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"speaker_name": "Mr. Muriithi",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me an opportunity to contribute to this important Motion. The Minister has done everything possible to control crime in our country. But there are a few areas which require a lot of improvement. The salaries of police officers should be increased to avoid corruption. If a police officer is paid Kshs5,000 for 30 days work and there is no other way of earning money, he or she will be tempted to accept a reward. If that is done, it will reduce crime and the number of people who die as a result of accidents on our roads. As said by my colleagues, that ratio is too low considering the rate of growth in Kenyan population. The recruitment should be increased, probably three times. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the National Security Intelligence Service (NSIS) has been allocated a lot of money in this Budget. However, they do very little as far as gathering of intelligence information is concern. I do not seen any work that they do apart from using state-of- the-art vehicles. If they were working properly, the Mungiki adherents would not have caused so much suffering to our people or this Government would not be facing threats from any quarter. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there was no point for the police officers to have gone to villages to kill innocent people whom they alleged to be members of the outlawed Mungiki sect. If the NSIS was doing its work effectively, they would have been in Mathare and Murang'a District. They would have interacted with ordinary Kenyans there and obtained information which would have led to the arrest of those Mungiki adherents. They would have been arrested and taken to court without causing so much pain to innocent wananchi . Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other day, I was misquoted that I am opposed to police officers being provided with proper housing. I commend the Minister for what he has done so far, but a lot needs to be done. It is a pity that even to date, police officers are still staying in ramshackle sheds. These people are human beings and they have families. When you put two married men in a single room, obviously, they cannot enjoy their conjugal rights. Therefore, they July 11, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2469 should be separated in order for them to live well like any other Kenyans. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, corruption is rampant in the recruitment of police officers. Sometimes hon. Members of Parliament provide financial assistance to enable would-be candidates to join the police force. If they are recruited as police officers, then they will continue with corruption. This must be avoided. It is very hard to know how corruption is taking place because it is deeply rooted in this country. With all due respect, the senior officers are also involved in corruption. It is, therefore, not possible for us to arrest the situation. Perhaps, the Minister would be able to do it. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I appreciate that the work of the police is sometimes excessive. We shall never forget what happened in Mathare. It reminds us of Soweto in South Africa where police used dogs, harassed and unleashed terror on innocent citizens during the Apartheid regime. This should not be the case. I call upon the Government to immediately dismiss the trigger-happy officers. The community policing programme is now dying because police officers are not friendly to members of the public. If they were friendly, people like taxi men would have helped them to track down the criminals in this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, one of the hon. Members talked about compensation for police officers who die in the line of their duty. There was an insurance cover in place which was very good, but it was withdrawn. It provided a cover for death and five years salary was paid to dependants when an officer died. I do not know why this cover was withdrawn and whether the Government has put a similar scheme in place. The family of the officer who was shot in Banana early this year has not been compensated. I would request the Minister to make sure that an insurance scheme is put in place for police officers as soon as possible. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I support Mrs. Nyiva Mwendwa's view on chiefs and their assistants. However, in my constituency, there is nothing to improve on. The chiefs and their assistants do not have offices. They operate under trees. It is very embarrassing. When it rains, it causes havoc and they are not able to perform or render services to Kenyans. In my constituency, we found it necessary to construct some temporary offices for chiefs, so that they can, at least, host their flags to show dignity and respect to our nation. The Ministry should do everything possible to help those chiefs because they are helping the Government to stamp out any banditry in their areas. With those few remarks, I beg to support the Motion."
}