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{
    "id": 401744,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/401744/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 198,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "But I do believe that we must have lost more than 100,000 people in this country for the last five years through the hands of criminals. Mr. Speaker, Sir, just as I said, these people who have really caused a lot of fear into the lives of Kenyans are very young people who are, maybe, also desperate, because they have been tarmacking and looking for work; or they might be young people who have really been intoxicated with drugs, and as I said, they are aged between 14 and 28 years. Sometimes, we are even told by those who lived to tell the story that sometimes they just show their pistols and people think they are toys; and from there, they are told “let us try whether it is a toy” and they shoot. Because of that, many Kenyans live in fear. Mr. Speaker, Sir, you can imagine such a huge number of people just dying simply because of the negligence of young people who have not even been taught on how to handle guns. As we speak, we have quite a number of orphans who were simply created by a single pull of the trigger. Because of that, the lives of those families changed completely. Some of these children were going to the best schools in the country, but now you might find them not even going to school at all. These are families which used to live well and feed well, but right now; you will find that they are a burden to the society just because of the reckless acts of these criminals. Mr. Speaker, Sir, just look at what we have just gone through because of acts of terrorism. For example in the 1998 bombing, some terrorists drove through some gates manned by unarmed guards; also consider what happened just the other day in Westgate. That is why this Motion is requesting the Government to consider vetting all those who apply for firearms; and when they see that they are capable of handling them – where they could even go through some firearms handling training before being licensed – they should allow them to own guns. I do believe that if they are allowed to have firearms – just like the example of the many people we know who own guns and they have always lived happily – they will also live happily. That is why I am requesting in this Motion that the national Government should not just allow one person to vet the applicants and issue the licences; but it should be their responsibility to know that after losing prominent Kenyans, our economy has also been affected. Many of these people we know have been running their enterprises; many have been running big companies; many have been senior employees who have been contributing positively to the companies they worked for. When we lose such people, you might find those companies crumble and we end up having so many people losing their jobs simply because of the crimes brought about by these criminals. Mr. Speaker, Sir, big dreams are shattered when we lose these lives. You will find that at times, for people to start or run their enterprises, they have to go to the banks to charge their properties so that they can get money to run those firms. Sometimes, they even charge their matrimonial homes. But when those people are lost, their families also end up losing their properties. So, their children actually end up becoming beggars or even criminals. That is why we are saying in this Motion that time has come when the Government should ensure that each and every capable Kenyan; any serious businessman in this country; any serious entrepreneur, maybe even a farmer or those people living in Lokichoggio or Samburu having big herds of animals, they need to be armed. I am suggesting that they be given just licences, but I think I should even talk of them being The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate"
}