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"id": 106261,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/106261/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Affey",
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"speaker": {
"id": 381,
"legal_name": "Mohammed Abdi Affey",
"slug": "mohammed-affey"
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"content": "25 Thursday, 8th April, 2010(P) Therefore, the security officers collectively punished people in that area. The same was done in Lamu, Tana River and Isiolo. How could it be possible that Kenyans who pay tax, and who belong to the country--- Even in 1980, which was outside the ambit of the Indemnity Act, the Kenyan Government officers of Somali origin were beaten up and put in the same camp with civilians they were in charge of. Chiefs were beaten up, just because they were Somalis, yet those same chiefs and officers were earning salaries from the Republic of Kenya as officers of the Government. But when it came to the operation, there was indiscriminate killing and harassment. Whether you were a criminal or not, there was collective punishment. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, people were so intimidated that they could not go before a court of law. They were told that even though the law did not cover that period, it actually affected them. What happened thereafter, in February 1984 in Wagalla--- I happened to be a student and was part of a team of young students who went in and tried to see whether we could save the remaining people who had run away from the camp as a result of thirst and hunger following several days of incarceration and collective beatings. In 1964, 24 Kenyans were killed in Isiolo in a Mosque and they did not even know why they were killed. So, an injustice was committed in this part of the country and we must be able to close the chapter. When you have this kind of a law still in our statute books it reminds you of what happened. Students in a law school today continue to study the Indemnity Act and how it found its way in the laws of Kenya. We cannot speak about one Kenya in that case. We have a problem of speaking about one country. This region has got a lot of Kenyans who are patriotic. In fact, almost all of them are patriotic Kenya. They have no other country; this is their country. But we have a set of laws that discriminate against them, yet you want them to feel part and parcel of this country. The same happened in Garba Tula in 1964. A lot of animals were killed by use of Government or military helicopters. Ordinary pastoralists who were looking after their animals died without knowing why they died. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this is a dangerous law for us to allow to remain in our statute books. We are going through a reconciliation process. When we passed the Indemnity Act in 1970 we started to accept that impunity could be practised in Kenya by officers of the Government without due regard for the law. We agreed that anybody who was injured by the same officers whom he paid, through payment of taxes, had no right to go before a court of law and say that an injustice had been committed against them. We started, as a country, to accept that impunity should be rewarded. We rewarded impunity in 1970, as a Parliament. If you look at the HANSARD you will see that when the debate was going on as to whether, in fact, we should have the Act, a lot of patriotic Kenyans, who did not necessarily come from this part of the country, felt that Kenya was very important, and that every Kenyan was as important as the other; they resisted the temptation by the Government then to allow this law to be in our books. They said that if we accepted it because it is for North Eastern Province, a time would come when it would apply to Rift Valley, Central, and Eastern Provinces or to any other part of the country, where we come from. Since it was a bad law they refused to enact it, but that did not prevail. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, following the post election crisis Parliament established the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission. I will quote from the Act:- âAs part of the continued efforts towards reform of our country, the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission was established by the enactment of the TJRC Act, No.6 of 2008. The Commissionâs mandate relates to promotion of peace, justice, national unity, healing and"
}