Hon. Senators, we need to determine if we have a quorum. It seems we do not have a quorum. I order that the Division Bell be rung.

We still do not have a quorum. I order that the Bell be rung for another five minutes.

Hon. Senators, we now have a quorum. Let us proceed with today’s business.

Where is the Senate Majority Leader? It seems he is not in the House. Did he assign anybody to perform his roles? Yes, Sen. Kipchumba.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to give notice of the following Motion:- APPROVAL OF SEN. MUTULA KILONZO JUNIOR’S MEMBERSHIP TO THE LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

Madam Temporary Speaker, on 25th July, 2013, before we broke for recess, I rose under Standing Order No.43 to request for a Statement from the Chairperson of the Committee on Agriculture, Land and Natural Resources on the state of the sugar industry and cane farming in Kenya within the dynamics of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). Madam Temporary Speaker, the Chairperson indicated that he would respond to this issue on 1st August, 2013. I quietly waited for this yesterday, but nothing happened. I would like the Chair to say something about this.

Is there any communication on this? Is the statement due? Sen. Karaba.

Madam Temporary Speaker, Sir, thank you for this opportunity. On the same day---

Order, Sen. Karaba! Madam Speaker cannot be referred to as “Sir”. Address me appropriately.

Madam Temporary Speaker, on the same date, I also rose---

On a point of order, Madam Temporary Speaker.

What is out of order, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale?

Take your seat, Sen. Karaba. The two of you cannot be on your feet at the same time.

Madam Temporary Speaker, Sen. Karaba is about to make another reminder. The Leader of the Majority is here, he could tell us what to expect about the issue I have just raised before Sen. Karaba raises his matter.

Sen. Murkomen, have you been mandated by the Senate Majority Leader to take over all his responsibilities today?

Madam Temporary Speaker, collective responsibility demands that I take responsibility generally when such situations arise although he did not give me full mandate. If it is possible, we could slot the issue for Thursday afternoon. I will ensure that I consult appropriately.

You mean tomorrow or next Thursday?

Next Thursday, Madam Temporary Speaker.

Is that okay with you, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale? But let this be the last time we are raising this issue. This matter has been pending for some time.

Madam Temporary Speaker, there is a serious crisis in the sugar industry. I know you were born in the sugar belt. In fact, on 27th September, 2013, which is a day after the delivery of that Statement, we are converging in Kakamega to address this very important issue. I would appreciate if this matter is responded to on Tuesday, next week so that I prepare. On Thursday, I want to be in Kakamega County since I will be hosting them.

That is okay, Madam Temporary Speaker.

Tuesday?

Yes, Tuesday, next week.

Sen. Karaba. PLIGHT OF RICE FARMERS AT MWEA SETTLEMENT SCHEME

Thank you very much, Madam Temporary Speaker. On the same date that Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale raised the issue, I also rose to seek a statement from the Chairman of the Agriculture, Land and Natural Resources Committee about the plight of farmers in Mwea Settlement Scheme in Kirinyaga County. They are struggling with prices after incurring high costs of production and also as a result of shortage of water that is affecting the area. A promise was made to me that a statement would be issued as soon as we resume, but to date, I am yet to receive the answer.

Is there any communication from the Chairperson of the Agriculture, Land and Natural Resources Committee? We do not have the Chairman in the House, but Sen. Karaba, could you clarify whether what you sought was a statement or a petition? That needs to come out clearly before the Committee Chairperson gives an undertaking.

It was a petition---

Did you seek a statement or did you present a petition?

I remember it was a petition.

It was a petition.

It is all the same.

It is not the same, Sen. Karaba. That is even why they cannot be referred to as the same. We do not have that yet, but it is not due. So, I think we can handle both on Tuesday, next week. Yes, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale? LACK OF QUORUM DUE TO SENATORS’ TRAVEL TO THE HAGUE

Madam Temporary Speaker, my point of order is on what has transpired this morning just before we commenced Business. You saw clearly that we had a lot of difficulty raising quorum. It is now in public domain that some Members of

Order, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale! You are now getting out of order yourself!

On a point of order, Madam Temporary Speaker.

Before I give my direction, what is your point of order, Sen. Murkomen?

Madam Temporary Speaker, is it in order for a Member of this House to mislead the House, first, that the reason the Senate Majority Leader--- By the way, why did he not mention the Senate Minority Leader and the Senate Deputy Minority Leader, who are not here and yet they have not delegated to anybody? At least the Senate Majority Leader delegated to me. The Senate Majority Leader as well as the two Whips are not here; sorry, one has just entered the Chamber---

Madam Temporary Speaker, I think we need to be accurate and factual. If the hon. Member was seeking the information on the number of people who travelled with the Deputy President with permission, they were only four people. This has nothing to do with this question of---

Order, Senators! Please, take your seats. Hon. Senators, the issue of lack of quorum is an issue which we suffered even before any Senator took a trip to The Hague. We should not relate it any time at all with anybody who has taken a trip. Individual Senators also travelled with express permission from the Speaker and, so, that should not be connected.

But having said that, we have an issue with the quorum and I think the two Whips should do something about it. Let us proceed.

Madam Temporary Speaker, we shall comply.

Excuse me, Sen. Ong’era; when you are on your feet, you wait to be given an opportunity by the Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. We only resumed yesterday and this morning only at the last minute is when we got a quorum. I wonder whether there should be a Motion to discuss the issue of quorum in this House. Because it is very shameful that we have only come from a one-month recess and yet, hon. Members are not here.

