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{
    "id": 801599,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/801599/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 211,
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    "content": "Due to the conflict in Eritrea; we find many Eritreans in this country and they stay in certain pockets. Madam Temporary Speaker, the good thing is that Kenya has always been welcoming to neighbours and has always had a liberal policy on migration and immigration. I think that is something that should not change. We should never get to a level of xenophobia where we rise up against fellow Africans or human beings, simply because their fathers were born in countries different from Kenya. We saw such xenophobia in South Africa and we pray that, that will never happen in Kenya. Madam Temporary Speaker, why would an African leave beautiful Africa and go on a rickety boat to cross oceans and rivers to Europe with all the cold? Allow me to paraphrase Samuel Jackson who said something of London. He said: “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.” I thought that quotation should have applied to Africa. I am convinced that when a man is tired of Africa, he is tired of life; for in Africa, there is all that life can afford. Africa is beautiful. It has very good weather, the people the productivity, the potential and everything about Africa is great. Why do our young boys and girls cross oceans so that they can reach Spain or Turkey to die? Why are Syrians dying so that they can go to European countries? This is simply because of lack of proper leadership and corruption; the things that are capturing headlines today. It is because of kleptocracy and autocracy that people like Miguna Miguna find they are more useful in Canada than Kenya. I hope that now that the President of the Republic of Kenya is in Canada for some global mission, he will also reach out to Miguna Miguna, have a handshake, travel together in “Air Force One” and that he will bring Miguna Miguna back home to take over his duty as the Deputy Governor for Nairobi City County. If Hon. Raila Odinga and President Uhuru Kenyatta can shake hands, why can Miguna Miguna not shake hands with President Uhuru Kenyatta? I suspect that President Uhuru Kenyatta is willing. However, I am not sure about the man from Nyando; the proximate area where the Temporary Speaker comes from. Madam Temporary Speaker, nobody in their right mind wants to leave Africa for Europe. They say: “A bad day in Africa is better than a bad day elsewhere.” I will personally stick to Africa and Kenya. However, we must fix our leadership and systems so that we provide incentives for Africans to stay in Africa and for the Africans who are lost in Europe to come back to African. If we do not do that, immigration, migration and civil strife will continue. Finally, I am one of those who believe that the self-imposed borders that give rise to this discussion on migration and immigration are against the wills and desires of God. God created human beings and this world for human beings to roam, multiply and control. He did not put us in the small boxes called Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan and USA. We all have a legitimate right and duty to live on this earth, irrespective of the man-made boundaries and borders. It is a platonic kind of wish, but our immigration policies should ensure that there is free movement. I am glad that the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) has been agreed on. I hope it will go beyond trade. At some point, it will be possible for Africans to move 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."
}