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{
    "id": 836265,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/836265/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 151,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nominated, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. David ole Sankok",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13166,
        "legal_name": "David Ole Sankok",
        "slug": "david-ole-sankok"
    },
    "content": " Thank you very much, Hon. Speaker. You know you make this House to be a bit lively sometimes, because it is in the Report. I believe so. This is an idea whose time has come. At the outset, I support the Report of the Pan- African Parliament. The resolutions are not only beneficial to our country but to the whole continent of Africa. I want to specifically deal with the resolution on free trade and free movement of persons. Whenever we have an economic bloc, because the world is competitive and moving towards having economic blocs in all corners… The idea of having an African economic bloc is an idea that started with Kwame Nkrumah. The fire was kept burning by the late Muammar Gaddafi. It did not succeed at that time. It is now high time we, as Members of Parliament, joined in this movement of bringing Africa together, especially on the free movement of persons as well as trade. We face challenges as a country that can be solved by our neighbours. For instance, at the moment we have banned logging in our country because of deforestation which has left our forest cover at below 2 per cent. But we have not banned construction, building and manufacturing of furniture that require timber. If then we had free trade with our neighbours, it would be very easy to solve this shortage of timber in our country by having free movement of goods, especially from countries like Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda and DRC—especially DRC which has the Congo Belt, the biggest water catchment area and forest in Africa. This will assist us in conserving forests and exploiting other countries’ forests. Again, we are grappling with the issue of unemployment. So, such an economic bloc will open up so many chances of employment for our youth. We should as well be very cautious, because we have seen some challenges in the EAC. So, as we move towards having the whole African bloc, we should be a bit cautious. You remember what happened with our cows in a neighbouring country. Remember also what is happening in Migingo Island. So our representatives in Pan-African Parliament should be our watchdog whenever policies are being made to make sure that the interest of the country is put first. I know the representatives of other countries endeavour to make sure that the interests of their people and countries are put first. If we relax on our side, then our interests may not be addressed as we wish. Otherwise, I want to The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}