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{
    "id": 1521968,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1521968/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 227,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, those people, by every deed and action, and each time acts such as this happen to them, it reminds them how far away from the centre they are removed. It also reminds us all, as we sit in the lofty seats of these Houses of Parliament, either in the Senate or the National Assembly, as we pass laws, do budgets, and share resources, to always remember that Kenya is a big country. Therefore, we cannot continue to only invest in certain sections of a country on account of only votes and population. That is why this House, previously has stood firm when we discussed the third generation formula of revenue sharing, because we were intentional. The Senate is a House of equity. That is why, the Senator for Lamu County, who perhaps is voted in by a number equivalent to the votes that may be in just one ward in another county, has the same number of votes as the Senator for Kiambu and Nairobi City counties, who are voted in by other hundreds of thousands. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, one vote is one in this House, because we are a House of equity. That is why many regard us to be the upper House. We may not have the keys to the purse, but, at least, we have the passcode to making this country great through equalizing development and ensuring that resources are shared equally in all the corners of this country. That, in this day and age, it can take this long to get news first out of what happened. The fact that up to now, we continue to struggle to establish where the rest of these other Kenyans are, tells you how much investment is needed in the border and frontier counties of this nation, to ensure that our citizens are protected. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to plead with our colleagues who sit in the National Assembly, those that have the power to budget, that, we must carry out modernization of our police service, so as to ensure that our police can quickly respond to such acts. Second and most importantly, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we expect an apology from the Government of Ethiopia. We also expect a better communication from them on who these criminals are, and what led to them invading the territory of Kenya, and committing these heinous crimes. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do hope that other than that, this will serve as a lesson on the need to keep the corners of this country that are prone to these kinds of attacks where people from other countries attack us and our citizens end up losing life. I plead that even the rest of the country gives this problem the kind of attention that would have been given if 22 people, God forbid, had been shot here in Nairobi. There is an unfortunate trend where life is only equated or given seriousness if it is here in the capital. The other day when we were discussing about the challenges about people disappearing, those that live in the frontier counties and counties such as Turkana were wondering what you are talking about, because that is the occurrence they live with on a daily basis, and when many of their kins disappear, they never get to see them again. Therefore, I would like to challenge that let this not be allowed to be just another occurrence without proper justice being served to the people of Turkana County and them feeling that indeed their people have not lost their lives in vain. 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 and AudioServices, Senate."
}