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{
    "id": 590845,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/590845/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 145,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Wetangula",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 3036,
        "legal_name": "Timothy Wanyonyi Wetangula",
        "slug": "timothy-wanyonyi-wetangula"
    },
    "content": "If we go by seniority, and if the president of the Court is inefficient, there is no need for him to be in office. The Court of Appeal can take its prerogative to elect the next president and remove the one who is not efficient. They need the court to perform efficiently because this is an appellate court. An appellate court is supposed to be the most efficient than the other junior courts. People who are not satisfied with the decisions of the lower courts can come to the Court of Appeal knowing very well that they will get justice or something they will be satisfied with. I believe this action is very necessary because we do not want to have a dead-wood or somebody who is not performing sitting in the position of leadership of an important court. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, there is also the issue of the languages of the court. The official languages shall be English and Kiswahili. In addition, there will be the Kenyan Sign language, Braille and other communication formats and technologies accessible to persons with disabilities. It is an important addition and I believe we shall have persons with disabilities accessing justice in our courts. Sometimes, we used to go to court and find that when there is no sign interpreter, the matter cannot proceed. That causes delay. Sometimes, it may take so long to get a sign interpreter because they are very few in the country and, sometimes, the cost is passed on to the litigants. It is important that this matter is addressed so that courts can take care of this and it will be helpful to persons with disabilities. People with visual and hearing impairment can now access justice. I would also like to address myself to the transfer of judges. It creates efficiency when a judge is not left to serve in a station for too long. When they are transferred regularly to other stations, they will not be very complacent and sit believing that they belong to that station. People get used to them and, sometimes, that creates room for corruption. People know how to access the judge, how he behaves or relates with the people. When there is regular reshuffling of judges, it brings efficiency. It will make sure that a judge who comes to serve in a particular station knows very well that he will come to serve and move on. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the other issue is the tenure of the president of the Court of Appeal. The Bill says that he will serve for a five-year non-renewable term. It means that once he has served for five years, then somebody else takes over and presides over the court. This ensures that one is not driven by other interests when he or she is trying to hang on to be the president of the Court of Appeal. This is a very progressive Bill."
}