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{
"id": 214525,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/214525/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Ogur",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 343,
"legal_name": "Tobias Orao Ochola Ogur",
"slug": "tobias-ogur"
},
"content": ". That is all walls are made up of mabati . They suffer from extreme heat and cold conditions, depending on the weather. We treat them as if they are not our brothers, sons and daughters. It is terrible! Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when we have a big traffic jam here when it is raining, 2424 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 11, 2007 police officers help us to ease it. They stand there whether it is raining or not. I think we are not justified in allowing our sons and daughters to join the police force when we do not bother about their salaries. We do not bother even if police officers stay in one grade until they retire. We even discourage our girls to join the police force because of the negative attitude we have towards this profession, yet the recruitment of police officers is done in the open. If one wants to join the police force, he is asked to run in the open and not at night. In Nyatike, potential recruits run up the hills during the recruitment process to see if they are strong enough to do the job. Why do we not make them strong again by giving them good salaries? After they are recommended for recruitment into the police force, they still have to show their examination certificates. So, the police recruitment is similar to that of any other profession. People take up this profession with the desire to protect us. They would like to be good people in the society. Look at what is happening in Mt. Elgon! I am afraid that I cannot go there. I cannot even drive there, but policemen easily go their. They offer their lives to protect others in that area and yet we deny them risk allowances. We refuse to give them good salaries and good houses. They do not even have water! Why should they go far away to fetch water and then come back to protect us? What about their wives and children? Why are we so unkind? Why, and yet we have a lot of money, some of which is stolen? We do not channel that money to the right people, that is, the police. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in Nyatike Constituency, we are at the end of the border with Tanzania. We would like policemen to be around there all the time. When one lot works in the morning, another one should replace them in the evening because we do not want that area to be unguarded. Those who come to work in the morning stay their hungry until the next lot comes to relieve them. Why can we not give them something? This is because we are actually punishing them. We are actually encouraging them to be corrupt. In fact, we are the ones who are corrupt because we encourage other people to be corrupt. We are doing it! Anytime you want to have a chat with a policeman, you think you will be seen to be paying him or her some money, something which you ought not to have done. It is because you feel that they are not human beings. The way we treat them shows clearly that we disregard them. I support the idea that this people should be taken care of by the Government. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there was one thing which I saw in my constituency where policemen may volunteer to go look for criminals. The criminals could be aware that the policemen are after them. These criminals are ready to kill the policemen. The policemen will not run away, but the criminals will be forced to run away by the policemen. In other words, the policemen are ready to die for us while protecting us. Why can the Government not go along with what brother Ojode wants them to be given? It is clear, good, honest and a thing that we already ought to be doing. What is wrong with us? What is actually wrong with us is that we are selfish, and yet we want someone to be a Commissioner of Police, the Inspector of Police, the Officer Commanding Station (OCS) and so on? Why do we create all these categories when the whole starting point is so hated? Why do we do that? Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those remarks, I would like to say that we do what has been asked because it is good."
}