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{
    "id": 1219744,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1219744/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 95,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker for that protection. You know I am very careful about what I say here and everywhere else I speak, but let us not run away from the truth. The Committee and all investigative authorities that investigate such matters should not be afraid. If we do not deal with our past and hold people accountable then nothing stops other regimes in the future from carrying out such extra-judicial killings Hon. Speaker, before the election many of us lived under extreme fear and threat to life. I vividly recall when my good friend Dennis Itumbi was abducted just before Christmas in 2021. Those who abducted him were police officers. It took us not less than six hours to get information from other officers who confirmed that he was in the hands of a murderous squad within the police force specifically an agency that was then under the then DCI, Mr. Kinoti. Therefore, this Committee should do this country a great honour in recommending that we institute a commission of inquiry so that the families of hundreds of Kenyans who disappeared and their bodies not found can know what happened to their children and family members. Today, the Member for Buuri spoke about Mr. Mbijiwe. I read this story on Sunday in one of the dailies. The manner in which he disappeared leaves a lot of questions. There are pointers as to who would have been responsible for that disappearance. The cases of Mr. Mbijiwe, young Michuki from my constituency and many other Kenyans are similar. Unless we dig and get to the root cause, we will never know. Many of the people who are forcing disappearances are still in some offices today. They still wield the same power and authority they did yesterday. Nothing will stop them from enforcing even the disappearance of Members of Parliament if we keep quiet. We must not be quiet. Whether it is a person from North Eastern, the Coastal Region – as Hon. Owen Baya said – or someone perceived to have been in groups like Mungiki or Chinkororo in Kisii or someone that you disagree with politically. Hon. Speaker, when we kept quiet because we assumed that it was a spirited fight against terrorists and only terrorists were disappearing, they came for politicians; they came for political activists; they went after bloggers and literally everyone. You will remember that people were being forced to subscribe to political ideals and ideologies that they did not belief in. Out of fear, there are people who were elected on parties that they never desired to be in because they lived under extreme fear. They were not like Kimani Ichung’wah who had the audacity to challenge them and asked them about the worst they could do. I said this in one of The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}