Let us hear the last view on this matter, Sen. (Prof.) Anyang’-Nyong’o, before I give the way forward.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I do share the concern of Members of the Senate on the issue of quorum. But I would like us not to be alarmed about this precisely because we have recognized that one of the reasons we are having a problem with the quorum is not a permanent thing; it is one incident. Secondly, from the Sixth Parliament, where I was and up to now, Wednesday mornings have always been difficult in terms of quorums in the life of any Parliament. So, this is not an unusual experience in Parliament. All we can do is to request Whips to work hard in whipping Members to attend Wednesday morning sessions. But I do not think it is something that should be raised to the level of a crisis.

very well; I think we should rest that matter. There is a time we held a Kamukunji and we had a way forward. I think our whips should just implement what we agreed on then. Can we now proceed?

Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to move:- THAT, aware of the crucial role played by the National Police Service in the provision of security to citizens; further aware that the number of police officers in the Service currently is way below the ideal number required to effectively cover all areas in Kenya to provide adequate security to Kenyans; appreciating the Government’s efforts to supplement the services of police officers with police reservists, especially in areas prone to cattle rustling; concerned that in spite of the immense contribution towards national security by the reservists, no form of compensation is given to them; further concerned that many of them are maimed while others die in the line of duty; the Senate urges the National

Turkana?

Not Turkana people! These are bandits, but KPRs have been assisting us a lot. When we raise this issue, we are told we have the Administration Police (APs). However, there are only three AP officers stationed there and they are unable to cover the whole area. My proposal here is that we engage more of these people. We train and remunerate them by giving them a stipend per month. We can go further than that where we have problems. I am talking about the boundary between the two counties of Turkana and West Pokot. It stretches all the way to Samburu near the Suguta Valley where we had problems the other day. We should identify these people and put them in a camp. After recruiting them from the two communities, they should be put them in a camp the way they normally do with the General Service Unit (GSU). After putting them together we should assign a policeman, an AP or a GSU officer to stay in the same camp. They should also be given a vehicle for surveillance to ensure that law and order is restored in those areas. I also note with concern that there is no road network in some of those areas. So, the security officers cannot move around in their big lorries within some areas. When these KPRs are there, they can give cover to the villages. At the moment, they are providing still providing security, but from within their own houses. So, for one man to cover an area alone is not easy. Some of these people are pastoralists and they migrate. They keep on moving with their animals and guns. It is not very easy for them to stamp their authority. There is no much financial implication. There is no prize that we cannot pay for peace, considering that we have lost lives before. Madam Temporary Speaker, it is a national issue. But when I look back where I come from and considering what our neighbours have done in Uganda, we need to do a lot. They have put camps all the way from Mt. Elgon to the border of Uganda, Kenya and Sudan in places where there is rampant cattle rustling. This is what I am talking about. They have about 50 or 100 people in one camp supplemented by their own army. What has happened now is that we have a lot of peace along the Kenya/Uganda now than in the little borders in the counties inside Kenya. The duty of these people is to move into the villages and make sure that anybody who has an illegal gun is forced to surrender it. There will be an official government body that is supposed to take care of the people. Some people may think that we are going too far addressing this issue. We have been trying to do so for the last 50 years, but the same problem persists up to date. We may have to do some things out of our way if that will bring peace. I have mapped all the areas along the Kenya/Uganda border. During recess I took time to visit some of these areas, for example, Katimor. If we talk to people from Trans Nzoia, Turkana, West Pokot and the Karamoja of Uganda, probably, they will propose to us to put a camp at Katikomor or Kanyerus where we only have three administration police officers. There is a camp across the border in Uganda which houses over 300 officers. This camp is located a kilometre from the border. So, who is giving us peace? Is it our neighbour security officers or ours? We need to train people and take them to Kokochwaya, Alakas Lasal, Lokitanyala and Naiyopong at the border of West Pokot and Trans Nzoia. Right now, we have a problem where bandits from both sides engage in cattle rustling. People steal animals from their neighbours because they are poor. They do not have any other engagement to make ends meets. We should stamp our authority using these people then move further to provide economic activities like irrigation for farming, markets for the animals and so on.

Senator, did you say people carry bicycles instead of riding them?

You can actually push a bicycle without cycling it. What I am saying is that simple things like those can work. We should recognise the KPRs. We also asked the DC to set aside some relief food for them. Madam Temporary Speaker, we need something that is formalized. Since our neighbours have done it and we have seen it work, why can we not move on and do it ourselves? I will be a very happy man if we do these simple things and get peace. In fact, it is the KPRs who are manning the schools near borders to enable children go to school. I want to present this Motion to the House and ask my colleagues to contribute to it. If it is passed and implemented then all of us will be very happy.

Who is your seconder?

