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{
    "id": 617807,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/617807/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 257,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Odhiambo-Mabona",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 376,
        "legal_name": "Millie Grace Akoth Odhiambo Mabona",
        "slug": "millie-odhiambo-mabona"
    },
    "content": "The other issue that I am happy about is the broad definition of legal aid, as I have indicated. I am also happy that there is provision for grant-in-aid to voluntary social services institutions. This is because we have organisations that provide legal aid and they rely solely on donor funding. This is a tragedy because access to justice should be the sole responsibility of the Government that is the duty-bearer to the citizens. However, I will be seeking an amendment so that we do not indicate it as a provision of grant-in-aid to voluntary social service institutions. This is because there has been a very clear definition of who a legal aid provider is. The grant-in- aid should be to legal aid providers. In Clause 9, I would want to encourage that we be specific such that organisations that will be in the board of service include organisations that work for women and children. It would be a tragedy if we leave this open-ended and then you find organisations that do not have expertise in this work. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, it will be a tragedy if you do not include the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDAs) and CRADLE of this world in this scheme and yet, they have always been there. The way it is currently defined, virtually any organisation would fit in here and beat the purpose to which this was set up. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, one of the other things that make me happy about this Bill is the recognition of public litigation. The Government, through this initiative, will try to ensure that as many people as possible access justice. Sometimes, even when you provide many lawyers, just as is the case with doctors in hospitals, they will not be in a position to provide ample representation. Even if we trained half of this country’s population to become lawyers because of the number of cases that are in our courts, we cannot provide adequate representation. Those of us who have worked in the access to justice area know that the issue of public interest litigation has worked. I am, therefore, very happy that this Bill is trying to ensure that we elevate public interest litigation. If this Bill works in tandem with other laws passed by this House, such as the Small Claims Courts, many Kenyans will be able to access justice. We can borrow from examples of countries that have made steps in this direction. When I was in the taskforce, someone shared with us the experiences of Zambia, the UK and the US. 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."
}