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{
    "id": 798328,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/798328/?format=api",
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    "content": "am not wrong, it is drawn from Article 132 where every year the President is supposed to come before Parliament and give a report on the state of national security, progress made in fulfilling the international obligations of the Republic of Kenya and measures taken and progress realised and achieved in the realisation of national values and principles of governance. I know it was a spectacle that His Excellency the President gave a report to the Speaker of the Senate and the Speaker of the National Assembly despite the fact that the law is clear that that report is to be given the National Assembly. We believe those are some of the “mistakes” in our Constitution that need to be addressed at some point because it cannot be that such a report on national security, national values on governance and international obligations fulfillment should only be given to one House of Parliament. Indeed, these documents are rightfully in this House and so this is what should be guiding the discussion on the President’s Speech. In fact, the President’s Speech is much like a cover letter of these documents and the debate that should have happened in this House for the past three days should be on the three documents on the state of national security, values and governance and international obligations. Moving forward, I suggest that once these documents come to the House, it is important that they be submitted to the relevant committee. We have the Committee on National Security, Defence and Foreign Relations where this matter lies. It would have been more interesting to hear the report of that Committee to this House on those issues, so that we can hold the President to account on the promises or declarations that he makes in Parliament. Allow me to go through some of the highlights first of all from the document on State of National Security. We must agree that there has been some improvement when it comes to countering violent extremism and terrorism. Yesterday I had the privilege to close a Global Counter Terrorism Forum. We had players in the industry from more than 30 countries across the world who lauded Kenya’s efforts in dealing with problems of terrorism. I told them that unlike many other professions, the less we hear about what they are doing, the more work they are doing because the more you hear about terror attacks, it means they are not working. We have seen relative calm in this country compared to what was happening in 2013/2014 when there was a shakeup in our security leadership and we encourage the police officers. In as much as we are here to hold them to account, I always shudder at the thought of leaders who embitter police officers who put their lives on the line for us daily. They keep saying that the police officers are useless and corrupt. We must encourage them and give them the facilities and equipment they require to keep us safe. I also noted to them that in Kenya and Africa, because many of them are from African countries, the greatest threat to security is not ISIS, Al-Qaida or Al-Shabaab; I told them that the biggest threat to our countries security and at times being an existential threat is millions of disillusioned, disengaged young people who have no jobs and have become vulnerable targets for radicalization. The terrorists take advantage of these vulnerable young people. They give them an identity, family and hope to make something out of themselves and that is what we need to deal with. We need to deal with 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."
}