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{
    "id": 307188,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/307188/?format=api",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Regrettably, I watched with dismay what hon. Wetangula said. I will say this without fear of any contradiction. We are not debating whether or not we will pass this Bill. It is a must that we pass this Bill because we have a constitutional deadline. That is not what is being debated. What is before us as a result of this process is, will we give Kenyans a Bill that will be watertight in intelligence gathering while still remaining within the framework of the Constitution? That is one thing that we must achieve. Again, we need to understand what constitutes the functions of any intelligence agency all over the world. Let us not confuse between the role of the police and that of the National Intelligence Service. If you look at the history of this critical organization, and I want to go on record, you will find that there is no Kenya without the NSIS. That is true as far as intelligence gathering is concerned and as far as remaining vigilant is concerned. However, if you go back to our history, you will see that we have had the police, the Special Branch and the formation of the NSIS in 1999. I am here and I served in the Committee on the National Administration and Local Government in 1999. Today, most Members who are contributing - I do not want to use unparliamentarily word--- Look at the title. It is “National Intelligence Services (NIS)”. We have moved from “National Security Intelligence Service” to the NIS. You need to find out what has caused the change of title. Again, because most hon. Members have travelled, I want them to compare. Our Constitution has borrowed a lot from the American example. I want you to compare the role of the FBI and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if you go to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters here, it is possible that you will find an officer in the name of FBI, but you will never know who is serving in CIA. In every jurisdiction, the NIS is expected to remain omnipresent. They are expected to be present at all times. They can recruit you and pay you double salary even as the Speaker and you remain in their payroll while you are still serving Parliament. That is the essence of the NIS. The kind of description of the NIS we are giving here, we will create a jurisdiction of conflict. I want to report here that over the last three weeks we have engaged the services of the NIS, the different players, the constitutional implementation, Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and the Kenya National Human Rights Commission. We agreed on certain critical amendments. The NIS agrees these amendments are critical for them in order to enhance their position. We will move those amendments at the appropriate time. Clause 18 deals with the functions and powers of members of the service. Basically, this is a duplication of the Police Act. It is not feasible. For example, an NIS officer arrests a suspect. The individual is taken to court, but the NIS officer is not supposed to be a witness in a case. The information is supposed to be implemented by another agency. This officer is supposed to remain discrete and all over. Therefore, there we have agreed that it is not in their interests. We will legislate this today and tomorrow we will have issues of police brutality and other issues. We will find the Director General of a respectable intelligence agency appearing before the UN Human Rights Rapporteur. Is that the organisation we want to create? We will find the Director of NSIS being called as a witness in a case that involves a criminal element. That is not their role. The work of the NIS is to collect, collate, synthesize and disseminate to the relevant Government agencies for implementation. This is what we must achieve in this Bill."
}