Thursday, 15th November, 2018

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to lay the following Paper on the Table of the Senate, today Thursday, 15th November, 2018-

The Report on the Public Private Partnership (Amendment) Bill (National Assembly Bills No.52 of 2017) .

Thank you, Sen. (Eng.) Mahamud. Proceed, Sen. Khaniri.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to lay the following Paper on the Table of the Senate, today, Thursday, 15th November, 2018-

Report of the Standing Committee on Lands, Environment and Natural Resources on The Land Value Index Laws (Amendment) Bill (National Assembly Bills No.3 of 2018) .

Very well.

Proceed, Sen. Kasanga.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to lay the following Paper on the Table of the Senate, today, Thursday, 15th November, 2018:-

Report of The Powers and Privileges Committee on the allegations of impropriety in relation to the Senate County Public Accounts and Investment Committee inquiry (CPAIC) into the possible loss of funds through acquisition of land LR No.7879/4 by the National Land Commission (NLC) .

Thank you, Sen. Kasanga. I commend you for having your shoes on today.

Hon. Senators, I have a Communication to make on the Report of the Powers and Privileges Committee on the allegations of impropriety in relation to the CPAIC inquiry into the possible loss of funds through acquisition of land LR No.7879/4 by the NLC.

Hon. Senators, as you are aware, the matter of the Report of the CPAIC on the Ruaraka Land inquiry and the allegations during the exercise has been pending before the House.

You will also recall that the Chair put on hold debate on the CPAIC report on 20th September, 2018 pending the conclusion of the proceedings by the Powers and Privileges Committee.

The Powers and Privileges Committee considered the issues raised and has today tabled its Report. The Committee has determined in the Report that the allegations made against some Members of the County Public Accounts and Investments Committee

(CPAIC) were not substantiated. Therefore, they could not form the basis of an inquiry by the Powers and Privileges Committee.

The Powers and Privileges Act provides the manner of conducting an inquiry and in dealing with a report of the Powers and Privileges Committee as follows-

Section 15(5), (6) and (7) of the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act state that–

“(5) The Committee of Powers and Privileges shall, either of its own motion or as a result of a complaint made by any person, inquire into the conduct of a Member whose conduct is alleged to constitute breach of privilege in terms of Section 16, within fourteen days of receipt of complaint.

Committee on the Table of the House.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, first of all, I congratulate the Powers and Privileges Committee for working expeditiously to dispose of this matter. We are in a country with too many allegations flying around about all public officers, including those in Parliament. This matter is now put to rest by this investigation by the Powers and Privileges Committee. It is not just to rest, but to rest positively in the sense that it has proven beyond reasonable doubt that our House and Committees are committed to perform their duties diligently and above board.

It is in the same breath that we must always tell Kenyans to know that there are mechanisms in Parliament for investigating Senators and Members of the National Assembly. If applied diligently, it can provide checks and balances in so far as the responsibilities that each one of us performs in this House. It also shows that parliamentarians do not fear to be investigated when allegations are raised. Those provisions are in our Standing Orders and they are useful.

I know that we are not immune from criminal investigation for any crime committed in this Republic. The persons who made those allegations were given an opportunity to appear before the Committee. I know we are not supposed to discuss the contents of the Committee, but those who had nothing to fear would have used the opportunity as a mechanism for settling whatever disputes they had. When the time comes for dealing with the substance of the matter, all of us will be involved.

Once again, I congratulate the Speaker and the Powers and Privileges Committee for dealing with this matter courageously and expeditiously for the best interest of our Republic.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving me this opportunity. I serve in the Powers and Privileges Committee. In fact, I want to take this opportunity to thank the Speaker for having nominated me to sit in it. Indeed, it is a privilege.

In as much as we were taken through our mandate during induction, when this matter came to the Committee, it was too soon, so to speak. It is not easy when we have to investigate our fellow colleagues.

I thank the Senators for their patience as they waited for the verdict. I also thank them for the cooperation they showed. I assure the Senate that our Chairman is guided by the wisdom of God. He guided this matter ably and we reached the conclusion. I urge a few Senators amongst us who felt that we were not moving with the speed that we were supposed to that such things are delicate and sensitive because they touch on us, as senior Members of this country. Therefore, the need to interrogate matters to their depth and full conclusion was absolutely necessary.

I thank you all and our Speaker, who is the Chairman, for his able guidance and stewardship of the matters.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you for this chance. First of all, I agree with colleagues who have appreciated that the Powers and Privileges Committee has done expeditiously well, though some people may have had varied opinion on the

period of time they took. However, they eventually made their determination in the manner they tabled it before this House.

It is unfortunate that I did not have the chance to read through the entire Report.

Order! Sen. Cheruiyot, have you concluded your remarks?

No.

Please, conclude.

I have asked for your protection from the Senate Majority Leader.

I do not see any obstruction or interference.

He was standing between you and I.

The Chair did not see that. Therefore, the matter aborts.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, many things have been said about the allegations and what is in the Report. It is my desire that in one way or the other, following your ruling, I hope it will eventually put this matter to rest and Senate continues to have its place.

It was unfortunate that a time when our colleagues in the National Assembly were battling serious allegations that this matter came to the fore. Every time we tried to speak up, fingers were pointed to us and we were told we had unfinished business.

In conclusion, I agree with the route this matter has taken here. We can expeditiously put all facts on the table and rest it. We want to make a determination and the Senate continue to have its moment of glory.

