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{
    "id": 587203,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/587203/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 248,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Eng.) Gumbo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 24,
        "legal_name": "Nicholas Gumbo",
        "slug": "nicholas-gumbo"
    },
    "content": "I have a problem with the provisions of Clause 10(d). I wish my sister, the Vice- Chairperson of the Committee, would advise me on this one. Clause 10 is on power to punish contempt of court. Clause 10(d) says: “A person who having been called upon to give evidence in a judicial proceeding fails to attend, or having attended, refuses to be sworn or to make an affirmation or, having been sworn or affirmed, refuses without lawful excuse to answer a question or to produce a document, or remains in the room in which such proceeding is being heard or taken, after the witnesses have been ordered to leave such room, commits an offence”. That offence would draw a fine not exceeding Kshs100,000 or the person can be jailed for five days. I thought providing evidence is a voluntary exercise. I am not a lawyer, and I stand guided. Is this not making it compulsory for people to give evidence? What if you want to exercise your rights not to give evidence? Again, as I said, I am speaking on this matter as a lay person. I stand guided. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Part III of the Bill is on the administration of the court. It derives its powers from Article 172(1) (c) of the Constitution. Looking at what the courts administrator would do, would it not be nice to provide their qualifications? This is a very substantial position that should not be left as it is. What would we require a court administrator to be? Would we require a court administrator to be somebody with a legal training background? It would be nice, as we define the role of the court administrator for the various court jurisdictions, that we also provide the qualifications of the court administrator. Looking at the roles of the court administrator, it would not necessarily be making the Bill too voluminous if we were to go ahead and include what it would require for one to qualify to be a court administrator in a Chief Magistrate’s Court, for instance. As we go to the Third Reading of the Bill, it would be good to include what it takes for one to qualify to be a court administrator. I have noticed that the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has, of late, been engaged in taking court services to as many parts of Kenya as possible, especially with the establishment of Magistrates’ Courts in various small stations all over the country. However, it would be nice to have criteria for establishing the courts. I do not believe there is any part of this country which does not require access to justice. I believe every part of this country requires access to justice because we have an open society where, as much as possible, people should be told why things are done the way they are done. The other day, I saw a court being taken to Mukurweini. One would be interested to understand why Mukurweini, and not Rarieda for that matter. If we can have some sort of criteria to guide the establishment of Magistrates’ Courts all over the country, it would be good. Lastly, as people who are privileged to be charged with the responsibility of making laws for our country, much as we make laws such as this, we should also equally and actively---"
}