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"id": 207076,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/207076/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Wetangula",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs",
"speaker": {
"id": 210,
"legal_name": "Moses Masika Wetangula",
"slug": "moses-wetangula"
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for allowing me to also contribute to this Bill. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I will start by dealing with the issue of the Evidence Act on page 1331. The HANSARD will bear me out that in 1996, the Attorney-General, as he was and as he is still today, brought here a similar Bill. We cautioned that the amendment he was proposing at that time to the Evidence Act was dangerous, unacceptable and was going to compromise the administration of justice. At that time, I said that confessions are a very delicate issue in the administration of criminal justice. Criminals and suspected criminals make confessions on the spur of the moment. A man is caught with what Americans call a smoking gun and instantaneously says: \"I would not have done it if he did not do this\", or something to that effect. He goes to the police and within that time, he makes a series of statements that can be assisted in the subsequent prosecution. My learned friends, hon. Kajwang, the Attorney-General himself and hon. Muturi can tell you that 99 per cent of criminals who confess instantaneously, subsequently disown those confessions. The moment they disown the confessions in a criminal trial, we go through what we call a trial within a trial to ascertain whether the confession was properly taken and, in fact, whether it was free and so on and so forth. I forgot to mention my learned senior, hon. Marende. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the moment you say that confessions will be recorded by magistrates and judges, you cause a terrible embarrassment to the Judiciary. The moment the criminal disowns the confession, whoever recorded it, automatically, becomes a witness. Are we going to drag judges and magistrates to court? They will be embarrassed in harrowing cross- examinations by criminals and their lawyers. I do not think we should do so. Confessions must be left in the realm of the first point of contact between suspected criminals and the administration of justice and these are the police. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if a suspect is assaulted, courts have thrown out confessions. If a suspect is induced, courts have thrown out confessions and so on and so forth. By the Attorney-General trying to enlarge the section that was already bad anyway, I do not think he is doing anything better because he is inserting the following clause which reads: \"The Attorney-General shall, in consultation with the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), Kenya National Commission on Human Rights and other suitable bodies make rules governing the making of a confession in all instances where the confession is not made in court.\" Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, first, there should be no issue of confessions being made in court unless an accused is put to his defence or pleads guilty and admits the offence. Secondly, the Attorney-General should not appoint any other bodies or people to record confessions. Let us leave it to the police force. In fact, we have been saying that with the proliferation of young lawyers all over the country, the Attorney-General and the other organs in administration of justice should endeavour to employ and attach a young or competent lawyer to every police station, so that they can advise the police on the rights of the accused, issues of human rights and so on and so forth. We do not want to end up with the Attorney-General appointing people who sometimes may not measure to the job. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would submit that the Evidence Act amendment proposed on page 1331 should be deleted. The Attorney-General should instead bring an amendment to remove any requirement for a confession to be made before a judge or a magistrate. Let confessions be made before the police. In the absence of the police, what we call justices of the August 23, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3455 peace who are ordinary people bestowed with some titles and meaning very little. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want also to join my learned friend, hon. Muturi, the \"young man\", here on his comments on the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Bill. Nobody in this country or, at least in this House, is not committed to fighting corruption. It is a cancer that we must all fight and resist. However, I know the Attorney-General, Mr. Amos Wako, very well. I know his thinking. I do not believe these clauses he is putting here are from himself."
}