My seconder is Sen. Ndiema.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I stand to second this Motion by, first of all, congratulating the Mover for bringing this Motion which is really at the core of security in our country. Insecurity has heightened in recent years to worrying levels such that in this House, there is no day that goes by without several Members raising concerns about insecurity in their counties. Madam Temporary Speaker, this has also brought about the need and the calls for reform in the police service. As we reform the police service, we do not seem to hear much about the role of the police reservists. Police reservists have done a commendable job over the years for this country. Sometimes we do not give them credit because we only see the few mistakes that are associated with them. In areas where we have had KPRs we have witnessed relative peace. My colleague has mentioned about Trans Nzoia and West Pokot counties. Insecurity used to be a serious problem, but when we deployed police reservists, the rate of crime has commendably gone down despite the fact that the police reservists are faced with a lot of challenges. Therefore, as we reform the police service, let us also look at how best we can make the police reserve sector of the service more active. Madam Temporary Speaker, we have also seen that in areas where there are no police reservists, there is a tendency by the communities to form groups to take care of their security. This happens, especially in areas where the regular police service does not render the service. There have been vigilante groups which, from time to time, have become gangs. We have the Sungu sungu, Chinkororo and Musumbiji . I believe that if we had police reservists in central Kenya, perhaps, the Mungiki menace would not be there. There are no KPRs in Bungoma County. Yesterday, we heard from the media that people are being killed by thugs. Perhaps, if we had KPRs, those kinds of incidences would not be there. We know in areas or constituencies where there are KPRs, the crime rate tends to go down. The challenges facing KPRs are many. These are volunteers. They are young men who have volunteered and are patriotic to offer security services to their communities and to the nation. However, very little has been done to reward them or even to meet what is referred to in the Constitution as their basic human rights. They offer services free of charge. They are not remunerated in any way and do not get any ex gratia . When they are wounded, they take care of themselves. It is a pity that when they die their families do not receive any compensation. These people do not have any formal training, but probably, rudimentary training. This explains why some of them engage in unprofessional conduct. It is important that our KPRs are appreciated by getting better pay and insurance cover which will help them in the event of injury or death. There should be compensation to their families when they lose their lives. The role of the service can be expanded. This could be a cheaper way of dealing with issues of poaching which are on the upsurge. If we brought in the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to engage them in scouting and do some intelligence work, since they are in a better position to do so, things would improve. A police officer is taken to an area which is new to him and within no time, he is transferred. He ends up not learning.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I stand to support this Motion which is very important to all the areas that are peripheral and which are faced with challenges of cattle rustling. KPRs are people who are given ammunition. They are given guns and that is it. They are left without any guidance, training and support for their families. I concur with the Mover that they sacrifice a lot in the name of the community. However, at the same time, I also know that the fact that someone has a gun and has not been supported in any way can have some disadvantages and failure to achieving the purpose for which it was given to him. These guns can now be turned around and be used in crime. The home guns are given to communities. For instance, if they are given to the Boranas and the Samburus, each community ends up having its own home guns instead of having an inclusive group to protect them. If one of the communities is attacked, it ends up participating in retaliatory attacks. The guns are given out using the identity of the communities. They are not given out using the universal security identity. They are given to Borana home guards or Samburu home guards. So, if Boranas are under attack, the Borana home guards prevail on the matter. However, if it is the Samburus who are under attack, they may use their weapons to retaliate. The Motion that Prof. Lonyangapuo has brought is very important. These people need to be trained. Secondly, they should be put among communities that are not their own rather than identifying themselves with their own communities. When there is an attack, they participate in the revenge. That is the first problem. Secondly, if they are not supported, the communities they live in have to bear the burden of sustaining them. Every week, you find that there is a form of collection. This becomes a major burden for the community to sustain. Every week, community members have to give out a mbuzi to be slaughtered and these people have to eat it. This becomes a big burden to the communities they are protecting. So, if the Government gives out guns and does not follow the gun handlers to support them with food, then it becomes the responsibility of the community to support these people. This can become very expensive, especially during peaceful times. People even refuse to contribute towards these initiatives. They go around and use the guns to survive, and this causes insecurity. When they are left on their own and the community’s collections are not forthcoming, they end up killing gazelles and other wild animals. Poaching becomes an issue. This is not their fault because no preparations have been made for them.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I want to thank Sen. Lonyangapuo for bringing this Motion. I visited his county about two months ago. In a meeting with elders, the first thing that they asked me was how the Senate could help KPRs; exactly the same things that he said here. They listed all the positives from KPRs. Madam Temporary Speaker, in an ideal situation, the county would not list KPRs, like he did say, if we have sufficient police ratio in the country. If we had enough numbers of well trained, equipped and managed police officers, we would not need KPRs. But the reality is that we live in a country where we have a lot of challenges in security, such that, perhaps, with devolution we may overcome. Previously, you can imagine the Provincial Police Officer (PPO) of Rift Valley is based in Nakuru and has a Land Rover to run a province stretching from Tanzania to Ethiopia and Sudan. You have a PPO stationed in Embu and who has to go up to Moyale to cover his territory. If something happens in Loitoktok, the PPO is in Nakuru. He has to come to Nairobi to go to Loitoktok. It became very difficult. We have said many times that we need to provide in those difficult terrains even helicopters for the police to be able to track and fight crime. But before we reached that ideal situation, the Government allowed communities to police themselves. At first, it was like a fight against rustling of livestock. But it has now caught up with other areas. I am happy that Sen. Yusuf Haji, the Chair of the Committee on Defence is here. Even in the so-called high-potential areas, you will now go and find a unit called community policing. Unlike where you have KPRs who are armed, the community police units in the high potential areas do not have anything. They just purvey information and

Thank you very much, Madam Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. I rise to support the Motion and also congratulate my brother, Prof. Lonyangapuo, for bringing it at the appropriate time. It is very timely in view of the heightened insecurity in the country. Madam Temporary Speaker, as the Senator said during his introduction, homeguards are doing an excellent job due to the fact that they are committed and know the terrain of the areas that they are serving. They are fearless unlike some of our officers who have been brought up in urban areas and hence, find it very difficult to operate in difficult areas like the north and parts of Rift Valley and many other parts of this country. I am talking out of experience. In 1987, there was an incident in Lokichoggio where an entire village of over 40 people was massacred, close to a police station which

