Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 1193130,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1193130/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 256,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": "with which he addressed the Committee. He gave an assurance that he shall be coming back to the House with further policy proposals on how we can stop corruption from being rampant in the NPS. We look forward to holding him into account. We shall give him about six months after which we shall summon him to explain if things do not change. We want a better Kenya where police officers will be service men and women. That is why I believe we changed the name from a force to a service. That is what Kenyans want; somebody you can talk to. We are tired of all these conversations about how you cannot distinguish between them and the thugs on the streets because of how they carry out their duties. I hope Eng. Koome will give us a better police service. We spoke about the welfare of police officers. Those of us who are Christians, know that the Bible says, ‘You cannot muzzle an ox while it is trading.’ To put in a more local dialect, many people believe that a goat can only eat as far as its ropes can allow it to go. What do I mean by that? If we have police officers living in shanties, poorly paid, with torn uniforms, that cannot afford good healthcare, then chances are that they will create avenues of corruption to try live a decent life. Everybody wants to live a good life. There is nobody who wants to see their children not able to attend good schools. There is nobody who does not want to get better healthcare when they are unwell. That is why they have captured the welfare issues that the police face. He was very particular with this and it really impressed me. This is an emerging issue which if not addressed as a country, then we will find ourselves in a very difficult situation. On mental health, this issue is real. We need to address it among our servicemen and get good proposals and find what is making colleagues turn against each other. Even in here, we may not like each other and we may be on different sides of the political divide, but I do not think we can get to a point of hatred that you turn against your colleague. However, that is happening a lot in the police service. I like the fact that the new IG addressed himself to this particular issue and gave proposals. The previous administration had come up with a taskforce to inform policy proposals on how to ensure we do not find our police officers turning against each other and addressing their mental health issues including their well-being. It is not right in this day and age that we have police men and women living in those mabati shanties, even if they are out of station in far flung parts of the country. The decent thing to do is to properly house them. These are people who risk their lives to ensure we are all safe. I hope that the President’s plan of housing would include the police. No police officer deserves to live in a tiny shanty, especially when they are living with their families. It is dehumanizing and part of the things that demoralize them in their work. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I love the fact that he came out unequivocally on the issue of extra judicial killings. We have had that debate and those reports brought here. I love the commitment of President William Ruto about extra judicial killings that this cannot be allowed to continue. It does not matter whether a person is a suspect for terrorism or whatever form of crime. We have a proper judicial system. We have said we are equipping and resourcing"
}