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"id": 960145,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Seme, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr.) James Nyikal",
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"content": "have many routes provided we have the capacity to do so. Obviously, if we want to get destinations for our airlines in those countries, we must reciprocate, and so the need for bilateral agreements is obvious. That is something that, perhaps, we should have done a long time ago. As the Mover was saying, we should not ask why it has taken so long. International agreements take a lot of time and detailed discussions before you get there. If you look at the outlines of these five agreements, they have certain things in common. They have the grant of rights, so that the parties can grant rights to their airlines to operate from one side to the other. They give the rights for designation and authorisation of one or more airlines. If Kenya had more airlines, we would not just say KQ. I think this may work for the private airlines that are big enough to take international travels. So, it is something that we should look at in a bigger way. When you traverse countries, you need the application of laws in various countries. Again, these agreements provide for how the laws in the various countries will be applied so that each of the partners is protected. We are aware that in various countries there are different rules for taxation, customs and duties. These agreements look at how we are going to give each other flexibility on the application of taxes, whether they pay duty or whether there are exemptions, particularly for equipment that have to be brought in, staff that have to come in and institutions that are to be established. Those are important. On the user charges, how are we going to charge each other for using our services in the airports? Again, issues of tariffs, pricing and safety arise. The civil aviation safety rules must apply across countries, just like what we discussed a little earlier, although these are done under various conventions. We were talking of the Montreal Convention in the last Motion. Here, we are talking a lot to the Chicago Conventions. So, it is not something that we are doing for the first time. We also know that we are going to have different currencies. When you are doing business with people, you will want to know how you transmit the currencies, the exchange rates and the regulations. For now, in Kenya, we know that if you want to bank or transfer more than Kshs1 million, issues come up. When we get to countries where these laws do not apply, what do we do? Those are the things that will be looked at. We definitely must look at ways through which schedule of flights will be approved, ways in which we will consult with each other and ways in which we shall settle disputes. All those are important issues. When we need to terminate agreements, how do we do it? All these are part of these agreements. This is something that we must support. We are sure that when we have a lot of airlines coming to Kenya, they will bring business. We will provide ground services, catering services and transport services. All the flights will come with this business. So, it is something that we need to get involved in. As we support these protocols, it is important that we look at ourselves. As we get into agreements with other countries, how is our national airline performing? How is it conducting itself? Why is it that every year we have to discuss KQ in this House in relation to problems of performance, problems of funding and labour issues? Every year, they have labour issues. The Mover was talking of CBAs. How do you get into CBAs and then you do not honour them? You cannot say that “we got into this CBA, but now it is harmful”. How can it be harmful when you actually discussed it and agreed, unless at the time of discussing it, people were not sincere? Anything that is done on the basis of insincerity will fail. So, as much as we can call upon the staff and the pilots, the management must be sincere at every point, so that what is agreed on is honoured. That is really how you maintain labour relationships. We also know that we have problems of transparency in the management of our airline; honesty in investment. Not long ago, we were discussing the owners and the banks involved and 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."
}