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{
    "id": 1382059,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1382059/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 229,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cherarkey",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13217,
        "legal_name": "Cherarkey K Samson",
        "slug": "cherarkey-k-samson"
    },
    "content": "Sorry, I forgot to mention Meru County. I saw the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration, Prof. Kindiki, with some colleagues over the weekend. Meru has also been affected. Sometimes Nandi and Kisumu are also affected. So, it is crosscutting issue. I am told we also have cattle rustling in Western Kenya. People are forced to sleep with cows in their rooms because of livestock theft. Therefore, cattle rustling and banditry is a national disaster. We request the Cabinet Secretary, Prof. Kindiki, who is the Senate Majority Leader emeritus, to declare this a national disaster. He should create a special fund because that is within his powers. For the past six months, we lost over 100 civilians and 16 police officers because of cattle rustling and banditry. There are many families today without their sons, daughters, children, and spouses because of trigger-happy banditry. These regions have been made playgrounds of organised criminals. I sponsored a Bill on theft of livestock produce. Those are the people we were targeting. We need to punish them. Apparently, financiers of this well-organised criminal enterprise in the regions that I have mentioned are people who stay in Nairobi. They use innocent young men and women who have been transformed into criminals to steal livestock that end up on plates in Nairobi. Could we be unknowingly financing cattle rustling and banditry? Most of the livestock is slaughtered here in Nairobi and other major towns. We buy and enjoy the sweet meat without thinking that those cows could have been stolen and slaughtered. This is a menace that we must deal with. You saw what happened. The other day it was a sad situation in Baringo. The Senator for Baringo attended that burial. The body of a former headteacher had to be escorted by paramilitary officers to the resting place. Coincidentally, that former teacher was shot by a bullet of a cattle rustler in 1979 when he was young and became blind. He was killed by the same people the other day. Even when he was supposed to rest in peace, bandits and cattle rustlers were shooting all over, but the burial had to be conducted. I was wondering whether we are still in Kenya. I did not know whether we were in Gaza, Ukraine or Pakistan. If it has reached a level where a body needs to be escorted to be buried, that is a clear pointer that this must be declared a national disaster. I agree with the recommendations. The only threats in that region, which are well captured by Sen. Dullo, are insecurity and drought. I empathize with people from these regions. If they are not suffering from cattle rustling, then they are suffering from drought. I agree that we need to provide for livestock insurance cover. When the people of Meru County lose their lives or livestock, we must compensate them and give cover through livestock restocking. Apart from establishing this Fund, what is the way forward? We need to immediately reopen county security roads. During Kibaki’s era, if I vividly remember, there was a road from Nginyang to Chemolingot that was opened. If that area is opened The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard Services, Senate."
}