MEN urinating in public and irresponsible taxi drivers should be sent to jail, the Minister in charge of Prisons and Correctional Services proposed in parliament yesterday.
Giving his input on the Criminal Procedures Act, Minister Andimba Toivo ya Toivo said he was quite disturbed by men who urinate in public. “The worst thing is that they stand and do it in the direction from where cars will be coming.Totally exposed to onlookers,” he said, bringing the sleepy National Assembly to life.Ya Toivo said prior to the country’s Independence, anyone caught urinating in public was arrested and charged with public indecency.The elderly politician also proposed severe sentences for offending taxi drivers.”They are not a law on their own.We must take the licence after the first accident.That will teach them,” he said.Earlier he had some strong words for rapists, robbers and fraudsters.Toivo called for a punishment of around 50 to 60 years for robbers and fraudsters, while rapists must be put away for longer periods.”The other day an 80-year-old like me raped a nine-year-old girl.What is that? Does it mean that we can no longer propose to a lady and accept a no for an answer? Even animals propose and there are many women on the streets who are loose, I mean single, ” he said.In some cases, Ya Toivo said, women were to blame.He claimed that some women agree to sex for cash but lay charges when they do not get paid for the services.That prompted an intervention from Health Minister Libertina Amathila.”Will the Honourable Minister agree with me that if men agree to pay and have not done so, they should be charged with rape?” she asked.Ya Toivo did not respond.”The worst thing is that they stand and do it in the direction from where cars will be coming.Totally exposed to onlookers,” he said, bringing the sleepy National Assembly to life.Ya Toivo said prior to the country’s Independence, anyone caught urinating in public was arrested and charged with public indecency.The elderly politician also proposed severe sentences for offending taxi drivers.”They are not a law on their own.We must take the licence after the first accident.That will teach them,” he said.Earlier he had some strong words for rapists, robbers and fraudsters.Toivo called for a punishment of around 50 to 60 years for robbers and fraudsters, while rapists must be put away for longer periods.”The other day an 80-year-old like me raped a nine-year-old girl.What is that? Does it mean that we can no longer propose to a lady and accept a no for an answer? Even animals propose and there are many women on the streets who are loose, I mean single, ” he said.In some cases, Ya Toivo said, women were to blame.He claimed that some women agree to sex for cash but lay charges when they do not get paid for the services.That prompted an intervention from Health Minister Libertina Amathila.”Will the Honourable Minister agree with me that if men agree to pay and have not done so, they should be charged with rape?” she asked.Ya Toivo did not respond.
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