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{
    "id": 736336,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/736336/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 158,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Kubai Iringo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1574,
        "legal_name": "Cyprian Kubai Iringo",
        "slug": "cyprian-kubai-iringo"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I appreciate your correction despite the fact that I have waited for a while. All in all, let me take this opportunity to congratulate my colleague, Hon. Nassir, for tabling this Bill which will make a lot of changes in this big industry called the Police Force. The Police Department is one of the services which employ most Kenyans. You can see many young people craving for the same because it is instant employment as far as the Kenyan economy today is concerned. Once you have been recruited, you are assured of a salary from the word go. Therefore, you find that most youths are running for that exercise. The exercise that will happen tomorrow will see over 10,000 Kenyans joining the Force. It is a big force to reckon with and it should not be neglected especially when we look at the job they do. It is a noble, tricky and risky job which requires a lot of energy and discipline. Having said that, it is important to look critically into this sector of our productive force or human resource and put in place proper measures that will endear those young Kenyans to enjoy their work, despite the hardships that come with that job. We should make them feel comfortable at the same time. That is where we look at their remuneration. It has always been found that with regard to remuneration, the Police Force is paid very poorly given the work that they do. They do not even have a union to fight for them. Since they are called the “disciplined forces”, they take orders as they come. In the process, they do not even have a union to take care of their issues and cannot even be allowed to demonstrate or go on strike. Therefore, their issues should be looked into in a special way so that they can, at least, be comfortable. Sometimes, we say that policemen are rude, harsh and that they act in an inhuman way. But given the way they have been accepted in the society and the way they are regarded even by their seniors, some things are inevitable as far as human beings are concerned. With regard to compensation, there are officers who get injured and others, unfortunately, who lose their lives. Many other calamities befall them. Despite the fact that they are compensated, the compensation is quite meagre. It is not forthcoming as you would say. For example, if a young person passes on in the line of duty and leaves young children in school, processing the small token which the family needs for its survival takes a year or two. What will happen to those children in school? We need a proper insurance cover for them which would be readily available. Once we lose an officer, the insurance comes in immediately to take care of the interests of that family at hand. We have had incidents where when a police officer passes on, what they do is come there with a casket and the crown is put on the casket. I do not know how many times they shoot in the air and then they go. There is nothing else which happens after that. They do not care what happens to that family. When that widow goes to Vigilance House to get that money or any assistance from the Force, they behave as if they have never seen that officer. That is inhuman and it should be taken up seriously. On top of that, on the issue of compensation, as far as the Bill is concerned, it should tally with the succession law whereby whoever is to be compensated should be the legal bona fide beneficiary - the next of kin of the person who has passed on. Most of those officers join the Force when they are young and not even married: they do not have wives or husbands. Most of the time, they use their parents‟ names as their next of kin. I request that there should be an update of those records to say who is the next of kin because once you have been married, it is most practical that you put the name of the husband or wife to the succession list of the people 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."
}