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{
    "id": 563959,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/563959/?format=api",
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    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I have listened keenly to the contributors to this Motion. All of them have raised pertinent issues that will serve us today and even tomorrow. When I say tomorrow, I mean posterity. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, it is true that there are serious security challenges that we face as a nation. North eastern region has specifically borne the brunt of the civil war in Somalia and the porous borders that have affected us. I want to, once again, sincerely speak from the bottom of my heart about how I much I feel. I know a number of innocent Kenyans including the last batch of students – the 147 Kenyans killed at the Garissa University College – have lost their lives. We feel that that was a very unfortunate incident. It is not the making of the Kenyan child who lives in the north eastern region. It is not the making of the Kenyan parent who lives in the north eastern region that we will have to find ourselves in this unfortunate circumstance. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, it is the responsibility of the national Government but not county governments to maintain security. That is why you have seen this afternoon very many fingers being pointed on the opposite side with regard to who man our security systems in this country. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I also want to demystify the notion of a few of my colleagues that teachers have to be escorted to and from school. This was one of the recommendations. As we speak, we have quite a number of non-local teachers in Wajir, Mandera and Garissa. Just to tell you, in Wajir, as we speak, we have 125 non-local teachers present in primary schools. In secondary schools, we have 58 new non-local teachers. When I say non-local, I mean people who are not from the north eastern region. They are being escorted to and from school. They are both in public and private schools. Therefore, the idea of claiming that we escort teachers to and from school is not right. The Government must provide security and guarantee the security of the people. We should not talk about people being escorted to school in buses. The curfew has been lifted and the situation is returning back to normalcy. I appreciate the number of colleagues who said that teachers ran away for fear of losing their lives. Now that security is being restored, it would be wise for those who ran away for fear of their lives to start thinking of going back. We, including my sister – I am very happy about Sen. Elachi who spoke very strongly – blame Mr. Sossion. This is because his words have actually exacerbated the situation. We know that there were security challenges, but as much as you want to advocate for the rights of the teacher, you have a responsibility to advocate for the rights of the child. When you say that teachers must leave en masse, I do not think that was a wise decision. That is why we are blaming Mr. Sossion. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I note with appreciation the other comments that have come up this afternoon, including how Members of Parliament from our various constituencies should prioritize education and use the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) money to equip schools and provide housing for teachers. This idea is welcome and important. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I also picked up the idea of not limiting the recruitment of untrained teachers to the north eastern region. It should be extended to 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."
}