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"id": 504328,
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Billow",
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"legal_name": "Billow Adan Kerrow",
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"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to move the following Motion:- THAT, the Senate do now adjourn. Mr. Speaker, Sir, first and foremost, I extend my sincere condolences to the families and relatives of the 28 innocent Kenyans who were slaughtered mercilessly by terrorists. On behalf of myself and the residents of Mandera County, we express our sincere condolences to those families. Our county government has expressed its commitment to support members of these families in all matters relating to this incident and in regard to, particularly assisting the bereaved families in funeral arrangements. I also take this opportunity to strongly condemn the barbaric manner in which the terrorists shot and killed our brothers by deliberately getting them off the bus and segregating them on the basis of their religion. That is a very barbaric thing. There is no faith in this world that directly condones killing somebody on account of his faith and, least of all the faith that they profess, including Islam which many of us profess. When the same people attacked the Westgate Mall and Lamu, they did the same thing. They singled out members of non Islamic faith. The message they want to convey is completely false in the sense that they have killed tens of thousands of Muslims in Somalia. In Northern Kenya – Garissa, Wajir and Mandera – they have killed hundreds in the last three or four years. In Mandera alone, in the last one year, there have been nearly 20 attacks in which over 30 other people, almost all of them Somalis, died. So, they cannot on one hand say they are targeting non- Muslims and yet, they are doing the same. These are terrorists who have no regard for human life. We, therefore, strongly condemn their actions. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the second thing is that in my view, those deaths could have been prevented. If, indeed, our security forces would have taken heed of the advice on security that had been given to them by intelligence officers, community sources and the county government. I want to be very clear on this. It is, indeed, because of the negligence and incompetence of the security forces in Mandera County that this incident occurred. Barely three days earlier, about 30 armed terrorists invaded parts of Mandera Town, on the same road where the bus incident occurred. This information, together with information that these people were on that highway and were likely to attack vehicles plying that route, was conveyed. Three days later, no action had been taken and that vehicle was attacked. I also still argue that there is negligence and incompetence because, in the last one year, there have been nearly 20 incidents of attacks in Mandera Town itself, the County Headquarters. Six explosions using Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), which are remote controlled through telephone, occurred in the last three weeks alone in Mandera Town, including one which targeted the government officials. On the same road, 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."
}