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{
    "id": 477754,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/477754/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 294,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Kaluma",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1565,
        "legal_name": "George Peter Opondo Kaluma",
        "slug": "george-peter-opondo-kaluma"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, our Constitution anchors the right of every accused person and the right of every arrested person to bail. How then do we have a proposal saying a police officer or a court may decline bail? It is outright unconstitutional. The Constitution says it is a right to get; you must give bail, unless there are compelling reasons. Whether or not reasons are compelling, it is a determination left to the discretion of the judicial officer. If there have been lapses, it has something to do with the training of the judicial officers. It has something to do with how we make the judicial officers aware of the society we are operating in, in relation to particular offences. But when you tell police officers that on these situations, you can deny bail--- Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, look at the proposals being made, some suggest that where you will fail to surrender custody, a police officer may deny you bail. How do you fail to surrender custody against the security apparatus of this country? How do they determine it at the time you are arrested considering that at that time you are presumed innocent? How do they confirm that you committed an offence while on bail? How do they know that you will commit an offence while on bail, when the time you are charged, you are still innocent? These are presumptuous. Essentially, you are giving the police excuses to deny bail, which is really unconstitutional. We are taking the country mischievously to the dark days of detention without trial. I fear this is what will happen. You will be arrested because you will interfere with witnesses or obstruct the cause of justice. That is so vague. It is so nebulous. How do you determine I will do that? I am an innocent party brought to court to determine whether I am guilty or not. Essentially, we may take it for granted, but I wanted to remind the House that the laws on detention without trial in this country were brought by people who became the immediate victims of them. Let us not seek to attenuate fundamental rights and liberties already anchored in the Constitution. Let us be very cautious."
}