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{
    "id": 555531,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/555531/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 288,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Ombaka",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1007,
        "legal_name": "Christine Oduor Ombaka",
        "slug": "christine-oduor-ombaka"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for this opportunity. I would also like to add my voice to this Bill concerning the transfer of prisoners back home. First and foremost, what I have observed is that Kenyans leave for countries abroad for various reasons. They go to study, to work while others just go to visit. They end up sticking there. They may not get jobs there and, therefore, commit crimes there. The crimes that I imagine warrant to be considered as cases for transfer are murder, serial rape cases, and burglary. I fail to understand what kind of crime would require a Kenyan abroad to be transferred here. A crime is a crime. If the prisoners are abroad, I would wish that they finish their term there. After that they can come back home. Normally, what I see happen is that Kenyan prisoners, as soon as they finish their prison term, are repatriated back home straightaway because they are no longer needed there. After all they are seen as criminals or people whose life even prison has not changed. They tend to be repatriated immediately they are released from prison. What we have failed to capture in our system is the kind of people who go abroad, and whether or not the Kenyan Government knows that they are there. A lot of them do not even report to the embassy. A lot of them live abroad, but the ambassador or the consulate, in that area has no idea that there are Kenyans there. Two weeks ago, I was in the UK monitoring elections. When we paid a visit to the ambassador and asked him whether it was going to be possible for Kenyans living abroad to participate in elections he said that can only be possible if all Kenyans abroad register at the embassy. He said that he did not know many of them because they arrive in the UK and then disappear. The embassy is not aware of where many Kenyans live in the UK. That in itself is a problem. When a Kenyan is imprisoned out there, the ambassador should know. He should know that there is a Kenyan who has committed a crime, is imprisoned and needs to be transferred to Kenya. The system that should make the ambassador aware of all Kenyans who are there is not in place. We need to start from there. All Kenyans should register or make their presence known at the embassy, so that whatever happens to them the ambassador can take action and facilitate their coming back home. That is where we have a problem. My second issue is this: If you transfer a criminal back home, what happens to the status to them once the prison term is over, especially if that criminal had a Green Card? When a person has a Green Card it means that the person is a resident or a citizen of a foreign country to some extent. The person has some right to be in that country again. When we transfer them here, will they go back to those countries when they finish their jail term here? In many cases they may not get a visa to go back because they will not have a good record. Therefore, this matter needs to be clarified in this Bill. Will they still enjoy the liberty to travel and be in those countries? Will they be guaranteed a visa? Will they visit? Will they live in the UK, USA and many other countries apart from the Middle East? Who will want to come home to be imprisoned here from the UK or USA? I think that opportunity must be available; whoever wants to come home and be imprisoned here should be able to do so. That choice will be theirs; but the question is: Will he come with his entire family and how much will it cost us? How many Kenyans out there are committing crimes that require them to be repatriated? We need to look at the money part of it and the family part of it. We also need to establish how many The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}