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{
    "id": 824440,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/824440/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 447,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Bondo, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Gideon Ochanda",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1264,
        "legal_name": "Gideon Ochanda Ogolla",
        "slug": "gideon-ochanda-ogolla"
    },
    "content": "in our partner states. I think Rwanda is really proud of what Kenyans have done there in terms of the professional disciplines like IT. They are really ahead of Kenya in many respects but when you get the story of what is happening behind doors, you realise it is Kenyans that are doing it. There are a lot of Kenyans in Uganda and Tanzania but many times they are threatened. There are all manner of threats issued to them in terms of why they are there and also the issue of work permits. So, this is an area that I believe this House really needs to look at, particularly when the Bill is reintroduced at EALA. The East African Community Retirement Benefits for Specified Heads of Organs Bill, 2015, lapsed but it touches Kenya on the negative side. It talks about the high level positions. It does not talk about retirement benefits for the others. The drafters of the Bill believe that there is another arrangement for the juniors. After the collapse of the initial EAC, there are Kenyans who were not paid their retirement benefits to date. I remember that this issue was brought here in the last Parliament. Very many retirees, especially those from Kenya, who worked for East African Railways and Harbours Corporation, were not paid. The other partner States, Tanzania and Uganda, paid them. Kenya did not pay them. I remember that the matter went to the Attorney- General and court and it has been back and forth. We did not pay them. When that issue goes back to the regional Assembly, it is important to be very careful because we, as a country, are likely to be mentioned adversely because we did not pay some of the retirees of the defunct EAC. As it has been mentioned ably by my Chair, the gist of the Report is to approve the ratification of the EAC Protocol on Cooperation of Meteorological Services. When the House approves the ratification of the Protocol, it means that we will give our departments the space to proceed and implement it. It has many other things. It has a lot, in terms of sharing meteorological information and the weather issues. There are parts of our countries which do not have a weather station. For example, in Turkana or Mt. Elgon, you must rely on a network that is on the side of Uganda. These are some of the things that are brought here. We will be sharing some of this information because it is important. That is exactly what informs how we do things. The memorandum that is appended in the Report from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry has alluded to this. When we are talking about meteorological issues, part of it or what we are targeting in it is food security, improved water resource management, disaster risk reduction and better health. Some of these things are so critical when we look at sharing information and plugging it into systems that can let us know what is happening around us. This will be very important. Kenya has been providing information to Tanzania for a period of time. I do not know whether some of us remember that the President of Tanzania recently launched a big system for their radar networks in Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam. Initially, they were relying on Nairobi and Arusha. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I support the Report and second it."
}