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{
    "id": 71105,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/71105/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 315,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "35 Wednesday, 15th December, 2010(P) Mr. Langat",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, thank you very much for giving me this opportunity. Cattle rustling is a sign that there are communities that are still yet to come to the level where other Kenyans are. I think this Committee has done a fairly good job in terms of going round and listening to the communities. I want to say that it is very unfortunate that the practice still continues and yet, Kenya has had her Independence for the last 47 years. The people still engage in such kind of activities. The Report has mentioned that it is all about culture; that culture condones that practice. I also want to confirm that culture is a very important thing. I have heard Mr. Lesrima say that those who have raided and come back home with the cattle are received as heroes, just the same way when our athletes win, they are always received as heroes. It is the same elsewhere in my community. Long time ago, it used to be a measure of how courageous a man is. If you have gone out and successfully raided and brought home animals, you would be ahead of your age mates because you would be counted as a very courageous man. Therefore, how do we address the issue of culture? If the Government was really serious about this, then we must ensure that education is facilitated in the areas where that practice is prevalent. That is because in addition to raiding to get cattle, it normally comes along with the killing of people, children and mothers. Therefore, the Government should have fast-tracked that process by ensuring that education is facilitated through infrastructure and provision of teachers, building new schools and generally communicating to the people in those respective areas. So, I want to support the idea that there has to be some kind of affirmative action in terms of education in areas where the practice still exists. We must budget more for education in those areas where cattle rustling is rampant. That practice has continued because in the past, the development of this country has been done in a manner that is not fair. Some places were developed more than others and, therefore, leaving others to remain with the old culture. In addition to education, I want to believe that the issue of infrastructure is also very key. It is a security matter and, we need to build roads and supply water. I support the Committee for saying that there is need to have irrigation in those areas. That way, we can minimize the movement of livestock from one end to the other which encourages those raids. So, there is need to do some irrigation in areas which are affected so that people can have water within their reach. That will deny an opportunity to those people who practice cattle rustling. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I have spoken about education and infrastructure. I also want to say that the role, as has been pointed out, of community leaders, is very key. It is important to preach to those people that, that is a very backward culture and it needs to be changed. Our security forces; those who are supposed to enforce; the so-called Anti-Stock Theft Unit (ASTU) must be strategic in the way they operate. In the past, what has been happening is that those security forces are not there to protect. They just come when the action has already taken place and what follows is brutality. The children and everybody who comes across their way are normally brutalized by the same people who are supposed to protect them. That is because they have failed in their job. So, those security forces must be very strategic in their operations. They should protect instead of waiting for the action to happen and then follow up something which never happens. There has been the issue of branding of animals. The Ministry of Livestock Development should follow up that process and ensure that all the livestock within some"
}