Thank you. Finally, Sen. M. Kajwang'.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also wish to thank the Powers and Privileges Committee for tabling this Report. Yesterday, there was a brief debate about when the Report would be tabled. I thank the Committee and the office of the Speaker for keeping the promise that they made to this House.

I was one of the persons of interest in that particular enquiry. As you have guided, I shall not get into the depth and details of the allegations. I must say that I am very relieved because some of us have been walking around this town with a cloud of suspicion over our heads. It has not just been suspicion out in the streets, but even within the House. Hon. Members have required an assurance from us that the allegations that were made in the media were baseless. Today, the Powers and Privileges Committee has given that assurance.

I supported the Motion that the Powers and Privileges Committee look into this matter because I believed that Parliament had internal mechanisms that could be used to resolve issues of integrity. There were those who had called for establishment of an

ombudsman in Parliament. However, my conviction is that the Powers and Privileges Committee, if it continues with diligence in the manner in which this particular one has proceeded, we will not have to set up a separate ombudsman to look at issues.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, as an institution, we need to take a position to protect our oversight Committees. Invariably, oversight Committees will rattle powerful persons who want to violate the law and who want to dip their hands in places that they are not supposed to. We need to have that conversation and find a way of buttressing these oversight institutions to ensure that when Parliament indicts certain persons, those people then do not use internal mechanisms to delay.

Finally, I am very happy that having looked at the Supplementary Order Paper, the tabling of this Report by the Powers and Privileges Committee gives us a golden opportunity to conclude the work which the Committee on Public Accounts and Investment (CPAIC) has done and has captured public attention and imagination. Today, I am a happy man.

Even though I seem to have expressed some concern at the pace of matters, it was just anxiety because we wanted the matter to be resolved. I will tell the Powers and Privileges Committee; well done, what you have done is the right approach. By the time we are discussing the Ruaraka Report, there will be no argument that it was a Report that was procured illegally.

Thank you. On that note, Hon. Senators, you will see that we have a Supplementary Order Paper, particularly to accommodate that matter about which the Chair has just made a communication. That is the matter of the Report of the Senate’s Committee on County Public Accounts and Investment on the issue of Ruaraka land.

This is a matter that has been held in abeyance for a very long time. There has been a lot of concern that we should have disposed of this matter a long time ago. You also recall that I made a ruling from this Chair that until we get a report from the Powers and Privileges Committee, we will not transact this business.

Now that that Report is with us, there is no obstacle. Therefore, why we should not dispense this agenda even before we go to any other agenda. On that basis, I direct for convenience of the Senate, that we go straight to Order No.9 on the Supplementary Order Paper.

Order, Senator for Nandi County! This is not a place to gastulate and behave like a trade unionist.

I call upon the Chairperson of the Committee on County Public Accounts and Investment, you may have the Floor.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I beg to move the following Motion-

THAT, this House adopts the Report of the Sessional Committee on County Public Accounts and Investments, on the inquiry into possible loss of funds through the acquisition of Land LR.No.7879/4

(part)

by the National Land Commission, for use by two public schools

, Nairobi City County, that was laid on the Table of the House on Wednesday, 8th August, 2018. Let me start by reiterating my thanks and compliments to the Powers and Privileges Committee that has expeditiously resolved some of the issues that have prevented us from moving this Motion and debating this Report in the House.

The CPAIC tabled in this House on 8th August, 2018, the Report of the

Committee on the inquiry into the fraudulent acquisition of land in Ruaraka.

Order, Members! The consultations

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I hope that having updated the Order Paper, that copies of this Report shall be available on the table so that Members can go through.

As a background, before devolution, primary schools in Nairobi City and seven other municipalities were managed by the defunct Nairobi City Council and the respective municipalities. The process of the transfer of assets and liabilities of these defunct authorities to county governments is still ongoing. If this process is not superintended or supervised, then counties stand to lose lot of assets, particularly land that belongs to schools.

It is for this reason that CPAIC sought to establish the legality and prudence of the acquisition by the National Lands Commission (NLC) of 13 acres on which two public schools – Ruaraka High School and Drive Inn Primary School – stood.

In carrying out our inquiry, our specific objects were-

Order, Sen. M. Kajwang’! No one has the infrastructure or capacity to distract the Chair.

Proceed.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I thought you were going to object to the state of Sen. Cherargei in 1981; whether he was liquid or solid.

I have no capacity to deal with that.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, probably, he was gaseous. In 1981, the Government paid Kshs64 million for construction of 500 houses through the defunct Kenya Post and Telecommunications Corporation (KPTC) . Only 196 houses were completed.

Later on, in 2012, the Ministry of Interior and Coordination National Government acquired 35 acres for the area in which the General Service Unit Headquarters (GSU) stand. This was acquired at a cost of Kshs4.806 billion. That is enough to finance the operations of Tharaka-Nithi County for a year.

Later on, in year 2016, the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) acquired

Order, Majority Whip. Even if the rules do not describe how you go about whipping or de-whipping, what you are doing does not include any of those. You have to devise mechanisms of doing your duties within the Standing Orders.

Proceed, Sen. M. Kajwang’.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for protecting me. We shall know in what form the Majority Whip was in 1981.

