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{
"id": 1438927,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1438927/?format=api",
"text_counter": 237,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
"speaker": null,
"content": "could also choose, like the Speaker chose, to spend the night in Bungoma or Kisumu and be nearer to the venue or wake up early, like many of us did, to travel. The same applies to the Sunday incident at the Akorino church in Nakuru that Hon. Jared Okello spoke about. It is true the Deputy President arrived over an hour later than the President. The President was magnanimous and courteous enough to receive his deputy. I can also confirm because I was to join you in Laikipia, that we left Nairobi at exactly the same time as the Deputy President, at about 10.44 a.m. When his chopper was lifting from his Karen residence, I was also departing from the other side of town. I can confirm there was a slight challenge with the weather around Mt. Longonot, but we were able to manoeuvre within a period that did not exceed five minutes. As to why the Deputy President chose to tell the country that he had transport and weather challenges on the pulpit in church, again, I am not in a position to tell why the person serving in the Office of the Deputy President would choose to tell what is not true while standing at a pulpit in church. Hon. Speaker, since you have guided that we are not here to discuss the conduct of any person, I do not want to delve into that. From what the Cabinet Secretary for Defence has informed me, the President, Deputy President, and Prime Cabinet Secretary may, in writing, ask for the use of military aircraft. The Cabinet Secretary for Defence also informed me that for the last year, the aircraft being used by the Deputy President, Prime Cabinet Secretary, and other senior Government officers occasioned an expenditure of Ksh500 million by the KDF. The KDF then wrote to the various offices, and the Office of the Deputy President wrote back, declining to share in the costs of the wear and tear and fuel of this aircraft. As a consequence, the KDF and the Ministry of Defence made a policy decision that should any officer want to use military aircraft, it must be on request, since they all have resources appropriated to them for air travel. Therefore, if you use a KDF aircraft, you must pay for fuel, wear and tear from the budget in your office. Therefore, Hon. Speaker, they should not cry foul that they are not allowed to use military aircraft. Only the President, as Commander-in-Chief of the KDF, has unfettered access to the use of military aircraft. However, the aircraft that the National Police Service (NPS) has designated to the Deputy President is currently under maintenance. We saw what happened in our neighbouring country, Malawi. The Vice-President and nine other people perished in a plane crash. May the Lord rest their souls in eternal peace. We will not fathom that happening to any of the officers serving in our Government. I was also informed that many of those aircraft, including the ones used by the President, were put on a rigorous maintenance programme following the unfortunate incident where we lost our Chief of Defence Forces (CDF). It is only fair that we allow our military and maintenance personnel to service and avail them for use by senior Government officers when they are in good condition. I have adequately responded to the question by Hon. Jared Okello. This is just a preliminary answer to him. I have spoken to the Cabinet Secretary for Defence about this. I will also write to him to come and apprise the House of how senior Government officers should move using military aircraft. He will also inform the House of how secure they are, how often they are serviced, and any challenges they may have with them. In conclusion, I will speak to many people. I saw a very unfortunate post yesterday on social media by the bloggers who work in big offices. It was anticipating the demise or occurrence of a vacancy in the Office of the President. These are things people may write casually and post online. When my predecessor, Hon. Charles Njonjo, was Attorney-General and Minister for Constitutional Affairs, he made it treasonable even to imagine the death of a President. We are not in that age. However, it is unfortunate that bloggers who work for senior officers of this The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}