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Sitting : National Assembly : 2019 04 24 09 30 00
Page 1 of Wednesday, 24th April 2019 at 9.30 a.m.
OFFICIAL REPORT
The House met at 9.30 a.m.
[The Deputy Speaker (Hon. Moses Cheboi) in the Chair]
Hon. Deputy Speaker
Order, Hon. Members! Obviously, we do not seem to have the requisite quorum. Therefore, I order that the bell be rung.
(Quorum Bell was rung)
Order, Hon. Members! Order, Hon. Members! We now have the required quorum and, therefore, business will begin. Order, Hon. Members!
ORDINARY QUESTIONS Hon. Deputy Speaker
On that particular Order, we do not seem to have statements. So, we will start straight away with Questions. First on the slot is Hon. Esther Passaris, Member for Nairobi City County.
Question No.178/2019
REGISTRATION OF STATELESS PERSONS LIVING IN KENYA
Esther Passaris (Hon. (Ms.) Esther Passaris)
Hon. Deputy Speaker, I rise to ask the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Coordination of National Government the following Question: (a) Is the Cabinet Secretary aware that stateless persons living in Kenya, namely, the Pemba, the Shona, descendants of Burundi and descendants of Britain, do not belong to any nationality? (b) What measures is the Ministry putting in place to ensure that such persons facing statelessness in the country are registered, especially in the ongoing National Information and Identification Management Systems (NIIMS)? 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.
That Question will be replied to before the Departmental Committee on Administration and National Security. Next is Hon. Vincent K. Mogaka, Member for West Mugirango.
DELAYED POSTING OF AN ASSISTANT CHIEF TO CHARACHANI SUB-LOCATION
Vincent Kemosi Mogaka (Hon. Vincent Kemosi)
Hon. Deputy Speaker, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order No.42A, I rise to ask the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Coordination of National Government the following Question: (a) Is the Cabinet Secretary aware that following the demise of the Assistant Chief of Charachani Sub-location in Nyamira South Sub-County in May 2017, a new Assistant Chief is yet to be posted? (b) When will the new Assistant Chief be posted to the said sub-location?
That Question will also be replied to before the Departmental Committee on Administration and National Security. The next Question would have been asked by the Member for Lurambi, but he has given an excuse which is reasonable. Therefore, it will be put on the Order Paper in the next available opportunity when he is able to ask it.
DEPLOYMENT OF LAND REGISTRARS IN KAKAMEGA COUNTY
(Question deferred)
We go to the Member for Mwingi West, Hon. Charles Nguna.
MEASURES TO ENSURE ELDERLY PERSONS BENEFIT FROM THE OLDER PERSONS CASH TRANSFER PROGRAMME
Charles Ngusya Nguna (Hon. Charles Nguna)
Hon. Deputy Speaker, I rise to ask the Cabinet Secretary for Labour and Social Protection the following Question: (a) Is the Cabinet Secretary aware that the data for elderly persons in most parts of Mwingi West Constituency is yet to be entered in the system thus making them unable to enrol and benefit from the Older Persons Cash Transfer Programme? (b) What measures is the Ministry putting in place to ensure that all the elderly persons are included in the database so that they benefit from the funds consistently and are paid in arrears since the start of the programme?
That one will be replied to before the Departmental Committee on Labour and Social Welfare. Next is the Member for Endebess, Hon. (Dr.) Robert Pukose.
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.
RAISING OF LOAN CEILING UNDER UWEZO FUND
Robert Pukose (Hon. (Dr.) Robert Pukose)
I rise to ask the Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs the following Question: (a) Could the Cabinet Secretary consider increasing the loan ceiling under the Uwezo Fund accessible to groups with ability to repay up to Kshs500,000 and further increase the Uwezo Fund budget for administration and facilitation of committee Members from Kshs540,000 to Kshs1,500,000?
That one will also be replied to before the Departmental Committee on Labour and Social Welfare. Next is Hon. Irene Kasalu, Member for Kitui County.
DELAYED RELEASE OF UWEZO FUNDS IN KITUI COUNTY
Irene Muthoni Kasalu (Hon. (Dr.) Irene Kasalu)
Hon. Deputy Speaker, I rise to ask the Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs the following Question: (a) Is the Cabinet Secretary aware that the Uwezo Funds meant for eight (8) constituencies in Kitui County for the financial years 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 are yet to be released? (b) Could the Cabinet Secretary give an undertaking to expedite the release of these funds for the said constituencies? (c)What measures is the Ministry putting in place to ensure that such delays do not recur in future?
That one will also be replied to before the Departmental Committee on Labour and Social Welfare.
That marks the end of that particular Order. So, we move to the next Order.
PROCEDURAL MOTION
EXEMPTION OF BUSINESS FROM PROVISIONS OF STANDING ORDER 40(3)
That Procedural Motion is going to be moved by the Leader of the Majority Party.
Aden Bare Duale (Hon. Aden Duale)
Hon. Deputy Speaker, before I move this Procedural Motion, I think the staff that deal with ICT need to tell the Members their usernames. Members have passwords, which are the same as the one we use for logging in, but the username is different. Unless you have your username and password, you cannot log into this system. I really want the ICT people to do that. I cannot get the Order Paper. It is showing there is even an Order Paper for August 2019. Allow me to read the Motion.
Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to move the following Procedural Motion:
THAT, this House orders that the business appearing as Order No.13 in the Order Paper be exempted from the provisions of Standing Order 40(3) being a 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.
Wednesday Morning, a day allocated for business not sponsored by the Majority or Minority Party or business sponsored by a committee.
It is a day meant for the Private Members' Bills and Motions, but because of the nature of the calendar of the House, the moment the President makes his Speech on the State of the Nation Address and tables all the relevant documents including the fulfillment of our international obligations by the republic, the national security status and, of course, how his Government complies with Article 10 of the Constitution on national values, the House is obligated to discuss the President's Speech and those documents for four consecutive sittings. It does not give leeway. So, this morning, today afternoon and tomorrow afternoon, we will deal with the matter on the State of the Nation Address made by the President both on his Speech and the documents he has tabled, which I did yesterday. I also gave Notice of Motion for today. So, it is an opportunity. It is four days, but because of the Budget and other businesses that are coming, we will see whether by Thursday at 7.00 p.m., if there will be no other Member speaking on that matter, then that will be the last day. At the end of it, you are not going to take a vote. You are supposed to only note. This is a Procedural Motion. Because I do not see the leadership of the minority side, I will ask the competent Member for Kitui Central, who is a Member of the House Business Committee (HBC), Hon. Makali Mulu, to represent the minority side. This was a matter that was decided by the HBC. I will ask Hon. Makali Mulu to second.
Very well. Let us have Hon. (Dr.) Makali Mulu.
Benson Makali Mulu (Hon. Makali Mulu)
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I assure the Leader of the Majority Party that this side is well-represented. We are up to the task.
I cannot understand your quarrels. The Leader of the Majority Party especially recognised you as a very competent Member. He said that the leadership of the minority side was absent and so he asked the next competent Member to second.
It is just the leadership that is absent. We can still sit on those seats and do the work. This is a House of rules, traditions and procedures. Under normal circumstances, after the President gives the State of the Nation Address, we are supposed to debate it as a House for four sittings, as the Leader of the Majority Party has said. He has put it very well. We just need to pass this Procedural Motion and start debating the Presidential Speech. With those remarks, I beg to second.
(Question proposed)
Hon. Members
Put the Question!
(Question put and agreed to)
Next Order!
EXTENSION OF PERIOD FOR CONSIDERATION OF SPECIFIED PUBLIC PETITIONS
Let us have Hon. Melly, the Chair of the Departmental Committee on Education and Research.
Julius Kipbiwot Melly (Hon. Julius Melly)
Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to move the following Procedural Motion: THAT, notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order 227(2) (Committal of petitions), this House resolves to extend the period for consideration of the public petitions specified hereunder by the Departmental Committee on Education and Research by a further period of 21 days with effect from 24th April, 2019…
It has to be clear, Hon. Melly, because in the Order Paper you have put down 23rd April. I am aware you want to move the Motion in an amended form, which I have accepted. It is good for you to indicate that you are shifting from 23rd April so that Members know what they are voting for. Also, you should give justification as to why it is not 23rd April, but 24th April.
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I am moving it in an amended form because this Petition was supposed to be in the Order Paper yesterday, but because of the timelines, it was scheduled this morning.
Move the Motion and then you give the justification.
Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to move the following Procedural Motion: THAT, notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order 227 (2) (Committal of petitions), this House resolves to extend the period for consideration of the public petitions specified hereunder by the Departmental Committee on Education and Research by a further period of 21 days with effect from 24th April, 2019. Public petitions on: (i) Implementation of delocalisation policy by the Teachers' Service Commission; (ii) Transfer of Technical and Vocational Education and Training of Trainers from the Teacher's Service Commission to the Public Service Commission; (iii) Funding of Co-Curricular activities in public primary schools; and (iv) Release of examination results for Mr. Nick Onyango by the Kenya Medical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians Board. The justification for this is that owing to the workload, we have dealt with most of these petitions. We need a duration of 21 days so that we can finalise the report writing on the first Petition. With regard to the remaining petitions, there are two or three major stakeholders who need to appear before the Committee and then we can finalise and bring them before the House. I request that you grant this Procedural Motion. I ask Hon. (Prof.) Ogutu to second.
For Members' understanding, Hon. Chair is requesting an extension with effect from 24th April not 23rd April. The seconder will second it in that manner.
Zadoc Abel Ogutu (Hon. (Prof.) Zadoc Ogutu)
Hon. Deputy Speaker, I second this request.
Just for confirmation, are you seconding a request or a Motion? It needs to be clear what we are voting for. You are seconding. Is it?
I am seconding the Motion. 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.
(Loud consultations)
Order Members!
I will give an opportunity to a few Members. It is a Procedural Motion and we will start with the Leader of the Majority Party.
Hon. Deputy Speaker, as I support, Members will agree with me that this House has serious issues with petitions. Petitions are a constitutional issue. They come from the people we represent. I led a delegation of the Procedure and House Rules Committee to the German Bundestag Parliament. The German Bundestag, equivalent of the National Assembly, receives over 20,000 petitions every year. We have a report to table. Hon. T.J. Kajwang', who is a Member of the Procedure and House Rules Committee, will table a report to the House leadership this weekend in our retreat, Inshallah, if it happens. We will ask the House leadership to consider forming a committee that will deal with petitions alone. Our departmental committees have no time for petitions. They are busy with Bills, the Budget and Motions. We might go that route. We should form a committee that will deal with petitions or they be dealt with by committees in a different way. Petitions require you to go to the ground. If the petition is from Bura or Mwatate constituencies, you need to go to the ground, talk to the people and bring a report. We might be forced to amend the provision of the Standing Orders that once a petition is concluded, it is sent back to its owner. Petitions must be discussed in the Chamber. We must discuss them so that Kenyans can see that the petitions they send to Parliament or give to their Members of Parliament are allocated time for debate. If the House feels that we should amend that, we can do petitions on the Floor. We should not accept this story of saying that a petition is a constitutional matter. When people send a petition through their Member of Parliament or the Speaker, they want to see its concrete implementation. The Standing Orders state that a petition should be considered within 60 days. There are petitions that have taken six months to be considered and committees are yet to bring them back. Going forward, we should learn from other jurisdictions. At one point, we sat with the committee that deals with petitions. The committee that deals with petitions in the German Parliament is the same one that deals with human rights and legal affairs. The chairs and vice-chairs of committees and the House leadership will meet over the weekend. We must agree on how to deal with petitions. They are losing meaning in our Parliament. They are constitutional rights of the citizens. If it is a land issue, it must be dealt with. Because this is a Procedural Motion, I do not want to speak more than that. I support the Motion, but the House needs to learn from other jurisdictions.
I do not see any major interest on this particular Motion. We will proceed and put the Question. This is a Procedural Motion, Hon. Members. So, we cannot take too much time.
Next Order. 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.
First Readings
THE PUBLIC ORDER (AMENDMENT) BILL
THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT CONSTITUENCIES DEVELOPMENT FUND (AMENDMENT) BILL
THE LABOUR RELATIONS (AMENDMENT) BILL
(Orders for First Readings read-Read the First Time and ordered to be referred to the relevant Departmental Committees)
Before we go to the next Order, let me recognise, in the Speaker's Gallery, Dr. Aggrey High School and Nguraru Primary School from Wundanyi, Taita Taveta County. They are in the House to learn the procedures and watch the proceedings of the House.
Next Order.
Let us have the Leader of the Majority Party.
Sorry, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I was looking for a Member to second the Motion. Even my deputy is not in the House. However, I have found a very competent and one of the only recognised senior medical doctors in this House, Hon. (Dr.) Pukose. To lead from the front, I do not want to use paper notes. So, I came with my iPad. This shows that we must go digital. I decided not to carry my paper notes. The people who are in charge of ICT must teach me…
That is very commendable only that you do not have a username on the iPad that you have next to you.
