• Amisi said the move is a breach of ministerial duties that call for the impeachment of CS Aden Duale.
• The military was last week deployed to battle bandits in six hotspot counties of Samburu, Laikipia, Turkana, Elgeyo Marakwet, Baringo and West Pokot.
Image: FILE
Saboti MP Caleb Amisi has faulted Defence CS Aden Duale for deploying the military in banditry-prone areas without Parliamentary approval.
Amisi said the move is a breach of ministerial duties that call for the impeachment of the CS.
"In fact, anybody who will be looking to impeach Duale doesn't need to look any further, he has already breached the Constitution," he said.
While speaking in Kitale, the MP said the military can only be deployed for emergencies without Parliamentary approval if the House is in recess.
"And only in an emergency. Banditry in this country is not an emergency, it's something that has been there. Every year you know that it will be there," he said.
The military was last week deployed to battle bandits in six hotspot counties of Samburu, Laikipia, Turkana, Elgeyo Marakwet, Baringo and West Pokot.
"The security of Kenyans is something the government will not gamble with. Anyone, the bandits in particular, who is perpetrating acts of violence on innocent civilians will be dealt with swiftly and conclusively," Duale said after issuing the gazette notice on the deployment.
Interior CS Kithure Kindiki later clarified that the deployment would not need Parliament's approval since soldiers were merely going to assist a police-led security operation.
“It is clarified that the operation in the areas specified in the aforesaid Kenya Gazette Notices as amended is police-led with assistance from the military within the remit of Article 241 (3) (b) of the Constitution of Kenya,” Kindiki said on February 14.
“As such, no prior approval of the National Assembly is required as would be the case for a military-led operation under Article 241 (3) (c) of the Constitution.”
But Amisi held that banditry is not an emergency that would require the urgent deployment of the military.
He further said the military should be deployed to restore normalcy and help vulnerable populations in troubled areas but not to use gunfire against enemy targets.
"Armies don't go to help emergencies with guns, they go to help," he said.
President William Ruto on February 12 directed Kindiki to camp in the Kerio Valley region until the banditry menace is brought under control.
It followed reports that more than 100 civilians and 16 police officers had been murdered by bandits and cattle rustlers in the North Rift in the last six months.