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{
    "id": 1554501,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1554501/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 355,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Homa Bay Town, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Peter Kaluma",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "I have been in this House for 13 years now. In my life in this House, I have never met a Bill so dangerous and capable of taking the rights of the people under the Constitution. We have been applauded as the country with the richest Bill of Rights possibly in the world. It is very rich. This Bill can sweep those rights by the mere fiat of an individual. This Bill is said to be making amendments to the Proceeds of Crimes and Anti-Money Laundering Act, the Prevention of Terrorism Act, the Betting, Lotteries and Gaming Act, the Retirement Benefits Act, the Mining Act, the Saccos Societies Act, the Accountants Act, the Estate Agents Act, the Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya Act and the Public Benefit Organisations Act. When we look at the law on anti-terrorism, these are not the sectors and the professions this Bill seeks to deal with. In fact, this Bill cuts across all sectors of our society and all professions. So, this is a composite Bill that goes beyond what is mentioned here. If we look at these provisions, we will see that similar provisions are being replicated in terms of all the statutes being amended. There is nothing new; they are the same. These provisions vest very wide powers on the self-regulatory authorities, on the bodies established by those various statutes to regulate the sectors and on their financial reporting agencies. Hon. Temporary Speaker, let me give an example. When you go to Page 77 of the Bill, dealing with the matter of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, the regulation-making authority is being empowered here to make regulations that can cause a person to be imprisoned for a term not exceeding ten years or to a fine of up to Ksh20 million. It may look lawful on the face of it, but under Article 94 of the Constitution, the legislative authority of the State is vested in this House. Therefore, whenever we come up with regulations, they are under the exercise of the delegated powers of this House. How can you give anybody the power to sanction an individual or an entity in the Republic of Kenya by way of punishment up to this extent without prior reference to this House? I know what the Statutory Instruments Act says. However, if we want to create such penalty regimes through regulations, we must amend this provision to say, ''subject to prior Parliamentary approval.'' Without that, this must be opposed. Secondly, there is not much clarity regarding bodies being sanctioned. We do not want to create a situation, and I am saying this because terrorism is a very serious thing. Money laundering is a very serious thing because it feeds into terrorism financing and distorts the economy and the criminal justice process, and it has to be fought. However, we must be careful not to allow laws with such drastic consequences to be left at the liberty of the Executive in terms of defining sanctions and whether a person is committing an offence or not. I am concerned that the definitions here are very broad. In terms of application, a person can just come to you..."
}