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"id": 214788,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/214788/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Dr. Wekesa",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Science and Technology",
"speaker": {
"id": 137,
"legal_name": "Alfred B. Wekesa Sambu",
"slug": "alfred-sambu"
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me an opportunity to support this Motion. In the first instance, I would like to congratulate the Minister and his officers for what they have done. They are working under very difficult conditions. They are dealing with people who are moving around with guns in our towns and villages. They have a shortage of manpower and equipment. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to commend the Minister for what he has done in my own constituency. Cattle rustling was happening on a daily basis. We were losing many people on the border of Trans Nzoia and West Pokot. The Minister assisted us by bringing enough security on the border. I can now say that people in my constituency are concentrating on development. I wish to urge him to increase the security personnel that he has posted there. That way, we can have peace both on the Kenya-Uganda border and between West Pokot and Trans Nzoia. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, while I am at that point, I think it is very important that we, leaders, must guard what we talk to the public. We can contribute a lot by saying the right things to those who have elected us to this House. I know of instances in this country where leaders have gathered and have been very careless in their talk. That has resulted in many people dying. So, I am urging my colleagues to contribute to peace in this country. We can do so by showing the way and saying the right things to our people. We should also cultivate a culture of brotherhood, so that the issue of tribalism is played down. We should be able to visit each other. I should be able to go to my colleagues in other communities and show the people that we are working together. Indeed, we have tried to do that between ourselves and West Pokot. Leaders in West Pokot and leaders in Trans Nzoia are working together. They are coming together to conduct Harambees. That is a good way of showing those who elected us that we are working together as brothers and sisters. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, you are aware - and it has been repeated by my colleagues - about small arms. There are so many small arms in Kenya. It is a problem to the Minister and a problem to peace. We must have a gun law. I think the Attorney-General should really work out a gun law, so that anyone found with guns of any description is sent to the gallows. We read in the press recently that somebody in China, possibly a pharmacist - I am not sure - was selling drugs that had not been tested - drugs that could actually kill! That person has been sent to the gallows! We need a law that can deal with those people who handle legal arms. If they think that they are going to run around with small arms then they should know that once they are caught, they will be in trouble. I urge the Minister to really look at this because it has been done in Uganda. I live very close to the Uganda border. My constituency borders Uganda and I am aware that crime in Uganda has come down. We should visit Uganda to see what happens there. The Minister here should go and sit with the Minister for Internal Security in Uganda and see why it is that Kampala is so peaceful. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, 20 years ago, I would go out and have a nice dinner July 11, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2459 with friends in any part of this town. I cannot do that any more because I am not sure if I will be safe when I enter my house. Indeed, I have been attacked once. I have been a victim of these gun- totting thugs all over the place. As leaders and as a Government, we are worried that there are so many guns in the hands of these criminals. It is high time that we did something. It is common knowledge that the Provincial Administration needs to put its act together. Chiefs should be able to assist the police in their work, possibly by having the elders to assist in identifying criminals. The police reservists ought to be paid some sort of salary. In my constituency, police reservists are doing a good job but they are not paid. I think my colleagues have repeated this; we need to recognise the importance of the elders who assist the chiefs. We must identify the police reservists and both groups should be paid by the Government because they do a good job. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we now have many district centres being built including in my own district. We have a new district called Trans-Nzoia East and we have managed to identify a site where were are going to build a new district centre. I want to congratulate the hon. Member for Kitui West for saying that some of our offices in which the chief and police work from need to be refurbished. You are aware that we are living in a technological era and we must see computers in police offices. They must have equipment that is being used by the rest of the world. If you are driving a car in London and you go through a red light, there are cameras there. This will assist the technological advancement that we have today, which can do a lot. So, it beats me to go in a police station and see that people are working in very small offices without equipment like computers, telephones and other modern equipment. We should be looking at that area because it will help in cutting down crime. I know that at the borders of our country, there is a lot of crime that goes on. I am thinking of my own constituency where we have so many-- - With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}