Thank you Madam, Temporary Speaker. I apologize for being out of order. I did not do it deliberately; I was responding to your order. The issue of security is very important in our nation, especially at this moment in the history of our country when we are faced with security issues in almost every county. I was in Kisumu attending the ad hoc Committee meeting on harambee. As we were in the Committee, we regrettably learnt that one of our prominent citizens of Kisumu was just shot dead in broad daylight. Therefore, the issue that Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo has raised is very important. There is need for disciplined community policing. Police reservists are very important. They cannot be more important, especially now that we are talking about our counties and the need to empower them to keep security.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I rise to support this very important Motion. I must say that the history of police reservists in this country is a checkered one. You do remember that in the 1980s, there was tremendous controversy about police reservists because they were misused by the State. Eventually there was even a sentiment during the NARC Government that the idea of police reservists should be abolished so that all police officers should be known and should be in uniform and be mobilized as such. But history is not static; we have now come a long way with a devolved Government and we have also realized that you do not necessarily need to throw the baby away with the bath water. Therefore, although we had problems with police reservists some time ago, it is now time to sanitize the concept and ensure that the idea of police reservism is used effectively for ensuring security of the individual society and the nation. It is in that regard of sanitizing police reservism that I stand to speak. I would actually go further and ask this House and the nation, maybe, to reflect whether we should call them police reservists or we call them the civilian police force so that we have a concept that is in line with our present Constitution and devolved Government. In other jurisdictions like France, the United States and others, you will find that police work at the local level is a very important aspect of security. Indeed, in Switzerland, everybody is trained in security and any Swiss can be mobilized any time to do the work of security because people are not afraid of each other. There is a high level of equality. At the moment, we cannot do that in this country. There are some people if they got hold of a gun, they may terrorize everybody else. So, that is why we may need to have a civilian

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I wish to support this Motion and I believe it is really important for some of us who come from the areas where police reservists are supplementing the police work. They are really doing a good job. First, Madam Temporary Speaker, the way the police reservists are actually appointed is very wrong because these people are just handpicked by Government security; either the District Commissioner or maybe by the influence of politicians who are on the right side. This is very wrong because we really need people who are qualified to do the job that they have been appointed to perform. Secondly, Madam Temporary Speaker, the issuance of firearms is done in a crooked manner. I must say that sometimes there are even people who are corrupting Government agencies in order to be given those firearms; it is happening. So, it is important to formalize the appointment and also the issuance of these firearms. Thirdly, Madam Temporary Speaker, training has been mentioned by my colleagues. We really need to train these people because the only thing they are actually able to do is to lodge the bullets and to fire the guns. That is not enough in itself. A firearm is not something that can just be used like a toy; it is something that is dangerous and it can be used against people. So, I think it is really important for us to train these people before they are given the firearms. We must have a formal way of appointing them. Fourthly, Madam Temporary Speaker, having worked in the security sector when I was at the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, we have realized that these firearms which are used by the KPRs are really misused because there is no structure in terms of monitoring their use. People are just within villages, nobody knows what they are doing on a daily basis. This is a very dangerous weapon. You will find that these are people who are unemployed or jobless. Sometimes, they will end up misusing these firearms. A very good example I can remember is when there was chaos in Moyale last year between the Gabra and the Borana. You can imagine a Gabra or a Borana reservist turning against each other and killing each other. If you go back in history, you will find out that one of them was actually killed by the other reservist. Nobody even bothered to

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker, for giving me this chance to also contribute to this very important Motion. Madam Temporary Speaker, this matter is a very involved and emotional matter because the whole country is suffering from insecurity. When I look at the new Constitution and also at the Senate, we have a responsibility to make sure that all the areas of security which have never been harmonized have been harmonized. This should be the time to think about this. Madam Temporary Speaker, my worry is that we are going to make very beautiful speeches here, like my friend, Sen. (Prof.) Nyong’---

Prof. Anyang’-Nyong’o!

Nyongo.

No, not Nyongo.

Nyong--- Anyway, whatever it is!

Sen. G.G. Kariuki, as a senior Member of this House, withdraw those words “whatever it is.”

I apologize. He is my friend.

His name cannot be “whatever it is.”

I withdraw and apologize. I made the statement at a wrong place. He is my friend and I apologize. Madam Temporary Speaker, what I am saying is that good speeches which have been made by my colleagues; from Sen. (Dr.) Kuti and also the Senate Leader of the Minority and quite a few others. This is a very important point that we have raised. However, what I ask myself is whether we are going to let it go and just remain in our HANSARD; that at one time, the Senators talked about the security of this country, but finally, nothing was done immediately after that. We have a Committee on Security and Foreign Affairs. We need to rethink our responsibility in this Committee. Is it going to be

Madam Temporary Speaker, this is a very important Motion and I really would like to support it and congratulate my brother, Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo, for bringing it. Who is a police reservist today? A police reservist is a patriotic civilian who is unpaid, hungry, unsupervised and who is a constant reminder by the Government that there is an acute shortage of police officers in Kenya. If these parameters that I have just described are true about this patriotic civilian who is trying to help us live securely, then surely the least we can do is pay him. We must pay them. Having paid them, we should organize them by ensuring that we create a law department within the police force, a civilian department that is supervised and composed of disciplined people who have received training on gun handling and gun discipline. If this is the case, then the hard question that we should ask as a Senate is; do we need to provide Kenyans with police reservists or not? If we want to give them, then the route can only be one; that we do the bare minimum to ensure that these police reservists feel appreciated. Madam Temporary Speaker, once you convert this into a department within the police service, then the threats that we normally come across from the police reservists - and that is the reason why the NARC Government, where I served as an Assistant Minister was resisting them - is because these hungry Kenyans who are unpaid and unsupervised, left on their own become imposters. You know the big story of Waiganjo who was jailed the other day for two years. He had risen to a very high rank of being a provincial police officer. This is because he was hungry, armed, unpaid and unsupervised. This temptation by the reservists to go into connivance with criminals is because they are hungry and want to make some little money. We should be able to acknowledge this and address it as the Senate of the Republic of Kenya. Madam Temporary Deputy, I want to speak in support of this important Motion on the issue of deployment of the police. The way we deploy our police officers leaves a lot to be desired. I will give you two examples: If you go to a roadblock today in Kenya, you will find a minimum of four officers, two ladies and two gentlemen. The first thing that strikes you is that unless there was a matatu, a track or pick up behind you as you drop towards the roadblock, you will find all four of them on their mobiles. The moment they see a matatu, a pick up or a track, they become alert and start flagging them down. They are not there to arrest them but to collect petty little bribes. How does the United

