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{
"id": 101766,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/101766/?format=api",
"text_counter": 254,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Prof. Saitoti",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Provincial Administration and Internal Security",
"speaker": {
"id": 205,
"legal_name": "George Muthengi Kinuthia Saitoti",
"slug": "george-saitoti"
},
"content": "to make regulations. That is where, for example, in Clause 22, the powers of the Minister are then stated that it will empower the Minister in charge of Internal Security to declare a group as an organized criminal group where he has reasonable grounds to believe that such a group is engaging in the organized criminal activity under the Act. Of course, there is a proviso where a group has already been declared by the Minister to be a criminal organized group to be able to challenge that particular declaration. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I said earlier, we have had a lot of criminal activities taking place by the organized criminal groups from kidnapping to all other many activities, all of which are intended to intimidate people to even act against the law and even against their conscience. When they do not obey those directives, a number of them are actually either injured while some of them are actually made to lose their lives. When the perpetrators of these crimes are then taken to court, the legal framework, because of the existing lacuna to deal with this sort of thing, they end up getting away with very light sentences. They fail to know these criminal activities. What happens at the end of this? The police would arrest these people, take them to court, they come out, and they face each other in the streets where they will have acts of ridicule to the police officers. In the process, the police officers become totally demoralized. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the police officers have become demoralized because the court, given that lacuna that exists, cannot mete out stiff penalties. They are let out. When they come out, because many of the citizens do not know the technicalities of the law, end up blaming the police that they are sleeping on the job. Even in this Parliament, I am sure we have condemned the police and said that they have gone to sleep. It is very clear that in many of these cases, the police do their work. They arrest them and take them to court. At that particular time, the police can do nothing. But again, the court will also conduct its own work in accordance with what has been laid down in law by this Parliament. If we have not laid out a legal framework to deal with these kinds of offences, these people are actually let free or are given very light sentences. Then the police are the ones to suffer. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I hope that this particular time, it will be possible for Parliament to deliberate very seriously on this particular Bill and to arrive at a conclusion that this Bill will be very necessary. Even if it is amended, I am sure many Members would appreciate that we will need to amend this Act. That is well and good but the key thing is that we need a legal framework that can address the existing crimes. There are many organized crimes in the world. Even offences related to drugs and drug trafficking, there are many who traffic drugs in this country and many other places. If you look at it very carefully, you will trace it to organized criminal groups. What do they do? They bring the drugs in this country and target our youth. Our youth end up destroying their brains. In fact, our own youth are destroyed. They become incapable of working or doing anything for themselves. In the process, they end up resorting to crimes. We cannot allow this! Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I said, there are also these criminals who have lately surfaced. We never used to have these problems of kidnapping. Unfortunately, it has now come to the fore. Criminals are kidnapping children and other people then use telephones to ask for ransom. In the process, the people kidnapped have been killed. I am, however, happy to say that when it comes to kidnapping, with the acquisition of more sophisticated instruments on the part of the police, I will call it"
}