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{
    "id": 534713,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/534713/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 254,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wetangula",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Minority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 210,
        "legal_name": "Moses Masika Wetangula",
        "slug": "moses-wetangula"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I also welcome Alliance High School, a school that two of my sons have gone through very successfully. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you for allowing us this opportunity. When I came to your office this afternoon, you readily agreed that the happening in Garissa was worth our attention and debate. It is regrettable that the cruel hand of terrorism has now found its way to our teaching institutions. This is a mutation of the terrorist group of Al Shabaab that is steadily moving towards the Boko Haram philosophy of attacking institutions of learning at whatever level. As we speak here, many of our phones are jammed with messages from parents whose sons and daughters were in this institution and have not been accounted for. Although we have been told that the body count is 15 and there are 60 people who were injured, we still do not know how many fatalities lie in the dormitories which are still under siege. All this is happening because of the ineptitude, laxity, coupled with the runaway corruption that is bedeviling the security structures of this country. l have information that will vindicate the National Intelligence Service (NIS) for the first time on this. The NIS wrote to the Executive and informed them that there was an imminent attack on the institution in Garissa. This was in writing, was signed and delivered. Nothing was done and if something was done, it was done clumsily and unsatisfactorily, and this has resulted in the loss of lives. This morning, we were told that the Kenya Defence Force (KDF) is there. Everybody knows how the KDF bungled the attack on Westgate. When the GSU were systematically dismantling the terrorists that attacked Westgate, in a show of bravado, swaggering like Rambo in the Wild West, the head of the military went to Westgate and ordered the bombing of the place. As a result, we were unable to capture any terrorists. We do not know who they were and who had sent them. We will never get to know why they attacked Westgate. Today, I hope that the KDF is not carrying out the same bungle at the university in Garissa. However, more importantly, we have said on this Floor and I enjoin my colleague across the Floor in saying that we need extra-ordinary measures to be taken to tackle the insecurity nightmare in this country. If the excuses we keep on giving are that we are suffering this way because we went to Somalia, Ethiopia has done much more damage in Somalia than Kenya will ever do. In fact, Ethiopia went into Somalia, captured Mogadishu and occupied it for over a year. The Ethiopian troops were swimming in the Indian Ocean. Ethiiopia has a much larger Somalia population than Kenya; over 10 million and yet what we see happening in Kenya does not happen in Ethiopia even for a minute. This is because they have invested in intelligence gathering, intelligence sharing and intelligence usage. In Ethiopia today, any suspicious character, of whatever nature is detected and dealt with immediately. In Kenya, with a bribe of even US$500, you can bring down the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC). You can bring down the international airport. I have seen, many times on the highways, a motorist handing over what appears 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."
}