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{
    "id": 398083,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/398083/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 218,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. F.K. Wanyonyi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2065,
        "legal_name": "Ferdinard Kevin Wanyonyi",
        "slug": "ferdinard-kevin-wanyonyi"
    },
    "content": "Thank you hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I want to take this opportunity to enlighten those who have no idea about the Kenya Police Reserve. These are unpaid volunteers in the countryside. These are people who have been vetted. For one to become a police reserve, as the previous speaker has just said--- These are people who are actually vetted by the Assistant Chief and Chief and then recommended to the local administration. The local administration then looks at the records; they must have a certificate of good conduct before they are actually enrolled. Thereafter, they are then given arms. We are not talking about a civilian on the street; we are talking about somebody who has been vetted in the village. If somebody is a bad element in the village, he will not be given that opportunity. People do not understand the role of the police reserve. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I come from north Rift; we border the Pokots and Turkanas and I have had that kind of problem. They are saying they do not know why we should arm the civilians. I am saying that these are civilians, yes, but these are people, unlike what the previous speaker said, who do not have degrees or masters in criminology and things like that. We are talking about people in the village who have a good conduct. These are properly vetted people by the Headman, the Assistant Chief, the Chief, the OCS and the OCPD, before they are given the guns. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, given that understanding, I want to say that you all know, as Kenyans, that the United Nations requirement for the police is that you are supposed to have one police man against 450 civilians. In our case here, we have one policeman against over 2000 civilians. That is why we have had problems. You can see what happened at Westgate. You could see some civilians with guns trying to assist, and this is what we are talking about. So, given that background, and the fact that, as stated by hon. Kaluma, we are saying that the police have recognized the KPR as security agents; this is in the Police Act, Section 110. The learned friend can go and check whether it is like that. But that is how they are; they are actually recognised by the Police Service. We are saying that KPRs are doing a very good job out there. As previously mentioned, they give information because they are people on the ground. They will tell the police: “Yes, we have heard a rumour that there is going to be a raid in this area,” and the police can get prepared for that kind of a thing. Secondly, these people sometimes help in preventing crimes in their areas. Also, on the bad terrain that has been mentioned by the Mover of the Motion, particularly in the former North Eastern Province--- Such areas are not reachable by the ordinary police. Even if you have four by four vehicles, you may not be able to get to that area. But with the KPR, it is common sense. We read in the newspapers every day that they are able to access some of the areas that the police cannot access. That is why they are very important; actually we should be able to recognize and give them what they are looking for. They are able to access areas which ordinarily a policeman, or even a group of policemen, cannot access. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}