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{
    "id": 291997,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/291997/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 622,
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    "content": "passionate women’s rights defender not just because of the flower but because I was trained by one of the best. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I just want to indicate that, indeed, what the Minister has said is true that our Committee has certain reservations and we will be meeting the Minister. We have met the Director of the Kenya School of Law and our concerns are not really in relation to the specific provisions of the law but behind the ideology which is a big problem. Whereas, we do not have a problem with standardizing legal education, we have a problem in terms of the way it is being configured. I think we have all agreed that there is a big problem in terms of legal education in this country that many schools are mushrooming without any proper regulation. I will bring a Question to this House that relates to law students in Kisii who passed through Kisii College and who qualified and were admitted by the Joint Admissions Board of the respective universities. Having gone there, they were told suddenly that there are certain standards that that college does not meet and the law students have been out of that school for more than a year. Therefore, it is, indeed, true that we need to standardize legal education. However, the issue that is not being answered and which we would like the Minister to answer is why separate those roles. In our minds it appears that we are creating a lot of bureaucracy and where you create bureaucracy, you are creating a lot of expense and using money in places where you really do not need to. We are not too convinced whether it is just a case of a person who is trying to create a permanent job for themselves or whether there is really need. From the Minister’s own words, I was a little worried because he has just given the same reasons that have made us to be a bit hesitant. The Minister has indicated that when the architects and quantify surveyors heard that the legal profession is going this way, they have also said they want to go this way. What it basically means is that architects and surveyors will want a special professional institution for their training and another one for setting standards. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the teachers will want KNUT and another one for setting standards and for training. By the time we are done with all the professions, counselors, lawyers and teachers--- I do not know whether this country will afford because we will be asking why the lawyers are getting special treatment. I am a lawyer and I would not have any reason to deny lawyers a good thing. We do need standards but we are still open to being convinced if there are very good justifications for going this way. But so far, we have had preliminary discussions as a Committee and we are a bit hesitant. That is one of the reasons we had requested the Minister to hold on because they are twin Bills that are split over an existing Bill. Therefore, all I would like to do is to urge the Minister to indicate to us why we cannot have the council as part of the Kenya School of law. What mischief are we trying to redress by splitting the two? If the Kenya School of Law has not been effective in setting standards or in training, is the answer in splitting or is the answer elsewhere? Is there a problem somewhere that can be solved by not splitting but by enhancing capacity? Perhaps, it is lower staffing. I know the Bill is fairly straightforward and so I will not speak much to it. Yes, we need standards and it is not just in legal education. I was an employer and I was employing primarily lawyers even though I employed other professionals. However, I would like to say that the standards of education have gone down not just because of this"
}