This is my iPad. I wanted the people who are in charge of ICT to tell me how I should upload my notes in future on the iPad on my desk. If you do not have an iPad, like my good friend from Mumias, then there are tutorials. Classes are ongoing.
THANKS FOR EXPOSITION OF PUBLIC POLICY
Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to move the following Motion:
THAT, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order No. 24(6), the thanks of this House be recorded for the exposition of public policy contained in the address of H.E. the President delivered in Parliament on Thursday, 4th April 2019 and further notes the following Reports submitted by the President in the fulfilment of the provisions of Articles 132(1)(c) and 240(7) of the Constitution, laid on the Table of the House on Tuesday, 23rd April 2019 - 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.
(a) 6th Annual Report on the Progress Made in the Fulfilment of the International
Obligations of the Republic;
(b) 6th Annual Report on the Measures Taken and Progress Achieved in the
Realisation of National Values and Principles of Governance as enshrined in
Article 10 of the Constitution; and, (c) Annual Report to Parliament on the State of National Security.
Hon. Deputy Speaker, as much as we will discuss the President's Speech, Parliament is under obligation in those reports. I will urge the Executive, more so, the Cabinet Office and the Chief of Staff of the President, to avail 349 copies by the end of today to the House, so that Members can carry them, read them and keep them.
It is my privilege to move this Motion on the discussion of the State of the Nation Address by H.E the President, which he delivered on 4th April 2019. This was the second one in the 12th Parliament as he is serving his second and last term as President. I am sure he did diligently as per the Constitution in the five years of his first administration. I want to first note the importance which the President gave on the transformation of our national economy. He said that it needs to be the engine of creating jobs.
Hon. Deputy Speaker, there are loud consultations, more so at the back, where my friend, Hon. Dawood, is consulting with Hon. Kubai and the Member for Lamu. It is too early and it has rained. They can have tea at the lounge.
Hon. Members, let us allow the Leader of the Majority Party to proceed in peace.
Hon. Deputy Speaker, the Member for Lamu took Mr. Atwoli to her county the other day. He abused me and many others. She has to tell me later why she allowed Mr. Atwoli to abuse me in her county. I will also go there very soon not only to abuse Mr. Atwoli, but also deal with her. That is on a light touch.
Ruweida Mohamed Obo (Hon. (Ms.) Ruweida Obo)
On a point of order, Hon. Deputy Speaker.
Hon. Deputy Speaker, the President said that our economy must be transformative.
What is your point of order, Hon. (Captain) Obo Ruweida?
Mhe. Naibu Spika, siasa ni nyumbani. Niliahidi watu wangu na nilipata target ya Kshs10.7million ya akina mama wa Lamu for the firsttime. Period.
I consider that completely out of order because it is not our business to know what Members do in their constituencies.
Hon. Deputy Speaker, Kshs10.7 million was raised but the only issue which was spoken more than 100 times was about Hon. Duale and the Deputy President, William Ruto. As a politician, I am organising a fund raiser after Ramadhan in Lamu, courtesy of the leadership there where I will raise Kshs20 million and say whatever I want to say. Hon. Rehema will be part of the delegation. 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.
Hon. Deputy Speaker, our economy must be the engine for creating jobs and opportunities for all Kenyans. That is what the President said. In his own words, "the path to lasting cohesion and decent jobs for our people can only be achieved in an environment where there is fairness and integrity and the rule of law is observed by all citizens without exception".
The President reiterated his commitment to the realisation of the Big Four Agenda. He called on Parliament to play its constitutional and legislative roles in achieving the President's transformation agenda for this country. In the previous President's Address, which he made on 2nd May 2018, this was also a very steadfast commitment by him. As Parliament, and in particular the National Assembly, we have passed all the laws that are relevant to the achievement of the Big Four Agenda, namely, the Housing Fund, the universal healthcare, manufacturing and taxation laws. As the National Assembly, we take the credit. That is why in the next section of the President's Address, he urged the Houses of Parliament, both the National Assembly and the Senate, to fast track certain crucial legislation which include the Land Value Index (Amendment) Bill, the Physical Planning Bill, the Irrigation Bill, the Warehouse Receipts System Bill and the Kenya Roads Bill, which I can confirm are at the mediation stage. I am sure we will agree with our colleagues in the Senate and next week, we will make sure that the President assents them to law. That is our obligation.
The President also applauded Parliament, especially the National Assembly for the passage of over 22 Bills last year which were enacted into Acts of Parliament. The President, too, commended Parliament for the passage of a very important piece of legislation that established the Kenya Coast Guard Service Act, which established our first and the only one in the region, a coast guard service. We are the pioneers in East Africa, Southern Africa and West Africa in establishing the Kenya Coast Guard Service.
The House dealt with the Petroleum Act, the Energy Act and the National Youth Service Act, which today has a council that is independent of other arms of Government to make sure that the resources of the National Youth Service (NYS) as appropriated by this House are protected.
We take note of the President's intention to present the Sovereign Wealth Fund Bill. If it is introduced in the House, it will establish a fund and provide a legal framework in order to guide investment of revenue from oil, gas, minerals and, of course, other natural resources. The Sovereign Wealth Fund will tell us how much, for instance, Turkana, Garissa, Taveta and other regions will get, if they have minerals. So, we ask the Office of the Attorney-General and the Cabinet Office to fast track the Sovereign Wealth Fund Bill and bring it to Parliament during this Session.
The President has also underscored the progress realised in the past year. Kenya ratified three multilateral treaties to enhance market access for Kenyan products in some countries including China and to share critical information and create jobs. The President boldly stated that there will be no turning back on the war against corruption and impunity. But the President also agreed with the Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya as the head of the Judiciary, that people who are arraigned in court will be convicted based on evidence and facts and not on media propaganda or what the President called, "jungle vigilante." It means that what goes on in funerals and political rallies where you may say Hon. Didmus Barasa and Hon. Duale are thieves, will not be used against individuals. If you are in that category of people who judge Kenyans outside the perimeter of the Constitution and purport to take the role of the investigative, prosecutorial agencies and the Judiciary, then you fall within what the President called "jungle vigilante". Even if that appears in the Daily Nation headlines or 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.
Page 10 of Wednesday, 24th April 2019 at 9.30 a.m.
a hundred times, that will not make me guilty. The President said that we should fight the war against corruption with facts, evidence and allow the investigative agencies, which are only answerable to this House - the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), in my opinion, is not answerable to the Senate - to do their work. The EACC, the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) are answerable to the Chair of the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs and its Members, on behalf of the 349 of us. They appropriate money on their behalf or give them more resources in consultation with the National Treasury. They oversee them also. In the Constitution, the people of Kenya deliberately created offices that are answerable to Parliament like the Office of the Auditor-General, the Office of Controller of Budget, the EACC, the DPP and the Inspector General of Police. Those offices are independent and must maintain it. They must also deal with corruption in all its forms and present evidence and facts for people to get convicted. Let me give an example. The media wrote that Kshs9 billion was lost in the NYS. Today, the people charged in court are only accused of stealing not less than Kshs67 million. So, the question is what happened to the Kshs8.4 billion. We expect people to be taken to court over the loss of Kshs9 billion. When you say that it was lost, you fall within the definition of jungle vigilante and a Member of Parliament cannot be put in that bracket. Vigilantes are not very good people as you know. Hon. Baya knows what vigilante means at the Coast.
We support the President in the war against corruption and support the institutions that deal with it. Let us not execute corruption issues in the media. Let us not create perceptions that so and so has squandered his National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG- CDF) when he has not. Let us not deal with corruption in funerals. Let us not create an atmosphere that is not conducive for Kenya in the war against corruption. The war against corruption must be fought by this House. The House has a role to oversee and appropriate money to Government institutions. We need to have more reports recommending to the DCI and the EACC to carry out investigation like we did yesterday with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission where we recommended that OT Morpho must be investigated. The committees of the House are under obligation to help the President and the Government in the fight against corruption.
The second issue the President talked about, and we agree with him, is on bringing the nation together. Even in our constituencies, we reach out to people who lost to us so that they can give us an opportunity of five years to work. If we do not talk to our opponents in our constituencies, when we are in one funeral, they will be in another. The Christian community must stop politicians who use funerals to play politics. Please learn from the Muslims. We do funerals for only five minutes. If you do not know, I can take you to Lang'ata even this afternoon. We bury the dead in five minutes, but you bury the dead for 12 hours - morning to evening. Sometimes you fight over the dead people. Politicians fight until you lose respect for the departed soul. The clergy must not allow politicians to speak during funerals. If you want to speak to people, call a rally or a meeting, but not in weddings and funerals.
Hon. Member
And Churches!
Going to church is an obligation. In fact, you might sin the whole week. Politicians sin and so, you need to go to church. I am one person who builds a lot of mosques. Most of us here will tell you. Is it a crime to build a mosque or a church? If you think the money is coming from money laundering, you stand up before a
starts and say that the money from honourable so and so comes from money laundering. You must bring evidence. We must build more churches. If you are stingy, your 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.
heart is dark and you do not want to appreciate what God has given you. The wealth you have has been given to you by God. So, you must share some of it with his ministry. Who is forcing you? We are building a mosque in Eastleigh in the Sixth Street that will cost us Kshs1.2 billion. We have so far raised Kshs300 million. We will build it because it is a House of the Lord and God will bring the money, but there are people who do not believe in God. They believe in magic. They believe in other things. Please, believe in your magic and leave those who want to build churches to build churches and those who want to build mosques, to build mosques. In Kenya, there is freedom of worship. In the Constitution, there is freedom of worship. Why do you want to measure how I behave in a church or in a mosque?
Those of you who do not want to look at your wallet and remove even sadaka will be asked on the Day of Judgment. Do not disturb us in this world. Some of us are hustlers and we do not want to become hustlers in the Day of Judgement. In the Day of Judgement, we want to be part of those who God will secure and place in paradise. Say amen!
Secondly and very importantly, I am one person who believes…
I have no problem with your contribution, but I do not want you to preach. I want you to move that speech and you are doing very well.
Hon. Deputy Speaker, for the new Members, when you are speaking on the Floor of the House, you enjoy unqualified freedom of thought and speech. So, you can say anything only that you must substantiate. It must be relevant. I am talking of corruption and the church. I was shocked last night. Every day when God gives me some money, I must say thank you to him and give him some. I buy the Holy Quran, build madrassas and mosques. I contribute. I am making an investment for the life after. There are people who tell you that we are on transit in this world. It is like you are at the Dubai Airport. How many Members have we lost here? Great men like the former Leader of the Minority Party, Hon. Nyenze. If you do not want to contribute and you do not want to go to church, let that be your business. In fact, this weekend we will go to church. I will look for a church and I am going to contribute to a church and a mosque. I will go to Wundanyi. Those who want to go magic and witchcraft and Satan, nobody is forcing you. Go there. Halleluyah?
You are completely out of order.
What is it Hon. Mogaka?
Hon. Deputy Speaker, the Leader of the Majority Party is out of order. Everybody in this House knows that he professes the Muslim faith. So, when he is trying to tell us to say "Amen" that amounts to a criminal offence which I do not want to mention in this House. He is out of order, Hon. Deputy Speaker.
I was following you closely, Hon. Mogaka, until a point I lost. Initially, you said he was out of order and you were beginning to develop your case, but when you say that the act of him asking Members to say "Amen" is criminal, obviously, it is not criminal. There is nothing criminal about that. The only thing is that you remember I had asked 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.
the Leader of the Majority Party not to use the Floor of the House to preach. The issue of having to bring Members into saying "Amen" is not bad, but we can we leave it to Sundays.
Hon. Deputy Speaker, every afternoon when the prayer is read by the Speaker, we say "Amen". So, it is in the Standing Orders. Secondly, I know this is a Presidential Speech and I want to soften the hearts of some people so that when they speak to me…
(Inaudible)
"Halleluyah" is the same as "Amen". It is a different language. I know you do not belong to magicians. You belong to the churchgoers. He is a man of church and so, he has no problem.
