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{
    "id": 594125,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/594125/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 290,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "content": "the discharge of his duties. That gives him independence. If the county government has to get the best legal advice, it is very important that the advice is based on nothing but the law, the county interest and national interest. It should not be based on any other extraneous circumstances. Therefore, the issue of integrity becomes very important when it comes to matters of the County Attorney. He or she should not allow any interest to compromise in any way or jeopardize the integrity of his legal opinion. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, just like in the Constitution, the Attorney-General is the safeguarder of public interest, human rights and so on. Here also, the County Legal Counsel, at page 640, has a duty to promote respect for the rule of law and administration of justice. He has a duty to treat the court with courtesy and respect. He also has a duty to deal with other lawyers fairly, courteously and in good faith. His behaviour has also been outlined in this Bill. Amongst other issues that have been discussed about personal conduct is that the County Legal officer and all the people who are employed in that office must refrain from indulging in habits and behaviour that infringe upon the performance of official duties or tarnish the image of the office and not to use the county government resources for personal purposes and benefits. One may wonder why we put all these here. The Chairman of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) said recently that the type of services that the advocates are giving to their clients have fallen drastically. The type of behaviour of the advocates in Kenya today has gone down and something has to be done. We are approaching a crisis situation when it comes to matters of discipline, amongst others. Therefore, if we are not very careful and unless we are very strict on matters of professional conduct and etiquette, even persons occupying the post of county attorneys and officers, can easily start behaving like the advocates that the Chairman of the LSK was talking about. Whereas in Nairobi you can hide a bit, it takes time for you to be involved. The temptation of doing so at the county level is even higher. Therefore, we thought it proper that the code of conduct of legal officials of the county should be specifically mentioned in an Act of Parliament so that in addition to Chapter 6 of the Constitution, the Public Officer Ethics Act and so on, we do not just refer to it glibly. Each officer should have this Act of Parliament, so that they can quickly refer to it and say, this conduct is not suitable. Any person who wants to challenge the conduct of the County Attorney or any officers against him can easily look at this one Act and ascertain that the conduct is not in accordance with the professional conduct and etiquette that is required of the attorneys. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, under the code of conduct, we have something regarding conflict of interest. The County Legal Counsel shall not advise on a matter where there is conflict of interest. This is important for a number of public officials particularly sitting at the county. It can be the county attorney and maybe he or she was appointed an attorney from a legal firm and now he is a county attorney and the legal firm is still operating. Although he or she resigned, he may still be enjoying some secret profits from the legal firm, therefore, there might be temptation of channeling some work through that legal firm. So, there should be no conflict of interest. With those remarks, I beg to move that the Office of the County Attorney Bill (Senate Bill No. 37 of 2014) which is long overdue – It should have been there from the word go because a lot has happened but we hope that if it is passed by the Senate, it will go a long way in helping our county governments be on a strong footing when it comes to 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."
}