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{
"id": 194506,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/194506/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Prof. Saitoti",
"speaker_title": "The Minister of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security",
"speaker": {
"id": 205,
"legal_name": "George Muthengi Kinuthia Saitoti",
"slug": "george-saitoti"
},
"content": " Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me attempt to respond to the observation made by Dr. Khalwale. It is true that, in my Ministerial Statement, I did not give the details of the registration numbers of the two vehicles, which had carried the people who are alleged to have committed the murder, precisely because the police were not there and the information that we have was given to the police by wananchi . So, the registration numbers of the two vehicles were not given; only the registration number of the vehicle which, incidentally, had carried two victims, was given because it was in a ditch. That is why I did not give the registration numbers of the other two cars. The key thing is to make a very affirmative statement here, that the position of the Government is that this matter is being treated as murder. It is a criminal act and the whole May 13, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 977 investigation is essentially meant to nail down those who killed these people. Whoever they are, they will be dealt with in accordance with the law. That is the position. Whoever they are, and irrespective of their designations that may be attached to them, the position of the Government is that they will be dealt with. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there are things that I want to say here. The hon. Member has stated that it is the media that gave the information that these people could have been killed by the police. That information is being sought from the media; investigations are being carried out, so that the media should not just make a speculative statement, or a write-up. The media should be able to state the source of its information. Did the police do it? We are not here to defend anybody. The Government will not defend anybody who wants to kill other Kenyans irrespective of who that person is. So, that information must be given out. But a general statement that does not carry any justification is hollow. But, nevertheless, to the extent that such a general statement is made on a matter that is as grave as murder, proper information will be sought. Proper investigations will be carried out from those media houses to give the information. I think that is absolutely important. The media said that they know the people who were involved and their designations and again, they will be required to give that information. I would end up prejudicing the case, to say that they belong to this or that group. We want that information to be given to the police in the course of the investigations. Indeed, those who have made those blank statements will be required to give that information. The fact that many public figures have made statements on how to handle the Mungiki menace, to me, I think it is indicative of the fact that the whole issue is a fairly complex one. Indeed, the hon. Member of Parliament has said that whatever you do to one group, naturally, you must also do it to similar groups. To me, and I want to say this to the august House, we are dealing with a complex issue. It is important that we must admit that, it is very complex as it is. Certainly, it cannot be addressed in a very simple way. It has to be addressed in a very well-considered and thought-out way. This is exactly what we are doing. We are studying this issue very carefully. We cannot wish away the fact that we have a problem. Like hon. Members have said, we have a problem including the Mt. Elgon issue. These are not problems that arose only yesterday or even today. These have been long standing issues and we have to get down to the root cause of these issues. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, having said that, let me hasten to add that as a Government, we have a responsibility to protect the lives and property of Kenyans. We are required to do so by law and we cannot compromise on that responsibility. I think that is very clear. As I said, we are dealing with an extremely complex matter. It is not just about one group because we have a number of militia and we have to address these issues. We have the Mungiki and the Sabaot Land Defence Force in Mt. Elgon. We also have a problem in the Coast Province. We have some other organisations like the Taliban and the Chinkororo and so on. There is an assortment of militia. So, this issue must be addressed clearly and seriously. We have to think about all these groups. So, that is our position."
}