Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the new ambassador, His Excellency, Mr. Richard Opembe. Having read his contribution and listened to his presentation, I wish him every success in his new position. I wish his country every success in rolling back the horrors of what is happening to Kenya. I lived in Africa for four years and I am still trying to come to terms with the complexities of the Continent of Africa and its individual countries, such as Kenya. I would be very familiar from travelling with the area around Mombasa up along the coast to Malindi and having a most wonderful time on Lamu Island and in Garissa before there was a university in that area. I am reasonably familiar with the terrain.

We in the west are finding it very difficult to come to terms with the activity of Boko Haram in Nigeria and al-Shabaab in Kenya and Somalia. We want to extend our sympathy to the former Kenyan ambassador to Ireland whose son was slaughtered in the Westgate Mall atrocity. What I am trying to understand is ethnicity and the cultural issues that are at play in Kenya, in particular the religious conflicts that seem to be extending across Africa but I will concentrate on Kenya.

We know that Mombasa is multicultural with phenomenal diversity, however, how does one explain the hatred for "western education"? How does one explain that terrorists would isolate Christians or other non-ethnic groups and assassinate them brutally? Broadly speaking, Kenya is an educated nation. What forces are at play that are trying to undermine the educational development in Africa? It is clear that the terrorists attack the fundamentals of tourism. Africa relies very heavily on foreign direct investment through tourism. The ambassador has mentioned it. As he knows, Kenya is a beautiful country and very attractive to tourists. Does he think there is a deliberate ploy to undermine the economy of African countries, including Kenya, by targeting their ability to attract inward investment?

We hear about the cultural corruption of so many countries, but particularly when it comes to politics and ethnicity. Is corruption part and parcel of the way of life of those in power in politics in Kenya? If that is a fact, does he agree that it undermines the very fabric of society? Does the ambassador agree that the ability to reform society in Kenya is more difficult if people like al-Shabaab can say that those in power are a corrupt shower of buggers, that corruption is widespread? Can he explain the horrors of the young terrorist who was the very well educated young son of a prominent Kenyan, while we are being led to believe that the terrorists are ignorant and are influenced by the Mullahs or by the religious leaders in the Muslim faith?

Is it the case that Christians are availing more of the educational services that are available and, therefore, are more economically powerful, which is leading to resentment on the part of ethnic groups and their tribal leaders who are not benefiting to the same extent? In the ambassador's view, does the Muslim community avail of Western educational services to the same extent as the Christian community does, or is there an in-built conflict there?

The ambassador indicated that his country wants to move the refugees in the Dadaab camp back to Somalia. Would this not be a mistake solely on the basis of logistics? If the refugees are on Kenyan soil, the authorities there have reasons to police and manage them. If these people are sent back to Somalia, that ability to monitor, for intelligence purposes and so on, is lost. If the Kenyan Government does send the refugees back to Somalia - the ambassador says there are 600,000 of them; other sources say there are 350,000 - it will surely have lost an important intelligence ability.

Sometimes, because I know Africa so well, I feel guilty about talking about it from this room in Ireland. It might be because of Kenya's participation in the African Union that it is now a victim of terrorism from Somalia, which resents the forces who are aligned under that union. I wish the ambassador well and all those on the African continent who are fighting terrorism. We are anxious to get a handle on the forces at play which are undermining his country and its economy.