Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 166463,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/166463/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 254,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Dr. Khalwale",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 170,
        "legal_name": "Bonny Khalwale",
        "slug": "bonny-khalwale"
    },
    "content": "Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, for many hon. Members, it has been a long walk! Sometimes, when we speak here, we remember and, if we were not men and women of steel, we could weep in this House. Many have spoken about Mr. Murungi’s radical surgery. I want to agree with them because that was a sad thing where in one community – and I happen to come from that community – nine judges were removed. After they were removed, they were replaced by 12 other judges from another community. That was supposed to be radical surgery. We do not want to subject our professionals to that kind of nonsense. Therefore, this is why I support this Bill that will make sure that there is a clear-cut standard that will ensure that no witchhunt, tribalism, arm-twisting or threats will be the reason why an intelligent member of the Judiciary will lose his or her job. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, finally, I just want to say that whereas we will be doing the vetting, we should not forget that it will be important that at the end of the day after we have employed the proper judges, we should also ensure that we employ an adequate number of judges. This is because judges and magistrates are terribly overworked. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, for the last three years, I have been sitting in a petition court. Every time I go there, sometimes you wait for an hour or so before they go to the substantive business; that is the petition. You see the amount of work a judge is supposed to do; he has to deal with 60 cases within two hours so as to create time. I do not believe that one can be sufficiently competent under those circumstances. It would also be very important that the Government should build enough court rooms. We must have enough magistrate courts and high courts in all the 47 counties across the country. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, finally, but not least, this hiring of a clean slate of judges must be accompanied by reforms in the Directorate of Public Prosecutions. What I have in mind is that I do not understand why a high standing judge would be led through the prosecutions by a police constable."
}