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EU, Foreign Ministry pledge Senate support to foster devolution

The development emerged when the EU Ambassador, Stefano Dejak together with the ministry’s Chief Administrative Secretary Ababu Namwamba called on the Speaker of the Senate, Kenneth Lusaka at his Parliament Buildings office/CFM NEWS

NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 18 – The Senate, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Union (EU) on Wednesday agreed to form a tripartite taskforce to work on a framework that contributes to the success of devolution.

The development emerged when the EU Ambassador, Stefano Dejak together with the ministry’s Chief Administrative Secretary Ababu Namwamba called on the Speaker of the Senate, Kenneth Lusaka at his Parliament Buildings office.

The meeting agreed that the taskforce would be mandated to develop a Medium Term Programme of activities aimed at strengthening devolution in collaboration with 19 EU member missions in Kenya.

In addition, they will also be expected to come up with proposals for enhanced parliamentary diplomacy between Parliament of Kenya and EU Parliament.

“This framework will need to consider regional economic blocs and having them firmly in place. By avoiding replication, counties from each regional bloc can focus on their individual strengths while leveraging on the strengths of other countries,” said Lusaka.

On his part, CAS Namwamba noted that the Medium Term Programme would need to be aligned with the Big Four Agenda.

“Our compass is now the Big Four. It is important to have the taskforce align plans for strengthening devolution with the country’s roadmap. Working with the counties through the County Assemblies Forum will be important,” he said.

Dejak, who is Head of Delegation of the 19 EU member missions in Kenya, told the meeting that the EU was keen to cooperate with counties through an established and structured framework.

“We currently stand as the largest consumer of Kenya’s exports at 27 per cent. We are ready to advance our cooperation in terms of development aid, business focus through the regional blocs and give you ready market,” he said.

Dejak also presented the Final Report of 2017 General Election by the EU Observation Mission to Speaker Lusaka.

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