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{
    "id": 836859,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/836859/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 186,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kajiado South, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Katoo ole Metito",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13239,
        "legal_name": "Janet Marania Teyiaa",
        "slug": "janet-marania-teyiaa"
    },
    "content": "In the USA, we have another mission which handles multilateral relations. The one in Washington DC handles bilateral activities. The Kenya House in New York is the official residence of the ambassador who in this case is the permanent representative, commonly referred to as PR. The official residence called Kenya House is currently not occupied. The current PR, Ambassador Lazarus Amayo, is almost the third ambassador who has not occupied that house because it is in dilapidated condition. The House is located far from the UN Headquarters and the traffic jam associated with the New York may not make it strategic for the PR who may have so many engagements especially in the morning hours. This Kenya House sits on a big parcel of land which we own as a country. We were arguing about the acreage. It is said to be five acres. It is big. Owning such a big piece of land in New York is good. This piece of land can be used to construct additional houses for other home-based staff so that we stop renting. There is need for the ambassador to move closer to the UN Headquarters where most of the activities are done. Austerity measures and budget cuts are rationalised for macroeconomic reasons and this affects the mission’s programmes. The application across all subsectors without regard to functions and mandate adversely affects the implementation of the projects and the programmes in the mission. They include, for instance, the payment of salaries for contractual staff. That must be paid, failure to which the mission may face litigation. There is also resource inadequacy. As I said earlier, this resource inadequacy has been a serious problem in all our missions. Actually, the ones we sampled - we visited 10 – it is just a replica of what is happening all over. This is a serious problem in this sector especially in meeting its budgetary requirements. It has made it very difficult to implement the planned programmes and projects. Resources allocated to these missions are quite inadequate and fall short of the critical needs hence undermining the service delivery to this mission. Remember these missions outside the country are the face of the country. We say Kenya is a giant, a point to reckon with in Africa, but when you go to New York, you will find that the mission for our neighbour Uganda is a 12 storey building and they own it. They occupy only two floors and the rest of it is being used for income generation. The information we got is that the building facilitates 70 per cent of the requirements of other missions of Uganda abroad. I remember one of our appointments was at the Inter-parliamentary Union (IPU) which this House is a Member 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."
}