Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has described as reckless and malicious an attempt by some MPs to travel to Taiwan during the period when President William Ruto was touring China.
Mudavadi stated that the legislators’ plan to visit Taiwan was intended to undermine the government’s efforts to strengthen its relationship with China, which he deemed unpatriotic and provocative.
Speaking during question time at the Senate, while appearing before the Senate Security and Foreign Affairs Committee, Mudavadi emphasized that such a move would have been provocative.
“We know, there were some people who were pushing to have a delegation from Parliament to go to Taiwan when the President of Kenya is visiting China for a State visit. It could have cost the country a lot,” said Mudavadi.
He noted that there are certain issues that the country and, particularly, elected leaders need to be aware of, as they can have serious and devastating implications for the broader welfare of the nation.
During his trip to China, President Ruto declared that Kenya supports the One-China policy, a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, and dialogue to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
He stated that during the state visit to China, Kenya secured benefits that could significantly alter the country’s economic situation, and that some were displeased with the government’s achievements.
“There were some who did not want the government to achieve anything in the visit, today, once the agreed projects are in place we will have an SGR to the border of Uganda at the Malaba and a dual road to same destination, this will spare economic growth in the regions of Nyanza, Rift Valley and Western,” said Mudavadi.
He urged parliamentarians to be patriotic and to conduct themselves in a way that sets a good example and influences the younger generation positively.
On investments in Kenya’s foreign embassies, Mudavadi mentioned that Kenya is now engaging in a policy to explore how to develop its assets abroad, as outlined in the policy document being worked on by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with Parliament.
“We want to use the exchequer, and where we can, also have public-private partnerships. I say so because if you go to Upper Hill today, and I was the guest of honor, the then Minister for Foreign Affairs of Tanzania came and we jointly broke ground where the pension fund, Tanzania pension fund, is putting up a 22-story building,” said the PCS.
He explained that the building is for the Tanzanian embassy but will also serve as a revenue-generating asset for the Tanzanian government, allowing them to lease out the additional space they do not require.
Mudavadi noted that similar initiatives have taken place in several countries. For example, Uganda has a prime building in New York, not far from the UN headquarters, as well as a significant building in Trafalgar Square in London, and Uganda House in Nairobi.
“We have a plan to be able to start making serious investment proposals for the assets that we have so that we can maximize the returns and draw, which can then help in funding our missions, more robustly as we go into the future,” said Mudavadi.
