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{
    "id": 1567741,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1567741/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 223,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Omogeni",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13219,
        "legal_name": "Erick Okong'o Mogeni",
        "slug": "erick-okongo-mogeni"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, as a lawyer, you know that under the disciplinary processes of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), when you lodge a complaint, the committee can pass a judgment against you. It can order restitution as a body. So, the Committee should have gone further and proposed amendments to this Act, so that when you find a hospital negligent, you also move and order for compensation or restitution. What is going to happen is that this poor lady will be forced to again look for services of a lawyer and go to court. You know how long cases can drag in court before she is compensated. It should be a one-stop-shop. You fine the doctor and the institution, and then order restitution for the victim. Secondly, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have read the report and it seems that all that Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU) can order is to fine you. For us lawyers, if I am taken to the Disciplinary Committee of the LSK, it could mean me losing my license or that I am struck off the roll and I will never practice in any court of law, for my entire life. So feared is that process, that when you get summons from the Disciplinary Committee of the LSK, you take it seriously. I have nothing against the doctors, they take care of us every day. However, if at all there are a few of them who are rotten within the profession, I would propose that the Committee looks at the provisions in the Act and make a proposal to amend the law to make it more punitive to those who may be culprits. Thirdly, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in regards to times taken for investigations, the Committee has taken issue with the duration that it took to take up this matter and commence investigations. In fact, some officers within the legal department tried to block the investigations. I hope they are not lawyers. Perhaps, this is a wake-up call that we need to provide timelines. If somebody files a complaint with this body, they should look into the matter and close it as quickly as possible. Somebody has died and you do not want to keep the matter pending there for eternity, so that the matter is resolved quickly and there is closure. This will not make me popular with the doctors, but I hope we can find somebody like an ombudsman. The best way to regulate within a profession is to have self-regulating mechanisms, where, if you have a complaint against your colleagues, it is your peers who should pass a verdict on you. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, yesterday, you saw a speech by a Deputy Registrar of the Judiciary, writing and drawing the attention to the Senior Bar of the LSK on issues they have against a certain member of society, and also writing to the LSK, asking them to look into the conduct of a certain lawyer. I may not pass any verdict here, but what I am saying is that it shows you that the disciplinary mechanism within the LSK acknowledges that the best way to deal with any negligence or professional misconduct within a profession is to involve members of that profession themselves. So, let us strengthen the mechanism that is there for the doctors. Allow them to be in charge of the process, but make it friendly to the consumers of the services, who are we, the citizens. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I saw the Chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on Health mentioned continuous quality improvement for doctors. In the legal profession, in a year, for instance, 2025, if you do not attain five Continuous Professional Development (CPD) units, your license will not be renewed in the following year. I am The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}