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{
    "id": 1143890,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1143890/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 299,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Emurua Dikirr, KANU",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kipyegon Ng’eno",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1453,
        "legal_name": "Johana Ngeno Kipyegon",
        "slug": "johana-ngeno-kipyegon"
    },
    "content": "officer and who has gone through the myriad issues that the police go through, so that they can defend and champion for the police. Now we have a nominee who does not even understand what a police officer faces when he is sent to the north-eastern part of Kenya or to borders. They do not understand how the police sleep or how they spend the little money they get. There are so many issues that police officers normally face. I was expecting that we would pick somebody who understands the plight of police officers. When a representation from the Parliamentary Service Commission is made, we normally sit and say let us get somebody who has been a Member of Parliament. That is a person who understands the plight of Members of Parliament. Next time, let us look for somebody who understands the profession and background of the people he is going to represent at the Commission so that he can articulate their issues. We will approve this lady, of course. But next time when we are filling commission vacancies, we should read the Constitution in terms of regional and gender balance. There are communities in this country that have never been represented anywhere, like the Ajuran, Dorobo, Ogiek and Ilchamus. These are people who may not be represented until Jesus comes back. I believe they will be represented in heaven. We should make it a responsibility of this House to represent those people. There are those of us who are fully in Government. When you go to any department of the Government, you find us. If she were from my region, I would have contested her nomination. We occupy so many spaces. Why can we not give the opportunity to other people who have never occupied any position in Government? Such people are not even represented by members of county assemblies. They are not even represented in the villages. Next time let us put such people in serious and lucrative positions where they can make decisions. I am not contesting the nomination of this lady, but next time bring us people who represent regional balance. We should focus on equity and equality in the country. I wish this lady the best. She should look at the amount of salaries people should get. She should not go there with a political mind. She should look at the prime issues that people face and not political considerations. As a House, we would not wish to fight with the SRC or other commissions. We want them to do their work. If this lady is approved, she should focus especially on those people who earn little but do a lot in this country. Police officers work day and night to ensure our security is okay. They secure our borders alongside officers of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF). These are people who do dirty jobs that ordinary people cannot do and yet when you look at their salaries you wonder. That is why they indulge in bad behaviour. They drink. They kill themselves. They steal. They lend their guns to robbers. It is because they cannot meet the needs of their families. These are people who should earn good money. Give them loans so that they can run their families. They are like everybody. Why should a Member of Parliament earn a million shillings to technically appear in Parliament while a police officer in uniform 24 hours earns between Ksh5,000 and Ksh20,000? A police officer works for 24 hours. There are Members of this House who I do not know yet we are parting ways in the next two months. They rarely appear in this House. They are going home with over Ksh50 million in form of salary. I want this lady to look at that. Every Member of this House has a police officer behind him or her and yet they do not look at the salaries police officers earn. I wish we can discuss equality of salaries in this House. There are people who deserve to earn not less than Ksh50,000. A police officer should earn not less than Ksh50,000 like the rest of Kenyans. These are people who carry the load of everybody. I call upon this lady to champion for our police officers. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker."
}