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{
"id": 590849,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/590849/?format=api",
"text_counter": 149,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. (Eng.) Gumbo",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 24,
"legal_name": "Nicholas Gumbo",
"slug": "nicholas-gumbo"
},
"content": "What pertains today may not necessarily be what we will want tomorrow. In my view, the fact that we will, from time to time, hold a needs assessment is a good thing. I am glad that Clause 7 of the Bill provides for the divisions for the court. As I have said before, we are living in a fast changing world. It will be important that, as we create the divisions of the court, we take cognizance of the emerging and contemporary issues of our time. For example, coming from an electrical engineering background, some of the most complex issues that we face today are to be found in the field. There are such emerging issues in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), renewable energy, oil and gas where, sometimes, disputes usually involve a very complex and huge commercial interest. A time has come when, in addition to getting legal training, those who preside over the cases in courts, whether they are magistrates or judges of the High Court or the Court of Appeal, need specialization to deal with those issues, which we cannot wish away. Clause 14 of the Bill provides for the office of the president of the Court of Appeal to be in Nairobi. I am concerned by this obsession of having everything in Nairobi. We seem to think that things can only happen when Nairobi becomes the centre of gravity. This is why everything in Nairobi has become so artificial from plot sizes. The other day, I was being told that the cost of a plot in some areas in Nairobi is as high as five to 10 times the cost of a plot you will find in a similar neighbourhood in New York City or London. This obsession of always wanting to put everything in Nairobi is wrong. We should borrow from other jurisdictions. For example, if you go to South Africa today, the administrative capital is in Pretoria, the commercial capital is in Johannesburg, the legislative capital is in Cape Town, and the judicial capital is in Bloemfontein. I do not understand why, in the interest of taking justice to the people, we should insist on housing the president of the Court of Appeal in Nairobi. It does not make sense to me. This is one of the areas we should allow regulations so that, even if we are to define the location of the office of the president of the Court of Appeal, let it be done through regulations. The fact that this Bill provides for specific programmes for budgetary allocation for the court is important. There is no gainsaying that the Court of Appeal in Kenya, up to now, has been very efficient. That efficiency can only be enhanced if we provide the necessary resources to make the judges do their work properly. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the fact that the calendar of the Court is clearly spelt out in this Bill is good. It is ensuring that when people go for determination between those higher level courts, they know at what point they can prepare. As I conclude, as a country really, we must speak to what, in my view - and I stand to be corrected - appears to me to be a very high level of judicial activism in our country today. I am not a lawyer but I want to think that when judgements are made, they cannot be impervious to the prevailing public issues. I am very concerned with some of the judgements that have been coming out of our courts. For example, when a judge sits in a court somewhere and purports to injunct the institution of Parliament, how is that helpful to this country?"
}