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{
    "id": 588741,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/588741/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 192,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Okoth",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 12482,
        "legal_name": "Kenneth Odhiambo Okoth",
        "slug": "kenneth-odhiambo-okoth"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I find that the proposed fines for contempt of court, especially in the High Court and in the Magistrates’ Courts are a little bit too low. We have reached a point where we need to be a country of rule of law and courts must be respected. The sense of impunity where people can disrespect court orders is too much. The fines for offences are something we need to look at. I will give you an example. If you followed any of the recent news items, it seems to have become fashionable to disobey court orders. You hear claims of witness tampering, witness procurement and fixing allegations against the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the post-election violence. It is interesting that if anyone was paying attention, they would know that this would amount to committing an offence under the laws we are passing here today, including the Magistrates’ Courts Bill that passed Second Reading and the High Court Organization and Administration Bill that we are tackling right now. Those would be punishable. Unfortunately, the punishable offences, for instance in the case of the Magistrates’ Courts Bill, is only imprisonment for a term not exceeding five days and/or a fine not exceeding Kshs100,000. We know there are people in this country for whom five days in jail or Kshs100,000 is too little. So, we really need to beef up the consequences of disobeying and disrespecting our courts, whether they are Magistrates’ Courts or High Courts to very high level, so that people do not joke with our court system."
}