Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1098641,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1098641/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 83,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wambua",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13199,
        "legal_name": "Enoch Kiio Wambua",
        "slug": "enoch-kiio-wambua"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. On my own behalf, my family and the great people of Kitui County, I stand to condole with the families of the victims of the Laikipia bandit attacks. I remember when the other attacks happened; I called my brother, Sen. Kinyua, because I knew that he was on the ground. He mentioned to me that he and the area Member of Parliament (MP) escaped attack by a whisker. Madam Deputy Speaker, in trying to remedy the situation, the bandits were so emboldened that they struck only a few kilometres from where they were. I advised him that generals do not fight in the battlefield and he should consider retreating to come and mobilize support for the operation, which he has continued to do. I thank Sen. Kinyua for standing with his people and for bringing this Statement here, so that we can also be part of the attempt to help the people of Laikipia. As it has been said by my colleagues, banditry in Laikipia is banditry everywhere else in this country. Madam Deputy Speaker, as a Senate, there are things that we think the national Government should do very fast to avert further suffering of the people of Laikipia. It has been said that there is need to move with speed to equip the Kenya Police Reservists (KPR) with guns that resemble those that the bandits are using, or even superior ones. I saw the Regional Commissioner (RC) physically shaken on national television announcing to the nation that the bandits are using more superior guns than the police, and I wondered how that can happen. How did those weapons even find their way to Laikipia? Madam Deputy Speaker, at some point, three or four years ago, the former Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya, (Dr.) Willy Mutunga, spoke about a bandit economy. I do not know what it is that he had in mind, but now I think that it is time to address ourselves to a bandit country. I am saying this because these incidences of banditry in this country have become too much. I am reminded of situations in Kainuk on the border between West Pokot and Turkana, Baragoi in Samburu County, Kapedo, on the border between Baringo and Turkana, and now Laikipia. It is still very fresh in the minds of Kenyans what happened in 2014 when 19 police officers were ambushed and massacred by bandits in Kapedo. Madam Deputy Speaker, we should not allow this to happen. Article 245 of the Constitution of Kenya (2010) gives the Inspector-General of Police express authority to enforce the law everywhere in this country. There can never be an excuse from the Office of the Inspector-General of Police that he is unable to contain the situation in Laikipia. If he is unable to do that, we should engage the next gear. The National Assembly should be recalled to pass a Motion for the President to deploy the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) in Laikipia to contain the situation and return normalcy to Laikipia. As we speak-- -"
}