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"speaker_name": "Sen. Khaniri",
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"content": "My apologies, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to thank you for the opportunity and start by saying that it is a very good thing that this House has dedicated the entire afternoon to condole with the families that have been affected by this tragedy. Mr. Speaker, Sir, from the very outset, on my own behalf, my family and the people of Vihiga County, I want to convey our message of condolence to the families who have lost their loved ones and wish those who were injured and are in hospitals a very speedy recovery. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as the County of Vihiga, I have confirmed that we have lost five members in this tragedy, which translates to close to 10 per cent of the casualties. We lost a prominent lawyer, Mr. Peter Simani, who until his death was the chairman of the Political Parties Tribunal. We also lost a young girl, Wilkister Mboku, and a young man, Morris Adembetsa. I want to send my condolences to these distinguished residents of Vihiga County. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we condemn what happened in the strongest terms. This should not have happened to our country in the first place. My brother, Moses Wetangula, told us about the Luhya saying, about the fox and chicken. I will deviate from the Luhya practice and do the two things simultaneously, that is, condemn the fox and blame the chicken. As we thank our forces for what they have done and the Red Cross and those who have come out to help save lives, there are a few questions that are coming to the fore. The first question is what Sen. Sonko brought up here; the issue of our intelligence services. Year in, year out, we vote so much money to this particular arm of the Government. But we are learning that the perpetrators of this heinous act practiced in the very place where they hit, that is, the Westgate. Where were our intelligence services? What were they doing? Mr. Speaker, Sir, the second issue is the information that is coming out from Westgate. We are getting a lot of contradicting information. The Cabinet Secretary is giving his version, the head of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) is giving another version and then, the Deputy President comes in and gives another version. The media is confused because it gives some information and then withdraws it later on. We want to have one source of information when there is a tragedy like this, so that we know that there is one spokesman that the whole country will listen to. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on the issue of security, Westgate and Westlands are some of the most secure and well-guarded places in our Republic. So, the question is: If this can happen in Westgate, how about the other areas that do not have as much sophisticated security as Westlands and Westgate? It is saddening and we have to re-look into the whole issue of the security of our country, and ensure that all places of our Republic are well-secured. Mr. Speaker, Sir, coming back to the issue of information flow, we were told that the first and second floors of Westgate were secured and manned by our security forces. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}