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{
    "id": 1030233,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1030233/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 321,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kipipiri, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Amos Kimunya",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 174,
        "legal_name": "Amos Muhinga Kimunya",
        "slug": "amos-kimunya"
    },
    "content": " Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I rise to second the Report and congratulate the Chair for taking his job seriously. Usually, when you look at the Order Paper and think your business is at the far end, the temptation is for people to go and do other business. But he has been in the House and it shows the seriousness with which he takes this national security docket. We are living in difficult times and the challenge of COVID-19 has not only affected the police system, but also our court system is unprecedented. This is because people maybe arrested in a swoop at night. When they are put in the police station, they are mingling together because they cannot be put in isolation centres or a cell for each. The next morning, they should be taken to the courts and I believe the courts say they will not receive them. This is because the prison authorities are also saying they cannot take them until they have been tested. This brings a situation of a person who is a suspect being punished before being prosecuted or judged. This is because, first of all, at the police station, they are being subjected to the risk of infection. When they go to court, the risk is multiplied and they cannot be taken to remand because they have not been tested. So, they are brought back to the police station. So, if they pick any infection in the courts, they take it back to those in the cells. Those people are our people. I agree totally with what the Chair and the Committee have observed. We need to look into this matter. First of all, how do we ensure that the people do not suffer double or triple jeopardy? How do we protect others and the officers? How do we motivate them so that they do not feel like not arresting people? This is because they can infect or contaminate the entire police station. The police and their families in that neighbourhood could end up in a similar situation. We also know the conditions of our police stations are not exactly where they should be in this day and age. I know the Chair is yet to visit my police station in Kipipiri which is among those that were done at the turn of independence. You know the old asbestos roofs which are breaking and flaking. Obviously, they are carcinogenic as Dr. Nyikal would tell us. But people are in those cells and so, they are being exposed to the risks of COVID-19 and from the roof they are exposed to cancer. I think these are some of the things we need to start looking at beyond the immediate response. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}