In the year 2018, the Ministry of Education acquired 13.7701 acres of land at cost of Kshs3.269 billion and Kshs1.5 billion has already been paid. There are outstanding claims running into billions of Kenya shillings for Outer Ring Road expansion, chief’s camp, Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) church, DO’s office and illegal squatters on the land. These claims have been put at a conservative estimate of Kshs26 billion.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, When the County Public Accounts and Investments Committee (CPAIC) initiated its inquiries, we decided to limit our scope to the land that was acquired for purposes of the school because we realised this was a Pandora’s Box which we could not effectively execute. We limited our mandate to protection of the assets of the defunct authorities. We, therefore, focused on the Kshs3.2 billion.

It is instructive to note that this land LR 7879/ 4 has so far received Kshs8 billion from the Consolidated Fund.

One of the objectives was to establish who owned the land. If we look at the chronology of events, we find that back in 1981, this land was bought by a company called Afrison Import Exports Limited and Heuland Limited.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is important to lay this background because it is this that people are taking advantage of to say that certain things were not undertaken.

In 1982, Drive-Inn Estate Developers on behalf of Afrison Export Imports Limited applied for subdivision of the 96 acres. Their subdivision plan was on the basis of the estate that they were going to put up on the land.

In 1983, Nairobi City Commission approved the subdivision plan on condition that the developers would surrender free of charge the land that was earmarked for nursery, primary, secondary schools and social amenities.

In 1984, Drive-Inn Developers accepted the conditions of subdivision and surrender. In the same year, the Nairobi City Commission issued a letter of reservation to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education for the secondary school and Ruaraka High school was established in 1984.

It was, therefore, beyond any reasonable doubt confirmed by the Committee that there was, indeed, a subdivision plan that was approved and a surrender that was executed.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in 1999, the Commissioner for Lands issued a letter of allotment to the Ministry of Education for Ruaraka High School. In the year 2016, 14 years since the surrender was done, Afrison Import Exports Limited wrote to the National Lands Commission (NLC) claiming compensation for the land on which the two schools stood, alleging that the Government was illegally squatting on private land. This was what set in motion the process of compulsory acquisition.

In the year 2016, the NLC carried out a ground inspection and requested the Ministry of Education to make arrangements to compensate Afrison Import Exports Limited in spite of Section 107 of the Lands Act that required the Cabinet Secretary (CS) or the County Executive Committee (CEC) Member initiate the process of compulsory acquisition.

The report is very detailed. If you have it, I would invite you to look at the very last pages that have the chronology of events. We have laid out every single

correspondence we received. Most of the letters and correspondences that led us to our conclusion came from the Ministries themselves.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, what went wrong in this compulsory acquisition in Ruaraka? The Committee concluded that the land that the Government bought already belonged to it. The land was surrendered in 1984 and remained public property. It is the conclusion of the Committee that the entire transaction was a fraud.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there are persons of interest in this matter. First is the NLC. The NLC insisted that the schools were on private land. They declared the surrender process and letters of allotment null and void and allowed that process of compulsory acquisition to proceed.

Yesterday, we were having a debate when going through the Land Value Index Bill. We are saying that NLC is the gatekeeper and body that is constitutionally empowered to advise national and county governments on matters to do with land. The NLC sat without having a plenary, without producing any minutes and proceeded to say that the letter of allotment that was issued by the Commissioner of Lands in 1999 was an illegality. They went ahead and ignored all the other correspondences that were brought before us by the Ministry of Lands, Ministry of Education and the Governor of Nairobi City County and declared the subdivision and surrender as illegal.

Therefore, NLC bears the greatest responsibility in this matter because they are the experts in matters to do with land. By confirming and taking the side of the developers that this was private land, they allowed the subsequent actions that led to the illegality that we are talking about.

Secondly, the NLC anticipated the compensation claim. In this House, we have a rule that we shall not anticipate debate. How then do you explain that the NLC received on 29th August, 2016 a claim by Afrison Import Exports Limited indicating that they needed to be compensated for historical injustices and, on the same day, the NLC wrote to the Ministry of Education indicating that they had already conducted an inspection and advised Ministry of Education to make arrangements for compensation? Even If one wants to defraud the Government, they need to be cleverer than that.

Thirdly, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the NLC unilaterally and arbitrarily decided the acreage to be acquired. In a letter, they set the acreage at 13.5364 acres and also established the cost at Kshs3.269 billion. They established the acreage and the cost even before gazetting the intention to acquire the land.

It is interesting that the average cost of land per acre in question is Kshs241,500,000. That is what the Government paid. In Ruaraka, land is going for Kshs241,500,000 per acre. This House needs to quickly pass the Land Value Index Bill so that we provide guidelines on values for compulsory acquisition compensation.

The NLC awarded a 15 per cent disturbance allowance. However, at the point when that award was being made, the old land laws had been repealed and the disturbance allowance had not been restored. In fact, the disturbance allowance had been repealed and was only reinstated on 21st November, 2017 by the Land Assessment of Just Compensation Rules of 2017. It is something that the Senate Committee on Lands, Environment and Natural Resources needs to inquire whether during the period between the repeal of the old law and reinstatement of the law of the disturbance allowance, there

could have been other compulsory acquisitions where the NLC paid the 15 per cent disturbance allowance.

The NLC failed to gazette and carry out inquiries as per Section 112(1) of the Lands Act. Part VIII of the Lands Act require that if you are going to conduct compulsory acquisition, you must first do a notice of intention to acquire and serve all parties relevant to that matter; the schools, the community and everybody else. Later on, you must conduct an inquiry which must be gazetted. They failed to do so, hence violated the Lands Act.

