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{
    "id": 70786,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/70786/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 332,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Dr. Kosgei",
    "speaker_title": "The Minister for Agriculture",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13,
        "legal_name": "Lucas Kipkosgei Chepkitony",
        "slug": "lucas-chepkitony"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in this House, I am one of those people who worked with the late Dr. Ouko for some time. Dr. Ouko was an efficient, effective and thoroughly nice Minister to work with. Most of us learnt diplomacy from Dr. Ouko because, as said by hon. Imanyara, he was a trained diplomat, having worked in the British system. Most of us who knew the late Dr. Ouko have always wished that we could know who robbed Kenya of such a bright man. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, having said that, I have a few observations to make on three paragraphs only, because I have not read the whole report. The first observation is with regard to Paragraph 103. It says that someone had suggested - I think her name is Ogembo and this was reported in this report as a gospel truth - that the hon. Robert Ouko was summoned by the Kenya High Commissioner in London, that was myself. If you know anything about diplomacy, there is no way an ambassador or a high commissioner would be summoning a Minister. So that is thoroughly inaccurate. It also said that when Dr. Ouko was summoned to come and make appointments for the President with the British Prime Minister, that was also not true because those appointments would have been done by myself or the British High Commissioner in Nairobi. In any case, it did not happen. It is not true. It goes on to say that the British Prime Minister insisted that Dr. Ouko be asked to attend a meeting with the Prime Minister’s counterpart; the President of Kenya. That is also not true because there is nowhere in the way nations deal with each other that the host country can insist to the principal of another country on who to bring to a meeting. In any event, in such meetings, the conversations are usually between the two principals and they can choose to invite somebody else to talk or not. So this is inaccurate. It is not true. If you look at the other paragraph 104, it goes on to talk of an event, and I hope I have enough time to say this. The report is referring to a period in early 1988 when Dr. Ouko came to London to address the Confederation of British Industry. But this Report says that he was invited by Mrs. Margaret Thatcher. That is thoroughly untrue. That arrangement was done by the Confederation of British Industry together with the Kenya High Commission and I was the one who notified Dr. Ouko that he should come to this Conference. This is linked unfortunately somehow to the visit to check on us, as if Dr. Ouko was coming to London to check on us. No, the British Prime Minister was in this country in the first week of January as a guest of the State. If I recall correctly, it may have been 4th January, 1988. We, the desk officers, suggested that to our bosses that we should invite the Minister for Industry, Dr. Ouko, to escort Dennis Thatcher because the Foreign Minister, Dr. Onyonka would be otherwise engaged. We noticed that they got along famously. On their departure, I was at the airport and Dennis Thatcher called me aside and told me: “When this gentleman comes through London for any reason, please, give me notification of just two days because I would like to return the hospitality.” When the CDI Conference presented itself, I called Dr. Ouko and he told me: “I will be happy to come but it is a very hard time because we are going towards elections.” I"
}