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{
    "id": 582175,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/582175/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 380,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Odhiambo-Mabona",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 376,
        "legal_name": "Millie Grace Akoth Odhiambo Mabona",
        "slug": "millie-odhiambo-mabona"
    },
    "content": "I am the one who moved this Act. Even as I was moving it, it was one of those things you do to ensure that you meet the constitutional obligations. Increasingly, this is one of the laws that I am very proud of having brought before this House. It gives us a chance, as Parliament, to deal with a lot of the protocols and treaties that Kenya is negotiating on our behalf. I am only saddened that when we are dealing with issues that are of this magnitude and that affect this country, very few of us are usually present in the House. I have noticed that. Whenever people see anything that touches on the East African Community (EAC), it sounds like Greek to them and so, most Members are rarely interested. At least, in other ones, you even see people going through the Committee Stage. Having been a very keen observer of the processes that have been going on, at some stage, we may need to amend the Treaty-Making and Ratification Act so that the protocols and treaties should go through the same processes as those of other laws. The Constitution provides that any treaty that is ratified by Kenya becomes part of the laws of Kenya. They should go through the same processes namely, First Reading, Second Reading and Third Reading and should come by a way of a report. As the Mover of the Act, I did not think about that then but it should be something that we need to think about. As a Member of Parliament that serves a constituency that borders Tanzania and Uganda, we are always faced with challenges of security. Very many times people from Mbita are arrested by Ugandans. They normally complain that Tanzanians are even more lethal in what they do. They do not even wait to arrest you; they just kill you. I am hoping that this Treaty is not an end in itself. After passing it and it becomes part of the laws of Kenya, we must look at our laws to make sure that they fit within the framework of this Treaty. I am hoping that as a country, we can make sure that we provide patrol boats in border constituencies like mine so that we contain and protect our own people before we look beyond our borders. Let us not look at protecting Ugandans and Tanzanians before we protect our own Kenyans. However, I urge the Committee that, unless I missed it as they were talking about the report, I do not think that they strictly applied the provisions of the Act. The Act requires that they indicate the national interests that may be affected. They alluded to that to some extent but I do not think they looked at the whole picture. If we are talking about security, I would have expected them to mention issues of border constituencies like mine and Budalangi. The law also provides that they should have given the financial implications and estimated expenditure for implementing this Treaty. That, I have not heard. One of the things that is provided for by the Constitution is the issue of public participation. I heard the Mover speaking about public participation after the fact. This is a law making process. It would have been important that public participation happens before and not after. Finally, I want to take this opportunity to congratulate our athletes who did very well and made us proud by bagging many gold medals for our country. I am also very happy that we have at least started the process of the Committee Stage of the Fisheries Management and Development Bill. Hon. Deputy Speaker, you have been telling me that, that may not be relevant to this Bill, but I am just being mindful of the time. Everybody wants to go on recess and so, instead of waiting for the Motion for Adjournment, with your indulgence, I wanted to speak to that. We should also take time to reflect and think of the women of Kenya so that when we come back, we remember to implement the two-thirds gender rule. Today was the deadline that was given by the Supreme Court and we have not fulfilled that. I hope that when we come back, we will be ready to remember the women of Kenya. I support the Motion. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}