The NLC never bothered to engage the administration or the boards of the schools concerned. When we visited the schools, the principals and the chairpersons of the boards of management told us that the only time they saw NLC was when they went to put up the beacons. They were hopeful that they were finally going to get their title deeds. Little did they know that they were to be used as pawns in a very complicated case of corruption.

Finally, NLC approved the acquisition of 13.7701 acres whereas the original claim was for 13.5364 acres. The decimal point difference sounds like nothing. However, at an average cost of Kshs241,500,000 per acre, even a few decimal point differences can mean a lot of money. That decimal point difference constitutes Kshs51,363,000 which was a loss that was occasioned as a result of that variation.

The second person or the second constituencies of interest are the officers within the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. The Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Education, Science and Technology set up a task force which was chaired by the Nairobi Regional Education Coordinator, a Mr. John Ololtuaal Lekakeny. This task force did a comprehensive report and advised the CS that the schools were built on public land and even made the conclusion that what the Government should be doing is not buying the land, but processing the title deeds. The CS, Dr. Fred Matiang’i, ignored the recommendations of the task force and instructed NLC to commence the process of compulsory acquisition.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology did not have an approved budget for compulsory acquisition. In fact, we were told that the Kshs1.5 billion that was ultimately paid for was money that was reallocated from other votes. The Ministry had to struggle to reallocate funds in a year when there was a financial crunch and at a time when we were going through general elections. Again, the Ministry paid for 13.77 acres despite the original claim being 13.5364 acres. That difference cost the taxpayers Kshs51 million.

The third person and constituency of interest are the companies that lay claim to the original title, 78794. These are Afrison Export and Import Limited, Huelands Limited, Drive In, Whispering Palms and Equator Brent. They were about five companies that had the same shareholdings. They accepted terms and conditions of surrender given by Nairobi City Commission way back in 1983.

They proceeded to develop the land and established residential estate that was eventually bought by the Government of Kenya. Fourteen years down the line, they came back saying that their subdivision was not approved yet those buildings were based on the subdivision plan that they had submitted to the Nairobi City Commission.

Afrison Export and Import Limited failed to indemnify the Government of Kenya for the payment of Kshs1.5 billion. This might sound technical or academic, but the deed of indemnity that was executed bore the name of Afrison Export and Import Limited although the payment was ultimately made to Whispering Palms Limited. What then would happen is that Afrison Export and Import Limited would come up later and say that they were never paid and that can open a backdoor for a future compensation. When we talked to Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), it was established that Afrison Export and Import Limited are not tax compliant. I said in my earlier comments that this 78794 has earned the owners close to Kshs8 billion in various claims. We have the Kenya Ports, General Service Unit, Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) and now Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

In the course of this inquiry, Afrison Export and Import Limited went out of their way to frustrate the Committee. They sought and they were granted a court order to bar the Committee from summoning them. I am glad to report that the courts have decided on this matter. Therefore, it is important for us to study that judgment for it will empower Committees in future with regard with its powers to invite and summon witnesses.

Secondly, they sought and obtained a court order barring media houses, particularly Nation Media Group. They were very specific on the journalist. There was one gentleman called Oruko who was barred from reporting parliamentary proceedings of inquiry. As if that was not enough, Afrison Export and Import Limited wrote letters of protest to the Speaker several times saying that the Chairperson and other Members were harassing and extorting them. Today, I stand here proudly because the Powers and Privileges Committee has tested those allegations and has found that they are completely baseless.

We recommend that the Chairman of NLC, Prof. Mohamed Swazuri, be investigated and held responsible for violation of the Constitution, the Land Act and the National Land Commission Act. The process of compulsory acquisition is a process that is mentioned and the role of NLC is mentioned in the Constitution and it is further expanded in the Lands Act and the NLC Act. He violated the Constitution and statute. More specifically, he should be investigated and held responsible for the loss of Kshs1.5 billion and for conspiring to defraud a further Kshs1.7 billion of public funds. The Kshs1.5 billion that was paid was part payment. There is a claim for Kshs1.7 billion. When we started the inquiry, we wrote to Treasury and gave them direct instructions not to release further funds until the Committee completed its inquiry. If we adopt our Report today, it will provide clarity on the way forward.

The directors of the companies involved; Afrison Export and Import Limited, Whispering Palms, Drive In Developers and Equator Brent should be investigated and held responsible for fraudulently acquiring Kshs1.5 billion of public funds and for conspiring to defraud a further Kshs1.7 billion.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and relevant authorities should trace and recover the Kshs1.5 billion that was fraudulently paid to Whispering Palms and to ensure that the beneficiaries are brought to book and where necessary, assets frozen. We saw in the public domain how this money was treated as soon as it hit the accounts. A sum of Kshs1.5 billion went into bank accounts. Later on, it was

transferred to various accounts. I hope that no one here is associated with any of those accounts.

Order, Senator! You are out of order!

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I was getting carried away.

What you are engaged in amounts to imputing improper motives on Members? You need to withdraw you last sentence.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me then restate my last sentence.

Order! You have no business trying to imagine that there could be any person in this Chamber who is associated with the proceeds of crime.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I withdraw.

And apologise.

