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{
"id": 214475,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/214475/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Ojode",
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"speaker": {
"id": 197,
"legal_name": "Joshua Orwa Ojode",
"slug": "joshua-ojode"
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move:- THAT, in view of the escalating cost of living and the skewed employment opportunities available for the young educated people in the country; observing that crime rates have consequently gone up partly owing to the inadequate training, equipping and remunerating of the police force, thereby, lowering the morale of the police force to fight crime effectively; this House urges the Government to immediately initiate the payment of risk, medical and extraneous allowances to the police force, in addition to any other appropriate allowances and benefits like insurance on life. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the first recruitment of policemen in Kenya was done in 1887 by the Imperial British East Africa, which was to provide security for its stores within Mombasa. The coast-based company was under Sir William Mackinon who saw it fit to have security to guard the premises of their company. Why am I giving the genesis of that? It is because since 1887 to date, our policemen are still being underpaid. Our policemen are not being given allowances. Our policemen are not being supplied with bullet-proof vests. There is no equipment for policemen. They are still being called names. Some of these names include carjackers, bribe- takers et cetera, et cetera . Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is quite sad that after having attained Independence in 1963 to date, our policemen cannot be given enough allowances as other institutions. We are talking about security, which is a basic human right. As a nation, we regard security as a matter of priority. Some of the questions which kenyans ask are whether the police services in our localities have become better, worse or much worse! Is it just the same? The answer is that it is just the same or it is getting much worse. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if we go by the crime figures, for the last three years, in the months of July, January, September and May, we had the highest number of crimes reported. Why was that so? It is because of lack of new modern technological equipment which is normally used to combat crime. The gist of the matter is that the morale has gone down. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Mover of the Vote for the Ministry of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security said yesterday that they have acquired certain equipment in order to improve the services of the Police Force. He spoke about an electronic fingerprint identification equipment which the Government had to purchase at the cost of Kshs32 million. But is that enough to combat crime? Just electronic equipment for fingerprints! No! It is important for us to treat our policemen as people. If you look at other institutions, you will find that they are being given good allowances, which will take care of their needs. The Government needs to expand its facilities, equipment and technology in order to serve people effectively. We have July 11, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2417 officers sharing crowded rooms with their spouses. What happens? When your spouse is around and you have to share the rooms, there are two things. The host can either go outside and get a hotel room in order to share with his spouse. Why is that so? It is because the Government is not doing anything to give adequate shelter to our police officers. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, you will be surprised if I gave you a sample of the salaries and allowances the policemen are getting. A police inspector gets a basic salary of Kshs30,240, with a rental house allowance of Kshs3,000. We are talking about a police inspector getting a rental house allowance of Kshs3,000, and a medical allowance of Kshs990. If a police inspector gets a medical allowance of Kshs990 and contracts malaria, Coartem tablets for malaria go for Kshs700. If he is infected by Typhoid, a full dose of cyproxin goes for Kshs7,000. So, it means that the police inspector will definitely die, because he will not afford the whole dose of cyproxin tablets. That shows you that we do not want to assist the police officers to enjoy better health. I am not talking about insurance. There is no insurance cover! There is no life insurance cover for any police officer, leave alone an inspector. With Kshs3,000 as house allowance for an inspector of police, which estates in Nairobi would you recommend to this person to live in? It will have to be a slum area. Further, they are saying that if this police inspector dies on duty, his dependants will be given his three months salary. That means Kshs30,240 times three. That is what his dependants will get, which gives us a total of Kshs90,720. Maybe the inspector has five school- going children. What will happen to his family members?"
}