(Hon. Fred Ouda interjected)
The Member for Kisumu Central has never been in the House, I just saw him entering now. Tell him we are not at the Siaya County Assembly. He will wait and listen until he gets his time. The final thing that I want to speak about, which is very important, is unity. We must agree today here that we must unite the nation coming from a very divisive election of 2017; a period where my former leader was sworn in at Uhuru Park and my good friend, Miguna Miguna, is out of the country for no good reason. He is a Kenyan. Why is he out of the country? He should come back. Based on what was happening, we must reach out to every Kenyan in every village, tribe, political party leader and all of us to preach unity. It is in the interest of our citizens. The President is very sincere. He made it clear when we had the annual breakfast meeting where he called Hon. Kalonzo Musyoka, Hon. William Ruto, Hon. Raila Odinga and they held hands. The President, both in spirit and the letter, is committed to the unity of our nation. There are some of us from both sides of the divide who believe that the handshake; the unity, must be selective. They believe that this unity must be like a menu where you go to a hotel and you can select Ngwashe, Anjera, Nyirinyiri and Aleso. For those who do not know Aleso, you can consult me later. This is a staple food for my community. I cannot say I am going to have unity with Hon. Makali Mulu, but when it comes to Hon. Maanzo, we are enemies. That is what is happening in Kenya. The President is the only person who is sincere. President Uhuru Kenyatta is sincere. He wants to leave a legacy of a united country, but the rest of us, starting with the former Prime Minister, including Hon. William Ruto, Kalonzo Musyoka, Musalia Mudavadi, Members of the National Assembly and Senators are not sincere. Every weekend, when we go to our constituencies, we talk a different language and say that this unity is for this or that corner and that this unity wants to fix this group. Let us agree that if you want to have unity with President Uhuru Kenyatta, there is no way you will avoid Hon. William Ruto. It is called the presidency. There is no way you will avoid Hon. Duale. The moment I see that by your language and your body language you only want to have a unity deal with the President and not Hon. Duale, we will not agree. So, all of us must agree. For the same reason, you cannot have unity and the handshake with the former Prime Minister and say that you will not have unity with some section of his party. We want the unity to be with the President, the former Prime Minister, all political party leaders and all of us as Members of Parliament. This unity goes to our constituencies and counties. At times, we have constituency, county and ethnic conflicts. Members of Parliament, I really want to urge you today that the most important thing that President Uhuru Kenyatta has done for our country is 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.
preach and give us the card of unity. That unity is at risk because of politics and mistrust. People want to deal with history and the future. Let us first unite our country. Once we do that, come 2022, Inshallah, when we reach there because we do not even know whether we will reach there, the people of Kenya will make a decision. So, unity of our country is important. I have opportunity to ask our Members, please, let us not use the Address of the President that will be discussed for the next four days to polarise the nation. Let us not polarise the nation. Let us not sow the seed of discord. Let us not be the leaders who will plant enmity between communities, political leaders and regions. I really want us to use this opportunity through the President's Address to urge all of us to go back and agree on how to support the unity deal between our two leaders. We are the troops. We are the people who will enable them to cement that deal. Let us be a deal. Let us have unity which is honest. Let us have unity which everybody knows about so that we can make unity with all the leaders. Let us reach out to Hon. Kalonzo Musyoka and Hon. Musalia Mudavadi. Let us reach out to Moses Wetangula. He was removed as the Leader of the Minority Party in the Senate. We must reach out to him and tell him: "Yes, that happened, but we are now on another course of uniting the country." We cannot unite half the country and leave the other half. We cannot unite the country in the terms we want. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I think the President's two main issues were on the war against corruption on which he said everyone, including Parliament, must take a role. It must be war against corruption devoid of mischief, witch-hunting and jungle vigilante justice. Again, we should give an opportunity to the institutions that are answerable to Parliament. If they have issues, we should call them before the committees and ask questions to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). The DPP briefs committees and tables a report every three months. The EACC tables a report every three months. The Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI), through the National Police Service (NPS), tables a report every month. The Controller of Budget tables a report on how she is giving money to counties. The Auditor-General has as late as yesterday given us a most controversial Eurobond Report on how the money was raised and used. So, you can call these institutions any time of the day and ask them questions. Let us not deal with them when we are out in the field. With those many remarks, I beg to move. I ask Hon. Pukose to second.
Hon. Pukose.
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I stand to second. I am a Christian. Hon. Duale has laid the way in moving with a reconciliatory tone. As a Christian, there is the Lord's Prayer. It says "forgive us as we forgive those who trespass against us". That is how it is. I was sharing with Hon. Wamunyinyi today in the morning at the gym and he was saying: Why is it that it is easier for us to ask for forgiveness from God and very difficult for human beings to forgive those others who trespass against us? I think it is in our nature that we do not find that forgiveness to others. We have a phrase called mwinenet ako mutingi in Sabaot. In this, mutingi means you spin a story against your friend in such a way that it seems true when repeated over a period of time, yet it might not be true. When the President delivered his Address in the afternoon of 4th April in this House, it was laden with a lot of messages to the nation, the House and in particular those of us who are in leadership positions. He said that we will not roll back on issues of fighting against corruption because corruption has eaten this country to such a level that we cannot deliver good healthcare in this nation. We cannot build a road without someone asking for a kickback. We 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.
cannot do any contract without people getting a certain percentage. That is the President. He means well for our nation. That is why he went to an extent of doing his second handshake. The first handshake was with Hon. William Ruto in the formation of Jubilee and there was the second handshake with Hon. Raila Odinga, to reconcile the nation. We are hoping that our colleagues in the National Super Alliance (NASA) Party Coalition will look at the depth of what the President means. You cannot shake hands with Uhuru Kenyatta as the President of this country and leave William Ruto out. Hon. William Ruto is part of the presidency of this country. It is important for us not to get that out of our hands. We should not demonise anybody as far as corruption is concerned. Let us not be trivial. Let us not be political. Anybody with political innuendos as far as the fight against corruption is concerned is fighting the handshake and the unity of this country. When it comes to the 6th Report on the state of national security, it is important that those who are in the security sector do not undermine the President's fight and purpose to unite this country. When we hear of our Members of Parliament being denied security, this undermines the President's purpose to unite this country. So, those who are in positions in the security sector should know that Uhuru Kenyatta is still the President of this country. Respect him and carry out your duties diligently. With those few remarks, I support the Motion.
Say you second. You did not say it. You know, Hon. (Dr.) Robert Pukose, you are the one who is loudly correcting others. So, say you second.
I have said I have seconded.
You did not say that.
I have seconded. I said.
Yes, you have now just said it.
Even in my initial opening remarks I said "I stand to second".
What is most important is the end and not the beginning.
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker for your correction.
Top on the list on whom I will give the Floor – and it will be five minutes for each Member – is Hon. Mwakuwona Mwashako, the Member for Wundanyi Constituency.
(Technical hitch)
Hon. Mwashako, you seem to be having a problem with your microphone. You can use the next one which is close to you. If it is not working, you can move on to the next one there. That one is working.
Danson Mwashako Mwakuwona (Hon. Danson Mwashako)
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. At the outset, I would like to support this Motion on the President's Address. I will make a few remarks. However, before I do that, I am excited this morning to have students from my constituency who are seated in the Speaker's Gallery. They are 25 boys from my former school, Dr. Aggrey High School. They have visited Parliament to learn a few things. Dr. Aggrey High School is the best performing school in my constituency and in Coast region. I also have Class VII and VIII students of Nguraru Primary School. It was the best school in my constituency. I 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.
am excited that they are here this Morning. I also I have the top ten students in their respective classes in Werugha and Kishushe schools. They are here with us. So, we have 75 students witnessing what is happening in the National Assembly today. Therefore, I am an excited Member of Parliament today. The President was clear that he will strive to remain faithful to his constitutional call as the President of this country. He committed that he will not look back given the confidence that the citizens have bestowed on him. It was a good thing that the President spoke in this House. I want to highlight a few things. One, the President talked candidly about the infrastructural programme and how many we have been able to upgrade in terms of the road network in this country to bitumen standards. We know, for sure, that there is progress that has been made since His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta became the President of this country. However, it is important that those people around him and the leadership of this House help the President to fulfill the pledges he made to this country. Recently, I was speaking about a road that the President launched in 2017 in my county. It starts from Bura to Mghange, Wundanyi, Mbale and connects Mwatate-Voi Road. A contractor came to the site, but to date, we have not seen any progress on that road. That means that there are people around the President who are not helping him realise the pledges he made to this country. The pledges are known all over the country and people are asking themselves: "What has happened?" If the President has committed to do something and the same does not happen, it means that we do not take seriously the commitments that he has made. This also applies to the airports that the President spoke about. He spoke about upgrading them. We have many airstrips in this country. For example, there is Ikanga Airstrip in Voi where money has been pumped into for years but, to date, it is 10 per cent shy of being completed. It is now three years down the line and nothing has been done. When the President talks about the Big Four Agenda, we get excited. It is now remaining two to three years for him to exit the stage. If people around him, this Parliament and the Executive do not help him achieve the Big Four Agenda, they will remain a pipe dream. He may not go anywhere. The President talked about the livelihoods that have been improved since he took over power. It is unfortunate that we have programmes and projects that have been earmarked and financing contracts that have been signed but we do not see anything happening to that effect. For example, with regard to Mzima Springs II Water Project, the President has spoken about it more than two times. The water that will come from Mzima will be supplied to the entire region of Taita Taveta; that is Mwatate, Voi and Wundanyi. Later, it will be supplied to Mombasa and Kilifi counties. We know that the financing agreements have been executed but we are wondering what is happening to the country. The President has made a big commitment – and this is a Kshs30 billion project – but nothing has happened. As I conclude…
I will add you one minute only.
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. As I conclude, I know the President means well to unite this country so that it is as it was before Independence. However, we have issues on marginalisation. 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.
One time, I travelled to Germany and I noticed how East Germany was being promoted by the Equalisation Fund that was established during the re-unification in 1990. To date, that Equalisation Fund continues to support East Germany federals. Today, there is marginalisation in this country. Taita Taveta has been removed from the Equalisation Fund. Many communities feel alienated. They feel that they are not part of this country. When politicians, including the top leadership go around the country, they only count on the communities that have numbers. Communities that have small numbers do not feel that they are part of this country. When it comes to appointments…
Your one minute is over. I hope the students from your constituency have seen how you have grown as a debater in a short time. The next speaker will be Hon. Nanok Epuyo, the Member for Turkana West.
Daniel Epuyo Nanok (Hon. Daniel Nanok)
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to make my contribution. I want to add my voice to the Presidential address. Generally, the Address by the President in this august House was hope-inspiring. It is important for this country to keep its hope alive. The challenges that this country is facing at this time are increasing; they are becoming enormous. Therefore, the leadership of the country needs to speak and read from the same script. That is what, generally, the Presidential Address meant to do. However, there is need for us to move from words to action in this country. We can all see that there is action, particularly in dealing with corruption. There are serious activities going on by the institutions that are charged by the Constitution of the Republic of Kenya to handle issues of corruption. That fight needs to be supported by the leadership. As the President said, it will be dealt with as per the law. We will not allow vigilante justice to be ingrained in our Republic. That is the way to go. That is a call that needs to be supported. The leadership of this country; that is the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary, for sure, will do this country justice if they can tone down the rhetoric that is deviating and diverting the attention of Kenyans from the real issues. As we speak, the rains have come. Whereas we were suffering during the drought period, we will suffer again because of the rains. It is because of our way of doing things and preparing for some of those events. Floods will wash away people and properties in this country. The drought we experienced decimated our livestock and worsened our food situation. So, the leadership needs to put their minds to activities that will change the way we do things in this country. This is part of what the President's Speech was meant to address. I come from Turkana County. In my constituency, there is the famous Lotikipi Aquifer, which was said to have a water resource that can run this country for 70 years. The whole country could utilise Lotikipi water alone without touching any other water body and run for 70 years. Unfortunately, that water has not been exploited. No single borehole has been sunk and is in use in that region. That is what I am talking about. We must turn our words into actions. Food security was one of the issues that the Presidential Speech addressed. Lotikipi should form part of the agenda of the food security of this country. There are many other issues that the Presidential Speech touched on that need action. We are planning, but we are not implementing. We are executing budgets and yet, the budgets are not changing the face of this Republic with all the challenges. If we are not careful, come 2022, the Big Four agenda…
Your time is up! Let us now have the Member for Ruiru.
Simon Nganga Kingara (Hon. Simon King'ara)
Ahsante sana, Mhe. Naibu Spika wa Bunge kwa kunipatia nafasi hii ili nichangie yale yaliyozungumziwa na kiongozi wa nchi alipotutembelea 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.
hapa Bungeni. La muhimu ni kuwa kiongozi wa nchi alitambua ugatuzi kama njia mwafaka ya kuleta maendeleo katika maeneo mengi nchini. Tayari, Serikali kuu imepatia serikali za ugatuzi Kshs1.7 trilioni. Hii inamaanisha kuwa kuna shida kwa sababu asilimia 67.5 imetumika kwa mambo ya kawaida na si maendeleo. Ni vizuri serikali za ugatuzi ziangalie na kuona kiwango kikubwa kimetumika katika maendeleo na si mambo ya kawaida. Rais alizungumzia kuhusu mambo manne muhimu kama vile usalama, makaaji bora, viwanda na kilimo. Alisema kuwa huo ndio utakuwa mwelekeo wa kujimudu kama Wakenya wakati tunaongea juu ya maendeleo. Vile vile, aliongea kuhusu mambo ya afya. Alisema kuwa kumekuwa na majaribio katika kaunti za Kisumu, Garissa, Isiolo na Nyeri kuona vile wanaweza kujimudu kiafya. Jambo hili linafaa kutiliwa mkazo kwa sababu nchi hii haiwezi kuendelea kama sekta ya afya haijapewa kipaumbele. Eneo langu la Ruiru liko na kiwango kikubwa cha watu ambao wanakadiriwa kuwa laki sita na maeneo ambayo yametengwa kwa sababu ya afya ni manne pekee. Itabidi Serikali itilie uzito mambo ya afya katika maeneo yaliyo na watu wengi ili waweze kufanya kazi. Kazi haiwezi kufanywa ikiwa watu ni wanyonge. Hilo ni jambo ambalo sisi kama Wabunge lazima tulizingatie na kuhakikisha maeneo yaliyo na watu wengi yamehudumiwa kiafya ili kuwe na maendeleo.
