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"id": 68079,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Wamalwa",
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"legal_name": "Eugene Ludovic Wamalwa",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I wish to support the adoption of this Report and to thank the Committee for the excellent work done for travelling across Kenya, all the way to Nyakach, Lari, Kisauni and different parts of Kenya to look into this problem. This afternoon, we have seen a very able Minister who has actually gone beyond the extra mile to get Bills brought to this House ahead of their time although he has had to withdraw them. An area where we need urgent reform is in the police sector. I have gone through the recommendations and I have seen that some of them touch on the police. Some of the killings point to the police. I had expected that this Report should at least, have a recommendation on expediting the reforms in the police sector. We know that the Minister responsible has said that the Bills should be ready soon, but we hope that these Bills are fast-tracked, so this very important part of our society is quickly reformed to comply with the new Constitution. We realize that the Judiciary, the former Electoral Commission of Kenya and the police were the heart of the post-election violence. I believe that if we can fast- track the reforms in these areas, we will, all as a House, have to burn the mid-night oil to ensure that these reforms are fast-tracked. In an area where some of the recommendations are talking about the police investigating extra-judicial killings by the police itself, it will be very difficult to find justice for the victims of extra-judicial killings, especially where the victims have died in the hands of the police as has been shown very clearly in the case of Evans Kipchumba Keittany and other victims. This would call for a very quick reform in the sector to ensure that we get an independent oversight committee investigating the police and not the police to investigate themselves. Another area that is quite worrying are the killings relating to organized gangs. Last year, we had a report before this House of a Committee that went across the country. I was a Member of that Committee which was chaired by hon. Kioni. We found that we have gangs existing everywhere in this country. At some point, many people thought that we only have the Mungiki in Central Province. They thought that the Mungiki problem is a Central Kenya problem or a Kikuyu problem. However, when you read this Report, you realize that this is a Kenyan problem. In all other areas, you will find such gangs. I am very surprised that even in Nyakach, hon. Ochiengâs constituency, there are gangs which are terrorizing and killing people. When you go to Kisii, you will find such gangs. As a matter of urgency, we need to come up with policies to ensure that something is done about the youth of this country, many of whom are unemployed, have lost hope, have nothing to lose and join these gangs. We need to rehabilitate them and give them hope. We need to create wealth and employment for our young people, so that they do not end up in these gangs and we do not find bodies thrown in forests across this country. This is not only in the areas which have been shown like Lari and others, but even in Kitale Town where I come from, we have forests within the town where many bodies have been found. We need to come up with policies to see how these forests, which are a great resource in our country, are turned into recreational parks like the Arboretum or picnic sites where we can find police officers and there is sufficient security. I can see the Minister for Forestry and Wildlife and he is aware how many bodies have been found in the forest in Kitale next to the stadium and the forest next to Meru Farm. I would have wished that hon. Kapondiâs Committee had visited Kitale. They would have been surprised to hear how many women have been raped and strangled and their bodies found in this forest within Kitale Town. I hope that the recommendations of this Committee will be taken seriously by the Government to investigate thoroughly and come up with a proper policy to address this situation. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other worrying issue goes to the visit of the Committee to Kisauni, where most of the killings were related to organised crime and use of drugs. I was very happy to get the ruling of the Chair today on the very first day of this Sitting. The ruling was made and my name was expunged from a record that had been presented before this House. I believe that the drug menace in this country is very serious. I was recently in Mombasa, in the same area which the Committee visited. There is a whole generation of young people who are being turned into zombies. You will find homes where the victims are housed, and where they go through a painful process of withdrawal syndrome. It is very saddening. We hope that the Government will come up with policies to deal with this situation, help our youth and ensure that those who create wealth out of drugs, thus âkillingâ an entire generation, are dealt with. The saddest case of all the matters considered by this Committee was the case of the seven taxi drivers who were killed in Dagoretti. I attended the funerals of those taxi drivers with hon. Beth Mugo. It was sad to see young people who had come together with very little money - some had even borrowed the money - to try and earn a living, because there is no employment--- Many of them had tried to buy motorcycles. They have come up with savings and credit co-operative societies (SACCOs). With the little savings they have made, they have actually bought taxis; but because of the gang wars, and because of some rogue police officers who also own taxis, we have had a situation where seven young people were shot dead in broad daylight; their businesses were destroyed and their lives and the lives of their families were ruined. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, although the recommendation by the Committee is that the matter is still pending before a court of law, I hope that we will follow up this matter to ensure that justice is done for those young people who lost their lives at the hands of known armed and dangerous people. Although they might be in uniform, they are the most dangerous criminals, and something needs to be done to address the situation. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}