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{
    "id": 746685,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/746685/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 128,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Okoth",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 12482,
        "legal_name": "Kenneth Odhiambo Okoth",
        "slug": "kenneth-odhiambo-okoth"
    },
    "content": "Yes, I just want to elaborate. Looking at it carefully, I have read two of these things. Clause 9, as the Chair and the Committee are proposing, is not the way to make law. They say that the Refugee Affairs Secretariat shall be an office in the public service. If you look at the proposal of the Bill Hon. Aghostinho gave us, it states that the Refugee Affairs Secretariat shall comprise of the office of the Commissioner for Refugee Affairs whose office shall be an office in the public service, and such staff as may be necessary to perform the implementation functions of the Commission. Hon. Aghostinho’s proposal is clearer than this vague and unclear manner that has been presented by the Committee. We go back to the issue of refugees in this country. It is a security issue. It is our international obligation and a human rights issue. It is an administrative and practical issue. You cannot say that there will just be a Refugee Affairs Secretariat whose mandate is not clearly stated. The function of the Refugee Affairs Secretariat, as Hon. Aghostinho has proposed in the Bill, is very clear. It clearly shows what the secretariat shall do. The secretariat is not just the commission. It also shows the duties and the powers of the commissioner. Those are clear. When a Member has gone through the Bill, done the work and engaged and dialogued with the Committee, to turn around, kill it and simply say the secretariat shall be responsible for all administrative matters, it is not right. This is very sensitive. Looking at what Hon. Aghostinho has proposed, the key issue about refugee status determination is accepting asylum seekers. It is also about determining who is a bonafide refugee and granting them the status and protecting them. Those are very clear things that come out of our Constitution and are international obligations. We need a law to effect them. Leaving it merely as “The Secretariat shall be responsible for all administrative matters concerning refugees and asylum seekers in Kenya and shall, in that capacity, co-ordinate activities and programmes relating to refugees and asylum seekers and provide them with assistance and protection” is very vague. Yet, Hon. Aghostinho has outlined everything step by step. The problem with the refugee status determination and management of refugee affairs is that the Government agency, the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government and Department of Refugee Affairs and now the secretariat have been relegated to being junior implementing partners. It is the big international NGOs who make these decisions. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) did the refugee status determination for us in the beginning when we were overwhelmed. This is a matter of sovereignty. Kenya is over 50 years old. We know what the complications are with the refugees. Let us determine for ourselves and set up a competent commission and secretariat with the staff and funding. If the UNHCR and international partners want to help us, let us not give away our sovereignty. It looks like just a bunch of words are being deleted, but when you read the meaning of those words against the green paper that has been proposed by Hon. Aghostinho and the amendment here, we will end up with the same status quo where the Department is not funded. It 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."
}