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{
    "id": 307432,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/307432/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 475,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Haji",
    "speaker_title": "The Minister of State for Defence and Acting Minister of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 26,
        "legal_name": "Yusuf Mohammed Haji",
        "slug": "yusuf-haji"
    },
    "content": " Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to very sincerely thank Members of Parliament for overwhelmingly supporting this Bill, notwithstanding their concerns about certain areas which we will discuss maybe tomorrow in a more detailed manner. I would like to plead with hon. Members and members of the public to always be alert about the security of this country. We are facing a very critical moment in the history of this country because of the many illegal gangs that are operating here. There is the Al Shabaab, Al Qaeda and other people who are not interested in the welfare of this country. It is very unfortunate that we, as hon. Members, instead of being cautious about our nation, we are fond of bashing individual officers and security organizations. We paint them very badly in the eyes of other countries. We do this through our media houses and the internet. It is a pity that there is no time we have stood here to congratulate any one of them for a job well done. During the debate, a number of hon. Members misinterpreted some of the clauses in this Bill. For example, they said the Director-General has power to arrest and investigate. I think that is erroneous because that clause says he has to apply to a judge and not even to a magistrate for such action to be taken. If the judge is satisfied, he will either authorize or not authorize such action to be taken. I think that is a good way of dealing with the security of this country. Similarly, these officers are dealing with criminals, and I think they have the right to protect their lives. To say that they should not carry firearms is not good. Even under the Act, they are not going to carry firearms because they want. The Director-General has to be satisfied that an officer who is applying to be armed, he is being armed because he is going to attend to a very serious issue. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, due to time constraint, and given the fact that there are two more Bills to do deal with, I beg to move."
}