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{
    "id": 905616,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/905616/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 77,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Orengo",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Minority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 129,
        "legal_name": "Aggrey James Orengo",
        "slug": "james-orengo"
    },
    "content": "because the Speaker and the distinguished Sen. Wetangula come from there. They have seen you in action and they will go back to Bungoma knowing that their County is playing an important role in the Senate. However, they should know that the person, who occupies the position of the Chair or the Presiding Officer in the Senate, has no right to vote though he can discipline us when we go wrong. I also wish to join the rest of the Senators in welcoming the students from Narok County. On Saturday, some of us left Narok feeling very good. There are things that are not said but one can see them and it is easy to know where that County stands. I will go back to Narok, when invited, because it is the stronghold of the formation that I support. This Petition is very important. As a country we once had a shortage of advocates and to deal with that, we had a special course at the Kenya School of Law which one needed to study for one year to qualify as a lawyer and be admitted at the bar. One prominent lawyer who went through that system ended up being the Chief Justice; Justice Bernard Chunga. Justice Chunga did not have a university degree when he became a lawyer. Justice Kasanga Mulwa and hon. Paul Muite were also there for one year. They were prepared to practice law and I wonder why a person who has graduated with a first class degree from the University of Nairobi, the University of Dar es Salaam or Makerere University should spend two to three years trying to become a practising lawyer. Actually, one can attain a first class honours at the University of Nairobi after three years but spend five years trying to attain a diploma from the Kenya School of Law. Certainly, this should be inquired into. I had the experience of leading students at the University of Nairobi when there was mass failure in the Faculty of Art, Architecture and Design. That profession was for white people. They did not want any African or Indian to qualify as an architect. Students were made to fail and they were referred. The other thing that I must point out it that, what further complicates the situation of the students who go through the Kenya School of Law is that if one is lucky to pass their exams - I am saying lucky because sometimes you meet the grades but are disqualified through this process of mass failure - in order to be admitted, you will face another hurdle with the Judiciary. You have to wait for the time when the Chief Justice will be available. That can take another two or three years. The end result is that many people are now deciding not to pursue law as a career because you spend more than seven years trying to qualify to be a practising lawyer. That period is longer than that taken by doctors and architects. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I support Sen. Omogeni for bringing this Petition. I think the Senate Committee on Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights should look at it deeply and try and come up with solutions. I hope the Judiciary will play its role and the Council of Legal Education will look into this so that young people who desire to be lawyers have an opportunity to do so without facing unnecessary hurdles. I practice law and I learn a lot from young lawyers. Some lawyers qualified last year, but if you listen to them keenly while they are in the courtroom, you see signs of them becoming great lawyers. A lot of the law that we practise is not learnt in the classroom; it is learnt in the courtroom, practising law. I support, this Petition. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}