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{
    "id": 1056210,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1056210/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 455,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Saku, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Ali Rasso",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13473,
        "legal_name": "Dido Ali Raso",
        "slug": "dido-ali-raso"
    },
    "content": " Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I want to thank the Committee led by Hon. Koinange for this Bill. The major problem that we have today is drug abuse, whether it is bhang or other hard drugs. Through this Bill, we will come up with certain remedies. This Bill struck me on two areas. First is the proposed punishment. The punishment is so severe that one can almost ask: Will this Bill be enforceable? Secondly, if everything in this Bill is considered and contextualised, then we must ask ourselves how many are likely to go to jail. Hon. Kaluma and his team on that Committee may be forced to see how prisons can be expanded because many people are likely to land there. The good thing about this Bill is deterrence. Once there is severe punishment, we are human beings and everybody will fear the punishment. The Committee has recommended a life sentence in jail or a fine of Kshs50 million. Not many people are going to dare wade into those dangerous waters. The other thing is about the law enforcement officer. For a long time, the law has cut one way. The law enforcement officer was able to look for drug traffickers, drug handlers and drugs users and take them to court. Through this Bill, the law is going to also go after the law enforcement officer. Are you going to do the right thing? If you do not, then you will be in trouble. You will go to court and if found guilty, you will go to jail. I think this balancing act will make those who enforce the law to be worried that the law can catch up with them. Through this Bill, the Committee has come up with something very interesting. For a long time, we have been catching the small fish. This particular Bill covers drug manufacturers, transporters and major handlers. They are the ones who have been facilitating this menace but at the end of the day they get away with it. They are the ones making big money from drug business. For that reason, the Bill is trying to identify the missing link. It is not good to catch a small person on the street with some bhang or narcotics and yet you are not going after the fellow who has the drugs load in the high seas or in a warehouse. So, to that extent, the Bill is good. The other thing that the Committee needs to look at during the Committee of the whole House is the idea of giving the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Coordination of National 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."
}