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{
    "id": 101777,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/101777/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 265,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Wetangula",
    "speaker_title": "The Minister for Foreign Affairs",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 210,
        "legal_name": "Moses Masika Wetangula",
        "slug": "moses-wetangula"
    },
    "content": "What the Minister, I think intends to call the lesser offences, where he is giving, if you look at Clause 20, a prescription of sentences of Kshs500,000 as the maximum and ten years as the maximum. Again, what I said on the other sentences apply. Clause 22 of the Bill worries a bit because the Minister is trying to give himself a discretion that is unfettered where he says: “Where the Minister has reasonable grounds to believe that a specified group is engaged in any organized criminal activity under Section 3, he may, by notice, declare that specified group an organized criminal group for the purposes of this Act.” As we fight these criminal groupings, of course, we must also take into account due process, human rights, rule of law and all the tenets of civilized society to the extent that we should not give a Minister alone discretion to reasonably believe and then strike a group that may not necessarily be organized criminal group. For example, if today an excited Minister decides that the “No group” against the Constitution is an organized group pursuing something he does not like, he can proscribe them. That will be an abuse. I must own up that I am plagiarizing the thinking of my Chairman here. I think this Clause should give the Minister an advisory committee where he places his reasonable thoughts to a committee to advise him, so that we take care of possible abuse because Prof. Saitoti may be good, but somebody else may not be as good. Somebody else may be driven by tyranny and dictatorship and abuse the law that we have, in very good faith, passed in this House. So, we must avoid that! As I always say on the Floor of this House, if you want to test a good law, imagine that law in the hands of one of your worst enemies. If you feel safe, then it is a good law. If you feel frightened, then it is not a good law. So, I would want to see that. that is also addressed."
}