And apologise, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

Thank you. Proceed.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would have said as Sen. Wetangula says, ‘I withdrew and apologized, but I will make it in the---

Order, Sen. Kajwang'! Proceed.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I will proceed with your guidance.

We have said that the EACC should recover the funds. We have further said in our recommendations that the CS and the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Dr. Fred Matiang’i and Dr. Belio Kipsang, respectively, must be hold responsible for ignoring the recommendations of the ministerial task force that established that the land was public and ought not to have been purchased and for failure to carry out due diligence as required in the Lands Act.

We have also recommended that the CS and the PS in the Ministry---

Order, Senators! No shouting across the aisle. You know what you are supposed to do. You can rise on a point of order or information, but you cannot shout.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. It is the Principal Secretary. Where I have said Permanent Secretary, the HANSARD should strike out Permanent and put in Principal.

The CS and PS, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology should be held responsible for the loss of Kshs1.5 billion and for conspiring to defraud a further Kshs1.7 billion of public funds.

The Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee (IGTRC) must hasten the process of identification and verification of assets and liabilities of defunct authorities so as to stop any further loss of public property.

If you put it in context of the seven municipalities that used to run public schools, including Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nyeri and several others, the primary schools were assets of those councils. Have they been transferred properly to the national Government? Where the national Government or those councils used to run nursery schools, is that transfer process complete? The IGRTC recently told us that they have established about Kshs200 billion in form of land that has not yet been accounted for previously.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have recommended that the KRA must assess the tax obligations of Afrison Imports and Exports Limited and related companies so as to ensure that action is taken promptly to bring into place tax compliance.

I will let a few of other issues to be handled by my Committee Members and the House because this inquiry generated great interest from the members of public. At the best of times, it elevated the role of the Senate as an overseer and defender of public funds. However, I must admit that there were low moments. I am glad that those moments have now been dealt with properly and in a definite manner by the Powers and Privileges Committee.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we must ask the EACC, the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP): What is so special about this Ruaraka matter? This is because on more than two occasions, we have been told that the files have been sent back to the EACC by the DPP. The DPP came before a Committee of this House – I believe it was the Committee on Legal Affairs, Justice and Human Rights – where he gave assurances that within a defined timeframe, prosecutions would commence. Why this taking so long, yet other matters are being handled with gusto? That is a question that these bodies must answer to this Country.

As I said earlier, Parliament must also protect it is oversight committees from attacks by persons who have been indicted. The delays by the IGRTC in identifying assets and liabilities of the defunct local authorities, is also a major fiscal risk.

Finally, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I said earlier, the Government has paid

almost four times for this land. Consequently, there is currently an outstanding claim exceeding Kshs26 billion that has been made to Nairobi City County with respect to persons who have settled on that parcel of land. I, therefore, want to encourage the Committee that deals with security to look at the matter of compensation for the General Service Unit (GSU) land of Kshs4 billion, which was paid to buy houses that the Government commissioned in 1981 and paid for fully.

The Committee on Roads and Transportation need to look at the payment of Kshs700 million by Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) for roads and easements which were done on areas that were clearly designated on a subdivision plan. That money should not just disappear like that.

The Committee on Devolution must also find out more about this claim that Nairobi City County is sitting with of Kshs26 billion. If Nairobi was to pay this amount, it would be bankrupt because what we give them is not even close to that.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, oversight role is a shared responsibility of various Committees. Today, the CPAIC has submitted its report with respect to land. I also hope that the Committee on Lands, Environment and Natural Resources and the Committee on

Education will take up some of the loose ends that we have left open. For example, the

Committee on Lands, Environment and Natural Resources should now make sure that the

Order, Sen. Kajwang’! Order! The Senator for Narok County remains to be so, and has no extra territorial jurisdictions. Nevertheless, well done, Sen. M. Kajwang.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker Sir, I beg that Sen. Olekina seconds.

Hon Senators, before I allow Sen. Olekina to second the Motion, I have a brief communication to make.

I would like to acknowledge the presence, in the Speaker’s Gallery this afternoon, of a delegation visiting us from the Parliament of Malawi. The delegation is comprised of a Commissioner of the Parliamentary Service Commission of Malawi, Members, staff and representatives of their development partners. I request each member to of the delegation to stand when their name is called out so that they may be acknowledged in the Senate tradition. They are:

On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker Sir.

What is it, Senate Leader Majority?

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I also join you in welcoming our visitors from a friendly country to this Senate. I hope that we will have time soon to also visit or “to revenge” by visiting their country and their Parliament.

I second, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker Sir.

What is it, Sen. Khaniri?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want your guidance on that particular Standing Order No.106 (3) that Sen. Murkomen stood on. I do not know whether he is in

order because the provision of that Standing Order, to my understanding, is that this kind of Motion cannot be moved when debate is going on.

You will certainly get it Sen. Khaniri. Debate has not begun; it begins after the Motion has been moved, seconded and a question proposed. Therefore, we want to get the feelings of Members. Otherwise, we will just dispose of that Procedural Motion in the normal manner.

What is it, Senate Minority Leader? The Senate Minority Leader (Sen. Orengo) : Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I wonder whether you will give us a little more time, for example, 10 minutes. Not for me, but for everybody else to at least acknowledge the presence such a large delegation from Malawi. If it was a small delegation, I would, probably, overlook it.

The Senate Majority Leader was a bit restrained; you could give him more time.

