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"id": 281087,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/281087/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Keynan",
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"speaker": {
"id": 41,
"legal_name": "Adan Wehliye Keynan",
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"content": "Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, one of the reasons that informed the Kenyan people, in particular the leaders of this country, to front the revival of the defunct EAC was because in our own wisdom and minds, we were of the view that Kenya is a premier nation. What makes Kenya a premier nation is what we need to appreciate and understand as the leadership of this country. About 60 per cent of the GDP of the EAC is Kenyan. Therefore, that gives us a very important role economically. Kenya is an infrastructural hub. You can see the kind of infrastructural modernization that has been going over the last few years and, therefore, we are unique as far as infrastructural development is concerned. Look at the economic role that we play and the kind of investment opportunities that are available in this country. You should also look at the kind of technological advancement in this country. Our emphasis, and in particular this is one of the core- objectives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is not only to act as an interface between Kenya and the outside world but to project Kenya, as much as possible, as an economic hub. This is not achievable if we do not project this country as a country governed by the rule of law and a country that engages in its governance civilized and accepted mechanisms in sorting out some of its national duties. The emphasis of the Republic of Kenya today is economic development. Economic development is not something that somebody can just wake up and implant. It is something that must be reflected on, designed, implemented and contextualized within the national policy. For example, we have the Vision 2030 which is anchored on three pillars, namely, economic, social and political development. Politically, as I have said, luckily, over the last few years, we were not affected by some of the instabilities that have bedevilled the neighbouring States. We have had elections, notwithstanding the descriptions whether they were flawed or not, since we got our Independence. It is because of this that Kenyans, particularly the leadership, must reflect that in 19689, the GDP of the Republic of Kenya was at par with that of South Korea, Malaysia, Ireland and many other countries. Today, the GDP of the Republic of South Korea is eighty times that of Kenya. The one of Indonesia is 79 times that of Kenya. What happens is the question that we need to ask ourselves. This is why, in my opinion and the opinion of my Committee Members, economic integration cannot be sustained without the will and the determination of both the leadership and the citizenry of that particular republic. It is because of this that Kenya as a conferencing hub, a diplomatic hub, in East, Central and the whole of Africa, has the highest number of diplomatic representation. This is something that we need to be proud of. Kenya has the highest concentration of humanitarian institutions and organizations south of Sahara. It is because of this that we must lead from the front. It is because of this that jealously, we must protect the premierness of the Republic of Kenya. This cannot be substituted by creative political imaginations, party-based rivalries, even cocoons and clear deviations from the rule of law. I say all this because there is an unfortunate event that happened in 2006 in trying to come up with our representatives to EALA. We deviated from the rules and the standard established nominating rules as a premier nation. What happened? A litigant went to the East African Court of Justice. What was the consequence? This particular petition was ruled in favour of the petitioners and the Kenyan taxpayers today have to cough hundreds of millions of shillings as a penalty by the court. If we were prudent in our decision making, if we were considerate in the actions that we took, we would have saved the taxpayers the over Kshs400 million that today the Kenyan taxpayers have to cough. It is because of this that I want to implore the leadership, in particular the leadership of the political parties, to walk the talk and go beyond the petty regional thinking and party-driven mechanisms and think naturally about the image of Kenya. There is no way that all of us, the 40 million Kenyans, are going to agree on the nomination or the election of nine Members. There has to be sacrifices. The modusoperandi has been established. How are we going to lead from the front and project Kenya as a leading investment, diplomatic, humanitarian, infrastructural and transport hub, an economic power and a cultural hub, if the very act of putting in place some of these petty things cannot form part of our national interest? I want to urge the Members, particularly, the leadership of the political parties, to walk the talk and ensure that we have these representatives on or before the term of the current Members of EALA comes to an end on 4th June. It will be a fallacy and unforgivable if again Kenya as a premier nation this time around delays the inauguration of EALA simply because of our party-driven politics."
}