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{
    "id": 779062,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/779062/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 418,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wetangula",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Minority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 210,
        "legal_name": "Moses Masika Wetangula",
        "slug": "moses-wetangula"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. It is courteous to inform the elected leaders so that they can go to the area with you. Chances are – and it is always the case – that they know much more than you, sitting in Nairobi and pretending that you know more than the locals. I want things to be done differently. Secondly, Madam Temporary Speaker, I have noted in the media that a curfew has been declared in Mt. Elgon. The reports I am getting is that some of the people are now fleeing because they also know that whenever the military comes in, they also come with their own way of doing things. I have talked to some people who have fled to markets and they have said, “We fear that when the army comes in, they will engage in indiscriminate meting out of violence on the people.” I hope this does not happen. More importantly, if you look at Articles 132(4) and 58 of the Constitution, a dusk to dawn curfew is a state of emergency. Under the Constitution, it is only the President, under Article 132(4), who can declare a state of emergency under terms and conditions as set out in Article 58. This is invoked only when there is war or a serious threat to peace and security, and so on, and so forth. This kind of knee jerk reaction is an admission of surrender and failure. I do not think that we should allow ourselves, in this country and as a state, to impose a curfew because criminals are marauding and killing people in an area. This is an admission that our police are not able to handle the situation. It is an admission that the Administration Policemen (APs) cannot handle the situation. It is an admission that the much talked about nyumba kumi initiative is dead. It is an admission that the whole architecture of security in the area has broken down. I have spoken to leaders in Mt. Elgon and they know who these criminal young men are and where they are. They even tell the police where they are but, instead, the police tell them to take cover. So, CS Matiang’i may start by examining the conduct of his own police officers. The ones who have stayed in Mt. Elgon for all this time, aiding and abetting crime, should by now not only be transferred from the Mt. Elgon region, but be held culpable for neglect and dereliction of duty. This is because they are paid by taxpayers to protect people. Madam Temporary Speaker, even as I lauded the army going to Mt. Elgon and flushing out the SDLF, it is always not advisable to use the army in dealing with internal security challenges. This is because the army is for protecting the territorial integrity of the country and for fighting the likes of Al-Shabaab and others. We have been, as a government, boasting that we have met the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) ratio of police to civilians. If this is really true, then why are a few young criminals terrorizing people in Mt. Elgon day and night? Why are we allowing a camp to be set up at Chepkurkur Primary School? Life in Kapkateny Ward and Chepyuk area is intolerable and this does not augur very well. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}