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{
    "id": 707827,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/707827/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 319,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Gikaria",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2489,
        "legal_name": "David Gikaria",
        "slug": "david-gikaria"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity to support this Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, which has been brought by our able Chairman. It is unfortunate that we keep on legislating on issues that are supposed to have been addressed a long time ago. I am a member of the Departmental Committee on Administration and National Security whose Chairman is Hon. Asman Kamama. The petitions we get about cattle rustling are in large numbers. This is a legislation that is going to address this mess. We have been grappling with this problem of cattle rustling for a long time now. We who come from counties that do not experience that challenge really try to understand what cattle rustling is all about and the evil things it brings with it. Hon. Kamama comes from Tiaty, a place where this business has taken root. We have so many hon. Members here, including Hon. Moroto and Hon. Lentoimaga who come from areas where cattle rustling is a problem. I thank the Committee for coming up with amendments to the Penal Code that are going to address this issue. They have come up with offenses which will address the issue of magistrates or judges being limited in terms of giving sentence. It has now been proposed that the new law should talk of a minimum sentence of 15 years. This is so punitive and is going to stop the vice. It is not only talking about cattle movement, but also the product. As the Chairman stated, it boggles the mind how a herd of cattle in their thousands can disappear all of sudden in thin air. When you ask the police to track them, they say they are unable to do so. It only means the cattle have been diverted somewhere for slaughtering and the meat is transferred to markets here in Nairobi or elsewhere. Some of it is even exported. It is sad that every time this happens, life is lost. The other day we were reading in the newspapers about what is happening along the border of Samburu and Turkana. It is quite saddening. We have, time and again, as a Committee, summoned the Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Interior and Coordination of National Government to come and tell us what he has done regarding the National Police Reserve (NPR). When we visited Turkana and Pokot on matters to do with NPR, what we saw and heard saddened us. We have passed legislation here and even done amendments to existing laws. We have also requested the Ministry to employ more personnel in the NPR so that they can address some of these issues. Even the National Police Service itself cannot address this issue. This is because when they go to a particular terrain, they cannot even go beyond a kilometer. The NPR in Turkana and Pokot counties asked us to give them uniform and a small token and they would stop the mess that is cattle rustling. Unfortunately, the governors in these counties have also been part and parcel of cattle rustling. The NPR admitted that they can work together because it would not matter to them whether one was a Pokot or Turkana. They said that they know their people better. In Turkana, the Governor wanted to take over the NPR. He said that he has money to pay them. However, the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government refused because that would have brought a huge conflict of interest. I thank the Ministry for stepping in. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}