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"id": 27392,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/27392/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Mungatana",
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"speaker": {
"id": 185,
"legal_name": "Danson Buya Mungatana",
"slug": "danson-mungatana"
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"content": "Initially, I held a very strong opinion, like hon. Bahari, that all these must be collapsed into the Kenya Human Rights Commission. However, looking at the way this Bill has been drafted, it will be unfair for me to oppose it because it really affects the people I represent. The people who have suffered the greatest injustices of administrative action are the ones who are in far-flung areas of this Republic. Chiefs, District Officers (DOs) and District Commissioners (DCs) have been the biggest face of oppressive administrative action against the people. We have come a long way, of course, and many things have changed but forced Harambee, forced labour and failure to act on issues that affect wananchi directly have been the bane of maladministration from what is called the “Provincial Administration” that used to exist. In fact, this is the reason many people at some point really wanted to do away with the Provincial Administration. It is in the far- flung areas where you will find the face of ugly administrative action. People take long to get their identity cards or birth certificates. If they want to see so-and-so they are told that they cannot see him. In some areas they are told that to see an administrator, they must bring chicken, a black or brown goat and so on. This is what people have been suffering from for many years; ugly administrative action. This is why I was requesting the Minister to pay attention for a few minutes. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the people who have suffered maladministration are not from town. Town people here in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu rush to the High Court very quickly and get judicial review remedies. They also go to the police headquarters where they get assistance. They also go to the big offices in the Government and get assistance. However, the people out there in the far-flung counties like Maralal and Tana River--- This is where you will hear that the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officers have gone and beaten up people in a village and tell them that they are the ones who killed a crocodile or hippopotamus when, in fact, these people were not involved. They are forced to carry that meat and are taken to court to be charged falsely. It is our people out there who suffer this. I was asking the Minister: “What sense does it make to have Clause 6?” I do not know why this is being repeated all the time; that the headquarters of the commission shall be in the capital city. Why is it that even commissions that have nothing to do with the Capital City have their headquarters in Nairobi? I thought the sense of this new Constitution was to take the power to the people and try to make the Constitution a reality to the people on the ground. I propose that this should be one of those commissions whose headquarters should not be in Nairobi. If they can come to Tana County to set up the headquarters, I would be most obliged. If they cannot go to Tana County, remove its headquarters from Nairobi. I am damn serious. Bring one commission to the Coast, for example. Why is the Government concentrated here in Nairobi? Why can we not follow the example of South Africa, where Parliament sits far away and the President sits in another place in Gauteng Province? The seat of justice is in another place. Why are we all focusing on the headquarters of the commissions being in Nairobi? Why can we not take one commission headquarters to Kisumu and another one to Eldoret and Mombasa respectively? Why should the headquarters of these commissions be in the Capital City? I propose that this commission’s headquarters should be set up in Mombasa, and maybe another one in Garissa because we need to open up this country. I really think that this must completely change. So, I will propose that the Minister seriously considers that or in the alternative, I move an amendment in the Committee stage, which I hope the Minister will not object. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the functions of this commission, as I have already explained, they require that they be spread in the counties, particularly the county where I come from. This is where the tyre meets the road and the rubber meets the tarmac. I would request that we must have a clause in these important commissions that serve our people to the effect that they must have presence in the counties. We must not leave it the way it is because if we say that the headquarters, for example, shall be in Mombasa which is the second biggest city in this land and then say; “but the commission may establish branches in any place in Kenya,” we have left it so vague. The statistics in this country show that 60 per cent of Members of Parliament do not get back. Assuming that those statistics are true, these ones will be even more because many Members of Parliament may not defend their seats because they will go for other seats. So, we will probably have an 80 per cent turnover. This is the opportunity for us to make sure that there is legislation that will help our people in the countryside. If we do not do it now, we will not do it next year. I prophesize that the next generation of Members of Parliament will be dot.com and tweeter friendly kind of people. They will be city guys. You will not tell them to set up commissions’ headquarters in Tana County. They will probably ask you: “Where the hell is that place?” We must enact this law now and properly. Let us have a clause that makes it compulsory to make sure that this service will be available in the countryside. It will be compulsory and mandatory to have this commission where those complaints arise. The ordinary people of Kenya do not have these things because all of them are in Nairobi and yet the people of Nairobi do not need them because they have further alternative remedies. I urge the Minister to seriously consider coming up with a clause that will not make it as loose as it is, “may establish branches.” At least, for the commissions that will make our people get the services of the new Constitution, let this be a reality. I urge the Minister to consider fixing a nice clause in the Bill that will say: “There must be branches in the counties, and if not any other county, at least, in Tana County.” We need to have the headquarters of this commission there. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I remember when we were young there was a DO who came to our village -Ngao - and said that the people of that village were very proud. He said that he had been given a brief that they must be disciplined. The guy just rounded up people. I remember a cousin of mine who was a teacher and a leader in the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) movement resisted and because of that, he was shot by Administration Police. All the men were rounded up in the village. I remember sleeping on top of a tree at night. We were at home for December holidays. Our parents had just come for holidays in the village. These things are real in those places. Of course, that guy was later arrested. He gave himself to the DO when our politicians got into action later on. That should not happen at all if there is the presence of such a body there. Finally, in the functions of the commission, we have forgotten to include a clause that says it must make sure that its services are known to people. In other words, it has a duty to educate people. It should tell people that it is there. Most of us who are elected from the countryside know that our people are not aware of many Government services. So, it must be one of their roles. The commission can come out on radios, particularly regional and community radios, and tell people that if they go to a public office and a public officer is not giving them good service, they are entitled to make a complaint on that particular office. The location should also be clearly stated. If that is not done, like the previous speaker said, some of those people have been here in Nairobi and you cannot see what they do. We, therefore, set up a commission, vote in a lot of money for its budget and we do not see anything happening. It is because people in the countryside are not aware of those commissions and how important they are. I urge the Minister to insert this clause so that our people, who really need that service, can be informed. They will be told that it is because of the new Constitution that such a commission can help them in this or that manner. With those remarks, I beg to support."
}