Kenyan MPs on Wednesday approved a bill requiring that the government provide them with guns and bodyguards for protection. Their move followed the shooting on 20 February of two MPs, Sammy Leshore and Mohammed Shidiye, who are recovering from their injuries in a London hospital. The ruling Kenya African National Union (KANU) party had opposed the bill, arguing that its implementation would be too costly and that insecurity was a problem for “all Kenyans” from which MPs should not set themselves apart. The annual cost to the government of the new security requirement has been estimated at 25 million shillings (approximately $3.6 million) a year.
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