[The Deputy Speaker (Hon. Moses Cheboi) left the Chair]
(The Temporary Deputy Speaker (Hon. Patrick Mariru) took the Chair]
Vile vile, Rais aliguzia mambo ya kilimo na akaongea juu ya kahawa. Alisema kitengo maalum kimebuniwa ili kiweze kusaidia wakulima wa kahawa kuendelea kushughulikia kahawa. Kwa maoni yangu, ni vizuri tuangalie mambo mengine yanayohusu kilimo. Kwa nini tunakubali mayai kutoka nje ilhali sisi wenyewe tunaweza kufuga kuku wa mayai? Ni vizuri sisi kama viongozi tutenge kiwango fulani cha fedha ili tusaidie wanachi wanaofuga kuku ili tuweze kukabiliana na watu wanaoleta chakula kutoka nje. Inawezekana kuwa nchi zinazotupatia chakula zimetenga fedha za kuwasaidia wakulima. Pia Rais aliguzia mambo ya masomo. Hakuna maendeleo yanayoweza kufanyika bila masomo. Katika eneo Bunge la Ruiru, masomo yako chini kwa sababu hakuna vifaa vya kutosha vya masomo. Kuna madarasa ambayo yana wanafunzi mia mbili. Waalimu watafundisha vipi? Inafaa kile kitengo katika Wizara ya Elimu kiangalie yale maeneo ambayo yametatizika zaidi ndiyo tuweze kujimudu kimaendeleo. Ninaunga mkono na ninafurahia vile Rais aliongea juu ya mambo ya uwiano; Wakenya wote kufanya mambo kama kikundi kimoja. Ninaunga mkono Hoja hii.
Patrick Kariuki Mariru (The Temporary Deputy Speaker)
We shall now have Hon. Maanzo.
Daniel Kitonga Maanzo (Hon. Daniel Maanzo)
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to thank the President for his Speech. The President concentrated on his main areas of his agenda during his term. The most important is food security. Before the rains, food security was a big issue in this country. Even when the rains are late, we are not sure whether they are going to be sufficient enough for crop growth. Therefore, the Government should not stop its effort to make sure that there is food security in this country. The most important thing is to ensure that there is irrigation in this country. The question of dams which could be used to irrigate our country has been turbulent and unpleasant. Thwake 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.
Dam which is in my constituency is also having a slow and disorganised start. We want to make sure that we irrigate parts of Kitui and Makueni which are more likely to be the food basket of this country. That dam will ensure that there is continuous supply of water to Galana-Kulalu Irrigation Scheme which never took off. If we were good at food storage and proper supply of water for irrigation, this country could not be talking about food security. This is one of the areas we need to concentrate on. This area is also affected by corruption. I am aware that there is sufficient evidence against individuals who have stolen money from this country through projects and other means. That evidence should be tabled and the DPP should not be shy to prosecute anybody in this country as long as they are implicated in corruption. Although the Constitution is clear now after the interpretation by the Supreme Court that you cannot sentence somebody to death in this country, I believe in the next referendum, we should come out strongly and ensure that those who plunder the resources of this country not only face life sentence, but are also sentenced to death. If we got serious with corruption, most of the activities would move in the right direction. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the next issue was about housing. There seem not to be a proper map in the country on how to house and who to house, although there is a law and we have passed regulations. But the matter has now gone to court. Away from what is happening in the court, on the other side of it, the counties have to have a system that the people who are not housed at all are eventually housed through the structures we already have which have been working over the years. Housing is very important. If we were to do housing, it must be clear who the beneficiaries will be. I saw something on television about a family in Kilifi. Yesterday, there was coverage of a family of a mother and two kids who were swept by water in Kibera because their house is near a river. Many people are affected when there are floods in the country. So, we need proper planning of housing. Most important, on the security issue which he tackled, the police officers who keep security of this country have a lot of land allocated to them all over the country. Every county and constituency where there is a police station, there is sufficient land where housing can be done by this Government. So, we need to be very serious on how to house our police officers properly. All security agents should get proper housing to settle their families so that they can defend this country against terrorism and thuggery. Recently in some parts of the world, there were serious strikes by terrorists. People were attacked in churches and places of worship over Easter Holiday. Over 150 people were killed by terrorists. Kenya has suffered terrorism attacks. One of the ways to protect Kenyans against terrorism and make sure that no more Kenyans die of terrorism is through improved security. I want to believe in the sincerity of the President in his Speech, and also thank him for being very humble to agree to have a discussion and share a handshake to make sure that he reconciles the country. That is because we cannot achieve much without reconciling the country.
Shall we have Hon. Jaldesa Dida?
Rehema Dida Jaldesa (Hon. (Ms.) Rehema Jaldesa)
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity to add my voice to this debate. I would have done a 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.
disservice to the people of Isiolo if I would not have had an opportunity to contribute to this debate. I would like to say that I rise to partially support the President's Address with some bit of reservations. I will start by addressing the national values as stipulated under Article 10 of the Kenyan Constitution, which entail patriotism, national unity, human dignity, equity, social justice, inclusiveness and non-discrimination. As the representative of Isiolo County, which is one of the marginalised counties in terms of development, high poverty levels, inadequate resource allocation and persistent drought, I strongly feel that the President failed to address the key measures that have been taken to address marginalization. While the President has stated measures to revive the agricultural sector, especially through irrigation and reviving the coffee sector, he left out pastoralists who contribute Kshs10 billion to the economy of this country. Pastoralism is a way of life which we proudly embrace. It covers the ASAL region which is almost 70 per cent of the land mass of this country. I want to thank the Almighty Lord for hearing our prayers because we started getting rains from yesterday. But we feel abandoned by the President when he proposes to allocate Kshs10 billion to an amorphous body by the name Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) but fails to mention the pastoralist communities which were affected by drought. In my view, the BBI is nothing but another amorphous body like kitaeleweka and t anga
. Therefore, it demeans this House if the President will talk about allocating Kshs10 billion to the BBI but does not talk about drought. The people of Isiolo County that I represent had their livestock taken in 2017 under the offtake project. To date, those poor farmers are owed by the Government to the tune of Kshs43 million. I raised a Question in this House, we followed it up, and we were lied to that the same funds will be put in the Supplementary Estimates. I am sad to report that nothing has been done. The President talked about the culture of handshake as an expression of goodwill. Friendship builds trust and reconciliation. On that, I would like to agree with the President. But I have reservation when the same initiative is selectively applied. I am concerned when civil servants, the likes of Mr. Kibicho, who is a Principal Secretary (PS) use their positions to undermine the constitutional office holders, like the Office of the Deputy President. This is where the DP goes for a function and there is no security, and when Members of Parliament are intimidated and their security withdrawn. As I conclude, the President talked about improved economy. Unless we are talking about the economy of China, I do not see an improved economy in this country. We are in a country where citizens…
(Hon. Samuel Atandi raised his hand)
Hon. Atandi, you do not need to raise your hand. I can tell from the screen. Although you are top, I almost thought otherwise. 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.
Hon. Atandi, you have the floor. I will be guided by the screen and not the hand. You have been very consistent in raising your hand.
Samuel Onunga Atandi (Hon. Samuel Atandi)
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I am trying to raise my hand because there appeared to have been a problem because I was the first to enter this Chamber and the previous Speaker might have tampered with the order.
It is not possible. Please, you have the floor.
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. I would like to support the Motion on the President's State of the Nation Address. The President spoke about many things, but I would like to just mention a few. One, the President spoke about improving the ease of doing business in Kenya. Right now in the World Bank Report of ease of doing business, Kenya ranks below some of our neighbours like Morocco and Mauritius. The President candidly said that he will introduce reforms that would make doing business in Kenya easy. You know the economy expands when people do business. So, this was one of the most critical things that the President spoke about. As a Member of this House, I will be waiting to see some of those reforms when they come to allow this economy to prosper. In the same line of ease of doing business, he spoke about creating SME credit guarantee scheme that will ensure that the SME sector in Kenya is rejuvenated, grown and that SMEs that are struggling today courtesy of our arrogant banking sector will be able to get an opportunity to do business outside the financial sector. This is something that is in my heart. If this is implemented, we will have a booming economy.
Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the President spoke about insecurity and introduction of reforms that were to help us do away with Al Shaabab and terrorists groups that are bringing chaos in this country. I am hoping that the Huduma Namba that is being implemented is part of those reforms that will address insecurity challenges and ultimately create permanent security.
However, I think the President paid lip service to the war on corruption. As the President of the Republic of Kenya, he has intelligence reports on corrupt Cabinet Secretaries. He does not have to wait for another organ to inform him on who is corrupt and hence culpable. It is shame that the President continues to sit in the Cabinet with some Cabinet Sectaries who have been implicated in corruption. The President should not wait for the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and opinions from other bodies. He should fire them. He knows well that they have committed criminal offenses in their ministries and should not wait for court processes. Why does he continually sit in the Cabinet with corrupt Cabinet Secretaries?
On the fight against corruption, he paid lip service. He has the support of Kenyans and should not fear Members of Parliament or groupings of Members agitating against sacking of some Cabinet Secretaries.
Lastly, on the question of the handshake, the Hon. Leader of the Majority Party is suggesting to have the handshake devolved. May I inform him that this handshake was about the two Presidents; the President of the Republic of Kenya and the people's president. So, Hon. Duale and the rest should not come and tell us to devolve the handshake. The handshake is 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.
between two presidents and that is the way it must work. Nobody else went to the ballot to look for presidential votes.
So, this is the point that must be noted.
Joyce Chepkoech Korir (Hon. (Ms.) Joyce Korir)
On a point of order.
Order, Hon. Atandi. What is it Hon. Joyce Korir?
Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, is the Hon. Member in order to mislead the House and country at large to the fact that we have two presidents in this country? I thought Members are awake. Do we have two presidents in this country?
Let us not even discuss that. Everyone here should take judicial notice. Hon. Atandi, we have one President and that is clear.
Order, Hon. Atandi! Are you on record?
Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, pesa
imemwagwa
- I sense mischief.
Thank you for that clarification. In conclusion, the prosperity of this country depends on the unity of Kenyans. The handshake has created an environment where all Kenyans are united and are thinking in the same direction. We do not want MPs, either as individuals or groups, to bring confusion to this country by telling us that there should be another handshake between some other levels of people.
Hon. Atandi, your time is up! I had given you one minute because of that intervention. I have three interventions and those Members seem to be removing them fast.
Cyprian Kubai Iringo (Hon. Kubai Iringo)
On a point of order, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker.
Hon. Iringo, what is out of order? You seem to have pressed an intervention. If you wanted to speak, you shall definitely speak because I can tell you are on the screen. So, you will get your time to speak.
Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the intervention will go off from the screen because you have already given me…
I know at what point you are Hon. Kubai. Please do not use the intervention to catch the Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker's eye.
Hon. King'ola Makau you seem to have pressed an intervention. What is out of order?
Patrick Makau King'ola (Hon. Patrick Makau)
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. At one point, I was rising on a point of order wondering why Hon. Atandi was referring to two presidents. It is public knowledge that Hon. Kalonzo is the president of the China missions…
Order, Hon. Makau! I had spoken to that. It is you who is now gravitating towards being out of order. I had spoken to that and it is settled. Next is Hon. Metito Judah. 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.
Janet Marania Teyiaa (Hon. Katoo ole Metito)
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I support this Motion and equally note that I have five minutes. The President spoke on three items. The first one was on the national unity that has been widely spoken on.
The second one was on the Big Four Development Agenda and finally on the issue of corruption. We all know that without fighting corruption, development on the Big Four Agenda will just be a talking show.
We should be very cautious on the fight against corruption. Those bodies that have been constitutionally mandated to carry out that work must be allowed to do so. The President has confidence in them. At times, as a House, we even over-step our mandate. We adopt reports in this House that bar such institutions from doing business in this country. I do not think that we, as a House, have the mandate to determine which institution or persons are culpable. The much we can do is to propose further investigation by the relevant institutions and not judge an institution with finality that they are corrupt.
