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{
    "id": 1382076,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1382076/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 246,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Okiya Omtatah",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this important Motion. I will not repeat what has been stated in terms of the devastating effects of this crime mischaracterised as cattle rustling. An important thing I would like to say is that we need to locate this thing in the law. Cattles rustling is mischaracterised to the extent that even law enforcement cannot deal with it. It should be in the Penal Code and the same sanction that applies to robbery with violence should apply to this particular activity. It is robbery with violence, nothing else. People die, a lot of their property is snatched and destroyed. To give it a sexy title like ‘cattle rustling’ is a way of getting away from the real issue. There is no relationship that used to happen in the traditional days when somebody could raid with a spear to steal a few cattle for balanced issues. I do not deny that there is a cultural dimension to it in certain areas. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, when I was in Southern Sudan some time back, I was dealing with Catholic Missionaries. I came across one missionary with a story that goes like this: He used to have a very dedicated choirmaster, a young man who had gone to school and the guy was not married. One evening, the guy turns up in war regalia; comes to the priest and asks him to bless him and a group of warriors. Then the priest asks, “what is all this about?” He said it was time for him to get married and he had come with his agemates for a blessing from the priest because they were going to raid the Turkana of Kenya for cattle. There was a girl whom he had identified, but they were demanding a very high bride price of cattle that he did not have. So, the only way he could get that girl was to go and raid cattle from the Turkana in Kenya. So, if a choirmaster was doing that, you could see the depth with which this thing may be as a cultural activity. What is important is that they were coming to raid cattle from Kenya. Why are our borders porous? Cattle rustling is an organized international crime. Criminal networks sometimes use advanced technologies to track information about where the cattle are, what markets are available and stuff like that. They can move around and get animals and take them to markets and dispose of them. Secondly, when you look at our laws, you will find that there is no law requiring the identification of cattle, goats, sheep or any of these domestic animals at slaughterhouses and markets. You will go to a market; buy and sell an animal with no provisions for its identification. In my local area, you go to the market and buy an animal. There is no requirement for any certification from where the animal came from to that market. They are just exchanging them the way they sell shirts. 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."
}