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"id": 593339,
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Wako",
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"legal_name": "Amos Sitswila Wako",
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"content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak to this very important Motion by Sen. Adan. I have every confidence in the proposed Members of the Committee. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this topic reminds me of what Justice O’Kubasu said about prisons. He said to be in prison is like being sentenced to death because of the deplorable state of affairs that are there in the prison. It reminds me of one Stanley Oloitiptip who was the Minister for Home Affairs and in charge of prisons. When he was the Minister, he moved around, he was a giant. He moved about with flashy cars and so on, but it came a time when he had also to go to prison for a few days and when he came out, his weight had been reduced to almost half, his hair had been cut, the shoes that he was wearing were now very buggy and so on. He said he wished he knew, he could have done something when he was the Minister for Home Affairs in charge of prisons. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it reminds me of one former Vice President who hailed from Busia County - he had those qualities for reforms - one, Moody Awori was in charge of prisons, and we can all recall that he undertook a number of reforms to such an extent that what he did there was recognized worldwide and he was awarded a Doctorate by Boston University. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, since the days of Moody Awori, we have not heard very much of what is going on in prisons, they appear to have gone back to what they were before. The Motion as it reads talks about resolving to establish a Select Committee to undertake an inquiry into policy and legislation. If you just take the part of legislation, to me, that may be the easiest because it states here that:- “A legislation that takes into account the various international standards.” Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have a plethora of international standards on this matter. It will be quite not really much of a big task to get hold of those international standards and ensure that our laws are tied in. If they have to complete within three months, they should just employ some experts, and here the former Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs used to have a Non-Governmental Organization called Good Governance and something, which was very good at drafting legislations, to tie in with the international standards to which Kenya is a party; they could get that particular service. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, such international standards are found in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and in particular, Article 10 which says:- “Anyone deprived of their liberty shall be treated with respect for their inherent dignity as human persons.” Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, that section talks about the separation of the accused and the convicted persons when they are in custody. That particular article talks about the penitentiary. The aim and focus of the penitentiary system must aim at reforming and The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}