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"id": 214769,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/214769/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Kiunjuri",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Energy",
"speaker": {
"id": 175,
"legal_name": "Festus Mwangi Kiunjuri",
"slug": "mwangi-kiunjuri"
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I stand to support this Vote. I also want to congratulate the Minister and the Ministry for the good work that they have been doing for us. If you look at the progress made by this Ministry, considering what used to happen in the past--- It is only four years since this Government came into power. It is only those who do not want to see or hear who will not recommend and commend the work that is being done by this Ministry. We have come from far. Some of us have been in the Opposition in this House and we used to ask Questions, but we never used to get any answers that were implemented. Everything was supposed to be done when funds became available. Even to get an opportunity to go and see the Minister of State for Administration and National Security or get anywhere close to those offices was impossible! Therefore, I believe that today, hon. Members, either in the Opposition or in the Government, are able to access Government offices, including the 2450 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 11, 2007 Ministry of State for Administration and National Security. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Ministry has been able to distribute resources equitably, especially to those areas that have been affected. I had an opportunity to visit upper Eastern Province and parts of North Eastern Province to campaign there. Today, hon. Members from those areas can bear testimony that the rate of insecurity is not the same as it was four years down the line. They can testify that there are additional police posts, police stations, equipment to fight crime and additional vehicles. That means that they have really benefitted from the Government. There is also progress in Rift Valley Province. The rate of crime has completely come down. We are no longer fighting hard to get police officers distributed equally. We can talk of new police posts and police stations. Those were things of the past. The government has also increased the number of districts. In Turkana District, for example, the people there never thought in their lives that they would get a new district. They now have a new district. That also applies to areas like Kajiado and Laikipia districts. Generally, that can be seen all over the country. But what hon. Members can see is what they can interpret politically. They are forgetting that it is not only the additional districts; there has been additional divisions and locations, which are more effective than the districts. It is good for hon. Members not only to support this Vote, but to wait for the Minister of State for Administration and National Security to table the proposed districts so that we can vote for them. They will, for the first time, be legitimised and things will be done according to the law of this country. To those who are also interested in having new districts, they should also be considered. Leaders should sit down and address those issues in a positive way, so that they do not affect any community whatsoever. On the morale of our security forces, it is important that this Vote is passed. In future, we should give additional money to enable the Minister and the relevant authorities to make sure that there is morale in the police force and other personnel who are in charge of security in this country. We are talking about administration police officers getting additional pay. Police officers are now getting better housing facilities. That was a thing of the past. Today, we can talk of a percentage of officers in the forces who are enjoying good housing. If that trend continues, because this Government will be voted in again come December, 2007, we guarantee Kenyans that, in the next five years, we shall have our police force and other security forces living comfortably. They should not share any facilities, and especially houses. I was cracking a joke with one of the officers near where I stay. I was asking him whether these days they ask themselves those questions they used to ask themselves when they were visited by their spouses, because they used to live three or four in the same house and he told me that those are now things of the past. That means that their morale has been raised. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the most important thing is to take care of our police officers. We should not blame them. Many of them are being killed in the line of duty. It is high time we came up with a law to make sure that they are properly covered. An insurance cover should be given to those who die in the line of duty. At the same time, we should make sure that the immediate family members left behind by dead police officers are taken care of immediately. We should not have a situation where when a police officer is shot or dies in the line of duty, the family is not able to educate or feed its children in the next one month. These officers should be taken seriously. Mr. Speaker, Sir, for the first time in history, all of us are benefiting from the services of police officers. There is no hon. Member of Parliament in this House who does not have a security officer attached to him or her. Even those in the Opposition have, at least, an Administration Police (AP) officer attached to them. We should know that police officers are human beings. If they are comfortable, they will be able to take care of us. We should be the first people to pass the relevant laws in this House, to make sure they are comfortable. Mr. Speaker, Sir, people say that the Minister of State for Administration and National July 11, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2451 Security is tough. However, I say he is not. He has not been able to implement the forensic laboratory project to enable our forces to fight insecurity. This is one of the best things he should do for this country. We shall continue making a lot of noise. Members of the Opposition will still continue talking, but when we are hit by crime, it is the Minister who is blamed. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I believe we should have enough funds to ensure that we have equipment to fight crime. We should have very powerful police radios and surveillance cameras all over our streets. We should also have gun detectors. This is the only way we can fight the wave of crime in this country. Otherwise, if we continue complaining about crime in this country and asking the Minister to fight crime and yet, we are not giving him instruments to do so, it is an exercise in futility. We would like to see Kenyans walk comfortably in the streets of Nairobi, knowing that the police force would be able to catch up with whoever attacks them. It is high time we had surveillance cameras all over this country. What happened the other day when there was a bomb blast - I do not know whether it was a bomb blast or a hand grenade - we would not have gone ahead trying to ask who did it. We would have monitored them through the surveillance cameras. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we are talking about people having guns everywhere. It is true that if we have gun detectors, we shall be able to eliminate this by half. Nobody would be carrying firearms anyhow if they know that it can be detected, unless one is a police officer. These are the things we should do. At the end of the day, we have the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) to investigate any corruption dealings in buying these equipment. We should not tie the Minister's hands in his effort to fight corruption and other crimes in this country. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I agree that there are so many roadblocks on our roads. Sometimes, we are even worried about the security officers manning our roads. You find only two police officers manning a road block. If four people approach these police officers even if they are not armed, they will easily snatch guns from those police officers on that particular roadblocks. It is dangerous to let two police officers man a roadblock. It is good that we reduce the unnecessary road blocks on our roads. We have some cases in our constituencies where we get a police post with four police officers and three of them, man a roadblock. Then you wonder what their work is if they are permanently on the roadblocks. Are they not supposed to offer us security? This should be corrected. If that is done, we will be able to have enough officers to fight crime. The roadblocks should also have enough police officers. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to support."
}