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"content": "As hon. Senators are aware, the President of the Senate arrived in our country last Friday, 18th July, 2014 for an official visit whose climax will be his address to the Senate and to the people of Kenya, this afternoon. It is worth noting that the address by the President of the Senate of Rwanda will be the first to the Senate of Kenya by a visiting dignitary, which further restates the special place of Rwanda to our country in particular and to the East African Community (EAC) generally. Indeed, Article 5 of the EAC treaty calls upon us to deepen and widen the cooperation among the community. Hon. Senators, allow me, therefore, to start by thanking the President of the Senate of Rwanda for honouring the Senate and the people of Kenya through this reciprocal bi-lateral visit. I have no doubt in my mind that the visit has entrenched the already existing cordial relations between our countries and Parliaments for the mutual benefit of our people and by extension, the greater East African Community. The Senate of Rwanda has been generous in enabling our committees perform study visits in order to operationalise the functions of the Senate. Mr. President and hon. Senators, our countries are grappling with a number of challenges ranging from poverty, marginalization, unemployment, negative ethnicity, terrorism, insecurity, illiteracy, poor infrastructure, high morbidity rates et cetera . In addition to this, over dependence on rain-fed agriculture is leading to food insecurity, underdevelopment and internal strife, among others. The list is endless. However, tied to these challenges, like siamese twins, are tremendous opportunities to take our respective countries forward. As the old saying goes, “there is always a silver lining in every cloud.” Kenya and Rwanda must not only learn from our nasty experiences of genocide and post election violence of 2007/2008 respectively, but must rise from these ashes like a phoenix. These challenges should spur us to action to ensure that we do not only overcome them, but also take our societies and communities on a higher level, of a higher pedestal of economic growth, advancement in political institutions and social cohesion devoid of internal strife and conflict as captured in our visions (Rwanda Vision 2020 and Kenya Vision 2030). We must, therefore, invest in our institutions, the rule of law and constitutionalism in order to sort out any challenge that are societies are confronted with. Mr. President, hon. Senators, this is what we have been called upon to do as leaders and as an institution of Parliament; namely, to tirelessly continue to seek solutions to the problems facing the people and to demolish structures that stand in the way or impede the achievement of the full potential of our people through robust legislation. I am sure I speak for the Kenyan Senate when I quote Winston Churchill upon his very first entry into the House of Commons as Britain’s new Prime Minister on Monday, 13th May, 1940, when he made this brief statement:- The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}