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{
    "id": 812264,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/812264/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 155,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "residents were trapped under a seven stored building that had been put up in under five months and housed hundreds of innocent Nairobians. The young people of Mathare and Huruma were considering chasing away these agencies and using ill equipment like torches on their phones and crude equipment, they went in. I must credit the young people of Nairobi because not just in that incident but many others they saved lives until these agencies got their act in order. I stood there overnight, in Mathare just less that 200metres from one of the National Youth Service (NYS) barracks with a lot of equipment. It is sad that throughout the night as a citizen, I had to fuel the generator and, in the morning, I had to buy the cutting machines to cut through the steel for those who were rescuing. I had to buy milk and bread for the ones supporting those efforts, yet we had the military, NYS, police and the previous county government. Madam Temporary Speaker, images of dead bodies of more than 10 children who did not deserve to die have never left my mind. The story of a gentleman who told me that when the first tremor happened, he told his children to wait so that he could go outside and remove some of the little furniture that he had in the house; a table, two buckets and a stool. The moment he stepped out of the gate, the building came down and he lost his children. This image has never vanished from my mind. The response in these disasters has shown us the inequality in this country. If such a disaster happened in affluent areas, the whole of Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) would be there and business will stop in this country. Since it is Mathare, Ruai or an informal settlement, the response has always been inadequate. The care we give these people after these incidents happen has been inadequate. Till today, I am paying fees for orphaned children from the Mathare incident, Mlango Kubwa and Huruma where there was a fire a few months ago. No Government agency sees the need to take care of the people a week after these incidences have happened. During different recent disasters that have visited our country, it appears as if these institutions and organizations---It pains me to talk about institutions of Government and yet I am from the majority side that has formed the Government. However, it shows the pain that all Kenyans, whether in Jubilee or NASA, are facing in the face of disasters. It seems like these agencies have their own interests and allegiances more powerful than the incentive for collaboration between them and partnerships. Many times, getting them on a round table has been difficult. The disaster response activity has been poorly coordinated due to lack of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and disaster emergency operations plans. The existent institutional framework is heavily weighted towards emergency responses. It gives little time and inadequate emphasis to long term preventive measures and mitigation. Madam Temporary Speaker, the lack of standardized SOPs can cost lives. It has cost lives. My friend, the late Mr. Munene, an officer of the General Service Unit (GSU), during the Westgate attack was killed by the KDF. Both were security officers of our country and both were at the scene of a crime trying to rescue Kenyans under fire. However, due to friendly fire, we lost one of the most valiant and gallant Kenyan servicemen that I have ever known. 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."
}