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{
    "id": 1354760,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1354760/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 114,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Sifuna",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13599,
        "legal_name": "Sifuna Edwin Watenya",
        "slug": "sifuna-edwin-watenya"
    },
    "content": "have to do a bit more to convince me whether we are not replicating laws that are already in existence in our books. I have a few concerns about the Bill. Fortunately or unfortunately, last week I was unable to participate in an important debate on the deployment of police officers to Haiti. Had I gotten that opportunity, one of the issues I would have addressed was the adequacy of our own security forces to deal with the security challenges in this country. I believe that the question of cattle rustling is a security problem. Moreover because the Constitution of this Republic places the responsibility of ensuring the security of all wananchi and their belongings on the national Government, any legislation that is directed against addressing our security matter must be alive to that demarcation between the national and county government roles. I have perused through the Bill. I am afraid that we might be saddling the county governments with the responsibility that is essentially for the national Government. We have been promised by the current regime that, in fact, they are going to root out the problem of cattle rustling especially in the North Rift region. If I am not wrong, there has been an ongoing operation in the past six months or so. That is what we expect from the national Government in order to root out the problem. If I were here during the debate, I would have argued that, in fact, if you look at the ratio of police officers to the population of the country and compare it with the recommended ratio by the United Nations (UN), we are lagging behind. We simply do not have the resources. I would want the national Government to focus on ensuring that there is enough security resources in areas prone to cattle rustling in order to deal with the problem. I thank Sen. Wambua because he has first addressed the requirement of registration of a brand. I support him. Sen. Cherarkey, I hope you are persuaded that the responsibility should not be transferred to the ‘hustler farmer’ who has one goat or cow to come up with a brand and register it. Let the county governments be responsible for the registration of brands. I know Kenyans are creative. However, it is going to be an onerous task for every single farmer to come up with a unique identifier for all his cattle. Then there is also the question of fees. I am very sensitive these days. It appears like we are looking for every single excuse to levy new taxes on Kenyans. Even registering a goat, the Bill provides that a smallscale farmer who has one cow has to pay a fee. Why can this not be a Government service if we convince you? If you look at the cumulative burden that has been put on the shoulders of Kenyans, we are reaching a breaking point. I am happy that in his Bill, Sen. Cherarkey has spared chicken farmers. That we shall not have to register our chicken. Let those who have cows fight this battle, but we shall fight it for them. Secondly, I suspect that there could be some replication of already existing laws. Luckily, Sen. Cherarkey, is a lawyer like me. He understands that, for instance, the offense that has been created under the proposed Clause18 of this Bill which is theft of livestock already exists under the Penal Code. The definition of theft under the Penal Code is wide enough to include anything capable of being stolen; be it cows or money."
}