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"id": 228236,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Odoyo",
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"legal_name": "Peter Ochieng Odoyo",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do note that from the leader of the Kenyan delegation during the function. However, there were only 33 Speakers who attended the conference out of a possible 145. This may mean that if less than 20 per cent of the presiding officers of those parliaments were able to attend, we are also not targeting the appropriate presiding officers. So, I appeal that future IPU conferences should be attended by many more Speakers of national assemblies, so that they may guide many of the discussions on the topics and resolutions that were passed at the IPU Conference. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I wish to congratulate the 115th IPU meeting on the three resolutions which it passed. The first resolution was on small arms. The second one was on sustainable development, specifically, finance and trade. The third one was broadly, democracy and human rights, but specifically, on violence against women. These were the main areas in which the IPU conference passed resolutions. I wish to speak about just one of them. I will not speak about small arms, since I have seen somebody from the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs. I will leave him to do so. I will speak about finance and trade, where I have some expertise. The digital divide between the North and South, the East and West, the First World and the Third World is not getting nearer. It was believed for quite a long time that aid would be able to assist countries like Kenya, but, indeed, it has not helped us. If anything, aid has gone ahead to line the pockets of a few misguided rulers, who have continued to steal from the people who mandated them through trust, to oversee their own affairs. The philosophy or idea of trade being at the heart of achieving sustainable development in Africa, specifically, in Kenya, is a matter that this Parliament needs to put to the fore. We should manage our economy in such a manner that we are able to capitalise on trade. The first level of trade is within the region. First, this Parliament and Government must be committed to the regional aspects of trade. We must strengthen those regional bodies dealing with April 4, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 397 the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the East African Co- operation (EAC), and give them their due respect, because that is where the future lies. Indeed, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, eastern Zaire, Southern Sudan and other countries that are nearby, is where the future of Kenya lies. It is time that we, in Kenya, started thinking like imperialists. I am using the word \"imperial\" to mean that we should be able to put our hands into resources that are available in the neighbouring countries. For example, we are now being edged out of Sudan and losing ground in Uganda. The same is happening in Rwanda and Burundi. We are not active in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). Indeed, the duty on sugar that is going to be lifted in 2008 is a big threat to the sugar industry in western Kenya, particularly Nyakach Constituency, which I represent. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the time is ripe now to say that the East African Community is a part of the future of Kenya. Therefore, when we are electing Members of Parliament to go to the East African Community in Arusha, we must sustain the very tenets of a parliamentary system, which is democracy. I say this because the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is a body that brought together Members of Parliament. Indeed, it is really shameful that we here in Kenya, have lost a case in Arusha that we should not have lost. We should not have lost that case because pure common sense was what was required. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have a Government which has been in power for just four years, but it is exhibiting dictatorial tendencies by assuming that the salaries of hon. Members of this Parliament are not the same. Indeed, we all earn the same amount of salary and it is about time that those on the Government side also realize that there is a need for consultation at various levels. Parliament and the rule of law dictate that they must consult all stakeholders before they appoint people of their will. They should not look at their own cheap and simple political agenda which, indeed, will be a big disappointment to them come November and December, 2007. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the issue of trade has been a subject to all the World Trade Organization (WTO) conferences. It remains at the heart of the future. Let us not cheat ourselves and assume that Kenya will benefit up to and until we have looked at the terms of trade between the goods we produce in Africa and those produced in the West. Specifically, look at items like coffee. The price of coffee keeps on declining, whereas the price of manufactured goods keeps on rising. The same applies for tea, pyrethrum and those raw materials produced in Africa, including cocoa. The only goods whose prices are rising are, for example, gold and diamonds. These are controlled by the Boers of South Africa, who we very well know manage a very strong cartel to keep prices on the higher side. But the real productive sector that goes to help the"
}