Matters about corruption are sometimes interesting. You see people with questionable past being the loudest on the fight against corruption. I agree with the statement that those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
I am always reminded that we, as leaders, should not forget the privilege and honour that the Kenyan population has bestowed on us to represent them in this august House. We must represent them holistically. We should not sit in this House and keep on talking about corrupt civil servants who have no opportunity to defend themselves on the Floor of this House.
Many previous speakers have said that the President is sitting in the Cabinet with corrupt Cabinet Secretaries. However, when you demand that they be sacked without following due process, you fail to understand that you are a leader of those civil servants, who are your constituents.
Even us as the elected leaders have got court cases on corruption. However, no one has told us to leave our seats. We always rush to defend ourselves and request to have the due process followed until it is finalised and one is proven guilty. We are very quick to judge when there is a story in the newspaper perceiving that a certain person was corrupt in a certain way. We quickly forget our role as leaders, because we represent those who cannot be on the Floor of this House. We crucify and destroy their careers. Therefore, I agree with the President when he said he does not agree with vigilante justice. We must allow the legal process to take its course and bring this country together. National unity can only be achieved when we give everyone a fair and just trial. Therefore, I beg to support.
Hon. Mogaka Kemosi.
West Mugirango (FORD-K (Hon. Vincent Kemosi)
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to partially support the Motion on the President's Address. The Report was majorly based on Article 10(2) of the Constitution which provides for the national values and principles of governance which include patriotism, national unity, rule of law, human dignity, equity, social justice, integrity, transparency, sustainable development and the rest. The President's Address mainly centered on two or three main issues - that is unity and development of the nation, as well as corruption. I partially support the President's Address simply because it touched on core development areas. In his Address, he touched on devolution. He categorically explained that Kshs1.7 trillion has been released to the county governments since 2013 to date. 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.
We all appreciate how devolution is working in this country. But we are keen to point out that Kenyans have not fully enjoyed the fruits of devolution because in some areas, those fruits have not been felt. More particularly, if I can speak about where I come from, we have a Level 5 hospital which, before devolution, was managed by the national Government. Upon the county government taking over, Nyamira Level 5 Hospital is now a state monument. The people of Nyamira cannot feel the fruits of devolution when the 10 district hospitals are in a pathetic state. Kenyans will definitely support devolution, if they feel the fruits because, indeed, it was not meant to punish them further. The monies which go to the counties are meant to develop areas where the people in those counties feel should be developed. If you look at most counties, truly speaking, you will find that the wage bill is more than the development expenditure. You cannot have 80 per cent of the funds going to payment of salaries and wages and you remain with only 20 per cent for development. Kenya will never develop if we go that way. The President spoke about development, and in my thinking, the development of this nation should be based on equity. Where I come from in West Mugirango, we have not had any national Government development project for the last five years. It is only recently, through the intervention of the Deputy President, that a technical training institute will be established in West Mugirango. During his campaigns, the President promised the people of West Mugirango that the road linking Bondeni-Magombo-Makairo-Sironga-Bunyunyu will be tarmacked. But, up to date, that has not happened. The people of Nyamira County depend on tea growing. But the roads are impassible and people are suffering. If roads cannot be implemented for development, how do we expect those areas to develop and achieve equity with some areas that are developing? Finally, I want to applaud the President more particularly, when he spoke about corruption. During this time, he was very candid and categorical. He promised the nation that in the fight against corruption, the rule of law will be followed. We are not…
Next is Hon. Kubai.
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me an opportunity to contribute to the President's Speech, which he delivered early this month. I strongly support what the President said with reservations and, more so, because he was just fulfilling his constitutional mandate of coming to Parliament to tell us about the state of the nation as it appertains to security, development and many other issues. The President usually has good intentions when he talks about issues and brings to the national domain, what he intends to do for this country. In this country, we have a problem with regard to the implementers of policies, resolutions and activities meant to develop and govern this country. The foot soldiers of the President - that is his Cabinet Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, County Executive Committees (CECs) and others - are letting him down. There are very many issues which he addressed on that day. He said many projects had been fulfilled and programs implemented. But when you go to the ground, you do not see anything happening. During the campaign period, when the President and Deputy President were criss-crossing this country, they gave many promises and hopes to the people. They told them what they will do. In my own constituency, Igembe Central, he promised to build roads. He even talked to CS Macharia who was told to act on the 16-kilometre road. But the same tone which gave promises said that the programme should stop. The buck stops with the MP who is on the ground because he is always challenged for not getting to the President to fulfil his promise. 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.
I want to urge the President that once he pronounces something to the public, he, his people and the concerned CS should make sure that the activity is undertaken. At least, that will remove the blame from the leaders on the ground, especially the MPs. During the President's Speech, he mentioned about a Kshs10 million kitty to finance the healing of historical injustices and building of monuments. In a country where we are crying about famine and drought, thank God it started raining yesterday--- We are also talking about cancer and many diseases which are already killing most of our people. That money can be used to feed our people or open a kitty to save those who are dying of diseases which are coming to our door steps day in, day out.
It is prudent for the President's advisors, when coming up with various programmes, to sit down, consult and find out the most prudent way of using public funds. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the President also talked about food security. I remember in the 11th Parliament when the President spoke here, he talked about irrigating a million acres of land. The projects were to be started, but if you go to the ground, you will find that we do not even have a thousand acres which have been irrigated. Funds have been set aside and people have been employed and charged with that activity, but nothing has been done. So, let the people who are charged with those activities be answerable to the President and pronounce where those things are not happening so that the President does not cheat the nation that things are happening when the Cabinet Secretaries know that they are not doing it. We are approaching June. Funds will go back to the National Treasury because the absorption in the ministries is almost 20 or 30 per cent. Money is there but the bureaucracy there is…
To my left, I will give the Floor to Hon. (Dr.) Makali Mulu.
Benson Makali Mulu (Hon. (Dr.) Makali Mulu)
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me the chance to also add my voice to this important debate on the President's Address. It is actually a constitutional requirement. It is important that the President was able to address the House. I just want to pick about three items from his Address because of the time limitation even though I would have wanted to talk a lot about other things. Let me focus on the issue of national unity. In terms of the national unity, the President emphasised in details on what is expected in terms of Kenya remaining one united country. To me, what was very important was the focus he put on the BBI. I remember in his Address, he actually mentioned very many times that we will not look back when it comes to the issue of BBI. To me, this is very important because many Kenyans have been complaining about being excluded from the mainstream Government. Through this initiative, Kenya is going to be a country where everybody will feel like he is part of it. He was very specific that through the population census and the NIIMS initiative, they are going to make sure that every Kenyan will feel part of the Government. The other important part is the issue of devolution. The President mentioned that up to now, Kshs1.7 trillion has been pushed to the counties to make sure that there is development at that level. I am looking forward to a situation where even those resources will be increased to make sure that we have more development at that level. Why am I saying this? It is because it is through devolution that in Kenya, as a country, we are now seeing development being spread all over the place. Actually, depending on how the resources are being managed from county to county, many counties are benefiting and developing to levels which are even higher than the national level. 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.
The other important issue which was mentioned in the Address, which I think is important, is that of the small and medium enterprises credit scheme. We are all aware that what we call the micro-enterprises are suffering because of lack of credit. The credit scheme which will be introduced specifically for them will be very good for this country. That was another very important part of his Address. The President gave a lot of time to the issue of corruption, but I think it was an anti- climax. I think Kenyans expected to see action being taken against those people who have been said to be corrupt. Even though he said due diligence will be done before people are taken to court, I think it is important for Kenyans to see action. They want to see people taken through the court process and, if possible convicted. So, to me, that area was an anti-climax. I am sure most Kenyans will agree with me. The other important thing is that of returning wealth. If you acquire wealth illegally, it is important that if you are convicted, that wealth is taken back and becomes public resources and it can be used for development. The other important thing which was said about corruption is when the President said no arm of Government should be seen to protect any of their own. We are saying if it is the Judiciary, they should not protect any of their own. If it is Parliament, so long as you are involved in corruption, Parliament should not be seen to be protecting you. I think that also applies to the Executive. I agree with the Member for Isiolo on the issue of drought. It was unfortunate that throughout the Address, the President did not mention drought at all, and yet the country is going through very tough times due to drought. I wish he mentioned it. I can see my time is up. The other good thing was the issue of inter-generational equity. We have spoken about this matter of inter-generational equity and, more so, when it applies to public dept. It is important that we make sure we care about our future generations. With those remarks, I note the Address.
Next on top here is Hon. Rasso Ali, the Member for Saku.
Dido Ali Raso (Hon. Ali Rasso)
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to support this Motion. I applaud the President for his Address to this House. For once, he has proved continuously that he believes in this Constitution and walks it. I want to talk about just three issues. The first one is education. The gentleman, Mr. Peter Tabichi, the best teacher in the world, has demonstrated that Kenya is up there on top of the world in terms of education. However, critically, if you look at our education sector, you will find that it is ailing. There are wrangles that are continuously being experienced among the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and the Ministry of Education. This is affecting very many things including the introduction of the new curriculum, student mass failures in examinations, cheating in exams, delocalisation of teachers and teachers' welfare. Those of us who come from marginal areas and communities are actually affected by instability in the education sector. TSC directors are posted there. Without knowing, in two or three months, they are removed. Education is not getting the traction that is required. Therefore, we really call upon the new CS for Education to put his feet down to make sure that education is on course in all parts of this country. In particular, I am looking at the TTIs. At the beginning of the 11th Parliament, many constituencies received funds to build TTIs. Many have not been completed. Some may end up becoming white elephant projects. 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.
The second issue is devolution. Some of my colleagues have talked about this. That the President said since 2013, almost Kshs1.7 billion has been put into devolution. For those of us still from marginalised areas and communities, we feel that devolution is a new dawn. It has opened a new era and opportunity. But what is currently happening is that devolution is being drip-fed from the Treasury, as opposed to providing funds that are budgeted by this House the Treasury gives counties money on a monthly basis. I think that is unacceptable if we really want to support devolution and develop those counties. Devolution is a game-changer but for this game-changer to be effective and achieve its purpose, what should be done? The resources that are allocated by this House must go to counties whether it is twice a year or quarterly. The idea of supplying them monthly is not acceptable. Some speakers before me have talked about corruption. I applaud the President because he said that Kenya is a country that believes in the rule of law. Because of corruption, certain projects will lose out. An example is Badasa Dam that was started in Marsabit in 2008. To date, there is nothing to show for it. For that reason, the idea of speaking to the gallery or social media should not stop projects that benefit our communities. With those remarks, I beg to support.
Let us have Hon. Osotsi Godfrey.
Godfrey Osotsi (Hon. Godfrey Osotsi)
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this very important Motion. I support this Motion. I will comment on specific things. As you are aware, the Constitution requires the President to address Parliament on two key issues, namely, national values as enshrined under Article 10 and also to report to Parliament on the progress on international obligations. Most of the Members who have contributed have discussed a lot about the first item which is national values. I want to talk more about the progress made on international obligations. There is a Report that the President tabled which I encourage Members to read through because it contains very important information as far as the achievement of international obligations is concerned. I am concerned about the Report on the fulfilment of international obligations because Kenya is a member of 84 international organisations. If you look at the schedule of subscription, you realise that Kenya has defaulted on subscription to most of those organisations. This raises a major concern as to whether it is necessary for the country to continue holding membership in those many international organisations. This is an issue that I expected the Chair of the Departmental Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations to also talk about. It is high time we audited our membership in all those international organisations. What is the value addition to our economy? Secondly, the foreign policy of this country, which was adopted in January, 2015, needs to be looked into. We need to put a lot more emphasis on economic diplomacy. We should not just have a foreign policy that does not look at the economic benefits that our engagement with the international community brings. I am also happy that Kenya has made strides in taking leadership of key international organisations. For example, we are now in the leadership of the African Telecommunications Union, the International Renewable Energy Agency and the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights. We are making progress as a country. The country is also lobbying to become a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). These are very strategic engagements which, if well-utilised, will make this country make progress economically. 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.
Coming to the issues of national integration, inclusivity, cohesion and unity, I was very elated when the President said there is no turning back on the BBI. I have listened to our colleagues on the other side. One speaker even said that the BBI is amorphous. I want to tell that speaker that it is not amorphous. It is based on the nine issues that were agreed upon between President Uhuru Kenyatta and the National Super Alliance (NASA) leader, Raila Odinga. We need to respect that. We cannot say that we support national integration on one hand and then on the other side, we say that the BBI is useless. I encourage the Committee that is moving around the country working on the BBI to speed up their work and bring the report. We are ready to implement it as suggested by the President. On the issue of the Big Four Agenda, I noticed that the President talked about allocating Kshs3 billion to a revolving fund called the Cherry Advance Revolving Fund. It will be available to coffee farmers. I am surprised the President never talked about the sugar industry. We know that there is a task force that…
Order, Hon. Osotsi. Your time is up! Let us have Hon. Obo.
