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{
    "id": 500518,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/500518/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 412,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Eng.) Gumbo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 24,
        "legal_name": "Nicholas Gumbo",
        "slug": "nicholas-gumbo"
    },
    "content": "Clause 12 says, “A person deprived of liberty shall not be confined in crowded conditions.” That is a good provision, but as I said, some of our jails carry about ten times the capacity they were intended for. Unless this House finds courage to give the necessary budgetary provisions to make sure this is achieved, it will just be a column in a long wish list. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Clause 14 says, “A person deprived of liberty shall be entitled to a nutritional diet approved by competent authorities.” These are very ambitious provisions. I hope at some point, we will be able to fulfill them, just as it is with the case of Clause 15, which says, “A person deprived of liberty shall be provided with beddings sufficient to meet the requirements of hygiene and climatic conditions. It is something to think about. As I conclude, I have looked at the provisions where you are talking about competence and disciplinary procedures. Clause 29 says, “Any person deprived of liberty who considers that his or her right under this Act has been denied or violated may lodge a complaint orally or in writing to the administrative officer in charge of the facility in which the person is detained.” If such denials are as a result or a consequence of a directive from the officer himself, why would we not in this clause contemplate, even if it is not an independent constitutional body, creating an independent authority where, like with the formation of IPOA, you can make independent complaints? Among the chains of complaints, you have the Commission on Administrative Justice. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, under Clause 31; on the Consultative Committee on Persons Deprived of Liberty, the Commissioner for Administrative Justice is not among people to form that committee. I think that is an omission and we need to look at it when we come to the Committee Stage. In conclusion, I think we have a major problem in our hands with the prisons of this country. When you have a chat with the people in charge of our prisons, it is a problem we have to address. There are thousands of Kenyans in death row, who had been convicted, but the State has been unable to decide what to do with them. Some have been convicted to hang and have nothing to do since their sentences have been passed, they are sitting in prison and they are now engaged in the form of crimes that we have seen involving Mpesa and issuing threats from prison walls. This country must courageously decide on what to do with them. Lastly, I noticed that this Bill gives a lot of powers to the Cabinet Secretary to make regulations. In some places, it makes the Cabinet Secretary look like a judge. When we come to Third Reading or the Committee Stage, we shall require that such regulations must come here. This is because giving a blanket ticket to the Cabinet Secretary to make regulations of a Bill of this nature, which confers so many rights to people, would be dangerous. It must be subjected to scrutiny of this House. With those remark, as I will be proposing my amendments, I support"
}