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{
    "id": 406653,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/406653/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 190,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "December 4, 2013 SENATE DEBATES 37 Sen. (Dr.) Zani",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for this opportunity. It is sad that almost simultaneously, we have two Motions running on the same issue of security. We started this yesterday with Sen. G.G. Kariuki’s Motion. Today, we have a Motion of Adjournment to discuss insecurity with the specific case of Marsabit. The situations that have been described are very sad. The sovereignty of a country is enjoyed when there is security and that should run across all the counties. These problems are not the same. They are specific. Across all the counties, there are various sets of problems and differences in the way they are emanated and the tensions that play out. For example, there are religious tensions like what happened in Mombasa County. It could be out of ethnic tension, for instance, what is happening in Turkana and Pokot counties. These could be petty crimes or opportunistic crimes as it is happening in the city centre. As I spoke today with Sen. Martha Wangari, we realized that one person had already died along Wabera Street. Nobody is safe in Kenya. We have our sovereignty and our security forces that we believe are well trained and organized. There is something very wrong happening and the worst thing is that nobody is taking responsibility. If we are having this kind of insecurity when we are at peace, what will happen when we have a higher scaled up level of inter ethnic conflict within the country? I think we are sending the wrong message to the youth and to other people. Young people are maimed and young women defiled. It seems as if we have a group that has come up which can do anything anywhere and get away with it. It is as though we are having a terrorist attack within a terrorist attack every other day in this country. I think it is not enough to sit and discuss these issues somewhere along the line. I thought we had found a way forward when we had discussions with various security personnel within the Senate. I suspect now, in retrospect, that we did not get a way forward on how to move on. We are recycling and getting old solutions coming through over and over again. We are still asking questions because we have to look at this from a two point approach. One, look at all what is going wrong. On one side, we have policemen who are trained who can do their job very well. We have people who should have been properly vetted to join the system. However, nothing is going on. We still have high levels of insecurity. So, we need to turn and look adversely on what could be going wrong. Is it our level of moral decadence that is jeopardising security in this country even more? Is it our level of lack of passion in what we do? You can have the best trained officers with the best equipment. If it took 11 people to make a difference and 1,000 police forces who could not make a difference, then we must ask ourselves how these people were vetted and if they have the passion. How did they come in? Do they have the zest? Are they ready to defend? Do they have determination? Are they putting lives first when all they are doing is standing and watching? Apart from watching and waiting, they are now also part of the perpetrators as we have heard in the reports we have been receiving. I think we are in serious trouble. We are in more serious trouble when we know that the vetting process is not done well. Criminals have legalised themselves and are even joining security forces. Kenya and Rwanda are not very different. However, Rwanda has come from a sense of insecurity and conflict to a sense of tranquility. A woman can walk in the streets of Rwanda at midnight; she does not have to look left, right, centre or back to see if there is anyone dangerous following her. You cannot do that in Kenya. We were shown clips taken along Uhuru Highway of people who were stealing mobile phones in broad daylight. I do not understand what the 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"
}