Proceed,

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I wonder whether you will give us a little more time, for example, 10 minutes. Not for me, but for everybody else to at least acknowledge the presence such a large delegation from Malawi. If it was a small delegation, I would, probably, overlook it. The Senate Majority Leader was a bit restrained; you could give him more time.

Proceed,

Thank you, Senate Minority Leader. I see no further requests. However, in any case, the two leaders have spoken. Therefore, our colleagues should feel welcome.

Sen. Olekina, you can now second the Motion.

Thank you, Senate Minority Leader. I see no further requests. However, in any case, the two leaders have spoken. Therefore, our colleagues should feel welcome.

Sen. Olekina, you can now second the Motion.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the time limit does not affect me or does it?

Order, Sen. Olekina!

Order, Sen. Khaniri! You are one of the longest serving Members of Parliament (MPs) in this country. You have done so well in terms of adhering to Standing Orders. You have just risen on a point of order just now on a matter of procedure. You should be the last person to communicate by way of shouting.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to second the Motion that this House do adopt the report on the Sessional Committee on the County Public Accounts and Investment Committee (CPAIC) on the inquiry into the possible loss of funds through the acquisition of land for public use.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to limit my remarks on three issues. From the onset, before I get into the substantive issues of this report, I would like to thank the Powers and Privileges Committee for having taken their time. This was a very emotive issue that brought a lot of questions in the integrity of this House.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the reason we are called distinguished Senators is because the Senate is a House of reason that unites the entire Republic of Kenya. When we are here, we are tasked with one responsibility. The Constitution is clear that our role under Article 96 is to protect the interests of our counties and their governments.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this issue of Ruaraka Land is something which has divided us. At one point, in this House, it was difficult to tell who is in opposition and who is in Government. However, today, I dare say that by the end of debate on this report, that division will once again be very clear.

Order, Senator! You cannot

Order, Senator! You cannot

have a situation where as the Accounting Officer pressure is put from all corners, the next move Dr. Belio Kipsang did was to write the CS, then Dr. Fred Matiang’i and Treasury about the findings of the task force.

However, I do not understand what made the CS to ignore the report and the recommendations of the taskforce. Subsequently, according the documentation presented by Dr. Belio Kipsang when he appeared before us, the transaction proceeded.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, when we look at the current Land Act and the process of compulsory acquisition, there is a particular process that ought to be followed. I do not want to belabour on those annexures. However, they are in this report. Any Kenyan can come to Parliament and get a copy of this report. He will be able to see that there was a rush in the Ministry of Lands, particularly from the NLC, to ensure that this transaction took place.

The Ministry of Education did not have money to buy this land. So, they involved the national Treasury. I would have thought that before Treasury makes any move forward, the first question they would have asked themselves is the instruments of ownership. They would have carried out due diligence before the purchase was done. I am sure the distinguished Senators here from both sides of the aisle, are business people or have engaged in a transactions of buying property. Before you proceed and you pay money which you have worked so hard to earn, you ought to carry out r due diligence. One of the most important things that you must have, are the instruments of ownership. In this case, it is a title deed.

Mr. Deputy Speaker Sir, the Chairperson of the Committee submitted here that, the process of the subdivision of the land---

Easy, Sen. Olekina.

Easy, Sen. Olekina.

I was asking you to protect me from the Senate Majority Leader.

What has the Majority Leader done?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, he was disrupting me when I was speaking. I want to concentrate because I believe that Kenyans who pay me a salary ought to know what I do in this House. I would beg that the Senate Majority Leader listens because I have not pointed---

On a point order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, is it in order for Sen. Olekina to insinuate that when he sees me he loses concentration? I just walked in and sat on my seat. Where will I go and I am supposed to be here? He can as well look elsewhere, he does not have to look at me.

Sen. Olekina, proceed.

the title deed and gotten a loan. The issues here are very sensitive because we are dealing with public money.

We recommended that Dr. Matiang’i, the former Cabinet Secretary for Education, should take personal responsibility because he had been informed by a task force that that piece of land was public land. However, he went ahead and confirmed the transaction.

We also met officers working for the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). In their submission, they clearly stated that the two companies were not registered with the KRA and as such they are not tax compliant. What exactly are we doing when we say we want to protect public money? On one hand, we are borrowing money left, right and centre but on the other hand, officers of the KRA are saying they cannot raise the money. In fact, before releasing the Kshs1.5 billion, the first thing I would have expected to happen was that hypothetically, if that land was private land, the taxman should have got his share. When the taxman comes before us and says that the two companies are not registered with the KRA, what exactly are we doing? What stops anyone out there from getting friends all over and committing public funds?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Kenyans will judge us. I want to repeat the quote that I started with; that in the end, as Martin Luther King Jnr. said, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends. The friends we have right now are those kids in Ruaraka who have been living there. For many years, that community has believed that, that is their land.

the title deed and gotten a loan. The issues here are very sensitive because we are dealing with public money.

We recommended that Dr. Matiang’i, the former Cabinet Secretary for Education, should take personal responsibility because he had been informed by a task force that that piece of land was public land. However, he went ahead and confirmed the transaction.

