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{
    "id": 94446,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/94446/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 281,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Kingi",
    "speaker_title": "The Minister for East African Community",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 27,
        "legal_name": "Amason Jeffah Kingi",
        "slug": "amason-kingi"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. May I take this opportunity to thank those hon. Members who have supported this Vote. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there are very pertinent issues which have been raised concerning the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), Kenyan Chapter Members and how their salaries and allowances are totally in variance with the rest in region. This is an issue which I did inherit when I moved into that Ministry. I moved with a lot of speed hoping that I was going to have a solution to it in a very short period, but I was proved wrong. It has taken this far and we are yet to find a good solution to this problem. We made sure that we have taken it to the highest level. We, indeed, did seek an audience with the President and were advised to move by way of a Cabinet memorandum which we did. That memorandum was supposed to be co-sponsored by my Ministry and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Finance and on our part, we moved very swiftly. When we forwarded it to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Finance, it took quite some while there and it was returned unsigned. Therefore, we had to take it to the Cabinet Office with only my signature. So, at the moment, the matter is before the Cabinet and whatever it will pronounce of this issue of EALA Members, then that is what this Ministry will communicate to the Kenyan Chapter. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is true that many Kenyans are not very much aware of the opportunities and benefits of the integration process. This has been a major challenge. With the budgetary constraints, we have not been able to cover much ground as we had actually wanted. But in the first part of this year, we tried to roll out a campaign programme and move across the country. We have done about 30 workshops and selected stakeholders, but certainly, that is a drop in the ocean. I believe that with the budget for this year we should be able to actually go big on the awareness campaign, pursuant to our Ministryâs communication strategy. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, again, on how Members of this House have limited knowledge of the East African Community (EAC) issues and, therefore, are unable to lend support to the Ministry, we have proposed this financial year to hold a workshop for the entire House, so that we can take them through the entire process of integration. This way they can know where they can partner with us to make sure that as many Kenyans as possible get to know what EAC is all about and the benefits that accrue from the process and how they can position themselves to reap the most out of this journey. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the issue of harmonizing education standards, this is already being worked on through the Sectoral Council of Ministers in charge of education. Likewise, on the issue of health standards, as you are aware, most decisions are made from sector to sector basis. For example, issues of education within the region will be handled by the Sectoral Council of Ministers in charge of education. Likewise, issues of agriculture will be handled by the sectoral Council of Ministers in charge of agriculture. So, we have mandated those sectoral councils to actually sit down together and make sure that they harmonize the respective sectors to come up with a regional policy on all these areas of integration. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, hon. Shabesh raised an issue that there is a lot of suspicion still on the process and that many people think that there are not really ready to embrace the integration process. To address this, we have constituted a team of experts with the mandate to roam the region, listen to the fears and concerns of the East Africans and prepare a report on what these fears and concerns are and give us recommendations on how best we can address them, such that before we hit the final stage, that is, the final pillar of political integration, at least, by that period, we will have addressed most of these fears and concerns. We believe that at that particular level, East Africans will be able to embrace a political federation. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I thank all the hon. Members who have risen to support this Motion. Thank you."
}

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