt and be keen on condemning vices, such as corruption. I wish to point out that Parliament is highly disadvantaged by the fact that the Government has not been briefing the House on deliberations pertaining to the EDF. The national indicative programmes are also drawn without Parliament's input. The Ministers for Finance; Planning and National Development, and Trade and Industry should keep us informed about what the Government is doing as far as the EDF deliberations are concerned. A full text of the Report of the mission to Kenya is annexed and forms part of this Report. I am appealing to you, hon. Members, to take time and study the Report. Working groups are also set to consider specific issues as the Assembly may deem fit. Lastly, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on behalf of the Kenyan delegation, I would like to thank the House, through you, for entrusting us with the responsibility of representing Kenya at all ACP-EU JPA Plenary and standing committee meetings. I also wish to thank the Clerk of the National Assembly, the Kenya Mission to the EU in Brussels and the Kenya Embassy in Vienna for availing the necessary logistical support to us during the 11th Session of the ACP-EU JPA. With these few remarks, I beg to move and call upon hon. Poghisio, who is the alternate Member to the JPA, to second."
}