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"id": 206259,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/206259/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Wako",
"speaker_title": "The Attorney-General",
"speaker": {
"id": 208,
"legal_name": "Sylvester Wakoli Bifwoli",
"slug": "wakoli-bifwoli"
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"content": " Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, organised crime is the act of engaging in criminal activity as a structured, organised and disciplined group. Organised crime is characterised by some basic qualities, including but not limited to durability over time, diversified interest, hierarchial structure, organised and disciplined association, capital accumulation, re- investment, access to political protection and use of violence for such interests. Organised crime thrives mainly because members of such organisations keep their illegal actions secret, and operate and communicate discretely In addition, many organised crime operations have legal fronts such as licensed business and real estate development, which operate in parallel with and provide cover for their criminal activities. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the issue of organised crime is not just being faced by Kenya. But it is an international problem. It is being faced by the international community. No longer can crime be regarded as, more or less, an individual activity, or just one or two people in a very haphazard manner, carrying out a criminal activity such a robbery with violence. Criminal activities 3622 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES August 30, 2007 have reached a sophistication of organisation. I think as the world has witnessed parallel economic and social development, that has also been reflected in the criminal world. That is why Kenya, together with the international community, is concerned with the menace of organised crime and activities which encompass many areas such as money laundering, corruption and economic crimes, drug trafficking, trafficking in human beings, arms trafficking, abduction, hostage taking, extortion and violent crimes. So, the international community came together and, through a United Nations system, developed and adopted the United Nations Convention against Trans National Organised Crime commonly known as the Palermo Convention in the year 2000. I am glad to tell this august House that, in fact, Kenya is party to that United Nations Convention. Under that Convention, which nearly all the countries are party to now, the partner states are required to put in place legislative and other measures to prevent, criminalise and punish organised crime-related activities, to provide for the seizure and confiscation of property, to provide for the forfeiture of proceeds of organised crime, to provide for international co-operation and mutual legal assistance and to provide for good governance. Here in Kenya, we have also witnessed the development of such organised crime and organised criminal groups such as the Mungiki, the Saboti Land Defence Force, the Republic Revolutionary Council, the Taliban, the Sungu Sungu --- Not, undoubtedly, the hon. Member of Parliament, but Sungu Sungu . We have seen a proliferation of those type of criminal activities. There is organised crime, particularly not only in the so-called upper-market areas in Nairobi, but also in other areas of Nairobi. I do not need to remind hon. Members of the evils that those groups have imposed on our society. I only want to assure you that the Government law enforcement machinery is trying its best to address those issues. But it will address those issues even better, if it has a legal framework. Through the passage of this Bill, it will provide the necessary legal framework to deal effectively with those organized groups. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, under our current Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation, the Government recognizes the serious threat posed by crime on society in general, and development activities in particular. Secondly, I will be going into what we are doing to realize the objectives under that recovery strategy, particularly in the area of administration of justice. So, the enactment of this Bill will provide the appropriate legal framework. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Bill, itself, is not all that long. Most of the provisions in this Bill meet international standards, as required by the United Nations (UN) Conventions. We deal with the interpretation clause, where you can see that the Minister can declare an organized criminal group. Once it is declared, it has certain consequences which are provided for under the Act. The Minister to administer this Act is the Minister responsible for matters relating to internal security. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, \"an organized criminal group\" means a structured group of three or more persons existing for a period of time, and acting in concert with an aim of committing one or more serious crimes in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit or any other advantage. So, there you are. What constitutes an organized criminal group is defined. Then, the Act provides for the various offences under the Act. To be a member of such a group is an offence. To be engaged in the activities of such a group is an offence. To train--- Because as I said earlier, criminal activities have also become very sophisticated. They also undergo intensive training. Just like we train magistrates, prosecutors and investigators, criminal gangs also train their own personnel and, therefore, the need to criminalize the training of persons for the purposes of an organized criminal activity. Fund-raising for such an organization is also being criminalized under this Act. There are very many other offences. I do not have to go through them. I know that hon. Members of Parliament have already read them. Then, of course, there is obstructing justice. There are many ways in which an organized gang can obstruct justice. They can obstruct justice by, say, August 30, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3623 threatening witnesses, intimidating them using physical force, dissuading them or even inducing them to give false evidence. Inducement can also take the nature of being given some money in order to give false evidence. One can be induced to disappear with the evidence. We have seen a number of cases, even in relation to ordinary crimes where, on the relevant day, files just disappear from the courts! On the relevant day, a critical exhibit just disappears from the court. We have corrected it here. In the case of drug trafficking, the drugs, themselves, also disappear. There, of course, we have corrected it. But we need, under this Act, to emphasize the seriousness of interfering with the course of justice when dealing with organized crime. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, under Part IV, there is a whole chapter there on tracing, confiscating, seizing and forfeiting of property which those organized criminal groups may have. As I said earlier, we are dealing with organized crime involving a lot of money. They channel that money by having fronts that appear to be legitimate investments, businesses, industries, ownership of properties and so on. But those are just fronts. We need to be able, if we know that those are fronts, to pierce the veil and confiscate such properties. So, there are elaborate procedures here on confiscation of properties, all of which will involve the Attorney-General moving to the courts. We are a country under the rule of law. We cannot just go and confiscate a property. We shall move to the courts and obtain the appropriate orders of the court in confiscating that property. So, it is all here. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, you will also recognize that organized crime has an international dimension and, hence, the need for mutual assistance and expedition. We have a whole chapter dealing with how that can be effected. Then, we have the Miscellaneous Clause, and so on. So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do not have to take too long on this. This is a Bill which is long overdue in Kenya. We have reached a level of sophistication where we now have to deal with sophisticated criminals who are well organized, and who always try to be one step ahead of law enforcement officers. So, in this Bill, we shall endeavour to enable the Government to be one step ahead of those organized criminal groups. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to move and ask my honourable friend and colleague in the Government, who is above all, my professional colleague, hon. Munya, to second it. Thank you."
}