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{
    "id": 1284634,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1284634/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 319,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Sifuna",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13599,
        "legal_name": "Sifuna Edwin Watenya",
        "slug": "sifuna-edwin-watenya"
    },
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, this is a very emotional discussion we are having this afternoon. Like my colleagues have done, I begin by saluting all our forces; those who continually serve every morning, evening and night to make sure that our country remains safe. I also offer my heartfelt condolences to those who have lost their loved ones in the armed forces. One of the issues is that the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) is usually very cagey with information on casualties such that we do not even know how to celebrate these heroes. I was surprised some of my colleagues have been throwing about numbers of the casualties from the plane crash that was reported today by the KDF. However, looking at that statement, it did not allude to any numbers. So, I do not know what information they have, but that is part of the problem. Madam Temporary Speaker, I had sought to bring this matter before the Senate on 26th June, 2023. At that particular moment in time, in the months of May and June alone, we had had about 20 casualties. We had lost 20 people in attacks in Mandera, Wajir, Garissa and Lamu counties. The fear that we have is that these attacks, while some of them might sound to be happening very far off from where we live, it is only a matter of time before some of these things are seen in our urban areas. Of course, indeed, here in Nairobi City County, we have suffered the brunt of theses terror activities. Everybody remembers the Westgate and Dusit Terrorist attacks. We have to come out strongly and say that we shall not cower as Kenyans, but we must continue to insist that our Government does what is right. The questions we are asking ourselves is: What are the strategic intelligence or operational failures that have led to this increase in terror attacks? This is because we had experienced some degree of lull towards the last days of the regime of Uhuru Kenyatta. We want to know if our armed forces are properly equipped with enough armour and what the state of morale is. For instance, when was the last time we saw the Commander-in-Chief visiting with our troops just to give them morale? We do not want to hear how many times Prof. Kindiki has been there. I wish we had the same clarity and specificity that we used to get from the Ministry of Interior and National Administration about how they are going to deal with demonstrators. We used to be told minute details, including what time the police would deploy and what heavy The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard Services,Senate."
}