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{
    "id": 1264201,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1264201/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 298,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kiambaa, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Njuguna Kawanjiku",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I rise to support this Motion. I agree with the Chairperson of the Committee on Delegated Legislation that we need to consolidate funds for the National Peace Support Operations Fund. This is to ensure that when our young people, our brothers, and sisters, go out there for peacekeeping purposes, they are taken care of. The Fund is addressing very critical issues. They are now in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and some are in Somalia trying to help our neighbours to coexist with each other. We must make sure that we create a fund that will take care of them. It is quite unfortunate that when they go to the DRC and some are injured, there is no fund to take care of them. I support that we make sure that we separate the operations of the military and those of the entire defence system from peacekeeping missions, so that they can get special attention. With the way that this country has been managed for many years, if we put those resources together with those of daily operations of the KDF, those people may be disadvantaged because the process of making sure that they get equipment and that they are well-taken care of is tedious and bureaucratic. We have seen incidents where, even after money has been put aside, there is corruption but it must be dealt with. We must make sure that the people who benefit from this Fund are the same people who go out there for peacekeeping missions. As my colleagues have said, we have not had incidents in the country where we have had to recall our military. We have old equipment, some even from the 1982 coup. We have not experienced any military issue in our country. Soldiers do not understand or do not know whether their equipment can function properly. We do not know whether we have the military capability to deal with any external aggression against our country. Let these people go out there on peacekeeping missions and gain experience on how to fight wars because we have not had such incidents in our country. Secondly, we will be able to upgrade their equipment, so that when they come back, the equipment can continue to be used within the boundaries of our country. We must put strict measures in place to take care of this Fund. The issue of corruption must be dealt with because we do not want a situation whereby, we set aside funds and later find out that the money has been misappropriated. When these people go to fight and come back, they find that the money that is supposed to take care of them and upgrade their military equipment is not there because of misappropriation. Therefore, we must support them and make sure that we tie up loose ends to ensure that the money will not be misappropriated, and that it will only be used by soldiers who go for peacekeeping missions. The other thing that the proposer of the Motion talked about is making sure that we support and encourage the military. We have had incidents whereby vehicles belonging to 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."
}