We also met officers working for the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). In their submission, they clearly stated that the two companies were not registered with the KRA and as such they are not tax compliant. What exactly are we doing when we say we want to protect public money? On one hand, we are borrowing money left, right and centre but on the other hand, officers of the KRA are saying they cannot raise the money. In fact, before releasing the Kshs1.5 billion, the first thing I would have expected to happen was that hypothetically, if that land was private land, the taxman should have got his share. When the taxman comes before us and says that the two companies are not registered with the KRA, what exactly are we doing? What stops anyone out there from getting friends all over and committing public funds?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Kenyans will judge us. I want to repeat the quote that I started with; that in the end, as Martin Luther King Jnr. said, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends. The friends we have right now are those kids in Ruaraka who have been living there. For many years, that community has believed that, that is their land.

Your time is up because you misused it doing unnecessary things. You have one more minute.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I conclude, I would like to go straight to our recommendations, which I stand by. I believe that the only way we can get justice is for the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Ethics and Anti- Corruption Commission (EACC) to move expeditiously to recover the Kshs1.5 billion and put it back into the public coffer. I strongly believe that the Chairperson of the NLC should take personal responsibility like we have recommended in the Report. I believe that the then Cabinet Secretary for Education, Dr. Fred Matiang’i, should also take personal responsibility on this matter because he ignored the report by the task force that was formed.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to second.

they have done in record time. Looking at what they had to do in that period, they have done a wonderful piece of work. Just going by the documentation they had to go through and knowing how complex land issues are, to that extent, these Members deserve a pat on the back.

Mr. Deputy Speaker Sir, I begin by saying that it is in the Bible where it is said that it is impossible for a rich man to go to Heaven and if he is going to go to Heaven, it is like going through the eye of a needle.

In this country, we have cartels and cabals that however small the eye of the needle is, they will always get through. The saga surrounding this piece of land clearly shows that these characters, whatever you do, they will always get a way out.

I want to remind us that it is for these reasons in both the pre-colonial and post- colonial periods that we had legislation to ensure that public resources and assets are dealt with in a particular way. That is why we now have the Public Procurement and Disposal Act. In relation to land, not only in the old days but even in the current regime of land laws, there was a particular process for the acquisition of public land and the rest.

Therefore, in looking at this Report, I do not want to go through the details and the facts because they are there. There are paragraphs dealing with the facts as presented, findings from the facts and the recommendations. This Report was done in such a way that it is easy to read and make a determination whether there is substance on this Report or not. For that, I think the Committee should be commended.

Having said that, I want to invite my dear friends and Senators in this Chamber that this Report as it stands, has made findings and recommendations. Our role includes that of oversight which is very important. I would want to urge the House that these recommendations that have been made by this Committee are recommendations that follow the facts and the findings of the Committee. I think the Committee has not arrogated to itself the responsibilities to give directions, let us say to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP). They have not taken upon themselves to make directions to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) or for that matter to other State institutions.

They have given recommendations. On that basis, I would presume that nobody in this House would be afraid or reluctant to allow a process after this, if we approve this Report, where these matters are fully investigated in the realm of various legislation including the land laws, the laws applicable to the criminal justice system and the other statutes that govern procurement and disposal of public assets, so that we know the complete truth based on the facts and recommendations made by this Committee.

From this Report, you will realize that a lot of this information did not even come from private citizens. It came from public offices, state offices, public bodies and the documentation, which are part of the public record. Therefore, for us to disagree with this Report, it will be terribly unfortunate because what they are saying is that, having made these findings and recommendations, the state institutions charged with the responsibility of investigation and prosecutions should take over this matter. I think to that extent, nobody should find fault with this Report.

This Report came at a time when the main saga was being discussed in the National Assembly. Simultaneously, we are also dealing with the issue of land and this

particular land that affected the life and interest or education of young people who were students in the particular schools involved. The public there is waiting to find out what we will do with this Report.

The Report will also enable us, in this new dispensation or new climate where we are saying there are no sacred cows---- I think now I have the confidence that unlike in the past, there is no sacred cow. We need to go an extra mile to ensure that what the Government is currently doing in fighting graft and grand corruption is carried on without fear of favor. Certainly, the recommendations that have been made by this Committee are matters that cannot be wished away and the students in these schools will expect not only a full inquiry but also action to be taken by the responsible institutions of Government.

I also hope that the timelines given in this Report, and they are very reasonable, I think they were made on the basis that if this Report is passed, then these recommendations should be implemented or be attained within the timelines that have been given in the recommendations. Those are very reasonable timelines. There are also recommendations to do with ourselves that certain committees of Parliament should follow certain matters that are clear from the Report within certain timelines.

At the end of the day, and my final remarks is that, if you elect to be a public officer in a democracy which has a constitution like ours, with Article 10 as it is, and also you have the Chapter on Leadership and Integrity, Chapter 12, which deals with the principles of public service, you should expect that your life will never be easy because you know whenever such reports come out and somebody’s name appears, then it suddenly takes a very different perspective.

People begin to take positions which are ethnic and parochial. For us to deal with this animal called graft, if there are any suspicions or inquiries being made on anybody who is in the public service, including myself, public officers should be the first to offer themselves to that process of inquiry. That way, at the end of the day, we can then be confident that we have people in public offices who are ready to live by the dictates of the law of the land, and ensure that we have strong institutions which will do justice to the people.

Therefore, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the names of the people who have been mentioned here, and there are several names of people of interest, should not be worried. Even in the United States of America (USA), President Trump is a person of interest in some of the inquiries that are ongoing. However, if you mention the name of somebody in Kenya, it is like you have committed treason. Other than River Jordan, this is another river that we should cross.

they have done in record time. Looking at what they had to do in that period, they have done a wonderful piece of work. Just going by the documentation they had to go through and knowing how complex land issues are, to that extent, these Members deserve a pat on the back.

