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"id": 182713,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/182713/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Wamalwa",
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"speaker": {
"id": 148,
"legal_name": "Eugene Ludovic Wamalwa",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I wish to second this Motion by the hon. Member. This is a very, very important Motion which touches on the security of Kenyans. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Chapter 5 of our Constitution, particularly Section 70, provides security as one of the fundamental rights of every Kenyan. Therefore, the right to life, the right to liberty and security of the person under the protection of the law is a right enshrined in our Constitution. It is not a favour that Kenyans are asking for. It is the cardinal duty of any Government to ensure the safety of property and life of every Kenyan. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, as we speak, the crime rate in this country has really risen. We witnessed during the post election violence what happened in this country. This afternoon, I was talking about my constituency. A farm called Gituamba was attacked on 1st January, 2008. An entire village was wiped out! The following week on 16th, there was a raid on a neighbouring farm, Kalaa Farm, and an entire village was razed to the ground. Three weeks after that, another village called Embakasi was wiped out! I am very grateful that the Minister in charge of internal security, Prof. Saitoti, visited my constituency in the company of Mrs. Mugo and Mr. Gumo. They saw for themselves the situation on the ground. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this afternoon, I asked a Question about plans to construct police stations in that area. Up to now, despite the undertaking by the Government to construct police stations in areas affected by violence, none has been constructed in Gituamba, Kalaa and other parts of Trans Nzoia District that were hit by violence and insecurity. As we speak now, insecurity is rising! There was an operation in the neighbouring district of Mt. Elgon, and we commend the Government for the hard work and tough decisions that it had to make, including involving the military, to combat the Sabaot Land Defence Force (SLDF) in that region. But the operation was only on one side. We had a situation where the SDLF operatives fled to Uganda. Many of them fled to Trans Nzoia. As we are speaking now, Trans Nzoia is one of the districts in Kenya that has a lot of guns in the wrong hands. Insecurity has risen! We had village after village being attacked and the most worrying aspect was two weeks ago when a gang that was responsible for the attacks on Embakasi and Kalaa villages was released from police custody under mysterious circumstances! Those fellows have gone back to their areas and are terrorising Kenyan citizens in locations like Kisawai, where we do not have a police post. There is no police post in Kalaa Farm that was attacked. There is no police post or anything in the region. Those people are back, armed and terrorising Kenyans! Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, indeed, we are aware of the constraints that the Government has in combating crime in a country with a fast-growing population and a limited Police Force. But we are urging that it is time the Government reviewed its security arrangements. If you look at Officers Commanding Police Divisions (OCPDs), the divisions that were there at Independence are not the same. In Trans Nzoia, we had an OCPD who was in charge of one district called Trans Nzoia. But today, we have three districts; Trans Nzoia West, Trans Nzoia East and Kwanza. Yet, the same man who was in charge of one district in now in charge of three districts. When something happens in Gituamba and he has to rush there, and there is an attack in Kabolet in the East, he cannot cope! He is only one man! If anything happens in Kwanza, say in Endebbes or Salama, he is not able to cope. It is about time the Government reconsiders its security arrangements in a way that an OCPD should actually be in charge of a division. That way, each 3014 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES October 23, 2008 division in Kenya should have a police station with an OCPD. That should be in the sense of the word, \"a division\" as it is, with a District Officer (DO). So, we should not have an OCPD commanding three districts! I think it is very, very important. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this afternoon, when I was asking my Question, I said that a division called Saboti, with over 75,000 Kenyans, has no single police station! A division called Kiminini in my constituency, with 80,000 Kenyans, has no police station! They all rely on one station called Kitale. The police officers there cannot cope with crime that is rising every day. Guns are flowing in from Mt. Elgon District through the people who are fleeing from SLDF. Others are coming in from Uganda with arms. That is because Mt. Elgon is a border district. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I wish to support this Motion because of the insecurity in this country. It is a very, very important Motion. Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I beg to second."
}