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    "id": 796805,
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    "content": "I cannot also at this juncture resist mentioning a visit to Somalia in the first quarter of last year during which I had the opportunity to speak to our soldiers deployed there. Their courage and their devotion to their mission were extraordinarily inspiring. I ask you, Hon. Members, as I have done in the past, to keep our men and women in uniform in your prayers and in your deliberations and to devote yourselves as wholeheartedly as they have to our region’s peace and therefore security. If Somalia remains unsettled, let us admit that South Sudan remains in crisis. Thousands have died while hundreds of thousands more have been displaced. In the year since I last spoke to the House, we and neighbouring countries have hosted hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese refugees and we have joined friends and partners to help those still suffering inside that country. Equally, we have lent our support to the multilateral peace process and we continue to urge the leaders of South Sudan to put the interests of their people and motherland above their own. As we have in the past year, Kenya stands with the people of South Sudan in their search for lasting peace. Elsewhere in our region, there is better news. In the East African Community, we are growing closer by the day despite challenges. Last year, I had the opportunity to open our borders to our brothers and sisters from the region who now have the freedom to live and work in Kenya more easily than they ever have and they can now partner with us in the task of building a free, united and prosperous community.That openness to our brothers and sisters is proof of our commitment to the unity not just of the region, but also of the entire Continent. For years, all sorts of barriers, legal and custom wise, have delayed Africa’s progress and prosperity. Indeed, in the African Continental Free Trade Agreement that we signed in Kigali a few weeks ago, we now have, at last, a real chance of opening up the continent’s trade, once and for all. If we succeed, then trade, goods and services will flow across Africa, not outside it and this in turn will bring jobs, skills, and unity. That we are so close to a final agreement now shows the vision of our generation of African leaders, among whom we must count on you, Hon. Members of this House, for ratifying the Agreement without delay. I can only hope that every African nation will show the same foresight that you, our Hon. Members, have displayed and I say to you asanteni sana. Thank you very much."
}