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"id": 149234,
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"content": "aid, an annoyed member of the public wrote to me and asked why I was defending criminals. Even if one is a criminal, as a human rights lawyer, I know that one still has â and is entitled to oneâs rights, because, at the very least, one is human. Even when one is detained, oneâs rights must be protected and preserved. I now want to speak about remandees, some of whom, unfortunately, spend a lot of time in remand only for them to be subsequently found not guilty. It is very unfortunate. Again, some of these situations arise because most of them have no access to legal aid. I know many civil society organisations, including the Legal Resources Foundation (LRF), which are doing a commendable job. However, this, again, is a core function of the Government. I know that even though the Ministry of Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs has started a pilot project in this respect, it must actually stay on course. Let us not abandon this programme the same way we have done with all other programmes. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, from the way that scheme is actually conceptualised, it seems to want to rely heavily on civil society in future. The Government must re-conceptualise that theme; at the end, it is the Government that must take up the primary responsibility of giving legal aid to its own citizenry. Some people might actually think it is fancy. An African country like Zambia actually affords legal aid to her own citizens. That is why even one of the reports that were appearing in the newspapers today shows that it is one of the most progressive and most peaceful countries. Why? Because, even if you are wrongfully charged, you are able to quickly access justice. If you are wrongfully charged and you are not able to access justice, you will tend to be violent, because you will want to find other methods of getting justice. That is why the Government must provide legal aid to suspects, as a matter of right. When Mr. Kapondi was moving the Motion, he alluded to the fact that you actually find children in remand, some of whom are detained with adults. There are many children in such situations. Whenever we did rounds in the past, when I was working with the CRADLE we would actually find--- In one of the prisons in Mombasa, we found a six-year child who was actually in prison for stealing food. When we interrogated the case, we discovered that the child was put in prison in order for him to get food, because he had no parents. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as we undertake prisons reforms, we must look at other reforms in the social security sector, so that we do not put children in prison, so that they can get food. Where children have no parents, the Government should find systems that will take care of such children. You can see that one of the things that have actually been pointed out in that regard is that we have 97 penal institutions â ninety-four for adults and three for male youth offenders. There is no mention of a penal institution for young women. I know that they are worth one, and I want to believe that it is there. Again, despite that fact, you find that there are children who are still placed in adultsâ penal institutions. Even where we have penal institutions for children, you find that those institutions are in a very terrible state. The Government must work hard, because we are creating a generation of very angry children. That is why we are living with a time bomb. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, again, I will speak on what the seconder of the Motion said â that our mayors need a longer term, because this country is tired of the theatrics of politicians. This is not just in Parliament. We know that after you become a"
}