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{
    "id": 106279,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/106279/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 310,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Imanyara",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 22,
        "legal_name": "Gitobu Imanyara",
        "slug": "gitobu-imanyara"
    },
    "content": "As a lawyer I can tell you of the many times I have had to go to the region to defend people under court martial. I can tell you it was even better to appear before court martial than to appear before civilian courts in that region. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I remember one time I went and the Provincial Commissioner was acting as a magistrate. He called me aside and spoke to me in my own language and warned me that if I raised certain issues he would not have hesitated to jail me because in that region the law did not apply. Indeed, when I insisted, the court was adjourned and moved. I was left in the entire town alone. The Provincial Commissioner, the witnesses and the accused persons were flown to another part. By the time I got there they had already been convicted. They sentenced the poor fellow to nine years imprisonment. Although we eventually had the High Court quash the conviction, the period suffered during this time under the guise of serving sentence was just slavery. This was institutionalized slavery and reign of terror that visited every single individual in this region for so long. It is, indeed, a shame that not many Members are in this House to participate, debate and pass this law as an acknowledgement that the people of Kenya have wronged the people of this province for so long. The little we could do is even to be in this House and pass this law by acclamation even without debate. In a sense it is a matter of how far we have sunk that a matter like this relating to the human rights of an entire community can be debated in a near empty Chamber. This is the case and yet we are talking about human rights, bringing in the culture of rule of law and ending impunity. Every time we discuss these issues Members are more interested in calling Press conferences outside to criticise the decision that has been taken by unanimous will of the House. Instead of participating in debate here, we prefer to go out and talk to the gallery rather than being here and acknowledge that what we did to the people of North Eastern Province is something shameful, wrongful and should never have been supported."
}