REPUBLIC OF KENYA

THE PARLIAMENT OF KENYA

THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
TWELFTH PARLIAMENT
OFFICE OF THE MAJORITY LEADER

ADDENDUM TO THE SPEAKING NOTES FOR THE

AMBASSADORS TRAINING ON MONDAY NOVEMBER 30TH, 2020

PARLIAMENT & PARLIAMENTARIANS IN INTERNATIONAL

RELATIONS

Introduction

Thank you for the Invitation to speak to you today!

Your excellencies, Ambassadors and High Commissioners; My

presentation will focus on How the Role of Parliament has
expanded in the Modern World and in the face of Globalization

1. Traditionally, parliaments and parliamentarians have been a

feature of domestic politics, as a distinctive branch of
government and as representatives of the people respectively.
However, due to globalization, regional integration and
 increased international comity, parliament has come to
develop further role linked to international politics, foreign
policy and what I would call parliamentary comity especially
on matters of regional organizations and International Trade
among others.

2. Ladies and Gentlemen: Parliamentary institutions engage in

international affairs in three major ways:

i. by influencing foreign policy through national

parliaments overall contribution by discharging its
constitutional obligations

ii. by conducting parallel diplomatic relations, known as

parliamentary diplomacy; and

iii. by establishing and empowering parliaments as

representative bodies of international, and often
regional, organizations.

3. These roles differ in form and substance. The first is a

classical function of parliaments and it speaks to the
limited role of the National Assembly in policy
formulation, the second one is more recent and has
focused mainly on security, peacebuilding and conflict-
prevention activities and the third is the most atypical
function and is ideally oriented towards supranational
institution building.
 4. Your Excellencies, Ambassadors and High Commissioners,
as all of you may be aware, in September 2000 the Speakers of
Parliaments met at a world conference for the very first time
and they adopted a solemn declaration that called for greater
involvement of parliaments in international affairs. They
remarked; Gone are they days, when politics was a purely
domestic business, if ever it had been.

5. This certainly became the genesis of parliament’s involvement

in international affairs. The resolutions of the 2000 world
conference organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union placed
obligations on parliaments to engage in Multilateral
negotiations especially if applicability of international treaties
required a domesticating statute; this was Kenya’s position
before the Articles 2(5) and 2(6) of 2010 Constitution came
into force.

Let me discuss the three ways one after the other.

i. TRADITIONAL ROLES OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY & HOW

THEY CONTRIBUTE OVERALL TO THE BETTERMENT OF
KENYA’S FOREIGN POLICY

6. Article 95 of the Constitution prescribes for the primary

functions of the National Assembly, which upon discharge
contributes to the shaping of both the domestic affairs and
international affairs for our country. More relatable is the
oversight function of the National Assembly which
 encompasses the vetting of nominees and all appointments
done by the executive, recently the Foreign Relations &
Defense Committee expedited the process of vetting most of
you with the exception of those who had been vetted before. To
my mind, this is one of the most important roles of the
National Assembly which exemplifies its readiness to support
Kenya’s foreign interests.

7. Another significant role of the National Assembly that

contributes to the to the shaping of Kenya’s Foreign policy is
ratification and domestication of statutes; for instance, The
Kenya Trade Remedies Act of 2017 domesticated the World
Trade Organization’s Trade remedies such as safeguards, anti-
dumping rules and countervailing measures, additionally, The
Refugee Bill presently before the House exemplifies the
National Assembly’s commitment to support our country’s
international affairs. The act is seeking to update the
provisions of the Refugee Act of 2006 thereby domesticating
the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and
the OAU Convention Refugee Convention.

8. To illustrate the National Assembly’s commitment to

supporting Kenya’s Foreign interests, I wish to reiterate that it
is also tasked under Article 95 of the Constitution to approve
budgetary allocation and especially in this case through the
Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations, the Committee
considers the budget allocation to the Ministry of Foreign
 Affairs. Budgetary allocation thus empowering the Ministry in
developing our foreign policy.

