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"id": 416123,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Katoo",
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"speaker": {
"id": 199,
"legal_name": "Judah Katoo Ole-Metito",
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"content": "Thank you, hon. Speaker. In seconding this Bill, I want to echo the sentiments of the Mover, that actually it is meant to streamline the operations within the National Police Service and also bring clear separation of roles especially when it comes to the independence of the command of the National Police Service as stipulated in the law. Those who were in the last Parliament will agree with me that we had a lot of pressure trying to meet constitutional deadlines. As much as what was stipulated in the National Accord at that time brought the framework of the Grand Coalition, some of the Acts that were passed really need to be relooked into because we might have passed some Acts that are in conflict with others. One of them is this one which is the National Police Service Act of 2011. Hon. Speaker, very briefly one of the clauses that are proposed for amendment is Clause 8. If you look at Clause 8 of the principal Act, the clear mandate of the Inspector-General (IG) is not very clear. The amendment being brought here is envisioning giving the IG independent command in relation to Article 245(2) and also Section 8, for the IG to be fully responsible for all matters relating to command and discipline of the service subject disciplinary control of the Commission. Surely, if you have an IG, as it is now, who cannot take full responsibility of the force that he is heading in terms of discipline, deployment and operation of the police he will not be held accountable. What will be held accountable is the Commission which comprises of nine people and it may be very difficult to have that Commission taking full responsibility. Due to the high level of insecurity that we are experiencing right now, we need to have an office that will take full responsibility and that office is the office of the IG. Hon. Speaker, it may interest Members to note that in the recent past we have seen police officers taking the IG to court just because they have been transferred from this station to the other and then the court has always been ruling and yet that is the work of the Commission. Surely, for you to handle security matters in an urgent matter and then you have to wait for a commission meeting that may come once in three months, it will not bring about streamlining of the operations. Hon. Speaker, another issue is the appointment of the IG. As it is now in the parent Act that is proposed for amendment; you have to form a selection panel. It is a very long process. This panel comprises of the Office of the President, Office of the Prime Minister, which is no longer there, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), the Kenya National Human Rights Commission (KNHRC) and so on. These are very many offices and then this selection panel interviews people, brings the names to Parliament and then they are forwarded to the President for appointment. Hon. Speaker, what this amendment,which is Clause 12, is proposing here is to have the IG of the Service being appointed by the President and then he forwards the names to Parliament for approval. If Parliament approves, then the President goes on to appoint. One of the important things about that is, if you have an IG who is recruited by a commission and then he goes and sits on that Commission as its member, he will be loyal to the Commission that recruited him. So, for reporting purposes each has to be independent, that is the IG and the Commission as well. Hon. Speaker, another proposed amendment is on Clause 14 of the principal Act and this has to do with the removal of the IG. As it is now, anybody who has issues with the IG just files them to the Commission and if the Commission finds that he has a case to answer, they request Parliament for his removal. The IG is a member of the Commission. So, how will that Commission, in a very independent and non-partial way, really determine that? So, the proposal for amendment on Clause 14 of the parent Act is to have any Kenyan who thinks he has grounds The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}