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{
    "id": 590317,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/590317/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 256,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) A.W. Ng’ang’a",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2884,
        "legal_name": "Alice Wambui Ng'ang'a",
        "slug": "alice-wambui-nganga"
    },
    "content": "This dispute resolution mechanism is the best. We are not inventing the wheel. It is only that previously a decision made by elders who sat down and resolved matters was not legally binding. The courts are for those people who have a dispute of less than Kshs100,000 and they have been shying away feeling that if they went to the court, they were going to use more money than the one they were trying to get. So, with these courts, many people are going to make their requests so that their matters can be discussed and concluded. I will not repeat myself but the only thing that I would say is that we have seen in this Bill that once an agreement has been reached, it is binding; it is there to stay. Even if you take it to the High Court, that resolution has been made, it is binding and people have to abide by it. That is a good one. The only problem I have is when we say that the adjudicator has to have an experience of five years. Most of the times, I usually have a problem with that because all the jobs advertised on the newspapers say that you must have an experience of five years. We have so many students, young men and women who leave universities and when a job is advertised and you are told that you must have experience of five years, you wonder where you will get that experience yet you are qualified. That is why you graduated and you have a degree or a diploma. When it comes to Third Reading, we have to amend it and say that if you are qualified and you have an experience of one year, it is good enough to become an adjudicator because you have already gone to the university and went through all those courses so you can sit down, listen to all parties and come up with a solution. That also applies to the registrar. It should be amended to say anybody who has qualified, not only an advocate but you can also be from other fields, you can be a registrar at that court and you can do that job that you are supposed to do. When we move to Third Reading, those are a few things we need to discuss because I feel that you do not need to have three years’ experience for you to be a registrar. I will not forget to say that this is going to solve a lot of problems. Just the other day in my constituency, a lady’s phone was taken from her house. She went to report the matter to the police because she actually knew who took her phone but when she went there, the policemen decided that they are the ones to settle the dispute. In the process, instead of recovering your goods, you find yourself getting into more problems than what you went to report. So, this Bill will help in solving the cases that come up at the village level or at the grassroots. When most of them hear that there is court that is coming, even if they cannot speak Swahili or English, they can still represent themselves because most of the time they wonder what language to use when they get there. With this Bill, there is no language barrier. With this Bill, they can present their views well. Another thing that I have liked is that you can send a representative even though we need to put a ceiling to it. There is need for a representative because you might not be feeling well and someone else who understands your case better can represent you so that the case is heard and determined. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, we are doing well with this legislation. If we continue legislating these kinds of Bills they will really help at the grassroots level where everybody will feel accommodated. People do not need to travel far and wide to look for justice - justice will be closer there at home. We have heard of cases where a person lends another, say, Kshs100, 000 or Kshs50, 000 and the person defaults in payment. In fact they end up saying, “I will not give you that money. What will you do to me?” Now, we have a place where one can take that dispute, be heard and the defaulter compelled to return the money. I rise to support and thank you very much. 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."
}