Ahsante, Mheshimiwa Naibu Spika wa Muda kwa kunipatia nafasi ya kuzungumzia Hotuba ya Rais. Mwanzo, ningependa kumpongeza Rais. Alizungumza kama watu 100 hata zaidi ya 1,000. Alizungumza kama kiongozi. Alizungumzia mambo ambayo yatatuleta pamoja. Nchi nyingine Afrika zinatutaja vibaya kwa sababu ya mambo mawili ambayo Rais alizungumzia. Wenzetu wanatusengenya. Hapa Afrika Mashariki, wanasema shida yetu Wakenya ni kwamba baada ya uchaguzi, tunagombana kisha tunarudi nyuma. Ikiwa majirani wanatuona Rais akizungumza, kwa nini watu wasione amezungumza jambo zuri. Jambo la pili majirani wetu wanatuzungumzia vibaya ni ufisadi. Kupata uwiano na nchi nyingine inakuwa vigumu kwa sababu wanatuogopa. Ikiwa Rais ametambua na kuzungumzia hilo suala, tunafaa tumuunge mkono mia kwa mia. Rais amefanya kazi. Mimi na Mheshimiwa Mishi hatukuweza kuangaliana kwa macho kwa sababu ya mirengo ya kisiasa. Saa hii, tumefanya Harambee. Nilimwita Katibu wa COTU, Atwoli, akaja akanifanyia Harambee ambayo haijawahi kufanywa kwa miaka yote tangu tupate uhuru. Akina mama kule Lamu hawajafanyiwa Harambee kama hiyo. Vita ambavyo tumepata leo kutoka kwa Mheshimiwa Duale ni kwa sababu ameona kina mama wa Lamu wameinuliwa na kuwa sawasawa na kaunti nyingine. Hilo limeanza kuwakera. Kina mama wa Lamu wameinuliwa kwa kuwa wamepata pesa kima cha Kshs10,700,000. Hilo ndilo muhimu. Na hata wakija tena kufanya Harambee nyingine, tunawakaribisha. Waje tushindane kwa mazuri, pesa ziingie Lamu Kaunti nayo iwe sawasawa na kaunti nyingine. Ninataka kuwatahadharisha wale ambao watakuja Lamu wahakikishe kuwa wakija, wasishikane na walanguzi wa madawa ya kulevya. Tatizo kubwa tulilonalo kule Lamu ni ulanguzi wa madawa ya kulevya. Vita vinavyotokea kwa wingi Lamu ni kwa sababu ya madawa ya kulevya. Wanaouza wanajulikana. Katika eneo Bunge la Lamu East, watu ambao wanauza dawa za kulevya ni wawili. Mmoja ni Mr. Hamza Asman Ali. Anaharibu watoto wa watu wa Lamu na anajulikana. Serikali pia inamjua mpaka imempatia bunduki kumaliza watoto wetu. Kwa hivyo, ninamtahadharisha Mhe. Duale akija Lamu, asiunge mkono walanguzi wa dawa za kulevya. Watoto wetu wameisha Lamu na tunataka suluhisho. Ninaomba Serikali…
Chrisantus Wamalwa Wakhungu (Hon. (Dr.) Chris Wamalwa)
On a point of order, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. 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.
Order, Hon. Obo. What is it, Hon. Wamalwa?
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. Parliament is a House of records and a precedent has been set.
Sisikii.
Order, Hon. Obo. Hon. Wamalwa is on the Floor of the House on an intervention.
Is the Hon. Member in order, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, to mention a name of the person who is trafficking drugs in Lamu on the Floor of the House while the person cannot defend himself? Does she have evidence that she can table before this House to show that the accused person is the one who is trafficking drugs in Lamu?
(An Hon. Member received a call in the House)
Who is this Member? Order Hon. Member! The House is proceeding with its business. What you are doing is not right. What Hon. Wamalwa has just said is very important. Hon. Obo, being a House of procedure which is guided by rules, you have to be very careful not to make a statement that when you are challenged, you cannot substantiate and you want to navigate away from that line. Hon. Obo Mohamed, please proceed from there.
Asante. Nashangaa nikiona Mhe. akiuliza mambo haya na sisi tunaumia. Kwani anaunga mkono ulanguzi wa dawa za kulevya?
Order! That Member is on an intervention. He certainly cannot be supporting drug trafficking. Please proceed from there, Hon. Obo.
Mhe. Naibu Spika wa Muda, mimi ni mama na ninaumwa na hali yetu. Waheshimiwa wakienda kule wataona hali yetu. Ninataka kupongeza Serikali kwa yale inafanya saa hii. Inafaa msako uhakikishe walanguzi wa dawa za kulevya katika Lamu wameshikwa. Ninataka kumuunga mkono Rais. Inafaa ahakikishe amemaliza dawa za kulevya, ufisadi na alete watu pamoja. Mhe. Naibu Spika wa Muda, ninaona taa imewaka na dakika zangu zimechukuliwa. Ninaomba nipewe nafasi zaidi.
Vifo vingi vinatokea Lamu. Msichana mdogo wa miaka 23 ameuawa kwa kukatwa na panga kwa sababu ya ulanguzi wa dawa za kulevya. Ninaomba Serikali ihurumie watu wa Lamu kwa sababu tunamalizwa na ulanguzi wa dawa za kulevya. Ninaomba Rais asikie kilio cha watu wa Lamu. Tumeisha, hasa Wabajuni. Kule dawa zimetumaliza. Msichana mdogo na akinamama…
Hon. Obo, your time is over. Shall we have Hon. Waweru Kiarie?
John Kiarie Waweru (Hon. John Kiarie)
Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I really appreciate this opportunity to contribute. I rise to reign in on this very important and critical business and add my voice to this debate on the President's State of the Nation Address. 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.
The President presented three reports to this House. There were reports on national values, our international obligations and the state of the national security. The President's address was very poetic in its presentation. What I captured from the Speech are the words he said that there is no turning back. If there was a heading for the Speech that he gave, it would be: "There is no turning back". He enumerated a number of things that he is not turning back on and this country is not turning back on. We are not turning back on the economic transformation of this country. We are not turning back on the Big Four Agenda, fighting the enemies of this country and inter-generational equity in this country. The President was very clear when he said that we are not turning back on the BBI and the war against corruption.
The President said that the reason why we, as a country, cannot turn back is because he wants this generation to bequeath a very stable country to the generations that come after us. As a Parliament, we should pick the baton from where the President left it. The President said that he intends to deliver in this country. This House should also deliver on the promises that we give to the next generation. For us to do that, we need to look at what impedes development on these issues. The biggest impediment to the development of the economy in this country is corruption. As the President said, this is the fight for the soul of this nation. There was a rider from the President's Speech on this issue of corruption. He said that the era of vigilante justice is over. Due procedure needs to be followed in our pursuit to those we perceive to be criminals and corrupt.
I am making an offering on the Big Four Agenda. The National Treasury has to do better than what we saw on the Budget Policy Statement (BPS). We can only put our money where our plan is. Otherwise, the Big Four Agenda might just be dead on arrival. What we are looking at is a National Treasury that is not innovative enough. We are not seeing any major policy shifts that would inform the development of the key sectors in the Big Four Agenda. On fighting the enemies of Kenya, I would like to offer to this House some words that were said by a very intelligent man. He said that it is only a fool who lets someone else define the enemies for them. He went on to say that you cannot let your enemies define the enemies for you. If you look at our media right now, it is awash with so much that is irrelevant to this country. We are seeing a lot of media coverage on tanga tanga and kieleweke political camps. These are issues that are totally irrelevant to my people in Dagoretti South because they elected a Member of Parliament on a Jubilee ticket. We can spend more of our energy on better things than branding individuals as one thing or the other.
I believe we can do better on the issue of equity. I also want to talk about devolution in this country. We need to see where the monies that we give to the counties through our Division of Revenue Bill are invested. There was a pronouncement that was made in Nairobi that development should be done first in Eastlands before it gets to the western part of Nairobi. I want to call upon the Senate to look into how monies that are allocated to these counties are being used so that we get equity.
Finally, it is incumbent upon this House to walk the path that was enumerated here by…
Hon. Yaa.
Owen Yaa Baya (Hon. Owen Baya)
Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, thank you very much. I would like to contribute to the President's State of the Nation Address. I noted a few things. One, just like Martin Luther King delivered a speech on the mountain, the President's famous "no turning back" Speech was delivered as the State of the Nation Address.
The greatness of our nation is in how it equalises its people at the economic level. As we continue to pursue the things that the President said, this country must look at equalisation of the 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.
areas that have continued to be marginalised for a long time. Unfortunately, the President did not discuss this or highlight his efforts in trying to ensure that Article 204 of the Constitution prospers as intended by the drafters of the Constitution. Today, the National Treasury has been the biggest stumbling block towards the Equalisation Fund that the Constitution bestowed in areas which were initially marginalised. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the drought that is now ravaging the country is in areas that were initially marginalised because there was no investment in many areas while other areas had bigger investments. The Constitution set aside money specifically for such marginalised areas because the drafters knew this was one of the ways of fighting drought. The President's Address never talked about drought yet at the moment the country is suffering from severe drought. But in the State of the Nation Address, the President did not see that as a problem of the country and did not say anything about it. Every year, the country goes through a cycle of drought where cattle and people die and yet we sit on a kitty that is half per cent of the national Budget that is meant to help us solve these problems. The money is never released to solve the problem. I do not know whether the President in his mind feels he has no obligation to the Article of the Constitution. He swore that he will protect the Constitution. One of the Articles he needs to look at and protect is Article 204 of the Constitution to ensure that this country develops as one nation. The unity of a nation will not be judged by how much we speak, but it will be about bridging the economic gap that exists in this country. The economic gap that exists in the country is what brings disunity. Many countries in the world that have experienced economic gaps like the chasm we have in the country have been torn apart because people see they are not part of the centre. In the next President's Address on the State of the Nation, I hope and look forward to hearing him speak about issues that are important and pertinent like the Equalisation Fund.
Joblessness or unemployment is a big problem in this country. Unfortunately, the President did not address how we will bridge that gap in his Address. Over 50 per cent of young people in this country are jobless. Universities and colleges are churning out young people to a jobless market. This economy is not creating new jobs and opportunities for start-ups. I am glad the President talked about the SME Fund that will cushion people who want to take loans on small and medium enterprises. But what is the country doing to ensure that jobs are created? The Big Four Agenda talks about manufacturing and jobs, but with the kind of discord that is in the Government; the war within the Government itself, how will we ensure that the Big Four Agenda is achieved? The courts have ruled that the housing levy is illegal and should not be charged. How come every time anything important the Government is implementing, the courts stop it? We have seen the Huduma Namba and the housing levy suffer the same fate. Where is the problem? Do we have technocrats that think for this country and Government so that when something is implemented, it is done with the full force of the law, and that there is no impediment from the Judiciary or any other sector. 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.
I have a lot to say about the President's Address, but because I am limited by time, I thank you.
Let us now have Dennitah Ghati.
Dennitah Ghati (Hon. (Ms.) Dennitah Ghati)
Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me an opportunity to support the President's Address. The State of the Nation Address was an inclusive Speech that touched everybody. It was peaceful and uniting. For that, allow me to congratulate the President.
The President's Address started with a strong resolve by the President saying that our economy is strong. There is nothing that is as strong as that statement. That is the assurance we as a people want to hear from the Head of State.
The Head of State went ahead to talk about the unity of this country. Allow me to single out the BBI. The President talked about an allocation of Kshs10 billion to the BBI kitty. As a country, we have come from a situation where people have not lived well and it is good that the President decided to focus on healing wounds created by post-election violence and those caused by politics. It is unfortunate that even as the President strives to set aside a kitty to support the healing of wounds, we hear leaders still opening their mouths and speaking about ethnic hatred. That is wrong. Any leader of this country who opens his mouth to speak on hatred, ethnicity and on communities should be stopped. We are healing from wounds that have been inflicted. So, we have no say not to support the BBI
The Big Four Agenda is for the Jubilee Government. I am happy that the President tackled this. The President talked about manufacturing and housing. As we debate, I speak on behalf of persons withdisabilities in the country who I represent. Persons with disabilities must be engaged in the implementation of the Big Four Agenda of the Government so that when we talk about housing, we can see people with disabilities included and considered in the allocation of houses in the country. In manufacturing, persons with disability should access mobility devices. Manufacturing should ensure that any person with a disability in the country who requires a wheel chair or a mobility device should get it. Therefore, through manufacturing, our young people should be considered to manufacture the assistive devices that help them.