9. Ladies and gentlemen, the National Assembly also takes a lead

in defending Kenya’s interests abroad, where our interest are
threatened, for instance; in the 11th Parliament, the
Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations entered
reservations to a pact or mutual defence pact between
Kenya and the UK on the continued presence of a base for
military exercise by the British Army in Kenya in response
to a ban by the UK government of miraa a key cash crop in
certain regions of Kenya hence sending a signal to the
United Kingdom to extend some latitude in respect that
respect, thus this illustrated parliament’s readiness to
defend the interests of Kenya abroad.

10. In summary the overall roles of the National Assembly

constitute traces of direct or an indirect contribution in
shaping our foreign policy and promoting our interests abroad.

11. In this regard therefore, when the National Assembly

discharges its constitutional obligations; for example,
representation, legislative and oversight role, the it
contributes in shaping our country’s foreign policy in
summary, as follows:
 i. Some Motions by Members of Parliament are used to
urge the Executive to make certain decisions relating
to foreign policy.
ii. Questions by Members of Parliament to Cabinet
Secretary for Foreign Affairs requesting for
information on certain matters relating to foreign
policy.
iii. Petitions by Members of Parliament to the
National Assembly on matters relating to Foreign
Policy. (Example is the Petition to the National
Assembly on illegal imprisonment of Kenya citizens
in South Sudan).

iv. Budgetary allocations to the Ministry of Foreign

Affairs and Regional Integration.

ii. CONSTITUTIONAL UNDERPINNINGS THAT UNDERLIE

PARLIAMENTARY DIPLOMACY

12. Your Excellencies, Ambassadors and High

commissioners, let me highlight a little bit on the various
aspects of the Law that underlie parliamentary diplomacy, and
how the National Assembly Can strengthen this aspect of
promoting Kenya’s Foreign Policy.

13. The constitution, under the fourth schedule reserved the

power to Promote our country’s foreign policy with the
National Government; Traditionally, this function has been
 executed exclusively by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in
collaboration with our Diplomatic Officers around the
world, certainly this is still the core mandate of the
Ministry under its formal diplomacy role. However due to
unprecedented cooperation and integration among states;
formal diplomacy needs to be supported through other forms
or aspects of diplomacy, in My presentation, I am specifically
referring to Parliamentary Diplomacy, which means the
full range of international activities undertaken by
parliamentarians in order to increase mutual
understanding between countries, to assist each other in
improving the control of governments and the
representation of a people and to increase the democratic
legitimacy of inter-governmental institutions. The rise of
Parliamentary diplomacy is inevitably gaining traction and I
urge all the Ambassadors and High commissioners to work
closely with the National Assembly to achieve their missions
domestically and abroad.

14. The second constitutional and legal underpinning that

underlie the constitutionality of parliamentary diplomacy is
captured in article 2(5) and 2(6) of the constitution which
provide that; the General Rules of International law shall
form part of law of Kenya under this constitution and that
any treaty or convention ratified by Kenya shall form part
of law of Kenya. These two constitutional provisions bestow
upon National Assembly the power to ratify any Treaty or
 Statute Bilateral or Multilateral adopted by the Community for
which Kenya wants to be part. This power to ratify has been
operationalized through the Treaty Making and Ratification
Act of 2012. Initially before 2010, this was achieved by passing
a domesticating act of parliament. In this regard, it’s evident
that the National Assembly is plays a significant role in
developing Kenya’s International Interests in assisting the
development of compliance standards consistent with both our
domestic law and international best practices.

15. Another pivotal instance that calls for the involvement of

the National Assembly in International Affairs is the
determination and approval of a declaration of war or its
extension, this is hardly exercised by its very critical to ensure
the safety of Kenyans and our sovereignty, parliamentary
diplomacy is certainly a significant way to achieve security
peace and stability.

