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{
    "id": 244863,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/244863/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 225,
    "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"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is with a light touch since these are my learned friends. We need a little humour in the House. That way, the world was able to put to trial and bring to book the perpetrators of the holocaust. I have been told recently that a similar protection of witnesses has been put in place in Rwanda, to protect witnesses against the perpetrators of genocide and here we must protect people who will testify against hard criminals. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the rest are administrative details in the Bill on how to identify witnesses, their needs, and so on. I just want to request the Attorney-General that in Clause 5(3), he should also entertain a written request for protection of lawyers of families because he is only limiting it to the witness or a law enforcement agency. A lawyer representing a family or a witness should also be allowed to be part of the category that can request the Attorney-General to offer protection. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, equally, the law provides that the protection may not be forever and when you have such a benevolent law, there are always con characters who will pretend to be witnesses in need of protection. The law also covers them and they will be punished if the Attorney-General finds out that they are impostors. This is available in other jurisdictions as well. Mr. Temporary Deputy Sir, so on the overall, the Bill is supportable and good, that when you go to the High Court to determine who deserves protection, the proceedings are in camera. That again is good because if you want to protect somebody, you cannot expose them in an open court. So, with all these provisions, it is a good start. It is a law which we are bringing into the country for the first time. I am sure law being a dynamic process, we will continuously revise, review and amend it, and make it better. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}