Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 122089,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/122089/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 329,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have listened to Kenyans from all walks of life through Short text Messaging Service (SMS). Hundreds of them are saying that the solution is The Hague. I have read on my Face Book address, and Kenyans are saying “The Hague!” I have listened to debate on FM radio stations and, again, it is a resounding case for The Hague. I have watched television stations’ poll results on our handling of the post-election violence and, again, it is an overwhelmingly case for The Hague. As if that is not enough, if you go through the Mail Box in all the print media, you will see that the majority of Kenyans support The Hague option. I have attended funerals and church summons. I have been to wedding ceremonies as well as to bars, where people drink busaa or beer. When they were sober or drunk, the people have always insisted that we must take The Hague option. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, having considered all that Kenyans are saying, I wish to join them in saying that this Bill will create a loophole for the Executive to manipulate the process of dispensing justice, as they have done in the past. I am, therefore, joining Kenyans in saying that The Hague will do just fine. The Hague is good. Let us take all of them to The Hague, not because of personal considerations but, because we live in Kenya, where the current Constitution may not be offering an appropriate environment in which to operate a special tribunal. Forgetting the fact that the current Constitution has very explicit Sections limiting the Executive either directly or indirectly, in facing a challenge as big as this one, is not living to the realities of the moment. It is still possible that even after passing a beautiful Bill like the one that has been written by Mr. Imanyara, the Executive can directly or indirectly, through the Attorney-General, interfere with the process to the extent that we will get nowhere. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is a fact of history that in Kenya, no “big fish” has ever been convicted of any serious criminal offence. When you see a conviction in this country, it is because the man in the dock is a “small fish”. Are you telling me that what we saw on the video clips that were replayed at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) yesterday was not witnessed by the security agents of this country? Video tapes of the men, who pulled youths out of matatus and cut them into pieces, as we saw at the KICC yesterday, are still there. The security organs were there. What law is missing in this country today that prevented the security organs from arresting those people? It is a question of goodwill. All you want to do is to go for the “small man” – the watchman – who was near the scene when that was happening, and tell him: “We saw you on video”. You want to go for the headmaster of the primary school in Kisumu, where a teacher died. You want to focus on the “small man”. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, so that we are not seen to be passing laws to just suit the emotions of the moment, I want to ask Members of Parliament: Today, you appear to have changed your mind. Where was your mind when this House, resoundingly, said that the appropriate option was The Hague? This is the same Parliament that said, a few months ago, that the best option was The Hague. We cannot turn 180 degrees and, all of a sudden, say that we were collectively wrong. At that time, we were right. We must remain consistent and say that The Hague is the best option. Some Members of the Cabinet have treated Kenyans to a circus on this particular issue. Kenyans will remember that at one time, these same Members of the Cabinet went"
}