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{
    "id": 496594,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/496594/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 101,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Murungi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2802,
        "legal_name": "Kathuri Murungi",
        "slug": "kathuri-murungi"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Speaker. I stand to support this Report. From the outset, this East African Monetary Union is modelled on the European Monetary Union. Therefore, a lot of research has already been done and most of the countries in the East Africa Community are satisfied that this model will improve our EAC economy. I would like to note that 28 states in the European Union are in the Monetary Union. A lot of gains have been achieved by the European Monetary Union. Therefore, this is high time for our five East African Community partners to move with speed to ratify all the protocols, so that we can head where other economies are heading. In this era, no country can survive alone. That is why we need to integrate and even to include Sudan. We pray very hard that Sudan will also achieve the fixed threshold, so that it can be a member of the EAC. As some of the hon. Members have hinted, there are benefits and also negative effects to this Union. But the best thing to note is that the positives or benefits outweigh the disadvantages. If you do an economic analysis, you will see that the negatives are very minor. Therefore, it is important to go the other way. One of the issues which are making the hon. Members of this House not to understand the integration process is lack of sensitization. If Members of Parliament do not understand the integration process, the citizens of the East African States are in total darkness. Therefore, a lot needs to be done to sensitize the citizens of the five states, so that they can understand what is happening. If you go to the border of Kenya and Tanzania and ask the residents in Namanga what the East African Community means or the pillars that need to be achieved, not even five out of 100 will understand what is happening. A lot of sensitisation needs to be done. I am a Member of this Committee and this is one of the recommendations that we have made. More money should be given to the line Ministry, so that a lot of sensitization can be done. At this point, Kenya stands to benefit more than any other East African state in this Monetary Union Protocol, if it is achieved. Kenya should now be strategizing beforehand on how to benefit from hosting various institutions that will come in handy when this Protocol is ratified, for example, the East African Central Bank. Because of the position that we are in, in this part of the continent, Kenya should be at a position to lobby other countries like Rwanda and Burundi, so that we can host some of the key institutions that will come after the ratification of this Protocol. One worrying trend is that some of the countries which have ran so fast to ratify what we are trying to do today, like Tanzania, are lagging behind in these two other pillars, namely, the Customs Union and Common Market Protocol. You will realise that 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."
}