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{
    "id": 65120,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/65120/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 408,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. M. Kilonzo",
    "speaker_title": "The Minister for Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 47,
        "legal_name": "Mutula Kilonzo",
        "slug": "mutula-kilonzo"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Maina spoke very well. He supported this Bill and the question of retaining money by the Judiciary was not acceptable to him. I want to persuade him that so long as Parliament has already passed the Budget, or the Estimates, if the Judiciary, by the end of the financial year, has not applied the money, I see no harm whatsoever in having it retain it so long as it has been approved by Parliament in the Estimates. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we cannot afford to continue condemning our Judiciary generally. We cannot afford to appear to be the legislators who pass the law establishing the Judiciary but we are the ones who regularly talk of them as though we got them from Mars or the moon. Our opportunity has come to pass these laws, so that when a judge delays cases, he knows the process that he will have to undergo either in removal or some other disciplinary process. I want to repeat this for the politicians of this wonderful country, of whom I am one; it will be time for us, after we pass these laws and after we vet judges and appointed new ones, to make sure that we support our Judiciary. Let me address a concern that was raised about advertising. When you look at the advertising proposals, we are not going to put it in the local newspapers like TheStandard, the Daily Nation, The People and so on. Since there are very few people who qualify for these vacancies, we will put it on the Judiciary website and, additionally, in the Kenya Gazette . I think that is a legitimate method of avoiding paralysis that we now have on the recent nominations by His Excellency the President. I have no doubt, and speak without fear, that a process which allows Kenyans to participate in this recruitment should protect His Excellency the President and the Prime Minister from some of the debates that have emerged in the last few weeks. I will continue saying, let us involve the public. Mr. Kajwang’ spoke in support. He spoke extremely well. He mentioned my food friend, a former judge of the High Court, Mr. Justice O’connor, Mr. Justice Togbo and others, who were mistreated because we did not have a process of dealing with complaints against judges. We have now given our country that window. If you think you have an idea for improving it, I am asking you expressly, please, tell us how you think we can improve this law. Tell us what sort of technology you think we need. I agree that future proceedings in Kenya should be on HANSARD, so that at the end of the day the participants in the court process can see what they said, and can use whatever was said that day for the work of the following day. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am sure that Parliament appreciates that this would require funding. It will require enormous resources. I am aware of very friendly countries and institutions like the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) which are willing, ready and available to help us with this process. Therefore, no judge should feel shy about applying technology. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, my very good student, Mrs. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona--- I keep mentioning them because it gives a sense of pride that I have been able to train lawyers such as these ones who have emerged in the national scene in the area of professional ethics, because that was my areas of specialization. I want to welcome her support and say to her that we will not criminalize activism. I welcome activism myself as a Minister, because I have been able to work with civil society extremely well. I beg to refer to the passages that I have read and confirm to her that the use of temperament is not intended to produce melancholy. I do not have to remind the country that at some point a Kenyan judge was actually taken to court on allegation that he took out a Maasai or Somali sword and threatened a Kenyan. Therefore, this temperament provision is important for us. On women and gender, I agree with what was stated. Mr. Nyamweya, I want to salute, support you and say how grateful I am for the support that you are advancing towards this law. Even as you approve of it and accept it, kindly note that I agree with you. It is quite clear that there are some groups in this country which think that continued polarization, politicking and argument for its own sake is the order of the day. I want to persuade them, and everyone in the country that we have a new dawn. We have a new country. We have the most advanced Bill of Rights and it ought to be respected. I have spoken about Mr. Sambu and I want to salute the Budget Committee for these recommendations. Please, bring forth the amendments. I will even adopt them so that they come from the Ministry, if you like, so as to reduce the amount of time we spend on this. Mr. Kioni, I want to remind you that, while I totally agree with you on the reading of Section 23 relative to Article 168, when King John of England in 1205, under force by the barons, pronounced the Magna Carter not even him knew the end result would be what it was, namely drive civil liberties and human rights the way it has been able to do. Therefore, I agree that the time for Kenyans to stop double speak when it comes to the Judiciary is now. I agree that continued generalized condemnation of our judges is not helpful for this country; if anything, it exposes us to institutions like the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Rome Statute and now, as it appears, the United Nations Security Council. It is a contradiction for us Kenyans to be seeking a deferral while at the same time we are maligning our judges, we are maligning the Judiciary and condemning it on a daily basis. I want to assure fellow Kenyans that this is an area in which we have to be extremely careful, if we want the rest of the world to accept the work we are doing in this very important area. Mr. Njuguna, once again, thank you very much. I think the people who elected you knew what they were doing. You always comment very well about the work that my Ministry continues to do. I want to salute you for your focus on negative ethnic considerations that continue to bedevil our country; therefore, I support you. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I think this would be a good opportunity for me to table the letter that the Commission on the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) has written to Mr. Ababu Namwamba, the Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs dated 10th February 2011."
}