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{
    "id": 1122162,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1122162/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 295,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Omogeni",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13219,
        "legal_name": "Erick Okong'o Mogeni",
        "slug": "erick-okongo-mogeni"
    },
    "content": "Another concern is the lacklustre performance of the statutory bodies that are supposed to keep an eye on the conduct of these rogue police officers who commit some of these human rights transgressions. Two bodies have come on the spot in the course of debate on this matter. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the first one is the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA). I was privileged to have been in the panel that interviewed the first commissioners for IPOA. At that time, same as now, the law provided that various bodies were to nominate representatives. I was nominated by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to sit in the interview panel. I am one of those people who recommended Macharia Njeru to the position of chairperson. He did well and did not disappoint. My good friend who took over, Ms. Makori, a lady I know and respect needs to put some punch in ensuring that she exercises proper oversight over our police officers. We are talking about people who are carrying a weapon that can kill you in the spark of a minute. When you have officers who are trigger happy, they are a danger to society and all of us. You are not safe and neither are your constituents and children. After the passage of the Constitution in 2010, the police force was being transformed from a police force to a police service. This is why we have the National Police Service and not the national police force. Therefore, the IPOA should up their game. We want to see them passionate on this matter, so that they can provide proper oversight on the police officers. Another body that has come on focus is the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR); the national statutory body created by the Constitution to provide oversight on human rights abuses and report to Parliament on the status of human rights in this country. When we had Maina Kiai, the body was feared and we would hear about the Commission on a day-to-day basis. However, in the last five years or so, the spark has gone down and the fire is not there. We do not hear about the Commission. We want to appeal to those who are serving as commissioners to take that as a calling. I hope it is not a matter of people applying for positions and once they get them, that is it. This is a huge responsibility that the people of Kenya have placed on the Commission, and we need to see more. You remember the days of our former colleague, Sen. Omar Hassan. If I ask Senators in the House who are the Commissioners currently at the KNCHR, they may not know, yet you can see those 10 years down the line, we remember that Maina Kiai served as a Chair of that Commission. We still remember that Sen. Omar Hassan was a vice chairperson of the commission. What happened? What went wrong? It means that the occupants of the position are ticking boxes and it is business as usual for them, yet you can see from our report the number of deaths we are talking about. There are more than 1,000 deaths in the hands of uniformed police officers. This is a big indictment on us, as a country. Another issue that came up, which my Committee will take up, is what was proposed by Sen. Wetangula – the need for refresher courses for our police officers. As Senators, we continue learning. Every now and then, Committees go outside for"
}