[The Temporary Deputy Speaker (Hon. Patrick Mariru) left the Chair]
The Temporary Deputy Speaker (Hon. Christopher Omulele) took the Chair]
I am happy the President talked about corruption. Corruption is eating into the economy of the country. We have many people implicated in corruption. I am happy the President said that there is no turning back on corruption. We have people in the country who have stashed cash 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.
abroad. They must be made to bring back that money. I am happy that the President talked about returning money taken to other countries.
We want to strengthen the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and other institutions to ensure that corruption and money that has been stashed outside the country is brought back to build the economy.
I am also happy that the President talked about strengthening the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) where our young people and people who have traditionally been marginalised find employment.
In short, the President's Address was a very inclusive Speech. It is high time everyone in the country supported the President and devolution because latter has caused issues in the country. We want to see the role of the governors and counties in addressing corruption. It is people with disabilities and women who suffer most when we have instances of corruption in the country. I am happy the President talked about leaving a legacy of a country that is…
The Temporary Deputy Speaker (Hon. Christopher Omulele): Hon. Washiali, you have the Floor.
Benjamin Jomo Washiali (Hon. Benjamin Washiali)
Thank you, Hon.Temporary Deputy Speaker. At the outset, I want to support the President's Address and quickly point out that some of the procedural Motions that we move sometimes work against us. I have been listening to the contribution of Members and they are forced to rush through the President's Address thereby compromising the quality of debate. The President laid down three key Reports. It is upon the House to allow Members to have ten minutes to contribute so that they do justice to the three Reports. We have heard Members' contributions. They have been talking about the handshake and devolution, but not focusing on the three key Reports that the President laid on the Table of the House. The Reports submitted are about the progress made in fulfilment of international obligations of the Republic which is key, measures taken and progress achieved in the realisation of the national values and principles of governance, and the state of the national security. In future, we need to give Members enough time because this is a Motion that will be debated for four days: today in the afternoon, tomorrow in the afternoon and probably on Tuesday in the afternoon. Therefore, ten minutes for a Member will give us enough time. Now that we have already passed that, on the national unity, and I want to challenge my brother Hon. Atandi who said that the handshake which is now one year old should not cascade down the ladder from the leadership to the other members of this country. It is important. If they noticed yesterday, despite the fact that Hon. Mawathe was elected on a Wiper party ticket and Hon. Ochieng' was elected on Movement for Democracy and Growth (MDG), you may have seen how the Members flanked. That tells you how this handshake is cascading down because Hon. Mawathe was escorted by Hon. Makau of Mavoko and Hon. Cecily Mbarire who is in Jubilee. Hon. Ochieng' was escorted by Hon. Opiyo Wandayi and I. That tells you that issues of party affiliation because of the handshake are now cascading down. That is why we are able to rally together as Members of this House. 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.
When it comes to the war against corruption which we really support as Members of this House, I am sure the President disappointed many Members and even those away from this House because they expected him to sack some Cabinet Secretaries just like our colleagues were saying. However, from experience, when the President gave his State of the Nation Address in 2015, five Cabinet Secretaries were sacked following a report of the EACC. Up to date, we have not prosecuted those former Cabinet Secretaries. It is important, just like the President said that we need not to follow the vigilante kind of justice. We should take whoever has been involved in corruption through the whole process so that when he is making a decision on who to sack, he bases it on a matter that has already been decided by the law. Therefore, it is important that as Members, we support the President in the war against corruption and the vigilante justice that we are now seeing even from some of our colleagues in this House who are going out there to give the DCI one or two weeks ultimatum should not be allowed. Thank you.
Christopher Omulele (The Temporary Deputy Speaker)
Hon. Washiali, you are to the point. Indeed it is better that even 100 people who are guilty go scot-free, but we ensure that the one who is innocent receives his day in court and we must abide by the rule of law. So, if you are going to prosecute anyone, I agree with you that you must have evidence. There is no other way. We shall have Hon. Kiti Chonga.
Richard Ken Chonga Kiti (Hon. Ken Chonga)
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. I rise to support this Motion. I was here when the State of the Nation Address was being delivered by the President. I strongly support it like other Members more especially in the war on corruption. Corruption has turned out to be cancerous in our country. Quite a number of opportunities are getting lost because of corruption. Indeed, if there is any Member who will translate it to read otherwise, I believe he is not reading from the same script. It is our obligation to ensure that we support what the President is trying to do for this nation. All said and done, one key issue which I wanted to hear from that Address that I did not hear is the issue of land. We still have lots of issues as far as land is concerned. From where I come from in Coast Province, I am surprised I do not know whether it is historical or whatever, that 80 per cent of the Government land lies in Coast Province. What has been happening over the years? A good number of those in good books have taken this opportunity and transferred that land from Government property to their personal properties. Every day if you read the newspapers or watch television, you will find that there are cries of people being moved from their ancestral land because somebody somewhere has managed to get title deeds from the headquarters, acquires the land and people are moved away. That is not a problem that is affecting Coast only; it is a problem we have had in other parts of this country. I expected the President to mention something about this. We need a lasting solution to this problem. There are quite a number of people who have been displaced from where they were and are squatters in their own land. That is an issue that needs to be addressed. The other issue that I also wanted to hear is the responsibility of the Government to open up opportunities especially to make the economy grow and also offer job opportunities to the 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.
youth. You and I are aware, and sometimes I cannot remember the date, but last year in October, there was a big conference here in Nairobi which brought together the entire world on the issue of the Blue Economy. The Blue Economy is a new opportunity that Kenya needs to take advantage of and make sure that we open up this place so that the youth can get jobs and also boost our economy. This concept has not been exploited for a number of years. We know very well there is a lot of trade that is going on in the ocean. There is a lot of trade that is going on in our lakes but we have not taken full advantage of this concept. I expected the President to give us a direction on what is exactly going on. We are seeing a number of companies closing down instead of improving. We have invested heavily on projects like the SGR and road networks. We are hearing that there are some other networks being opened but here is an opportunity that will make Kenya take a position on the world map. It is the prerogative of the President to give direction on how soon this opportunity can be taken advantage of so that the generations to come can start on a better slate than us because we have wasted a lot of time without taking advantage of this opportunity. Because of time, as my honourable friend has said here, this is an issue that needs to be given ample time for Members to contribute on because it is giving direction on where the nation is going. All said and done, I stand to support the State of the Nation Address by the President. Thank you.
Very well. Let us now have Hon. Nakuleu, the Member for Turkana North.
Chrisropher Doye Nakuleu (Hon. Christopher Nakuleu)
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. From the outset, I wish to join my colleagues in giving remarks to the President's Address. The President's Address highlighted a number of key issues which are pertinent to governance, growth and unity in this country. On matters of unity, I totally agree with the President that Kenya must remain united regardless of its diverse culture, ethnicity, religion and other aspects of divergence. There is no country in the world that can move forward when it is not together. The initiative of putting all parties and the country together is the best way forward. All Kenyans must support it.
On corruption, it has become a chronic disease which has affected all Kenyans. It has eaten away all the economic gains that this country would have made. If only Kenya could prudently utilise its financial resources, we would now be playing in the league of Singapore, Malaysia and the United Kingdom (UK). However, because of eminent corruption, Kenya is facing what it is facing now. Therefore, as a Member of Parliament, and as a leader from Turkana, I support the President's direction on matters of corruption. Corruption must be fought within the law. If you do it otherwise, you will criminalise people who are innocent. Therefore, it is important that we follow the law while dispensing justice regarding corruption. With regards to the issue of BBI, which was mentioned in the President's address, I declare my stand as a Jubilee Party member that the Jubilee Party leadership was not involved in the entire process. The President might be having a good idea. The component of inclusivity is important so that we own the agenda of BBI as Jubilee Party and NASA. That has not been there. That is why the initiative is now facing hurdles from both sides; Jubilee and NASA. It is 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.
important that we become candid and talk about it. We will be misleading the President if we said that everything is going on well and yet they are not. On economic growth, it is true that Kenya is struggling to grow and I have an issue with that. The country would grow if we had equity. The President's address did not touch on pastoralism. In the last one month, twelve counties in this country have been experiencing severe drought. In the President's Address there was nothing that touched on drought. What does that imply? Was that not an important issue to be addressed by the President? Were the 12 counties less important to the President? The President ought to have addressed the issue of drought as a matter of national importance. He should have made the 12 affected counties feel that they are part and parcel of this country. The President ought to have addressed the issue of the Equalisation Fund. It is nine years down the line and it has not been implemented. Some projects that were initiated in the 2015/2016 Financial Year have not taken off. How can we claim to be moving in the same direction when there is disparity in resource distribution? With those few remarks, I support.
Hon. Ogutu Abel, the Member for Bomachoge Borabu Constituency, you have the Floor.
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to the President's Address to the Nation. The Speech addressed three fundamental areas that are important to this country. It addresses the basic needs of every Kenyan and the various ways the Government is empowering individuals to prosper and develop their skills. It also addresses the opportunities that individuals are being offered to serve this nation. In these three areas, there are gaps that ought to have been addressed to make the President's Address different from the previous address that we had last year. One of our major problems is not the budget and the projects that are being allocated money, but the ability for these promises to be delivered. I would have wanted to see a statement that looks at how best we have prepared for the years to come to be able to deliver many of our promises. I have looked at enablers of the Big Four Agenda. The President talked about transport, education and energy. I get the impression that there is no tangible pathway towards ensuring that these enablers will be enhanced, especially in most of the rural areas, so that the Big Four Agenda is achieved. He talked about education. We know how our education has been disrupted by frequent strikes. Even the other sectors like health have been disrupted by strikes. How are we going to address strikes in the years to come to ensure that the Big Four Agenda is delivered? On the issue of disaster management in this country – many speakers have highlighted it – we expected him to mention how the Government has worked to reduce vulnerability of our people to disasters because of starvation, floods or fires that happen in urban areas and in schools. There is no single mention on the strides that have been made towards ensuring that Kenyans do not become victims even as we devolve resources to counties. I wanted to see some achievements and promises towards ensuring that we do not see Kenyans exposed to ugly situations because of some people elsewhere failing to do their duties. The President talked about agriculture as one of the key areas. My colleagues have said that we have many industries that are collapsing each day. We are seeing maize production collapsing because of issues to do with payment of maize over the last one year. We have seen the coffee sector dropping. I come from an area where coffee factories and other coffee facilities 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.
have been literally abandoned. I would have wanted to hear a statement on how much we have been able to rescue over the last one year and how far we will move forward to make sure that some of these things are equitably supported. I would have also wanted to hear a statement on farmers' confidence in general. The farmers are disillusioned not because they are missing the support they require from government, but because they are being taken round in circles when it comes to addressing some of the issues that are facing them. As much as I support the President's address, the way it was formulated, ought to have been such that we are seen to be coming from Point "A" and going somewhere. We need to pick up from each successive year so that we account for the resources that have been distributed. With those few remarks, I support.
Let us now hear the Member for Yatta Constituency, Hon. Kilonzo.
Charles Kilonzo (Hon. Charles Kilonzo)
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I had thought my time will never come. The President's Address had one strong word that I differ with. It was: "The state of our nation is strong". Let us look at whether that is true. Let us look at the state of this nation in as far as corruption is concerned. Who can support the statement that, indeed, the nation is strong? In as far as corruption is concerned it is very weak. This is a country where we have introduced something which does not exist in the big democracies. When you get a criminal, you say that they should step aside, while in Japan, a simple train accident made a Minister to resign. During the regime of Kanu, Ministers were being sacked, they were not given options of a situation where….
(Hon. (Prof. Zadoc Ogutu and Hon. Moses Kirima consulted loudly)
There is a Member who is consulting loudly
Hon. Ogutu, when you were making your contributions, you were allowed to do so without interruptions from anyone else. So, allow Hon. Kilonzo to make his. Hon. Nguchine, you will have an opportunity to make yours also. Let him contribute; it is just a limited time.
Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, this is a country where, if somebody is suspected…Serving at the pleasure of the Head of State or being a Cabinet Secretary does not make that office constitutional. So, if you are a suspect, or if you have been mentioned adversely, a tribunal needs to be appointed. The fact that the President does not like you is enough; you should not serve in his cabinet. I have seen that happen in the neighbouring countries and even in big democracies like the UK and America. The President or the Prime Minister will sack you or relieve you of your duties. The same people who are sitting in this Government as Cabinet Secretaries are the ones controlling the Judiciary. May I also mention the State of the Nation in as far as the Judiciary is concerned? It cannot be strong. It is very weak. The other day we saw cases of our Kenya National Examination Council and the IEBC. The companies that bribed in the UK were fined and the suspects were jailed for three years and they have finished their jail terms. This is the case and yet the cases of the guys from IEBC are yet to be heard. The guys who had cases in the Examination Council are serving in other State Corporations and county governments. Can we stand here and say that the state of the nation in 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.
as far as the Judiciary is strong? That is a fallacy. This brings the question of the State of the Nation in as far as the Presidency is concerned. Is it strong? It is not. The Presidency is under attack. That is why we hear of the tanga tanga movement which is attacking the same President, yet they come from the same party. There is also another movement called kieleweke. That is why the President had no choice; he had to get people to come to the rescue of the Presidency. Ironically, that came from the Opposition; his enemy number one came to his rescue. The only thing I can see strong in this nation in the State of the Nation Address is the handshake. Where we had moved, out of the 43 communities, the 41 communities were convinced that this nation belonged to two communities, but the President in his own wisdom together with the Leader of the Opposition have come to the rescue of the nation. That is what is making the tanga tanga movement very bitter.
