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{
    "id": 1341679,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1341679/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 282,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kirinyaga County, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Njeri Maina",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Hon. Temporary Speaker, I was just telling my colleague that it seems you are not getting to my name. Thank you. I rise to support the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill, 2022. Laws must be progressive. As a society, we must make laws that are in tandem with the challenging times of the day. I would like to speak on the Evidence Act, Cap. 80, Laws of Kenya. My good friend, Hon. KJ, has said that every edited photo leaves a digital imprint. It is about time we thought about countering technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI) advancements in terms of photographic evidence, which forms a majority part of the evidence that is presented in court by advocates. I was just telling Hon. Naomi that there is a photo of me circulating on social media platforms showing that I have a head of a goat. I do not know how that came about but it is about time we introduced changes in the law to ensure that we have the right evidence in court to enable judges and magistrates to make the right judgments. I would also like to speak on the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act, 2003. This is a very welcome amendment. The Commission has sort of become a toothless bulldog. If you remember very recently, we saw it play out in the media between a Cabinet Secretary and a Principal Secretary, and the Commission was caught up in between with its actors wondering what to do about both State officers. It is about time we amended the law to ensure that the Commission can get barring orders against any State officer who is indicted or who is declared a person of interest in an investigation. Why am I saying this? There are glaring issues of interference when people who are being investigated are in office. They can interfere with the evidence. There is also conflict of interest because they were not able to provide the Commission with clear and outlined evidence. I also support the proposal to increase the number of Court of Appeal judges from 30 to 70. As a law practitioner in this nation, I can say that there is such a big disparity in terms of ensuring that we provide justice to Kenyans. A simple case takes about seven years in Kenya. It is unfortunate because most of the time people who cannot afford the services of lawyers are left at the mercy of the judicial system. They go to court, and they are told, ‘Come and take another appearance date.’ They do not have lawyers who can say, ‘No, our timelines are like this.’ You are told to come again another time. It is about time. I mean, even for magistrates and judges, we should ensure that we make provision in the laws to protect the right to access to justice for all Kenyans from all walks of life. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}