Kenneth Odhiambo Okoth

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 641 to 650 of 979.

• 18 Mar 2015 in National Assembly: Yesterday during the debate on the Adjournment Motion, we heard that the borders of Kenya from Lamu, Tana River, Garissa, Wajir, Mandera and all the way to Marsabit counties are not well secured. The reason for this is the nature of deployment of our military in Somalia. We need to change the way they operate so that they are more focused on border control and patrol. I hope Major-General Tumbo will focus on this. view
• 18 Mar 2015 in National Assembly: A second important issue that Major-General Tumbo should think about is the comprehensive re-thinking of our refugees issues with Somalia. Kenya, as a member of the international community of nations, has done a lot and shouldered a very heavy burden with open hearts and with a lot of generosity to host more than 400,000 refugees from Somalia over the last 25years. This is half the history of this country which is now only 50 years old. It shows the magnanimity of our country and willingness to show our The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. ... view
• 18 Mar 2015 in National Assembly: brotherhood to our Somali brothers and sisters in their time of need. However, this also has stand out to be something that we must re-think carefully now. view
• 18 Mar 2015 in National Assembly: When we first hosted Somalia refugees, we thought that it was a short term emergency and that refugees in Kenya from Somalia would be here for, maybe, a year or two before peace returned to their country. Clearly, what we are now facing is a protracted refugee situation where the third generation refugees are being born in our refugee camps, in places such as Dadaab. That encampment policy is not a very good idea. As a Member of the Human Rights Caucus of this House, I had the opportunity this weekend, together with my colleagues from Ol Jorok, Wajir South, ... view
• 18 Mar 2015 in National Assembly: When we think about the impact that the protracted refugees crisis has had on Kenya and the demands that our Government has borne, we realize that--- We are doing something that, in the last 50 or 60 years since the World War II, no other country has done - that is to bear such large numbers of refugees. So, I am proud to be a Kenyan. We are a country that does not just pay lip service to human rights. However, we also have to be proactive and make sure that we do not face another crisis of this magnitude ... view
• 18 Mar 2015 in National Assembly: In particular, I would like to emphasize three suggestions. The first one is that President Uhuru Kenyatta as head of Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) should engage it and the African Union (AU) and bring back that negotiation process between the rebels and the Government of South Sudan. They should be brought to a committed engagement and negotiations somewhere in Nairobi or Naivasha or Machakos as we did in the initial peace process. I am sure that will help a lot. We know that the 16 months of engagement and negotiations in Addis Ababa have not borne any The electronic ... view
• 18 Mar 2015 in National Assembly: fruit. There have not been good agreements that both sides have held on to and the conflict keeps on simmering and more South Sudan citizens are suffering. Our Government should insist that President Salva Kiir and the rebels led by Dr. Riek Machar must commit to a cease-fire and negotiations. During that process, they should allow for the opening of humanitarian aid corridors so that there are no people who are suffering within South Sudan. Those who are suffering should get the help they need so that they do not feel the pressure to migrate to Kenya and bring a ... view
• 18 Mar 2015 in National Assembly: Last but not least, I wrap up where I started, by arguing that Somalia has a lot of interests. It touches a lot on the national interest of Kenya; be it security and terrorism, economic and market interests, cultural and religious ties that we share. The same applies to South Sudan which, in this matter, I would like to call upon powers such as the European Union (EU), United States of America (USA), Britain and all of the United Nations (UN) Security Council to hold off on the sanctions that have been a threat in South Sudan. If they show ... view
• 18 Mar 2015 in National Assembly: I am waiting to contribute to the Protection Against Domestic Violence Bill. I had contributed on this. view
• 18 Mar 2015 in National Assembly: On a point of order, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. view