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{
    "id": 122100,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/122100/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 340,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Ngugi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 112,
        "legal_name": "David Mwaniki Ngugi",
        "slug": "david-ngugi"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this chance to also contribute to this Bill. In so doing, I want to salute the courageous Members of Parliament since Independence who have at very critical times spoken without fear or favour on behalf of people of this country. Change was never brought by people who just followed the wave or by the people who never read even a Bill like this to understand it, it was brought by those who read widely so that once they contributed they did so from an informed position. I have read this Bill no less than three times. I have discussed it with the lawyers and understood it. This Bill provides both for Hague and a Special Tribunal here. Section 5(1) says:- “Without prejudice to (1) above, the Tribunal may invoke Article 14 of the Rome Statute if deemed necessary and for the avoidance of doubt, it is declared that the person or persons on the list submitted to the International Criminal Court by the Chair of the Panel of Eminent African personalities shall be deemed to have been referred to the International Criminal Court.” It can never be any clearer than this. Those people who are in the Waki list have been referred to Hague. Yesterday when we were at KICC witnessing the launch of the Draft Constitution, we were shown a clip where Kenyans were hacking each other to death and police shooting them. Many of us shed tears and yet, people do not want justice meted on those people who maimed others, raped or shot others dead. They want to play politics. They want political expedience out of this unfortunate situation. When a similar Bill was brought to this House, most of the people who were guilty preferred the Hague option. They thought Hague option will never happen. They believed it will take years and, probably, it will not happen and they will go scot-free. The other side voted also for Hague because we had no confidence in the Judicial system in this country. So, the two sides converged to prefer Hague option to local tribunal. However, Hague can only prosecute a handful of people. What about those other people who committed crime against humanity? We must provide for a mechanism to try them without impeding or creating roadblocks for them as would happen in the current Constitution where we take people to court and then they ask for constitutional reference and the matters drag forever without being concluded. This Special Tribunal is so important. It will be contained in an amendment to the Constitution such that when this Bill is passed and assented to by the President, nobody will move to the High Court for constitutional interpretation. We have been speaking about impunity. If we do not punish the hundreds of people who participated in this very heinous crime, are we ending this impunity? The 2012 elections may be much worse than what happened in 2007. If we do nothing to deter the perpetrators and other people who contributed to the post-election violence; those who raped and, maimed others, 2012 elections could be much worse. That is why it is so important that we pass this Bill, even if only to guarantee peaceful elections in 2012."
}