Madam Temporary Speaker, I also rise to support the Motion, looking at the history not only of the police reservists but the whole of the police fraternity. We have gone through a lot in this country and as the Senate, we need to ask ourselves whether we want to continue playing the games of politics with the security of this country or we want to be sober enough and look at the issue knowing that we need to address it since it affects us so seriously. We do not need to politicize but ask ourselves questions about our morals. This is where we have completely lost it in this country. When you look at the morals of every person in this country, even me, then we need to question ourselves. When you look at young people throwing a burning tyre to a policeman and nobody talks about it, when you find a politician who goes and beats up a policewoman and we cannot talk about it but we are talking about slaps---. It is seriously an issue over which we need to question ourselves. We need to ask ourselves where we lost it. Where did we lose it? When I was a young girl, elders would know if there is a young man coming up to terrorize the community. He would be disciplined. This ensured that the security of the community was taken care of. Today, even in Nairobi, we do not know our neighbours. That is why we end up living with some people who come and rape our own daughters or sodomise our young boys. This is something that we need to start questioning. That is why our country is going down the drain. When you talked about a reservist, during the days I served in the Civil Service, this would mean a mzee who has volunteered to take care of the security of his community. He would put on his akala shoes and walk many kilometers to ensure the security of children in that community. Today, all we do is have a blame game. We are playing with lives that we end up losing. No one is coming out to account for those lives. You are a leader and you have been given the power by your people to be their leader. They know that you can protect them. However, you come here, engage in politics, laugh and go home. This is because we have bodyguards. Some of us laugh and probably we do not take care of those bodyguards. Probably the children of our bodyguards do not go to school but we want them to protect us. They cannot have food in our houses but we want them to protect us. We need to start this change ourselves. Let us not make it a game. The Senator for Kakamega likes putting this in a “bullfighting” manner and brings in the issue of land. Let us not bring in the issue of land because no person from the Coast has come to tell the Senate that the title deeds that the President gave out were for particular people or to the people of bara . Let us not do that now. Let us respect that. They have cried for the title deeds for 50 years. For the first time in their lives, they have

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. The issue of land has come up and I will not begin this discussion without touching on it. We are relying a lot on media reports. I was in most of the rallies that were conducted and we had leaders’ meetings. It was very clear, in the Coast, if you listened to Governor Amazon Kingi speaking while in Kilifi and even to Mvuria speaking in Kwale – they were very categorical - that the National Land Commission needs to be put in the picture. Indeed, the problem of land at the Coast and the insecurity that comes with it is, first of all, historical. There were historical injustices and there needs to be a very structured and set format in terms of approaching it. What happened when the President visited the Coast was an intermediary measure. We were informed, at that time that the titles had already been processed. So, it was not as though the Coast embraced those titles without questioning and without categorically insisting that the National Land Commission has to be put in the picture so that they handle the problem in a systematic way. If we do not do that, we will remain with the problems of insecurity which even the security personnel cannot deal with. We are talking about the National Police Service (NPS) and the National Police Reservists. When we talk about the NPS and the security problems that they have to deal with;

Hon. Senators, going by the interest that this wonderful Motion is attracting, I would like all of you to speak. If you are in agreement with me, we could then reduce the number of minutes per speaker from ten to five minutes, so that everybody can speak. Let us begin with Sen. Hargura.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this very important Motion. Madam Temporary Speaker, first, I would like to send my condolences to the residents of Marsabit County who lost their loved ones during the current clashes in Moyale. I also urge the national Government to take the security of Kenyans seriously and make sure that things are brought under control. The Government should ensure that people are brought together in a manner that they can co-exist and understand each other. Madam Temporary Speaker, the Motion urges the Government to come up with a framework of engagement, training, remuneration and compensation for police reservists. Where I come from, virtually, the known form of security are the police reservists. These are people who have volunteered to take care of the security of their areas. They are

Your time is up. Sen. Naisula!

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. I will try in five minutes to capture most of the issues that I wanted to raise. Madam Temporary Speaker, first of all, I would like to thank Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo for bringing this very important Motion. From the interest that it is generating, it is, definitely, a matter that touches on all of us, regardless of where we come from in this country. Madam Temporary Speaker, what we would like to see is a situation where the security of every citizen in this country is squarely on the State. The government should

Madam Temporary Speaker, I thank Prof. Lonyangapuo for this timely Motion. Madam Temporary Speaker, when you engage somebody without any policy, training, remuneration or compensation, actually, you create a slave. That is the definition of a slave. Of course, there is the other issue of volunteers. It is interesting to see how definitions are used differently in other places. When these people are picked by the politically-correct people, they are called reservists, but when you have such volunteers in other places, like in my place, they are called vigilantes. They are given names and even blacklisted, and yet, they do exactly the same job. It is the high time that we came up with a law that regulates these kinds of forces, not only for vigilantes and reservists, but also arming of the regular security firms. In Tanzania and Uganda, security firms are identified as a useful tool of creating security and are even allowed to carry firearms. Here in Kenya, you will get security firms manning a bank with batons, when we know that we have criminals walking around with guns. This is not acceptable. Madam Temporary Speaker, it is the high time that we also looked at the per

distribution of the police force in the whole country. Why are some areas left to man their security using vigilantes while other areas man their areas using the regular police? That is not fair. We should also look at the per capita employment of the police force from all the communities in this country. Why do we find only one ethnic group manning roadblocks? There are only two ethnic groups; I do not have to mention them. This should be looked into and actually checked, because it is not proper. It is, indeed, not proper to refuse to include the governor in the county security team, when he manages that county as an elected leader. He is actually denied his rightful law entitlement in that county to be in the security team; and then we come out and cry left and right about crime. Madam Temporary Speaker, Sen. G. G. Kariuki has talked about politicization of the police force from 1987. Actually it is from 1966, only that it was politicization – I am sorry to say so – during his time as the chief of the security team in the country. The truth is that this politicization is on even now. If the Government really wants to deny what Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale has said, then let them pick a page and print all the names of the people who have been given land in the Coast, when the title deeds were given and the size of the land. Land is an issue of security in this country, whether in Kwale, Ijara or Kuria. That must be addressed if we have to maintain security, instead of running to vigilantes and so on. Let us request the Government to review all the groups that have been hitherto labeled as blacklisted vigilantes. The Sungu Sungu in Kisii is doing a very good job in maintaining security. Iritongo in Kuria is also doing a very good job. Of course, we have other groups like Mungiki which I do not know about. But then there are other groups which are doing a very great job in trying to maintain peace. This must be included in this system of vigilantes who must from now be considered as per the law. Our Constitution actually addresses this issue of remuneration of village elders and their systems. We

