HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 440499,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/440499/?format=api",
"text_counter": 156,
"type": "other",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "gave us prestige, it corrected the problem that we had there, that we were a foreign country that was invading another country. So, it corrected that. secondly, it also took away from us the big burden of paying for our operations in Somalia, both paying our soldiers and also taking care of the equipment and many other things that were finding a burden to our economy at that time. So, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, even though we have suffered a big burden of holding refugees in this country, we are a very big power. When Kenya speaks in Geneva or in any other international community about refugees because we are able to show that on behalf of the world, we are carrying a big responsibility which could be carried by the whole international community, but we are bearing it without complaining. That has given us a very good name internationally, and we are respected a great deal because no other country can easily carry more than 500,000 refugees for almost 20 years without complaining, like Kenya has done. In fact, in other places, it has brought war; in other places, they just close the borders and they just shoot them to stop them from coming in. But Kenya has behaved respectfully; it has received them; it has given them a home here and, for that reason, we have a very good name abroad. I think that is the reason why we have been called upon to operate in many countries to bring peace as peace keepers, because we have peace at home. You cannot keep what you, yourself, do not have. The international community respects that; that Kenya is a peaceful and civilized country and can, therefore, export discipline across the many communities that we have worked in. In fact, we have not heard of any complaints internationally or otherwise that our young men and women who have been sent to these missions have disappointed us by misbehaving. So, we respect this. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, those who think that we do not have a foreign policy should not equate the state of Kenya with the Government. You may not like the Government, but you must love your country. We have an established foreign policy that we recognize all states that are established under international law. We also recognize governments that are established by law and their constitutions. Of course, we do not recognize people who go and grab land across borders; we do not recognize that at all and in most cases, we have been called upon to establish those boundaries so that people do not cross our borders – like our colleagues from Uganda have done several times by coming into Kenya and arresting our own soldiers in our own soil and our own waters in Migori County. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we have been members of the South-South Dialogue; we have been members of the Non-Aligned Movement and we are respected members of the UN. I think that is why when trouble was in Kenya at one time, the UN took it almost as their responsibility to restore order because Kenya is also a home to some of the UN bureaus and organizations. For example, a bit of the UN is here, a bit of the UNDP is here, a bit of UN Habitat is here and those are big institutions. In fact, the world is competing to host these institutions. I know that Germany, at one time, wanted to take UNDP, and I think it took the intervention of the former President to walk into the UN Headquarters and tell them “I understand that you – that was a German – want to take this thing to your home so that you are made a President of German.” The guy had to say “I am sorry; I do not want to take it to my home; and we actually want to expand it.” Since then, I think there has been some expansion of the UN offices here and the UNDP. So, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I want to use this opportunity to, first of all, support our soldiers in Somalia and thank them for the good job they have done to secure peace there. There will not be any everlasting peace, just like we do not have any lasting peace in our own country. But at least now, there is a formal government there in office which is functioning. We are trying"
}