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{
    "id": 71104,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/71104/?format=api",
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    "content": "of cattle. This puts a lot of pressure on young people. You can imagine the kind of pressure placed upon you if you are to pay 175 heads of cattle for dowry. The contribution of women must also be highlighted. We know that the biggest casualties are women. We have a number of widows who have lost their husbands. We can also say the other aspect of culture that I want to mention is with regard to women praising the brave ones and singing good songs and even marking the animals that have been stolen in raids. I hope that with education some of these habits will go away. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, we also have a legal problem and media issue. I know that police officers have arrested cattle rustlers. However, we rarely see a cattle rustler being dragged to court and prosecuted. It is not big news among Kenyans. In fact, it is ethnicised. When Samburus steal cattle from Turkanas or vice versa it is often mentioned that it is the Turkana tribesmen who went to raid. However, when there is a robbery somewhere in Nyeri, it is not tribesmen who raid a bank, but some gentlemen. On the issue of arresting the culprits I think we need assistance from the media to highlight them. I asked the Commissioner of Police at one point, “You have done a good job. You have arrested people, but we have not seen it”. Of course, good news sometime does not sell. There is also the question of recovery. The Government must be very firm in recovering stolen animals. This is because if stolen cows are not recovered immediately and the culprits taken to court, then we encourage the culture of revenge. The communities would feel that the Government is not doing anything and then they themselves take the law into their hands. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the question of highway banditry is as a result of presence of guns and poverty. In most of these areas there is highway banditry; that is from Kitale to Lokichoggio, Rimuruti to Lake Turkana, Isiolo to Marsabit and Maralal to Archers Post. In all these areas where we have cattle rustling, we also have highway banditry where motor vehicles are intercepted and passengers robbed and often killed. It is even worse because the communities that are holding these guns often kill even their own. This is a very sad modern activity. With regard to some of the recommendations, I am speaking as the Member of Parliament for Samburu West Constituency and I believe Mr. Ojode will respond on behalf of the Government at one point. In terms of solutions I think we need to deal with all those issues that I have mentioned. We need to look for solutions and strengthen peace committees. We need the support of the Ministry of Development of Northern Kenya and other Arid Areas. I know there has been relative peace recently because of disarmament. About 70 per cent of livestock have been lost in those regions and people are getting tired. We wish to respect international protocols and one such protocol called the Mifugo Protocol in which 13 countries participated and signed, although Kenya is yet to ratify it. We would rather ratify it soon. It will assist us in dealing with issues of mutual legal assistance, branding, movement of livestock, grazing committees, joint operations – I am aware that there is a joint operation which was launched the other day between Kenya and Uganda – support and working with the Interpol because this is a transnational crime. With those many remarks, again, I want to congratulate the team and I support this Report."
}