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this Motion. We have all ventilated on security issues and I think it is high time we suggested ways of improving our security. In the Constitution, we have the National Police Service Commission led by Mr. Kavuludi which has not been given time to actually do its job. I am sure if they were given time, they would have regularized the Kenya Police Reservists and the other issues.

Hon. Senators, please consult quietly.

Madam Temporary Speaker, we have ventilated so much on issues of security, but first and foremost, let me say that land issues create insecurity. What the President did last time was that he only issued 100 of the 60,000 title deeds which were ready. We, the local leaders, are issuing them to the right people. If we find out that the titles have been earmarked for the wrong people, we point it out and they will be cancelled. That is the stand we took as Coast leaders. With regard to security, what we need to do is to be innovative while handling security issues. We should have civilian police county units who should be paid by the county governments. If every county employed 200 civilian police, we would have 10,000 and they would actually help in combating and making sure that there is security. Secondly, these people should be paid by the county governments. As it is, many of the police reservists go for handouts from the county governors. So, we should now streamline it and have civilian county police units; policing should be devolved up to the county level. We also need to have criteria for recruiting police reservists. Instead of these people being nominated or appointed by politicians, we should have recruitment criteria which are very clear. Anybody serving as a police reservist should have particular qualifications. They should also be trained at the county level. As we speak, we have County Police Commanders who can actually undertake to train these people so that we can enhance security at the rural level and at the county level. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I would like to support the Motion and also thank the Mover of the Motion for bringing it at this very important moment. I would like to appreciate the effort and work being done by the Kenya Police Reservists (KPRs) in the hotspots of insecurity especially in marginalized areas like where I come from. Indeed, they do a great job to the extent that, as leaders, when we go around the county, we use them as security because there is a shortage of Administration Police officers and the regular police officers. I think the criteria for one to be recruited as a Kenya Police Reservist (KPR) should be looked into. There are KPRs who may not be able to speak English or Kiswahili. This gives them a hard time to communicate with the District Commissioner (DC) or the community because not everybody in a particular area speaks the same language.

Asante sana, Bi. Spika wa Muda, kwa kunipatia nafasi hii. Ningependa kumpongeza Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo kwa Hoja hii. Mtu anayeitwa KPR ni askari ambaye amepewa kifaa cha kujitetea, kulinda amani na kuweza kuona ya kwamba watu wanaishi kwa amani. Lakini tunajiuliza ni kwa sababu gani watu hawa wanaopewa vifaa kama hivi hawalipwi mishahara. Ni mpango gani Serikali iko nayo kuona ya kwamba watu hawa wamelipwa mishahara? Kutolipwa mishahara inamaanisha kwamba watu hawa wanafanya kazi bure ilhali hii si kazi ya kanisa, bali ni kazi ya kulinda amani. Amani haiwezi kupatikana kule pwani ikiwa mashamba ya watu wa pwani yamechukuliwa na watu wa bara. Huo ndio ukweli wa mambo na huo ndio ukweli unaojulikana na kila Mkenya; ya kwamba watu wa pwani kuanzia ufuo wa Bahari mpaka kwenye barabara, hakuna hata mtu mmoja wa pwani anayeweza kusema kwamba hili shamba ni langu. Mashamba yote yamechukuliwa. Hii ni kwa sababu hapo awali tulipopata Uhuru, ilikuwa sheria kwamba Rais ndiye anayeweza kupeana shamba kama zawadi kwa watu wakioana kwa harusi ama zawadi kwa rafiki. Hili ni jambo la kusikitisha sana. Bi Spika wa Muda, sisi tunasema kwamba ikiwa amani itapatikana kule pwani ni lazima mashamba yetu yarudi kwa watu wa pwani wenyewe. Pia kazi ambazo zingefanywa na watu wa pwani zimenyakuliwa. Tunasema hivyo kwa sababu ni mashirika mangapi ya Serikali ambayo yako pwani? Na watu wangapi hivi sasa ambao ni wakurugenzi wa mashirika hayo katika pwani? Hatuna hata mtu mmoja tunayeweza kusema kwamba ni mkurugenzi wa shirika la Serikali katika Kenya hii. Tunauliza, je wale watu wa pwani, wana haki ya kuwa na amani ikiwa kazi zikipatikana haziwezi kupewa watu wa pwani kwa sababu wakurugenzi wa masharika hayo sio watu wa pwani? Kwa hivyo, ili amani ipatikane, ni lazima watu wa pwani wapewe kipaumbele kwa upande wa kazi. Ikiwa KPR itaundwa, basi watu wale wanaotakikana kuandikwa kule pwani ni lazima wawe watu wa pwani. Hatutaki kuletewa watu wengine. Tunajua kuna mipangilio mbali mbali ya kwamba watu kutoka kwengineko watajitambulisha kama watu wa pwani ili wapewe kazi hizo. Katika vijiji vingine vya kule ndani kama vile Ganze na Chakama, utapata watu wa kule hawataandikwa kazi; wataletewa watu kutoka kwengine kama KPR. Tunasema kwamba kama ni Ijara, watu wa Ijara wapewe kazi hizo ya KPR. Kama ni Kilifi, watu wa Kilifi wapewe hizo kazi za KPR.

