Richard Onyonka

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 571 to 580 of 818.

• 2 Aug 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, various efforts have been made to address the problem of Kenyans being denied visas to go to the UAE and, indeed, all other countries in the Arab world. I can assure you that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the meeting where His Excellency the President, on 1st May, 2009 at State House met the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the UAE, Sheikh Abdallah bin Zayed Al Nayan, the Sheikh assured the President and, indeed, the Government of Kenya that they will make sure that Kenyans are given an equal opportunity like anybody else who will apply ... view
• 2 Aug 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to categorically state that recently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been trying to make sure that we, first of all, sensitize all the other Ministries that are in charge of handling foreigners. The case whereby a Prince was harassed at the airport was a matter, as hon. Karua has said, which put us in a very embarrassing position, but we have sorted out the matter quietly, because sometimes, quiet diplomacy works. I can assure you that we are fast tracking the discussions between us and the UAE to make sure that our people ... view
• 2 Aug 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, that is a very good question. I would like to state categorically that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and, indeed, the Government is aware that there have been cases where Kenyans have been mistreated and manhandled. The reason this has been happening is because we have not signed legally binding agreements with some of these countries to make sure that when our people go to these countries, they are protected. Secondly, when Kenyans land in the countries where they have got jobs, they do not report to the ambassador. Sometimes, we are not aware that they are ... view
• 2 Aug 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to inform my Chairman that on 20th April, 2010, technical officials from Kenya and the UAE held the first bilateral consular meeting in Abu Dhabi. Secondly, the two sides agreed that Kenyans currently in employment in the UAE will not be subjected to any new residency requirement upon the expiry of the current ones unless they apply for new jobs and require higher qualifications. Thirdly, both sides agreed that a job offer was not necessarily a guarantee for one to work in the UAE. Fourthly, we agreed that a draft labour agreement should be ... view
• 2 Aug 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is true that the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the Department of Diaspora Services have been having discussions on the same. I can assure you that this is a matter of great urgency and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is going to work on it to make sure that we agree, so that we can have a co-ordinating agency to manage our people when they go to work out there. We do not have a data bank or a recording system which we can ... view
• 2 Aug 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, I will stick to my position that we do not have the exact record. About two months ago, when I and hon. Mwakwere travelled to Lebanon, we found about 11 Kenyan girls who had been impounded and detained in a home, where they were actually being used as sex slaves. It is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which repatriated them back to Nairobi as late as two weeks ago. When we tried to investigate whether we had records of them, they said that when they were recruited, they were told not to release any information as to ... view
• 2 Aug 2011 in National Assembly: So, my suggestion to hon. Members of this House is that we need to come up with modalities and a law which will make it mandatory for Kenyans travelling outside the country for employment to, without breaking the Constitution, keep records, so that we can follow up where they are. view
• 2 Aug 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, the law that was passed was not specifically passed for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to implement. There are other Departments of Government which are supposed to implement that law. I would like to ask my colleagues to realise that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs cannot do everything. view
• 2 Aug 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, unfortunately, I do not have the timeline as to when--- view
• 2 Aug 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, I totally agree with my colleague, hon. K. Kilonzo, that this is a very weighty matter. It is a matter which has been affecting Kenyans. It is very unfortunate that Kenyans are killed, others are being burnt and others are thrown from balconies of apartments in foreign countries in which they work. Hon. Karua has made it very clear. I agree with her. My Ministry will make sure that we come up with a law very soon to guide the bilateral agreements that we will sign with other countries. The best approach is that of the Philippines, ... view