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{
    "id": 718784,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/718784/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 145,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Gikaria",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2489,
        "legal_name": "David Gikaria",
        "slug": "david-gikaria"
    },
    "content": "First, I want to talk about the Legal Aid Act. It is important for us to say that every accused person--- As it is now, it is only in those very huge cases that sometimes advocates are paid for by the Government to give legal advice to the accused persons. Most of the people in prison are innocent. It is only that most of them did not know what to do when they were in court. It is important for us to think about how best the State can provide for advocates to assist accused persons and at the same time try and reduce the huge expenses and numbers in our prisons. As it is, we have not been able to increase or improve the facilities in the prisons. Our prisons are overcrowded. I am in the Departmental Committee on Administration and National Security and we have been visiting some of these prisons within the country. They are overcrowded by innocent Kenyans, some of whom were unable to defend themselves in court. Secondly, with regard to the High Court (Organisation and Administration) Act, more often you find justice delayed. Most of the time, it is because every time you check the calendar of the judges, you find that they are away on recess or tending to other issues for almost half of the year. The amendment that has been brought to try and harmonise the recess of the Court of Appeal with the other courts is important. If it is not harmonised, you find that some courts are on recess while other courts are ongoing and it becomes very difficult for you. You find cases delaying for too long because of the conflict of the recess periods for the different courts. Regarding the National Police Service Act, it is true as it has been said. In the Departmental Committee on Administration and National Security, we have found these problems where we have the regular police and the Administration Police (AP). At times, you try to bring them together and it becomes very difficult. I remember at one point there were two deputies; one from the Administration Police and the other one from the regular police. At some point they were literally arguing in a meeting as to how they should not be brought together. It is high time, as Hon. Nyokabi said, we started thinking of how we can bring the police service as one unit under one command. I will give a case of Nakuru County where we have an AP in charge of the county as the commander. When you go to the police cells, an AP officer is not supposed to even book anything in the Occurrence Book (OB). It becomes very difficult and you get a lot of rivalry between the two forces. I remember at some point the regular traffic police arrested an AP who had committed a traffic offence. The AP came to the rescue saying that the regular police have always had a bad feeling against their forces. It is high time we cleaned up and had one uniform so that we can harmonise. Regarding the retirement age of police officers, I do not know how practical that will be. I know that in the army if you are a major and cannot progress to the next level, you are retired at a certain age. It is important to have that retirement age. It would be important if the National Police Service was like under the Civil Service Act where people know when they are supposed to retire. We will propose some amendments to some of these issues in the Third Reading stage. With regard to retirement benefits, we are only talking about the Chief Justice. Why are we forgetting about the Deputy Chief Justice? It is not right for us to just think about the Chief Justice to be included for purposes of earning retirement benefits under the Retirements Benefits Act. We also need to include the Deputy Chief Justice. We cannot just include the Chief Justice and forget the Deputy Chief Justice. On the Prisons Act, I think it is important for us to change it. This aspect where if you are found guilty, you are jailed for so many years, subjected to hard labour and caned--- The removal of hard labour from the Prisons Act is important. If you have committed an offence, the only thing you should serve is the jail term and not another punishment over and above it. 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."
}