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{
    "id": 812459,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/812459/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 93,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr.",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13156,
        "legal_name": "Mutula Kilonzo Jnr",
        "slug": "mutula-kilonzo-jnr"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. We should say that cattle rustling is not a sport because it appears to be a sport where people use sophisticated weapons like guns. It is actually gun running. If people are being charged for robbery with violence because they have arms, the people who engage in cattle rustling must also be treated as such. The Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee on National Security, Defence and Foreign Relation, Sen. Sakaja, has severally said that we should make cattle rustling a capital offense because they are robbing cattle from people using weapons. I listened recently to very harrowing stories from a gentleman from Tiaty in Baringo County when we were in Mombasa on cattle rustling. I realised that the question of cattle rustling is so serious that the Government seriously does not want to deal with it. This is because the young men who engage in the cattle rustling are armed, trained and very good in what they do. They are ready to take on anybody, fear nobody and shoot to kill. Mr. Speaker, Sir, unless Sen. Haji and many of the community leaders deal with this issue, they will never live in peace. It will not happen. The sort of weapons that we are talking about has led some of us in the Committee on Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights to ask why Kenya is not serious with the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), which we participated in making. This Treaty deals with small arms and mopping them. Kenya has refused to sign it. The Ministry of Defence and the Attorney-General have refused to sign it, and the result is cattle rustling. So, you are not safe at all. People are using cattle rustling as an excuse to smuggle weapons. I even heard of somebody, who is very senior, who was arming communities so that they could fight their neighbours. It is sport. I am told that on the way when they steal animals, they kill others to tell which route they will use. It is an art and there is some element of wizardry in it. These people do it for a sport and we cannot blame them. I have heard that the Marginalisation Policy is being challenged by many people. If we seriously read the Marginalisation Policy by the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA), parts of the country where there is cattle rustling have been marginalised for so long and we call them the Red Zone. What is the solution? These young men have lost hope. At the age of 13 they do not need to go to school. Why go to school if you can have an AK-47 and steal about 10 heads of cattle? 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."
}