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{
    "id": 1467682,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1467682/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 2554,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Elisha Ongoya",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the procedure of this House is that the notice by the Clerk gave all of us up to Saturday, 17th August, this year, to furnish our documents to the Clerk. My colleagues will confirm we actually, both of us, met at the Clerk's office at the same time. In fact, the Clerk did not have to incur any expense serving these documents. The parties just exchanged the documents there. We have just dealt with a witness here whose affidavit was brought to us for the first time when we were sitting here. We have had to collect all this information you have seen me using to cross-examine, including getting information from court in Meru to confirm who these witnesses are, because she had lied to you that so-and-so is not my witness, Virginia is not my witness. I had to get that evidence from Meru. It is an unfair approach to a trial for parties to keep subjecting us to new documents that we have not had a chance to discuss with our client and other persons who may have knowledge, so that we can fairly engage in cross-examination. Mr Temporary Speaker, Sir, I humbly beseech that parties having filed their documents, this witness’ evidence be limited to commenting on the documents already filed and not introducing new documents. It is becoming an extremely punitive trial process to us, as counsel and to our client, if we will continue facing a trial by ambush. Fortunately for me, this Senate has a number of lawyers who know just how egregious trial by ambush is to our justice system. We are here in a justice process. We beseech you, Mr Temporary Speaker, Sir, to make a definitive ruling that the evidence of this witness is limited to commenting on the documents already filed by the parties, where both parties have had a fair chance to look at and not ambushing us with new documents which we do not know how we shall interrogate them before we cross- examine them. I humbly beseech you."
}