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"content": "There are very many people in the public service who are doing a good job. We have seen policemen who do not demand for bribes until someone approaches them with a bribe. We have even seen those who reject those bribes. It is not fair to generalize the public service, say that it is rotten and, therefore, we need a document like this to remind them of what they are supposed to be doing. I must hail those people in the public service, be they policemen, teachers or public servants in public offices who are doing a good job. However, there is a small minority which is spoiling the name of the public service. If you look at the National Police Service (NPS), for example, we say that it is the most corrupt institution in Kenya. However, it must be on record that there are some policemen who are dedicated and they are doing a good job. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, there is a clause in this Bill which requires public servants to comply with professional associations. Over the weekend, we saw our learned friends who decided to sit together to discuss issues of relevance. The concern here is that even some of these professional associations might not be observing the values we are insisting that the public service should be observing. That is a matter of concern. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we are saying that this is a digital Government and the Jubilee administration rode on the wings of being digital versus the competition, which was deemed to be analogue. But when you look at it carefully, there is no professional association that binds those people who offer Information Communication and Technology (ICT) Services in this country. Look at it this way; we are currently setting up a citizens’ database where we are saying that we want to put all records of all citizens in this nation in one particular database. Right now, for a good fee, you can get the entire database of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). For a good fee, you can get data of all the registered voters in this country, including their cell phone numbers. For a good fee, you can also get the entire database of the Integrated Population Registration Services (IPRS) database. This data is being sold or is being given out by ICT professionals. I am one of them. When you talk of public servants complying with professional associations, the time has come for us, as a nation, to define minimum standards that those people who are custodians of data in public service must meet because data is now becoming the next big frontier for crime. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this particular Bill also talks about fair competition and merit in public appointments. Fair competition and merit is a fallacy, particularly in cases where discretion is exercised. Even though my brother, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, raised some issues which ruffled feathers, I would like to associate myself with his comments, where he protested that in certain cases where certain offices have been given the discretion to make appointments, they make those appointments and, on the face of it, it seems to be proper and within the law. However, when you look at it carefully, you realize that fair competition and merit has not been put into consideration. There are certain cases where we, as a leadership, must see beyond our noses. We must see beyond our communities and we must see beyond our parties and our friends. We have seen in the case of the JSC, in as much as those appointments are fairly very much within the law, however, you wonder why one would just go for the people who 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."
}