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"content": "Before I do that, allow me to give my condolences to the residents of Garsen who woke up to find 50 of their own massacred. One died in Ngao Village, four in Kilelengwani and 48 in Riketa. My condolences go to them and I call upon the Minister in charge of internal security, the Mover of this Bill, to do his best to ensure that the place is well protected, so that we do not have retaliatory acts and that peace is brought to those people. One wonders whether there was no intelligence on the impending attack. As I rise in support of this Bill, I want to echo my colleagues who have called for separation of roles. What is rightfully given to the police by the Constitution and our laws must not be duplicated in this Bill. We support there being the National Security Intelligence Service (NSIS) because it is an important branch of our security apparatus. I support their being fully equipped and also having their own set up through this Act pursuant to our Constitution. The Constitution, and this law, in particular Section 29, calls for the co-operation of the NSIS with other branches of intelligence. If there is that co-operation, they do not need to play their role and also play the role of the police. Through that co-operation, they will be able to get the police service from the police in case of arrests and they will be able to get whatever support they need from other branches of security. I want to say that when we call for police reforms, we should actually focus on broad reforms of the security apparatus. I think that our NSIS is ill-equipped as far as technology is concerned. There are better methods of gathering intelligence these days, including via satellite. That is the sort of modern NSIS that we would like to see. I have heard a colleague talk about security tenure of the Director General. There are some jobs which, by their nature, we should allow those appointing to also decide whether you continue in service. The buck stops with the President in matters of securing the nation, internally and externally. Therefore, the President must have a free hand in appointing the head of the intelligence service. We have already, through an Act of Parliament, given the police competitive hiring and vetting by Parliament, but for NSIS, due to the nature of their duties which entail constant advice to the President and to the Government, this person should be appointed by the President and vetted by Parliament. We must leave some decisions to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the country. These are the best practices all over the world. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is something else we must pick from best practices around the world, which is that when a new president is sworn in, we must presume a vacancy in this particular office. Officers that are appointed by the President, when a new president comes in, whether through election or replacement after passing on of a former president, then we must presume a vacancy when the new president comes in. These positions include the Director-General of Intelligence. An incoming President can confirm or choose to appoint another person who then will be vetted by the National Assembly. The vetting is what brings ownership, because a person of unsuitable character will not pass through vetting. The decision on whom to appoint, I want to ask hon. Members to consider leaving it to the President. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, once we pass this Bill, because we will pass it with amendments, the current office holder must be appointed. The appointment must come afresh whether to him or to another, and then vetting by Parliament, just as we have done to other offices. We passed an Act of Parliament here; although we are going to elections, we want an Inspector-General of Police appointed competitively. Whoever is"
}