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{
    "id": 318589,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/318589/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 225,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "We are talking about a situation where the police felt that they could not engage at that point. The President gave a curfew order but the police could not enforce it. We had an attack on an Orma Village and two days later, we had an attack on a Pokomo Village. It seems as if there is a clearly organized militia on both sides which seems to operate outside the law and does not care about the police. The militia can approach the police during the day, without fearing guns, simply attack and then disappear into the forests. On the basis of that, we believe that it is now time for the President to deploy, through the Constitution, the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) on the ground. I request this, being very well advised, that our Defence Forces have special training when it comes to issues to do with forests, valleys and the terrain in that area. They are able and quite capable of dealing with that kind of situation unlike our regular police officers. We do not want people to die again. We also do not want bandits and the militia from whichever tribe to rule the area again. These people must be pursued into the forest; these people must be arrested and these people must be dealt with with all the force of the law. If you look at this Motion, you will see that all we are asking now is for the President to be given a blank cheque to come in with the military as and when he thinks is necessary because from our own civilian perspective, the police have failed to contain the situation. In the previous Constitution, the President could deploy the military when he thought it was necessary. However, in the new dispensation or Constitution, for purposes of restoring peace in any part of the country, the President requires, under Article 241(3), to get parliamentary approval. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Motion is only saying that let the President get that approval right there. He is the Commander-in-Chief and we are not the Commander-in-Chief. Parliament is not the Commander-in-Chief but it is doing its part. We are responding to the request by the people. We are also responding to what we have seen the police go through. We are saying that let this issue concerning going to the forest, looking for arms in those areas and following the militia be dealt with by the people who are best suited to deal with that. The police are not being over-turned all together because once those people are arrested, the Defence Forces will not deal with them. Those people will be taken to the police and investigations will be carried out. I am completely convinced that you cannot have 200 or 300 people living in a forest, eating, drinking and dressing in uniform without having a sponsor or a warlord behind them. I believe that these people must have a story to tell about who is behind and the motive. So, once the KDF has secured and pacified the area and arrested these people, they should be interrogated and dealt with severely. We need to find who in this part of the world, at this time and with the new Constitution, can be behind activities that can create instability in a whole county. Therefore, I urge that we give this blank cheque to his Excellency the President so that there may never be any reason for him to come and say that they did not have parliamentary approval and as a result, they could not go in to protect life and property. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am urging this House to move with haste to approve this Motion because we have been so badly hit. The main economic activities are farming, cattle keeping, fishing and trading. These activities are badly affected when we have any form of instability. The people are poor and they have become Internally"
}