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{
    "id": 643503,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/643503/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 109,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ababu",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 108,
        "legal_name": "Ababu Tawfiq Pius Namwamba",
        "slug": "ababu-namwamba"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Speaker. Even as we favourably consider the request for extension, the justification or rationale cannot be that the extension of the term of this Board will not occasion any further cost to the taxpayer. That cannot be the primary consideration that this House looks at. This House must look at the value addition, the fulfilment of the mandate and expectation that Kenyans had when we put this Board in place. You will recall that the radical surgery of 2003 was in itself motivated by a history of what you may call the trust deficit in the Judiciary. You can see the reflection of that trust deficit in the constitutional philosophy we adopted that basically pushed us to put in place mechanisms to completely overhaul the judicial infrastructure. Vetting was not supposed to be some run-of- the-mill, perfunctory mechanical exercise where you just take some characters through and say you have vetted them and so be it. It was not supposed to be merely a matter of time in that you are given 24 months and then an additional three months, then you write an impressive glossy report to this House and say that we achieved the goal of vetting. The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines vetting in these terms:- “to vet is to investigate someone thoroughly especially in order to ensure that they are suitable for a job requiring secrecy, loyalty or trustworthiness.” The question which we should be asking, taking into account that simple, basic English definition is that, has it been thorough? Has it ensured that the standards of secrecy, loyalty, trustworthiness have improved by reason of this vetting? I have very serious doubts as to whether this vetting has bridged the gap of the trust deficit. I have very serious doubts whether if you were to conduct a fair opinion poll today, majority of Kenyans would tell you that the judges and magistrates that have gone through this exercise would meet the highest expected standards of trustworthiness, loyalty and fidelity to the rule of law. Let me clarify that I support this extension. Even as I support the extension, I would expect the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs to interrogate the task of this Board a little further than merely telling this House that they are seeking this extension because it will not cost any taxpayer any more money. That cannot be the primary reason. Give us some statistics. Give us some compelling and empirically verifiable data to demonstrate that, indeed, this whole vetting exercise, for the many months it has been going on, has cured the trust deficit that continues to encumber the Judiciary. That today or at the end of June, when this vetting 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."
}