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"id": 241627,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/241627/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Ms. Karua",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs",
"speaker": {
"id": 166,
"legal_name": "Martha Wangari Karua",
"slug": "martha-karua"
},
"content": "Law is dynamic and it moves with society. It is, therefore, necessary, from time to time, to look at our laws and keep on updating them so that they are in touch with the modern trends. These amendments are, therefore, necessary. It is almost an annual ritual that there would be a Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill affecting various pieces of legislation that require updating to enable the Government to function and also continuation of an orderly society. Looking at the amendments to the various statutes, as the Attorney-General has already stated, one would see the logic of the amendments being proposed. I would urge hon. Members of Parliament to look at each of those statutes and if there is anything else left out, they should point it out so that when we go to Committee Stage, we can come up with amendments that are going to help with the reform process that is taking place in this country. We shall also be harmonising our laws with the very many new statutes that have been enacted. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Attorney-General has already mentioned the issue of enlarging our High Court from the establishment of 50 to 70 Judges. I support this amendment because our Judges are now catering for an added population. We started as a country of about 6 million people, but now we are 33 million people. Therefore, we need more officers to help in solving disputes in accordance with our laws. However, I would like to point out that adding the number of Judges may not, on its own, be the desired result of expediting court cases. We need, simultaneously with this, to address the issue of proper management of our courts by the presiding officers. It is upon the presiding officer who controls the courts to ensure that cases are disposed of expeditiously and weigh the applications for adjournment coming from the litigant; whether from the prosecutor or the accused person's lawyers. I would urge members of our judiciary - I am glad that they are already addressing this issue - to take better control of their courts and to ensure that there is no unmerited delays in the cases so that the litigants, both civil and criminal, do not have to troop to the courts years on end. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, although members of the public complain about delays, I am aware that some of the delays are occasioned by the litigants who are members of the public and their lawyers. There is delay created sometimes by the judicial officers, but this is an area where we have to look at all the players and to urge them all to take up this issue seriously so that we ensure that there is no delay in the processing of cases. After all, the adage is: Justice delayed is justice denied. While supporting the amendment that we increase the number of Judges in our High Court, we should also increase our vigilance and ensure that every person plays his or her part so that we can expedite the disposal of cases. We know that lawyers working for public bodies other than those in the office of the Attorney-General are required to have practising certificates every year even though they are not July 20, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2271 running private practice. It is, therefore, necessary that we support the proposed amendment to the Advocates Act in order to enable the Attorney-General to have discretion and grant exemption for the lawyers working in public bodies, and who need not take practising certificates, to carry out public duties. I do not wish to address clause after clause because that will amount to duplication. However, with regard to the Constitutional Offices Remuneration Act, we need to pay some attention to this area. I am glad that this amendments are being brought. While we look at the salary structure, we must also ask ourselves this question: Who sets allowances for constitutional office holders? Sometimes there is no guidance and we leave it to the office holders to determine their allowances. This might not be the case in all the institutions, but it is certainly so in some of them. This is an area that we need to harmonise and ensure that even allowances are determined centrally or by a body other than the officers themselves to avoid the conflict of interest when looking at this issue. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we also need to look at the issue of exempting State corporations which have private sector participation. How do we balance public good and free enterprise? We remember that when Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) was exempted from the State Corporations Act, everything ran amok. We need to tighten our rules so that we balance public interest with the need for private enterprise. Otherwise, we will not have done our duty. I know that hon. Members of this House, through the Departmental Committee on Administration of Justice and Legal Affairs has addressed itself to some of these issues. However, we too can participate and look at these issues. We support the move to amend this legislation, but we must look at the areas that we need to tighten. After all, our duty is to scrutinise each clause so that we are able to pass laws that will serve us well. That way, we will not rush back with another amendment on an area that we could have dealt with immediately. I wish to applaud the fact that the Physical Planners Registration Act is being looked at. We hardly look at the Acts governing our professional bodies. It is high time we looked at them and brought fresh legislation for the professional bodies that have no self-regulating mechanisms so that we can have orderly and useful professional development. I am looking at the National Commission of Human Rights Act where there are proposed amendments. As the Attorney-General said, the Kenya National Commission of Human Rights deals with matters related to human rights. