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{
    "id": 426593,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/426593/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 239,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Oyugi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 444,
        "legal_name": "Augostinho Neto Oyugi",
        "slug": "augostinho-neto-oyugi"
    },
    "content": "I would like to put my objection to this Report in two parts. First, I would like to speak to recommendations and, if time allows me, then I will look at the observations and juxtapose them with what was supposed to be their terms or mandate. Recommendation No.4 reads as follows:- “The refugees Act, 2006 should be repealed.” If you look at the current Refugees Act 2006, in my opinion and observation--- I have spent time reading the Refugees Act. There is no document as comprehensive as the Refugees Act, which can actually help Kenya deal with the menace of the refugees in Kenya. To talk about repealing the refugees Act--- Section 4 of that particular Act speaks very well in terms of when someone, for example, would lose the status of being a refugee. You have particular elements in the refugee camps who have an issue, are terrorists, or are people you suspect of terrorist acts, the refugees Act actually provides for how you can deal with such fellows. The same Act in Section 5 deals with when a particular refugee ceases to be a refugee. What is most exciting and interesting in this Report is Recommendation No. 5, which speaks about closing down refugee camps. Of course, I have listened to Members of the Committee; some of them speaking to this particular principle and thinking that it is the best way to go. Article 25 of the Constitution says that general rules of International Law shall be part of laws of Kenya. Section 18 of the Refugees Act, which they want repealed, speaks to the spirit of the principle called the “non-expulsion principle”. You cannot send a refugee back to his home or other places until such a time that the refugee or that particular person wants to go. That is what the principle in Section 18 of that particular Act entails. That is the spirit of Article 14 of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights, to which Kenya is a party, and in which is embodied Article 25 of the Constitution. So, to really, without a proper reason, say that we should close the refugee camps--- I think it would be going against the spirit of international principles. Kenya is a member of United Nations. I really think no one in the world ever wants to be a refugee. You remember for a fact that in 2007/2008, during those very infamous acts of the post-election violence, a couple of Kenyans ended up being refugees in neighbouring countries. No one in the world knows at what point they can be refugees. To really say that we should close all refugee camps, would be an act that is not well thought through. The second recommendation that this particular Committee speaks to is the need to establish a National Intelligence Co-ordination Centre. Of what use will such a centre be? What value will it be adding to the NIS which, of course, has been lauded for doing a very good job? The NIS, if you look at this particular Report, did give intelligence reports which were not acted upon. So, what value will such an agency be adding to what the NIS, which is well funded and is doing a very good job, does? Hon. Speaker, the Report says under the first recommendation that the war against terrorism should be intensified within and outside the country. That is really as opaque as it could get. How do you propose to do that? Of course, terrorism is an international issue and no one knows what terrorists are. How do you then propose this in this Report? I am The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}