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{
    "id": 972087,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/972087/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 503,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nominated, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. David ole Sankok",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13166,
        "legal_name": "David Ole Sankok",
        "slug": "david-ole-sankok"
    },
    "content": " Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. From the outset, I want you to forgive me because I have lost my voice. I was singing out and it is not a role I am used to. I know it is a role for Hon. Millie Odhiambo, but since they took over a part of the Government, I had to take up the role and sing. So, my voice is not very clear today. I will try as much as possible. I support the Report in totality. It is very important for the Judiciary to be independent. There is no independence without enough funding, especially when the Judiciary has to depend on the Executive to allocate funds to them. This House, in consultation with the BBI taskforce, should start a conversation on how we can set a percentage of our total revenue to the Judiciary, so that it can have total autonomy. As I support the Report, the Judiciary must also convince us that they deserve the money. For a long time, the Judiciary has dwelt on quantity instead of quality. Quantity in terms of infrastructure and in terms of the corruption cases that are under prosecution in our courts, but we have not seen quality in terms of convictions. Once the Judiciary convinces this House that it can save taxpayers’ money through conviction of corrupt individuals, we will have no problem in increasing its allocation. Where do we get the money to allocate to them when the corrupt individuals who have been prosecuted in the courts are given bails? When you are told that someone has stolen Ksh100 million and he or she is released on a bail of Ksh1 million, automatically, that fellow will not feel any pain because it is 1 per cent of what he or she has stolen. So, the Judiciary must convince us by having convictions and returning the funds that have been stolen by corrupt individuals. We want the Judiciary to be at speed in convicting corrupt cartels in our country the same way it was at speed in convicting the Nakuru fellow who slaughtered a cat and made sambuza from the meat. No one even complained of stomach upset, but when he was taken to court, because he had nothing to give in terms of kickbacks, he was convicted within 24 hours and he is serving a jail term. Why can the Judiciary not use that speed to convict the fellows who have been stealing billions of shillings from the taxpayers? These billions of shillings are stolen through banks. In fact, it is daytime robbery because no bank is open at night. So, why can the Judiciary not follow up the process in which the money was transferred from the Treasury to the ministries and then to individual accounts? I support the Report. For sure, the Judiciary must up their game and convince us that they need the money. As we continue with the BBI conversation, we will set aside a percentage of funds, maybe 5 per cent, to the Judiciary, so that it is not at the mercy of the Executive. 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."
}