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"speaker_name": "Mr. Bahari",
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"legal_name": "Abdul Bahari Ali Jillo",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to the Vote of the Ministry of State for Administration and National Security. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, from the outset, I want to underscore the significance of this Ministry in trying to create the right environment for economic activities in this country. We know quite well that without security and order, no activity can take place in this country. That is how fundamental this Ministry is. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I must hasten to add that this Ministry has a gigantic task to accomplish. In spite of any pronouncements, the performance of the Ministry has not been good. Since this Ministry is critical, I will speak very openly. If I were to give a rating, I would give the Ministry a grade D. That is on the lower side of the scale. This is for obvious reasons. I know some of these have been mentioned. Mr. Serut was here with the issue of Mt. Elgon. There is also the issue of Marsabit where we lost our colleagues from both sides of the House - some of us are even lucky to be alive because we were scheduled to be in that flight. It is for other reasons that we were not there. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, cattle rustling all over Pokot, Doldol and other parts of this country. The border incursions and the Tana River problem. It is a very emotional matter. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I dare say that if we were serious all these situations could have been handled at very earlier stages. I come from some of these areas and I know exactly what happens. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, minor problems reported by residents of these areas are never attended to at initial stages. Before most of these crimes take place, I have no doubt that the residents report impending danger. At the best, the response at those early stages has been lukewarm because of the attitude of those people responsible. When all these have happened, there is no way we can give a better rating than what I said. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in my view, the problem does not stop there. Security issues, as they are today, need to be handled in a different way from the way they were handled when we got independence. We need to dialogue and that must be encouraged from the top to the lower levels. Dialogue is lacking! It is good to have a free environment where officers can exchange their views freely without fear of intimidation or victimisation. That way, they will own the process and will do their best to root the problems out. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in many of these areas, committees of peace and conflict, particularly in Isiolo, have been put in place. Out of their own initiative and sacrifice, they have done a wonderful job. However, this is not appreciated in any way. These people are not properly facilitated. If there is any facilitation, much of it comes from the civil society and Non- Government Organisations (NGOs), yet the Government has kept quiet about this. I want the Minister to tell us exactly how they have facilitated those committees of peace and conflict resolution. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is a need to re-look and re-engineer the entire security process. The people in conflict-prone areas are not properly supported in terms of transport and equipment. When there is a cattle rustling incident somewhere and you talk to the OCPD, he says: \"My officers are in the field and I have not got any feedback!\" What kind of reply is that? July 12, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2497 Radio calls can do very well in police vehicles. Police officers can communicate on satellite equipment. They should be given the right communication equipment. The business of saying: \"The officer is in the field and I have not got communication\", is irrelevant in those instances. Let police vehicles be equipped with relevant communication equipment. That way, they can communicate as the incidents happen. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have heard about training of chiefs and other officers. We have also heard that customer care desks have been established in police stations. It is one thing to have a customer care desk. But it is another thing to be customer friendly! Those are two different things. Quality circles are not anything new. It is only new, perhaps, to the Civil Service, where we are trying to re-introduce it. We have not yet achieved much. We must encourage free participation of those officers in decision-making. But when we boss around, we will not go far. I must say that some of the officers who are doing a good job are from the Administration Police (AP). The APs are in very remote areas. They are very flexible. I must say that they are fairly effective particularly in arid and semi-arid areas. They need to be supported with the necessary equipment like radio calls. That is because if you are in Ileret and there is no radio call-- I am sure most of these officers do not know where Ileret is. You need to equip them so that they can communicate. We should equip those in border points and remote areas well. Those officers have been persevering a lot. I must thank them for the good job they are doing in every corner of this country. Even where there are no houses, they have continued to live in whatever is there! That is on a good note. But we should not be mesmerised by the issue of customer service desks and service charters. We must be able to make use of those instruments. Those instruments are for monitoring, evaluation and implementation."
}