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{
    "id": 1375720,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1375720/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 154,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": "there. In our duty to represent other people, there are places you will have to go and things you will say. There are people you will rub the wrong way for the people you speak for. This is a challenging exercise. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the casual nature with which I see Members of Parliament arrested from bars drugged – as it used to happen in the dreaded days of the 'handshake' – is something we need to lay behind. Hon. Members of Parliament, just like other ordinary citizens, need to enjoy the very rights under our Constitution that we proudly enjoy. This is an attempt to provide clear channels of how Members of Parliament are treated when police want to attract our attention. I have never understood why Subarus and Landcruisers would be chasing an hon. Member of Parliament around town trying to get their attention. All it takes is just a phone call. If it is Sen. Methu the police need, they could call him and communicate that they need him at Dundori Police Station because there are sacks of potatoes that disappeared. They allege that he may know something about them. Why do the police have to embarrass him in this town? Chase him around like a common criminal while he represents thousands of people. There are not many things I agree with Sen. Osotsi on, but at least on that particular provision to give life to Article 50, I must agree with him. I urge colleagues that on this critical issue, we close ranks. This Bill provides for ways in which summons can be issued. At any given time, our staffers have available records in the precincts of Parliament, of whichever part of the world we are in. The Clerk's office is aware of the whereabouts of Members. This includes during recess, on holiday, or in session. This provision, where the Clerk is mandated to cause a summon to be served within seven days of receipt of the directive, is essential. When the police need a Member of Parliament, they could inform the Clerk that they need a particular Member and should appear in a specific police station nicely and decently. Sen. Osotsi, we should not stop at Members of Parliament. This should be the norm for ordinary citizens, except for criminals on the run. There is no need for the drama we see. Police officers sometimes are excited about humiliating ordinary citizens. If invited, many citizens will walk to a station to record a Statement or do whatever the police are looking for. That is part of the reform. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as an administration, there needs to be decency even in how people are arrested, for whatever crime that they have committed. That is what happens in the developed world unless you are criminal and a fugitive on the run. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I do not see a reason why police officers must use public money or taxpayers' money to hunt people down by running around and going to people's homes as opposed to using better means that are cheap and affordable. As we talk about austerity measures, that ought to be part of them. How much fuel do some of these police stations use? Just hunting down people who with one phone call at a cost of one, two or three shillings, they would have found their way to that particular police station. 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."
}