Senate Speaker Ekwe Ethuro threatens house committee of sanctions over insecurity

Senate Speaker Ekwe Ethuro. (Photo:File/Standard)

By Moses Njagih

Nairobi, Kenya: Senate Speaker Ekwe Ethuro has threatened to impose sanctions on the House Security and Defence Committee for failing to give statements on the spiraling cases of insecurity in the country.

The warning came as Senators expressed their anger at the committee, chaired by Garissa Senator Yusuf Haji, for failing to answer several questions on cases of insecurity, including one on Baragoi, which had been raised long before the recent spate of killings, which have claimed five lives.

Senators were irked by the committee’s failure to give the statement Tuesday, with neither the Chairman nor his Vice-Chairman, nominated Senator Fatuma Dullo, present in the House.

Ethuro directed the committee to give the statements latest Wednesday.

The Speaker directed that in the event that the committee does not meet this deadline, then the Leader of Majority Kithure Kindiki issue a comprehensive statement on Tuesday.

“If they both (committee and Kindiki) fail to do the needful, I will be more than wiling to ask the house to give sanctions. It is all within the powers of this House,” said Ethuro.

Nominated Senator Naisula Lesuuda complained that despite raising the issue of Baragoi on several occasions when tension was rising in the area, the committee had ignored or failed to act promptly.

“I raised this issue long before the recent killings, before matters escalated. If the committee and by extension, this house does not want to address the issues of insecurity in this area let us tell the residents of Baragoi as much,” protested Lesuuda.

Lesuuda had three weeks ago told the House that tension was mounting in the area, saying normalcy had never been restored since last year’s incident where over 40 police officers were killed by bandits.

She thus demanded a statement on whether the government had considered mopping up of firearms and what actions security officials were considering to taking to address the rising tension and avoid further spate of killings.

She said that though the Haji had undertaken to give a statement within a week, he has not done so.

The Speaker further received complaints from Senators John Lonyangapuo and Halima Abdille who accused the committee of failing to offer answers to their questions as well.

Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale said the committee must be responsive.

“Is this committee moving in the manner that we saw in the joint committees of the lower house who went clearing the Kenya Defence Forces of looting at Westgate even before they concluded their investigations? It must not be allowed to dupe this House,” said Khalwale.