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{
    "id": 786766,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/786766/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 64,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ng’ongo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 110,
        "legal_name": "John Mbadi Ng'ong'o",
        "slug": "john-mbadi"
    },
    "content": "I rise to second the Motion seeking the House’s approval of Justice Paul Kihara Kariuki as the next Attorney General of the Republic of Kenya. You will notice that this is the first approval for appointment to the Cabinet which I, together with my colleagues from the NASA side, have participated in. The reasons are well known and I do not want to delve into them. The country is moving forward and, in that sense, we want to see how best we can do that. I have a few comments to make regarding this appointment. I, personally, do not know much about Justice Paul Kihara Kariuki, but from the moment he was nominated for this appointment, I decided to engage with those he has interacted with in the corridors of justice. It is clear to me, from the many people I contacted, that the gentleman is regarded with high esteem in the corridors of justice. As a matter of fact, his peers, colleagues and those who have interacted with him as advocates and judges have very kind words about his professionalism, intelligence and the way he has managed to run the Court of Appeal as the President for the past five years. The people who have interacted a lot with the Judiciary say that the performance of the Court of Appeal under his watch has been super. Considering all the levels of the courts in our judicial system, that is, from the Magistrates Court, High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, it is the Court of Appeal that inspires more confidence than the rest for those who are in the legal practice. The only negative comments that many have said about him, and which I think form the subject of a matter that is under investigation and, therefore, we could not use that to judge him harshly is this: after the High Court, last year, made a determination that the returning officers who were appointed by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) were not procedurally appointed, the President of the Court of Appeal, whom we are approving his appointment today, quickly and hurriedly convened a bench and drew membership to it from outside Nairobi. He made them to sit at odd hours to look at this matter, which sanitized the underperformance of IEBC. That is a matter which Justice Kihara is going into office with, which I think he should be alive to. Finally, this is my word of advice to Justice (Rtd.) Paul Kihara Kariuki. He is going to be the chief legal advisor to the Government and not just the Executive, but also Parliament. We hope the advice he will give to the Government is going to be well informed. The fights that office has had with the Office of the Solicitor-General should now end. He should come with a different style of management to make sure that the State Law Office works. I also want to urge the AG, whom we are approving today, to advise the Government to respect court orders. What is happening at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) is a shame. This should not be happening when this country has decided to move forward. This drama of Miguna Miguna is unnecessary. I hope the first assignment that Paul Kihara is going to The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}