Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 686317,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/686317/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 63,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Kaluma",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1565,
        "legal_name": "George Peter Opondo Kaluma",
        "slug": "george-peter-opondo-kaluma"
    },
    "content": "are the instances where in the exercise of judicial discretion to convict even judicial officers, as human beings, we commit errors of law. You have a situation where there is the possibility of a large number of people or individuals who have been convicted but truly did not commit an offence. As a practising lawyer, I have seen so many cases where if you as a good lawyer did not intervene, a person would have been convicted. That is the first fault. Secondly, being imprisoned without an option of a fine or being put on a custodial sentence is also the discretion of another human being. You cannot completely pin down someone’s career due to matters of discretion. I would like to draw your attention to a simple case which was reported very recently. A tortoise was found in someone’s compound. The wildlife conservation law that is currently in place says that the tortoise is a wildlife trophy and it cannot be in your compound. It will be presumed that you are keeping it. You are arrested and taken to court and yet, you had nothing to do with that tortoise. You are convicted. You are imprisoned for a term of many years because it is treated like any other wildlife trophy. It applies to any wildlife, including a tortoise. It is not just an elephant and those other animals. We have situations where even for offences for which there is no act of commission on your part, you risk the danger of a conviction. When you are convicted, you are told that despite imprisonment, you are tied there. I wanted to draw the attention of the Members to the fact that our prisons are reform institutions. This clause presumes that once you are imprisoned, you can never be reformed to do anything useful in your life. In terms of career, you are put on a life sentence. You cannot do anything, including serving on that board, even if you are qualified. Though the Committee confirmed this provision, I find it to be very dangerous because it can unduly limit careers for offences or convictions due to errors. It also presumes that one does not reform or change and there is no chance for repentance in our law. The clause states that a person shall not be appointed to the Board if he has been previously removed from public office for contravention of the provisions of the Constitution or any other written law. The Constitution has so many provisions for which a public officer serving the nation in various capacities may be removed from office. They are not necessarily the commission of an offence. Some of them are for matters like incompetence. I could be incompetent if you took me to the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) to check the chemical quality or the mechanical integrity of structures. My incompetence in one sector of national service does not mean that I am incompetent to serve in other sectors, including in that board. Under the Constitution, if you are removed from serving in the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries for incompetence due to lack of training in matters of agriculture, it does mean that if this board has space for a legal mind, I cannot serve there simply because I was found incompetent to serve in the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries. All our laws prescribe various reasons all over. I personally find this opposable in terms of those two clauses. As a matter of standard, we always talk about being a non-discharged bankrupt, having violated the law or other grounds that disqualify you in terms of academic degrees and others. However, to include the idea that since you were locked up in prison you are locked out of serving on that board is a very dangerous thing. The Clause does not take into consideration whether or not you have appealed. You are stuck if you were once convicted and sentenced. I urge Members that this is a very good reason to kill this Bill. You could be killing the careers of people on very extraneous grounds."
}