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"id": 194053,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/194053/?format=api",
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Ethuro",
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"legal_name": "Ekwee David Ethuro",
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"content": "Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I beg to second this Motion. I want to first of all thank Mr. C. Kilonzo for bringing this Motion. This is one of those very important Motions. I would not even want to waste time on it. If I were the Minister responsible, and I see that my good friend, Mr. Khaniri, is here, I would just come and say, \"Yes, I agree\" and we terminate the discussion. However, I have a responsibility to second the Motion. In seconding it, I am in consideration of personal safety and national security. All of us are politicians and you know how we came here. Most of the time you will get funny messages sent to you. You get funny phone calls; people abuse you and there is not much you can do about it. This is because somebody just walked into a shop, got a sim card, used it and disposed of it. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, just two weeks ago, I got a really bad one involving--- I knew it was the work of my political detractors. I just had the sense of dismissing it with the contempt it deserved. It would really have caused problems with the Provincial Administration and the rest of the people. What this Motion is asking for is really obvious. It is a matter of common sense. Sometimes I really wonder whether our business in Parliament is to remind the Government of some obvious things! When you have conflict--- The mutiny by the prison wardens became a national strike just because of mobile phone short messages. When we are travelling along our highways, anybody who wants maybe to eliminate or rob you can organise that so easily. In fact, if you saw the account on NTV, on the death of the Mungiki leaders, messages were just being sent. They were giving registration numbers of vehicles during the day; that they have left Nairobi, they are heading to Naivasha and now they have been killed. I have my suspicion that those numbers may not be registered. If this law was in place, where we register all these numbers, the police work would be so simplified. They would have been able to get those people who were responsible. This 1026 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES May 14, 2008 is because the person who was sending those messages was fully aware of what was happening with a lot of precision. These are the kind of things that we are talking about. This Motion is so important even for our security services. They need it like yesterday. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I just want to appeal to Safaricom Limited, Celtel and other mobile phone service providers that they need to extend their services to the rest of the country. In Turkana District, we have Lodwar, Lokichoggio and other big centres which, fortunately, have those services. But on the highways, like between Lodwar and Lokichoggio where we have a lot of highway banditry, if the services were being provided it would have been even easier for those criminals and the police to respond. The Minister should compel the service providers to ensure that, at least, they cover the rest of the nation. Maybe for economic considerations, if they feel that it may not be that viable, which I suspect is not the case--- I am aware that they are actually trying to do something. We need to encourage and expedite the process. But even if that were to be the case, the Government should have a commitment in terms of ensuring equitable development across the board and to underwrite in some of those cases to ensure that the rest of Kenya is covered by this very important facility of communication. In fact, my statistics show that people from North Eastern actually raise a lot of money compared to people from other places. We do more of talking and, therefore, generate more revenue to the service providers. So, I am making an appeal to the Minister that places like Kerio in Turkana, Kalokol, my place of birth, and Lorgum should get these services. People who live there need to appreciate these things, so that they know that their son is in parliament and he has made sure that these services come to them quickly. I would wish that either the Minister or Mover, finally, would consider actually amending the Motion in the sense that instead of just ending this move with the service providers, let the service providers be agents of the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), so that they collect the information because they are at the entry point. Once they have the information, that information should be with a Government regulator and not service provider, so that when the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is looking for money, it is easier for a Government regulator than a service provider--- When the police will be looking for that information, it is easier for a Government regulator to be the provider of that information even to other Government agencies. With those few remarks, I beg to second the Motion."
}