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is up to the Government of the day to divide Ministries, lump them together and give them mandate that it deems fit. So, it is important that, where it is not necessary to specify which office, it is left to the Minister responsible, without naming the Ministry. That gives the Government of the day the leeway to lump its Ministries as it pleases because it is a matter of policy. It is not a matter of law. So, tomorrow, if we have a Minister who does nothing else but human rights, then the administration of that body goes to him or her. If we find that we do not need the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs but just the Attorney-General, then no further amendments would be necessary. So, this is leaving it flexible enough to be in line with the policies of the Government of the day, without changing the mandate or affecting the institution concerned. When it comes to the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act, there has been an agreement that we need to expand the jurisdiction of special magistrates to enable them to deal with not only crimes under that Act, but also the Penal Code. That is because the Penal Code supplements what is in the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act. That is something that was not foreseen. The special magistrates under this Act are dealing with only one Act, and are not dealing with consequential offences arising from the Penal Code. That is very necessary at the time when Kenyans are calling for further action on the fight against graft. It is necessary to make these 2272 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 20, 2006 amendments to enable courts that handle corruption cases, to handle any consequential offences that arise in the course of investigations related to anti-corruption issues and economic crimes. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is also necessary to give the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission officers equal status that is enjoyed by police officers in a police station. That is necessary because they are dealing with investigations where they are required not only to summon the suspects, but also to record their statements. That is another issue that was not clearly seen at the time of the passing of the Bill. It is very necessary now. It is also necessary to empower the High Court to appoint a receiver of a property that has been obtained through corruption, so as to preserve it. Currently, when suspects are charged, they continue to utilise and waste the property so that, even at the time of judgement, there may be nothing for the people of Kenya to recover. That clause is very necessary to enable the people of Kenya, when they are successful in their litigation, to recover what they are seeking to recover from those who have engaged in economic crimes. We expect these amendments to get the support of the entire House. It is in the interest of this country that we recover monies and property that is not justly earned or was corruptly taken from the people of Kenya. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we all know that many people who have been charged with economic crimes have rushed to courts alleging that their constitutional rights have been breached. They have no intention of having those cases prosecuted. Once they get the stay, they go to sleep. Even those ones who woke up recently, woke up grumbling and, therefore, revealing their true intentions! They only meant to paralyse those cases. It is, therefore, important that while you ventilate about your constitutional rights, let the people of Kenya prove their case against each suspect. This, again, is a very good clause. It does not take away the right of a litigant to go to court and, very quickly, prosecute their case that will either prove or disapprove that their constitutional rights have been violated. After all, under the new rules that the Chief Justice promulgated in January this year, such a reference, if you file it now, should be heard within 45 days. Before those new rules were introduced, some litigants who had filed those references three years ago, had gone to sleep and started snoring loudly. They are now being woken up! That is to stop the abuse of the process of the court. It is wrong for a litigant or a litigant's lawyer to engage in that type of behaviour because, after all, the role of the advocates is to be officers of the courts. They are supposed to first of all, assist the courts and secondly, not to obstruct justice. It is not the duty of the advocate to obstruct the course of justice and be merely a mouth-piece for the client. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is also good that the proposed amendments will vest the authority to appoint special magistrates with the Chief Justice. That way, the process is shortened and whenever there is a need for additional magistrate, that is done. After all, the rest of the magistrates are appointed by the Chief Justice. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is quite clear that these amendments will also remove the ambiguities and also harmonise the offences of corruption and economic crimes under the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act and the Penal Code. Regarding the Public Officers' Ethics Act, it is clear that the public, and even Parliamentarians, have agreed that for the wealth declaration exercise to be meaningful, there have to be mechanisms of following them up. Therefore, there is need that we pass these amendments to ensure that this Act is of use to us. We should provide disciplinary action for public servants who flout the provisions of this Act. We know that today, there are people who do not comply with this Act, even inside this House. It is necessary that there are adequate sanctions to compel everybody to follow the law. We should also deter those who use public office for personal aggrandizement. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, all in all, all the amendments that are proposed here are very necessary. They are well intentioned. They are now before the House. They are the property of this House. Let us debate them with the interest of this country at heart, so that we can July 20, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2273 move forward and create a better and orderly society where people live by the sweat of their brow, and not by things that are illegally obtained. With those many remarks, I beg to second."
}