Former Member of Parliament (MP) Fred Gumo has asked the government to revive the colonial Chief’s Act in order to help deal with criminal activities.
Gumo made the appeal on Monday in Kitale town where he addressed members of the press. “I remember when we had the shiftas menace, it was the chiefs and administrative police officers who stopped the organised criminal gang outfit,” recalled Gumo.
According to Gumo, before the amendment of the Chief’s Act the local administrators were very effective in discharging their security mandates.
“Today the chiefs are powerless and helpless. They cannot prevent or stop any forms of crime or violence unlike in the past when they had powers to arrest orchestrators and suspects of criminal activities,” decried Gumo.
While drumming support for revival of the Chief’s Act, the former Westlands legislator claimed that doing away with the Act weakened the government’s security apparatuses at the grassroots.
He criticised the Community Policing and Nyumba Kumi outfits for lacking the necessary enforcement machinery capable of enabling their members to effectively fight crime for public peace and order.
“The Community Policing and Nyumba Kumi arrangement, which lack the necessary force, have proved ineffective in the war against law breakers, ranging from petty thieves to capital offences,” remarked Gumo, adding he was among a group of legislators who had opposed repeal of the Act.
The retired politician strongly believes the Act would legally enforce the local administrators to effectively fight alcoholism and idleness, which he cited as some of the enablers of criminal activities.
The Chief’s Act was created by the colonial government in the 1920s to give the local government administrative powers. It was effected on March 24, 1937. The Act, which was repealed, empowered chiefs to arrest, compel attendance before the courts, fine suspects and maintain cells or other places of confinement.
The punishment for disobeying a chief included fines, month-long jail sentences or community service. The Act also empowered Chiefs to regulate land uses and execute compulsory labour where necessary.
“I believe that if the Act was revived discipline, especially among the youths, and public order would be maintained,” argued Gumo.
