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{
"id": 91126,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/91126/?format=api",
"text_counter": 96,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Wako",
"speaker_title": "The Attorney-General",
"speaker": {
"id": 208,
"legal_name": "Sylvester Wakoli Bifwoli",
"slug": "wakoli-bifwoli"
},
"content": "The agreed procedure was informed by the following expressed imperatives:- (i) the need to ensure that investigations in complaints of hate speech are thorough, and evidence gathered is water tight, so as to avoid the risk of cases being thrown out, thereby undermining the credibility of NCIC and exposing it to potential civil liability; (ii) the importance of ensuring the construction of prosecutable cases so as to avoid a situation whereby defendants move to constitutional courts and successfully seek to have their cases thrown out or stayed; (iii) the need to avoid a perception that people are being charged only to placate the public; and, (iv) the need for a thorough and extensive research into the legal jurisprudence of hate crimes, including comparative international perspectives owing to the complexity and constitutional implications of hate speech cases, and the fact that there are few local reference cases on the matter. Mr. Speaker, Sir, in relation to the complaint against hon. Mwakwere, I wish to state the following. By a letter dated 14th July, 2010, written to me and the Commissioner of Police, the NCIC made a complaint against hon. Mwakwere, alleging that some of the statements he uttered during the by-election campaigns amounted to hate speech, inciting ethnic hatred and disharmony, and recommended that hon. Mwakwere be charged accordingly. The said letter was not accompanied by any investigation file or any evidence in the form of witness statements or otherwise. However, on receipt of the said letter of complaint, the police commenced investigations. By a letter dated 17th August, 2010, written under my directions, the Director of Public Prosecutions requested the police to confirm the status of the investigations, and give an indication as to when the same are likely to be completed. The police have since confirmed that the investigations are ongoing, and that they would be completed within the next two weeks. It is, therefore, clear from the foregoing that the investigations file relating to the allegations of hate speech against hon. Mwakwere is yet to be completed to enable a tripartite committee to review and evaluate it, and thereafter forward it to the Attorney- General for appropriate directions, in accordance with the agreed procedure. With regard to the earlier cases involving hon. Machage, hon. Kutuny, hon. Kapondi and Ms Christine Miller, which were also the concern of hon. Olago Aluoch, I wish to confirm that their cases were taken to court without the involvement of my office. It was for that very reason that the NCIC, soon thereafter, convened the tripartite meeting to discuss, among other agenda, the modality for future co-operation regarding the Commissionâs statutory duties under the National Cohesion and Integration Act."
}