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{
    "id": 939114,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/939114/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 181,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Limuru, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Peter Mwathi",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 104,
        "legal_name": "Peter Mungai Mwathi",
        "slug": "peter-mwathi"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I rise to reply. I thank all the Members for the overwhelming support they have given to this Agreement in terms of the provisions that are contained herein. That means that they really care about the security of this nation. They want our forces to advance, exchange information and do capacity building with our partners, South Africa. I want to echo the sentiments of Hon. Mbarire that we will also learn from our forces on what they are better off than South African forces. Just like I said when I seconded this Motion, it is important for the Members to know that this Motion was subjected to public participation. It was advertised in two local dailies. We never received any memorandum from the public. That means that if there were issues, they would have come through. So, even as we pass and ratify this Agreement, we are sure that the public saw it and it had nothing to say in terms of any issues it would have raised. We also engaged the Cabinet Secretary. She came and gave us her insights on the Agreement and why they came up with it. The nation requires some expertise that South Africa has. I want to remind the Members that it is only the other day that South Africans assisted us at the Likoni Ferry incident. They came in handy. I am sure we will learn something from them once we have the Agreement in place. We also engaged defence experts from the Ministry of Defence, who looked at the 15 Articles and told us that all the areas that were provided for in that Agreement are water tight and beneficial to the nations. We engaged the Attorney-General who had gone through the Agreement and told us that it largely complies with what we have in our statutes and our supreme law; the Constitution. I want to allay some fears that probably we are entering into an Agreement that is going to cost us in terms of finances. It is important for the Members to know that none of the nations will use their finances to finance the other nation. So, we shall finance our own forces and South Africa will do the same for their forces. It is also important to know that this five-year Agreement allows for a renewal after five years. There is an exit clause. If any nation will feel that they need to leave after the five years, they can use that clause. But for the five years, I want to imagine the wisdom of the ones who crafted and put it intact, so that members are able to exchange and transfer knowledge between the two nations. So, the five years marriage of that agreement will then result in benefits to our troops. 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."
}