Hamtaki tractor !

Mwisho ningeta kusema ya kwamba, watu wa pwani ni watu wa amani, lakini isichukuliwe ile amani kama unyonge. Sisi sio watu wanyonge. Kwa hivyo, tunasema ya kwamba, heshima sio utumwa. Ni lazima tuheshimiane. Kwa hayo machache, ninaomba kuunga mkono Hoja hii. Asante sana.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. From the outset, I would like to support this Motion and probably just make some cautionary remarks. Security is a big issue in this country and I would not like us to look at it in the way of recruiting as many police reservists as possible who may still not be able to ensure security for the country. There are some things which we need to do or take into cognizance before we undertake the recruitment of police reservists. I also do not think the use of the word KPR is appropriate because these are not individuals who we use only at certain times when we need them. They are required at all times in the society or the community where they come from. So the term reservist is not correct. I think we should be able to call them a new name. For the improvement of security in this country, there are certain things that are mandatory. First, we must be able to map our country. We must be able to know the details of the layout of our country. I say so because if you try and look for an individual in Dandora, for example, I think it is only Thika Highway which is labeled. But you will hardly know where you are when you are in Dandora. This is because this country is not mapped. It is not possible to know the details of what is going on in every corner. For security to improve, it is important that we map our country, be it in the urban centres or the manyattas so that we know where they are and who lives there. This is the only way we can assess our country in order to improve security. Secondly, we must be able to register our citizens in order to know where they are at all times. Registration in this country must be dynamic so that we can be able to know every person and their physical presence. At the moment, there are so many foreigners roaming in the country and yet we do not know who they are. It is very important for us to, first, improve our registration system so that we can know where every Kenyan is at any given time. Lastly, we must not wait until crime is committed. We must be able to put in place systems in this country where we deter crime. The first one is for us to mop up all the small arms that are in the country. It is possible to do this. We should also amend our arms licensing systems so that the arms that are in people’s hands are legally there. We should be able to know where they are and their use. If we improve some of these things, then the operations of the KPRs and other security agencies will probably give us results. I support.

Sen. Wangari Martha.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I want to start by congratulating the Mover of this Motion. I really wish that we were not having this conversation because we should be in a country where the ratio of the police that we are talking about is close to the globally accepted ratio. As we speak, Kenya’s ratio is about one police to more than 1,000 members of the society. The globally accepted ratio is 1:450. I think we are doing very badly as a Government. I really want to mention this even to the Jubilee Government. I think the next biggest problem to the Jubilee Government that is next to unemployment is insecurity. There is no time you are watching news and you are not depressed because of the things that are happening. If you

Sen. Chris Obure.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. The need for police reservists is, in fact, a manifestation that the number of police officers in the service is far below the ideal number required to effectively cover all our areas and our entire population. It is also evidence that we have not, as a country, taken care of the police officers available in the service in a manner that they can render effective service to the population. But we also accept that some parts of our country are so vast, so sparsely populated and the terrain so harsh that we cannot cover these areas through the normal police structures. I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to those Kenyans who have offered themselves to serve as police reservists on a voluntary basis, and yet they have been able to commit themselves, dedicate themselves and offer security to our population. Some of them have put their lives on the line and they have made huge sacrifices without any compensation whatsoever. The truth is that they assist immensely in providing security for the well being of our communities because they understand their local situations very

Asante, Bi Spika wa Muda, kwa nafasi hii. Pia ningependa kumpongeza Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo kwa kuleta Hoja nzuri kama hii, hasa kwa mama kama mimi anayetoka pwani. Sen. Lesuuda ametaja jambo fulani ambalo limenigusa moyo sana na ndio nikasimama; kwamba kwa miaka hamsini tumeongea kuhusu maswala ya usalama na mpaka wakati huu bado tunaongea kuhusu mambo hayo hayo. Hii ni wazi kwamba kuna watu ambao wanafaidika na mauaji ya wananchi. Nikigusia kwetu Mombasa, kitu ambacho kinanishangaza ni kwamba utapata vituo vya polisi vipo katika maeneo yasiostahili. Vituo vyote katika Kaunti ya Mombasa vimewekwa kwenye eneo la watu matajiri. Hawa ni watu ambao wako salama na nje ya milango yao bado wako na security, wako na mbwa lakini vituo vya polisi bado vinawekwa kwenye eneo hilo. Kuna wale ambao wako na interest na maafa haya yanayotokezea. Wakati huu ndio mwanzo wa Kenya kuwa na Seneti, ni wajibu wetu kama Maseneta Kenya hii tushughulike. Haya yote hayakufanywa na serikali zilizopita. Ni matumaini yangu na ninaamini ya kwamba haya yote yatatatuliwa na Serikali ya Jubilee.

Wakati wako umekwisha.