 Parliamentary Diplomacy: Challenges & Opportunities for

Kenya

16. Your Excellencies, Ambassadors and High

commissioners, the opportunities associated with diplomacy
are significant for any single nation. I am certain many of you
appreciate the History of how Kenya and Particularly Nairobi
won the opportunity to host a United Nations Headquarters
(UNEP), IT WAS THROUGH DIPLOMACY. The age of
 parliamentary diplomacy at that time hadn’t come and it still a
novel concept.

17. I wish to highlight some of the opportunities presented by

embracing parliamentary diplomacy:

a. Promotion of Opportunities for collaboration in

Research - Ladies and gentlemen, the National
Assembly, through law making, deals with a cross-
cutting of issues ranging from, How to Improve
Agriculture and the various sectors that form the
backbone of our economy, how to ensure or promote
Industrialization, how to enhance Infrastructure ranging
from Roads to Hospitals and Schools amongst other
things. In this regard, I believe that if we embrace
parliamentary diplomacy, it will create or unearth
unforeseen opportunities for defense and national
intelligence, scientific research as well research and
innovation in the use of technology. In other words,
Parliamentary Diplomacy creates avenues for
benchmarking which are undoubtedly opportunities to
learn how to improve the lives of Kenyans.

b. Enhance cooperation in promoting International

Trade-Kenya has been at the fore front of entering into
various bilateral and multilateral agreements geared to
promoting strategic partnerships for mutual benefit. I
 believe that parliamentary diplomacy also presents
opportunities to strengthen the existing bilateral and
multilateral agreements as well new opportunities for
collaboration in areas such as trade in Agricultural
products and Manufactured goods. Your Excellencies,
you are our chief agents in fostering these kinds of
collaborations where possible for us and for our future
generations. As the Leader of Majority in National
Assembly be assured of my continued support in
ventures that will ensure a better Kenya and more
opportunities for our youth both locally and abroad.

c. Finally, I believe that parliamentary diplomacy will

enhance Kenya’s relationship with other countries-
Without a doubt, if we embrace parliamentary diplomacy
alongside the traditional formal diplomacy, we will
strengthen Kenya’s relationship with other like-minded
nations for overall mutual benefit.

18. However, Ladies and Gentlemen, this comes with a few

challenges for instance; What will be the modalities of
ensuring continuous cooperation? How do we ensure
appropriate implementation and follow up on the various
bilateral and multilateral agreements? These are the kinds of
questions I wish pose to you so that we take time to reflect
about them.
LASTLY, EMPOWERING PARLIAMENTARY INSTITUTIONS AS
REPRESENTATIVE BODIES OF INTERNATIONAL, AND OFTEN
REGIONAL, ORGANIZATIONS.

19. Your excellencies, Ambassadors and High

Commissioners, to my mind, the third way through which to
promote the National Assembly’s contribution in the
international affairs of our country is by empowering members
to understand how they can enhance their contribution. The
empowerment may take various forms:

 By creating opportunities for Intra and Inter-Parliamentary

Caucuses with like-minded Parliaments

 Creating benchmarking opportunities with Parliaments whose

record and performance is commendable like the Westminster
Model of Parliament.

 By joining inter-parliamentary groups and organizations

whose objective is aligned to ours.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe we have a wonderful opportunity

to create to champion Kenya’s Interests abroad and on behalf of
the National Assembly, I once again wish to reiterate our
commitment to assist you as you advance, promote and protect
our country’s interests abroad.

Conclusion
20. As I conclude, I leave you with the following quote from
Laursen, one scholar who champions for parliamentary
diplomacy, “We underline that parliaments must be active
in international affairs not only through inter-
parliamentary cooperation and parliamentary
diplomacy, but also by contributing to and monitoring
international negotiations, overseeing the enforcement of
what is adopted by governments, and ensuring national
compliance with international norms and the rule of law.

21. Ladies and Gentlemen: I wish you the very best as

discharge your very noble mandate to which you have been
entrusted.

Thank You Very Much!