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"speaker_name": "Mr. Ahenda",
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"legal_name": "Paddy Ahenda",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move the following Motion:- THAT, aware that the Penal Code provides for the sentence of death as a form of punishment that may be imposed by a court of law; further aware that the Constitution upholds the sanctity of life; this House grants leave to introduce a Bill for an Act of Parliament entitled the \"Penal Code (Amendment) Bill\" to amend Sections 25, 40(3), 204, 296(2) in order to abolish the death sentence. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, death is not a form of punishment. Dead people do not learn. Once somebody is dead, he cannot learn anything! Jails are not meant to punish people, but to correct the minds of the people who have committed crimes. When you are sent to jail for an offence, you are supposed to be reformed. Actually, in some countries, jails are called corrective centres. They are meant to correct you, so that you fit in the civil society. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in view of the fact that, life is God-given and only God can take it, I strongly feel that the death penalty that is imposed on people who are found guilty, no matter how grievous the offence is--- No human being has the mandate or authority, 34 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 25, 2007 moral or immoral, to take the life of any living person. It is in that regard that I feel very strongly that the death penalty, in any civilised society or the world we are living in today, is not and will never be a form of any punishment. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have conducted research the world over on countries that are still imposing the death penalty. For example, in America, they still impose death penalties. But it takes years for somebody to be taken to the electric chair. It has been tested the world over that a dead person cannot come back to life and tell you how painful death is, so that it can be a corrective measure against individuals who wants to commit the same crime, so that they can keep off. If we want to have better corrective measures, then the death penalty must be removed from our Penal Code. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in the recent past, there has been a wave of deaths and killings in our country. But even those who commit murder have no authority to take somebody's life. Even those who kill in self-defence--- Sometimes, you can be forced to kill in self-defence--- Given the Penal Code in Kenya today, those who kill in self-defence go scot free because they did it to defend themselves. But still, that is not an authority to take the life of a living person, which was God-given. Life is God-given and can only be taken by the giver of that life who, in this case, is God himself! Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Penal Code has often been misused. A number of people have been taken to the gallows and several years later, it is found out that they never committed those crimes. But they are already dead! You can do nothing to bring them back to life! It has also been proved that some people have actually died for offences that they never committed. But since they did not have enough evidence to save them from the hangman, they were sent to the gallows and actually hanged! Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is very, very sad to note that an innocent person was hanged for an offence that he or she did not commit, simply because the law found him on the wrong side. It is in view of that, that I feel strongly that the death penalty should not be imposed in a civilised society such as ours. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, many crimes have been given the death penalty as the maximum sentence."
}