Asante sana, Bi. Spika wa Muda kwa fursa hii. Mwanzo kabisa, ningependa kumpongeza mwalimu wangu katika Chuo Kikuu cha Moi ambaye wakati huu ni Seneta mwenzetu, Prof. Lonyangapuo. Hili swala la usalama kwa ujumla ni swala nyeti. Sisi tungependa kushinikiza Hoja hii tukijua kwamba tukitekeleza usalama kama haki nyingine--- ni haki za kibinadamu kwa sababu bila usalama, mtu hawezi kufurahia haki nyingine kama haki ya maisha na haki ya milki ya ardhi na raslimali. Kwa hivyo, ni lazima tuhakikishe kwamba tumeweka msingi wa usalama. Jambo la pili ni kwamba katika kuhakikisha kwamba tumempa mtu jukumu, ni lazima jukumu lije na mapato fulani. Kwa mfano, kama unalipa Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo, basi unaweza kumwambia ni yapi majukumu yake. Lakini kuwacha watu na hiari yao bila kuwapatia kandarasi ya majukumu ama msururu wa majukumu, ni lazima mtu apate mapato aina fulani. Kwa kufanya hivyo, tutaweza kuimarisha hali ya usalama. Haiwezekani katika Kenya yetu kujenga nchi yetu kwa kila wakati kwa mambo ya kujitolea. Kwa mtu kujitolea, hauwezi kusistiza mtu huyo kuajibika. Kwa hivyo, ukiweka mapato ama terms of reference utaweza kuhakikisha kwamba mtu anawajibika. Ninaunga mkono Hoja hii na tunataka kuhakikisha kwamba katika Kenya yetu tunaweza kupata usalama. Hili ni swala ambalo sisi tulilishughulikia katika Tume ya Haki za Kibinadamu. Usalama ni kiungo muhimu katika taifa letu. Ukiangalia ile hisia ambayo mtu anakuwa nayo kwa Serikali ni wakati ambapo Serikali hiyo imemhakikishia usalama wake.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. First, I want to thank the Professor for bringing this Motion. If we debate it the way it is, we will lose it. I wish we could make some small amendments to create a small committee to work on this policy framework itself and bring proposals for a Bill in this House so that we engage stakeholders as we go round the country and come up with a solid document that is bankable. I hope that we will not just vote on it the way it is because it will be lost and we will have to bring it back after six months. I wish we could get some time to create t he amendment. Security starts at the villages. The Tanzanians got it right when they created the Ujamaa Villages. Ujamaa was opposed for many other reasons but it succeeded in terms of security. People would organize themselves in a village knowing who is in the village. They had a committee of elders and when you were a visitor, you had to report to the chief’s office, write your name and say who you are visiting and for how many days. For that reason, every village in Tanzania is secure. Our new Constitution tried to recapture this by creating governments up to the village level. Right now, counties are advertising for village administrators. They do not know what a village is. I think we can help them. If we want to put the village at the sub location level, then let us put it there. However, if you go beyond there, a definition of a

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker, for giving me this chance to support this Motion. I also thank Prof. Lonyangapuo for bringing this Motion and for reminding us about the KPRs with regard to bringing security in our villages, towns and counties. This Motion addresses three points; their engagements, training and remuneration. I will start by talking about their engagement. You will remember the case of Waiganjo. This incident, in my opinion, came up as a result of negligence. We neglect police reservists, we do not engage them enough or train them but we give them guns. This is like giving a child a razor blade and expecting that the child will not cut himself. We should take time to ensure that police reservists are trained about the guns that we

Sen. Wako, can you conclude for us?

Madam Temporary Speaker, just to conclude, thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this very important Motion. Madam Temporary Speaker, I really congratulate the Professor who has brought this Motion, because matters of security are very important. In fact, the reason we have governments is to ensure that we have security, law and order. That is the first important job of any Government. Madam Temporary Speaker, first of all, the issue of engagement is very important. This is because previous attempts have failed. Weaknesses in the Kenya Police Reservists and community based policing have failed because of the issue of engagement. We have had people who have deliberately volunteered, but with ulterior motives. Criminal elements have entered into the police reserve in order to have access to arms and know the systems of security, so that they may further their own criminal activities. I can say without any fear of contradiction that even the war against drug trafficking partly failed because criminal elements have become police reservists and have used their position to know what is happening. That is why sometimes drugs can be trafficked through Mombasa and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and so on. When it comes to poaching, I can say without any fear of contradiction that the criminal elements become police reservists and therefore, have access to arms. They know the security system within the Kenya Wildlife Service and can, therefore, manipulate that system to their own advantage. They kill a rhino knowing very well that at that point in time, there will not be anybody else to challenge them, and they go scot free. By the time the KWS rangers get there, everything is done. Therefore, the issue of engagement is very important. This is because there are some areas where we really require the police reservists and others where we do not require them.

It is now time to call upon the Mover to reply. Can you offer one minute to Sen. Murkomen?

Madam Temporary Speaker, I want to offer one minute to Sen. Leshore, one minute to Sen. Kipchumba and remain with three minutes.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I would like to thank Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo who comes from an area where police reservists or the home guards are doing a marvelous job to protect Kenyan citizens. The Baragoi incident is still very fresh in our minds, where we lost more than 20 police reservists from Samburu. These young warriors do a marvelous job to protect our people and our property. I would like to borrow a leaf from what Sen. Kajwang said; that we must come up with legislation to give these people training and remuneration, engagement and compensation because they do a marvelous job in our counties. I support.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I come from a county called Elgeyo-Marakwet that borders West Pokot County where Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo comes from. One of our biggest problems is dealing with cattle rustling. We have a great challenge when it comes to the number of police men and women serving in these pastoralist counties. Therefore, there are many young men who have actually committed their energy, time and resources to serve our people in Elgeyo-Marakwet County but they have not been compensated with anything. There has been no formal recognition that has been given to them. They depend on small donations. When we go home and give them Kshs1, 000, they will survive for two to three months. I think it is important that we formalize this process because when we formalize, we will do away with the “Waiganjos” of this world. The existence of “Waiganjo” is a statement in public notoriety that there are some other people who want to ride on police reservists for ulterior motives, but if we have a formal engagement, we will be able to protect the interests of our people and at the same time supplement the work of the police. I congratulate my friend, my neighbor, Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo. I support.

I now call upon the Mover to reply. You have two minutes.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I want to thank all my colleagues for making valuable contributions to this Motion and unveiling all the facts

Order hon. Senators! There being no other business, the Senate is adjourned to this afternoon at 2.30 p.m. The Senate rose at 12.30 p.m.