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"id": 503207,
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"content": "These are 10,000 young people who wasted their time by running around and some even resigned from their jobs. Then, one morning a Judge seated in a court of law simply says that the recruitment is nullified countrywide. These are some of the things that we, as a country, need to relook. We are appealing to the Judiciary to have the national interest at heart. It is not about disputes and who is aggrieved. You cannot stop the police recruitment, construction of roads, laptop project, railway project and everything, simply because somebody is aggrieved. There must be a way in which national projects, especially in sensitive areas like security can proceed, while people who are aggrieved are given an opportunity to process their grievances and paid damages in the event that their rights have been violated or claims found to be valid. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the idea of the Jubilee Government as provided for in our manifesto was to recruit, at least, 10,000 police officers every year for five years. That is almost like doubling the total number of the police officers that we have hired since Independence. It is good to appreciate that. Of course, some of the people being hired now are not experienced. I have heard very valid complaints that some of the police officers are being attacked because of lack of experience. But, at least, there is effort in the right direction to ensure that the human resource component is addressed. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, secondly, there is the issue of life insurance. For a long time our security officers have been killed and there was no compensation. Most of them are young people and they end up leaving behind young wives and children. For the first time, from July last year, every police officer is under life insurance. So, in the unlikely event of a life threatening injury or death in the course of duty, there is some comfort for families that are left behind. That will address the morale issue which other speakers have also brought out. The issue of salaries and emoluments, of course, is being addressed. The commitment of the Jubilee Government is to provide, in the next three years, 20,000 housing units for our police officers. It is an open secret that our police officers are living in squalid and dilapidated conditions. Some of them are sharing houses and yet, they are grown-ups with families. That humiliation and embarrassment has affected their morale. You cannot expect such a person to perform their duties of guarding property and protecting lives efficiently. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, in terms of equipment, last year the Government bought 1,200 police vehicles. These are facts. I am not talking about fairy tales. If you go to any part of Kenya today, you will not miss to see a new police car, even in very remote places. We know that the vehicles are not enough, but at least, a deliberate effort has been made to ensure that the police force has facilities to discharge their duties. Mr. Temporary Speaker Sir, this year, an additional 1,200 cars will be purchased. If this continues in the next five years, then we will have the issue of police vehicles and infrastructure taken care of. One of the problems that we have had in this sector of security before is where police officers would be called, they have a car in some places - in other places they would not have a car - and would say: - “Yes, we have heard you, but we do not have fuel”. Each of the vehicles which have been bought under this programme, since the Jubilee Government took over comes with its own vote for fuel and 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."
}