Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 749807,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/749807/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 137,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Manje",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1669,
        "legal_name": "Joseph Wathigo Manje",
        "slug": "joseph-wathigo-manje"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, we also have to restrain our policemen not to use the old method of apprehending criminals. Those old days, the policemen used to round up suspects, profile them and remove those who are not suspects. They assume everybody is a suspect until you are left out. We should change the approach. The policemen should get evidence before they go to arrest somebody. That was done in the old days and it is happening today. Every time and every weekend, you will hear police officers have gone and rounded up some people, put them in cells and start profiling. That is an old method which should be discarded. The approach is to get information first before apprehending the suspects. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, our Constitution is not very good for the police in this country. With the new Constitution that we are implementing, it has some huddles. It has a lot to do with human rights. Remember this is an activist Constitution where you consider a criminal who has committed a capital crime, robbery, murder and is given bail. It is becoming very difficult for policemen. Maybe, that is why there is a lot of mob justice. Somebody is caught stealing or committing robbery with violence and you are told to go and identify that person. But that person is given bail and is allowed to go home. After that, he will deal with witnesses to make sure that, at least, nobody will give evidence against him. I think that is something that we have to consider. If somebody is caught committing a capital crime, he or she should be remanded. If he or she is released, they are likely to work on the witnesses and make sure that they do not testify. Nobody will come to give evidence against them. Another object of this Act is to compensate them properly. If you compensate policemen properly, they will not be tempted to get bribes. The corruption rate might go down because they might not want to lose their jobs. We should compensate them properly. Their families should be compensated if the officers die in the line of duty. We should also not forget our policemen who work under harsh conditions and who move away from their families. At times, a policeman or 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."
}