Because of time, my position is, there is more to be done and we, as country, have to support the President, if we are going to achieve the goals of this nation. With those few remarks, I conclude my case.
I can see some of the comments have made some of the Members hot under the collar. But everything is in order. There is nothing out of order. We shall have the Member for Mandera West, Hon. Yusuf Haji.
Adan Haji Yussuf (Hon. Yussuf Adan)
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I have been waiting for this opportunity since 9.00 O'clock. I rise to contribute to the Presidential Address. I have been looking at three issues; the first one being the unity of this country. That is why the President said we are very united. Unfortunately, I do not agree with him. If you look at the administrative structure and the security system of this county, you will find different part of this country is treated differently. An incident happened in Mandera a few weeks ago where Cuban doctors, due to our weak security, were abducted by Al Shabaab. What happened was that the whole of Mandera County was paralysed by impounding all the vehicles that were moving, arresting anybody moving on the streets and declaring a curfew that had not been officially announced. The economy of the county came to a standstill until today. In the three weeks, five people have been picked from Mandera by the security agents and nobody knows where they are, whether in jail or they have been finished. In the past, people were picked and their corpses were collected from a river somewhere. We do not know to date if those five people who were carrying out their businesses were taken to. The Governments administrative system and the security system has discriminated some parts of the country. We cannot talk of unity.
When we talk about development or the country being stronger, I think we were stronger in 1963. In 1963, anybody who wanted to go to school could go and finish his studies. Anybody who became sick could go to the nearest dispensary and get treatment free of charge and become well to serve this nation. In 1963, Kenyans were very united except the Northern Frontier Districts which were also very united amongst themselves although they were cut off from the rest of the country. Unfortunately today, if a regional commissioner is posted to Rift Valley the first question we will all ask is, huyo mtu alipelekwa Nakuru ni wa kabila gani? We have become so divided and ethnicised. We cannot be proud of being united, and what the Presidential Address needs to come up with is a strategy where we can come together and do better than what we were in 1963. Unfortunately, we are not.
In terms of corruption, why do we not see people being jailed if there are facts? Why do we just hear of what happened from social media? We have not seen some people going to jail or 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.
some assets being recovered. The last thing is that those who are bestowed to carry out these functions are always on the media. Why should they be in the media? They are supposed to be investigating. When you go to the media and you are…
Hon. Member for Mandera West, put yourself in the shoes of the person who is castigated on social media that has done a, b, c, d against this country. If we were to hold you and take you to Kamiti on that basis, would you be happy? You must ask yourself that question. We shall have Hon. Machogu.
Ezekiel Machogu Ombaki (Hon. Ezekiel Ombaki)
Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for the opportunity to contribute to the President's State of the Nation Address which was done on 4th of this month. First, we know the purpose of the Address if we look at Article 10 of our Constitution, which is on principles of governance and national values. Indeed, the foundation and the basis of success of any nation are principles of governance and national values: values of accountability, transparency, national unity and all the ingredients that form that particular Article of the Constitution. Our national development has been affected because so far we are not conforming to Article 10 on the principles of governance and national values. That is why corruption in this country has reached threatening levels. Indeed, it cannot be business as usual because what has affected almost each and every sector of the economy of our country - agriculture, education, water, dams - is nothing other than corruption. So, it has to be not business as usual but something that has to trigger real action in addressing this issue for our country to get to the level we want to reach as far as our development is concerned. The President addressed himself to various issues of tackling this enemy or cancer, but I think there is still much that needs to be done. Yes, we can see there is political goodwill, but we have to walk the talk. We should use the multiagency approach where all the institutions, right from the DCI, the DPP to the EACC, have to do much more than what is being done now because Kenya should be comparing with the Asian tigers like Singapore and South Korea as far as development is concerned. We cannot reach that level because of our level of corruption. If we cannot get the culprits, we have to think of declaring amnesty such that those people who have stolen public funds can return the public funds within a given period of time. As much as the President addressed himself to this issue, he has to go a step further. Sincerely, if someone is being investigated, there is some evidence and that person continues to be in office, then Kenyans will not have faith in the war against corruption. So, more has to be done. Secondly, the President was very categorical that there is no going back on the BBI. National unity is one other key thing that we have to embrace if our development has to reach a level that we want. When we talk about national unity which, indeed, is the prerequisite of our development because tranquillity and peace are key we have to be accommodative such that we pull each and every person along when we talk of national unity. Finally, the President talked about infrastructure funds because of the transition of 100 per cent from primary school to secondary school. I would suggest that rather than that money going through the Ministry of Education, it is given to the NG-CDF because over the years the 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.
Fund has proved that it can manage the funds well so that we are able to cater and provide the facilities required in our schools. In our counties, we do not have enough because the Kshs1.7 trillion and the 15 per cent and the functions at the…
Hon. Machogu, I remember you were an administrator in your previous life and managing time is one of the most difficult things. We will have Hon. Oduol Adhiambo.
Dennitah Ghati (Hon. (Prof.) Jacqueline Oduol)
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute on this important matter of the President's Address. I would like, at the outset, to say that the Address by the President set one key parameter. As the CEO of Kenya, he pronounced that he has heard the cry of the Kenyan people. Indeed, we can see that we have challenges in our country that range from negative ethnicity which is really tribalism that seeks to support anyone only on the ground that they are from your tribe… We see challenges of unemployment particularly among the youth leading them to very undesirable behaviour like drug abuse, adolescent pregnancies and even child marriages. We also see corruption become something that is not only talked about at length, but also seems to be defined as a culture or practice. This is because in terms of values, practices and what is admired and seen to be the way to go would be perhaps to celebrate those who have found ways of sanitising corruption. We have social breakdown of the family. Indeed, when we look around we do not understand the sense of hopelessness and the desperation that has led to situations where spouses turn on each other, where parents turn on their children and the society turns on the elderly. So, as I support the President's Address, I would like to emphasise that it indicates what, indeed, is required when a country looks at such challenges. We see the President acknowledging that the task before us is enormous. I agree with the President. I particularly would like to note that it is good that the President has indicated to us the areas where we collectively need to work so that we do not turn back. I want, in the time that is available, not to elaborate too much but to indicate that when we talk about the BBI… I have listened with a lot of interest as colleagues spoke not only about the handshake but also on the attendant interpretation, which is their right. I wanted to humbly request that given the challenges that range from lack of inclusivity to unemployment to electoral injustice… It is only yesterday, as we were debating the Auditor-General's report on the IEBC, we could see challenges and historical injustice. We also have had talk related to land and insecurity. I want to thank the President because among the issues that he says he is not turning back on is devolution and ensuring that we have some development based on the Big Four Agenda. This is by ensuring that we have economic development and most importantly the BBI. I hope we can all understand that our country, Kenya, after the 2017 elections and the manner in which we were in a state of indecision, required among other things a foundation stone to be laid. We can lay the 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.
foundation stone and then begin to walk the talk and strive to grapple and handle the different areas. I, therefore, would really like to thank the President for recognising that for us to lay the foundation of this enormous task, if we start with the BBI we would have an opportunity not only to work, but also to ensure that our country is one that we leave for the generations to come in ways that we can all be happy about. Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker.
Hon. Lekumontare Jackson, the Member for Samburu East, you have the Floor.
Lentoi Joni L Jackson Lekumontare (Hon. Jackson Lekumontare)
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this Presidential Address.
We expected the President to tell us where we are, where we want to go and how to get to that point. On development, I expected him to touch on issues that are affecting Kenyans especially the marginalised areas.
Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I appreciate his stand on unity. However, there are projects which the President started when he was the Minister for Finance and up to now those projects are not complete.
In my constituency, Samburu East, there is an electricity line that was started when the President was the then Minister for Finance but up to now it is not functional. May be the people who were supposed to have given him the information on the ground did not do their work. There are many challenges in our constituencies. Constituencies are almost becoming impassable because of poor roads. The Equalisation Fund is not coming through. The President should have addressed the plight of marginalised areas.
My people were expecting the President to address some pertinent issues about the Constituency. For example we lack food and the drought is severe. However, the President did not mention anything about that. We feel left out in that Address because our priorities were not addressed.
Government delivery services are not reaching other places. With regard to Huduma Namba, the Government has introduced things that will hinder other Kenyans from registering for Huduma Namba. We know that there are places where people do not have birth certificates and yet it is a requirement that one must have in order to get the Huduma Namba. The other day, we had problems registering school-going children. We are having problems getting National Identity Cards (IDs) in some areas. We expected the President to address those challenges that affect us. Even getting water is a problem in some places. During this period, we are still talking about a country that has no water, food and infrastructure. So, as I support this Presidential Address, I note that there are omissions.
Thank you and I rest my case.
Christopher Omulele (The Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker)
Let us have Hon. Mutua Barasa.
Didmus Wekesa Barasa Mutua (Hon. Didmus Barasa)
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity to add my voice to the President's State of the Nation Address.
Generally, I support this Motion, but I have a few reservations. When we talk about national values we need to identify parameters that can make this country tell whether we are on course or we are lagging behind. The same should apply to the national security. We would have wished the President to have some statistics. 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.
As a country, we need to know about the protection of our borders, whether we are deteriorating or improving. In future I would like to see his commitment on what he will do for this country that we can measure. This will enable us compare during the subsequent addresses to this Parliament to get to know whether we are improving or deteriorating.
I would also support his statement on allowing the rule of law to take its course before criminalising people. What we have seen in this country is much of rumour mongering that is aimed at assassinating the characters of some civil servants in this country. If you look at the number of corruption cases that are reported through the print media, social media and rumour mongering in funerals, you will think that this country did not have a Government, but a type of a casino where someone would come in and walk out with sacks of money. So, to allow the rule of law take its course and allow the constitutional bodies that are mandated to carry out investigations to pave way for tangible reports based on facts and evidence is admirable.
Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, on the Big Four agenda, we are aware that policies are made for the public good. They are made to solve public problem. However, some of the policies that the Government implements that cause public outcry such as the issue of Housing ought to be re-looked at. It is a good concept that will assist those with no homes. However, as long as Kenyans are not comfortable with it since we are making these policies for them and they are not willing to have their salaries deducted for the Housing Fund, the Government should consider terminating it. This is because we are making it for Kenyans and if they feel it is not good for them… This is unless we are driven by other factors.
Finally, in the spirit of reconciliation and the hand shake. I am just hoping that after we go to the general elections in 2022 those fellows who were engaging in economic sabotage and taking this country backwards - like, those who uprooted the railway tracks...I hope, this time round they will not do the same because, as a country, we cannot invest in infrastructure that will be brought down after elections.
With those few remarks, I beg to support this Motion. Thank you.
Hon. Nguchine, the Member for Central Imenti, you have the Floor.
Moses Nguchine Kirima (Hon. Moses Kirima)
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to support the President's Address. It was a very strong statement that Kenya is a very strong state. This is a fact even though some Members are doubting it like my learned friend has just done. He has said that the people who are suspected to be corrupt are criminals.
I stand before this honourable "court" to state that one is branded a criminal only after a conviction by a court of law. I stand to be corrected.
Marselino Malimo Arbelle (Hon. Marselino Arbelle)
Hon. Arbelle Malimo, the Member for Laisamis, what is out of order? Hon. Nguchine, just hold on.
Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I just want to put the record straight that this is not a court but the National Assembly. I want to ask the Member for Central Imenti to retract and apologise to this House because it is not a court. This is the National Assembly. I just want to remind him again.
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker.
Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I apologise, that this is not a court of law. I am very much used to the court being an advocate. 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.
Hon. Nguchine, allow me to cut you short because our time has reached. You have used up two minutes of your time. You will have two minutes when this debate resumes, I presume during the afternoon session. Therefore, if you will be there, you will have an opportunity to start the debate. The rest of the Members have shown a lot of interest in this. As we stand now, there are 14 requests here on my screen. We shall have this debate for the next three days. So, Members kindly hold your horses because you will all have an opportunity to speak to this.
Hon. Members, the time being 1.00 p.m., this House stands adjourned until Wednesday, 24th April 2019, at 2.30 p.m.
The House rose at 1.00 p.m.
Mzalendo Mzalendo
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