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{
    "id": 534769,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/534769/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 310,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Abdirahman",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 161,
        "legal_name": "Abdirahman Ali Hassan",
        "slug": "abdirahman-ali-hassan"
    },
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, 17 students are said to have died and it is really a sad moment. This, to me, looks like a replica of what happened in Westgate. We are not sure of the number of the attackers; we keep on hearing conflicting information that they are three, five and at most, eight. If three, four or five people can terrorize that institution and the community for the last 12 hours, there are questions that come up; it is like the Westgate siege. Are our security forces not up to the task? This brings us to the question of the complexity of the way terrorists operate, generally. Our security forces have the numbers, but they cannot operate the way the militia operates. This is a ragtag militia; it is not a formal group that you can fight and it is not very easy. The lessons we hear from Ethiopia is because those guys can move wherever these people are. Madam Temporary Speaker, I hold a different view from those who say that taking the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) into Somalia was a wrong idea. I do not believe in that myself. The Port of Kismayu was the source of all financing of terrorist activities and the fact that through the help of the KDF and other African Mission for Somalia (AMISOM) forces, we got hold of this port---. This was a step in the right direction. But let us rethink again because our porous border cannot be manned through the wall, as people are imagining. Probably, the best thing would be to train the local communities. On the other side of the border, we have neighbours who are peaceful and they are also under siege by the Al Shabaab. We should also support the local communities across our border all the way from Mandera. We should recruit enough Kenya Police Reservists (KPR), deploy more security forces and make arrangements to train people from that side who are peaceful Somali neighbours. Madam Temporary Speaker, I personally do not support this business of saying that Somalis must stay here. There are Somalis of Kenya and there are Somalis from the other side; that is the truth of it. But this country has an international obligation to support Somali refugees who ran away from the civil war in their country. What we need to do is not to shy away from our responsibility as a nation, but probably to invest more in intelligence. We should recruit more people as informers; we should ensure that we get the confidence of the local communities across the border so that they can work with our security forces. This is paramount if we have to achieve security. Madam Temporary Speaker, I want to thank Kenyans generally because the intention of Al Shabaab is to create a wedge between Muslims and Christians in this country. I believe that Kenyans are sober and mature enough because with all these incidents, we have stayed together. I want to urge Kenyans, wherever they are, that we 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."
}