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{
    "id": 734015,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/734015/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 116,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "If you are trading in Malaba, there are relations between Malaba-Uganda and Malaba-Kenya. There are Kuria’s in Kenya and others in Tanzania, the Maasai are more in Tanzania than in Kenya. Therefore, trade will affect the revenue of the counties and how they will collect it. The tourism corridor in Namanga, Serengeti or Maasai Mara will depend on good relations between the two countries and it will directly affect the counties around there. When we talk about devolution, it is not possible for us to divorce it from international law and regional integration. For that reason, the Senate must be an active participant in the determination of the persons who will serve in the EALA and also the ratification of treaties that come from outside the country. For example, we have an eye on agriculture. We have a greater focus on how milk, maize and eggs will be affected. If we are going to import eggs from South African and we have a lot of kuku in Kakamega County, what will happen? We need to have the Senate playing a role in so far as ratification of treaties is concerned. Since the law says Parliament shall ratify treaties, we have a window of opportunity for us to ensure that all treaties that are brought to the country will have the involvement of the Senate. Madam Temporary Speaker, I disagree with my friend Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. that we have slept on this side. This House is run by a Senate Business Committee (SBC) which is composed of both sides of the political divide. It is upon us who are sitting in the SBC to prioritize this business and ensure that the law is brought into place. Whereas I take blame as a Member of that Committee, it is not true that it is only one side of the political divide that sits in that Committee. For sure the Senate Minority Leader sits in the SBC among many other Members. I thank the SBC for putting me in this list. I have immense interest in this. As I have said in this House before, I spent a lot of time studying international trade law, both at my undergraduate and my post-graduate. My specialization was trade and investment law. Regional integration was part and parcel of that topic. Therefore, the EAC from a trade perspective is an area that I have great interest in. If you heard me, I quoted immensely on the GATT Agreement, the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) principle in Article 3 of the GATT and the exceptions of Article 24 in relation to regional integration, amongst others. Therefore, this is an area that I am more than happy to contribute to, not only in terms of knowledge for purposes of involving the Senate in the passing of the names but also for posterity. One of my colleagues whom I think we can reach out to and may be useful is Hon. David Ochieng, the Member for Ugenya Constituency. He is a colleague in international trade law perspectives. He is a man whom after campus we started a consultancy together. I know he has a lot of passion on this and has contributed immensely to matters relating to East Africa, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) law. Hon. Ochieng is a Member we can reach out to and explore ways of improving these treaties and representation of the EALA. I know we have issues with the National Assembly but there are individual Members of Parliaments that I have a maximum respect for. The hon. Member of Ugenya Consitutency is one of them. If that House was able to sit down reason with us, we would be able to reach a compromise and direction. 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"
}