Mr. Deputy Speaker Sir, I begin by saying that it is in the Bible where it is said that it is impossible for a rich man to go to Heaven and if he is going to go to Heaven, it is like going through the eye of a needle.

In this country, we have cartels and cabals that however small the eye of the needle is, they will always get through. The saga surrounding this piece of land clearly shows that these characters, whatever you do, they will always get a way out.

I want to remind us that it is for these reasons in both the pre-colonial and post- colonial periods that we had legislation to ensure that public resources and assets are dealt with in a particular way. That is why we now have the Public Procurement and Disposal Act. In relation to land, not only in the old days but even in the current regime of land laws, there was a particular process for the acquisition of public land and the rest.

Therefore, in looking at this Report, I do not want to go through the details and the facts because they are there. There are paragraphs dealing with the facts as presented, findings from the facts and the recommendations. This Report was done in such a way that it is easy to read and make a determination whether there is substance on this Report or not. For that, I think the Committee should be commended.

Having said that, I want to invite my dear friends and Senators in this Chamber that this Report as it stands, has made findings and recommendations. Our role includes that of oversight which is very important. I would want to urge the House that these recommendations that have been made by this Committee are recommendations that follow the facts and the findings of the Committee. I think the Committee has not arrogated to itself the responsibilities to give directions, let us say to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP). They have not taken upon themselves to make directions to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) or for that matter to other State institutions.

They have given recommendations. On that basis, I would presume that nobody in this House would be afraid or reluctant to allow a process after this, if we approve this Report, where these matters are fully investigated in the realm of various legislation including the land laws, the laws applicable to the criminal justice system and the other statutes that govern procurement and disposal of public assets, so that we know the complete truth based on the facts and recommendations made by this Committee.

From this Report, you will realize that a lot of this information did not even come from private citizens. It came from public offices, state offices, public bodies and the documentation, which are part of the public record. Therefore, for us to disagree with this Report, it will be terribly unfortunate because what they are saying is that, having made these findings and recommendations, the state institutions charged with the responsibility of investigation and prosecutions should take over this matter. I think to that extent, nobody should find fault with this Report.

This Report came at a time when the main saga was being discussed in the National Assembly. Simultaneously, we are also dealing with the issue of land and this

particular land that affected the life and interest or education of young people who were students in the particular schools involved. The public there is waiting to find out what we will do with this Report.

The Report will also enable us, in this new dispensation or new climate where we are saying there are no sacred cows---- I think now I have the confidence that unlike in the past, there is no sacred cow. We need to go an extra mile to ensure that what the Government is currently doing in fighting graft and grand corruption is carried on without fear of favor. Certainly, the recommendations that have been made by this Committee are matters that cannot be wished away and the students in these schools will expect not only a full inquiry but also action to be taken by the responsible institutions of Government.

I also hope that the timelines given in this Report, and they are very reasonable, I think they were made on the basis that if this Report is passed, then these recommendations should be implemented or be attained within the timelines that have been given in the recommendations. Those are very reasonable timelines. There are also recommendations to do with ourselves that certain committees of Parliament should follow certain matters that are clear from the Report within certain timelines.

At the end of the day, and my final remarks is that, if you elect to be a public officer in a democracy which has a constitution like ours, with Article 10 as it is, and also you have the Chapter on Leadership and Integrity, Chapter 12, which deals with the principles of public service, you should expect that your life will never be easy because you know whenever such reports come out and somebody’s name appears, then it suddenly takes a very different perspective.

People begin to take positions which are ethnic and parochial. For us to deal with this animal called graft, if there are any suspicions or inquiries being made on anybody who is in the public service, including myself, public officers should be the first to offer themselves to that process of inquiry. That way, at the end of the day, we can then be confident that we have people in public offices who are ready to live by the dictates of the law of the land, and ensure that we have strong institutions which will do justice to the people.

Therefore, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the names of the people who have been mentioned here, and there are several names of people of interest, should not be worried. Even in the United States of America (USA), President Trump is a person of interest in some of the inquiries that are ongoing. However, if you mention the name of somebody in Kenya, it is like you have committed treason. Other than River Jordan, this is another river that we should cross.

Order, Sen. Cherargei! Neither does the Chair know.

Order, Minority Leader! You cannot have crocodiles on dry land; there is no water around Ruaraka.

The next speaker will be Sen. Cherargei.

Sen. Cherargei, what has sheep got to do with the Senator for Homa Bay?

On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. Even if it was a matter of imagery, at least Sen. Cherargei ought to have said that I am smiling ‘fishily.’

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Report should form the basis of how we engage in future in terms of ensuring interests on public property and institutions are protected.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I rise to support this important Motion and Report. Looking at it, I was wondering how important this report is to this country. Looking at the recommendations that have been made by this Committee, I wonder whether we should have given more time for this debate on this particular matter.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I applaud the Powers and Privileges Committee for clearing the Members of the Committee on Public Accounts and Investments on the allegations that had been made. If anybody had evidence pointing to any malpractice, then those people should have come forward. There was no such a good opportunity other than being given a hearing by the Powers and Privileges Committee. Therefore, the fact that they did not turn up shows that they were trying to intimidate this Committee from performing its duties.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Members of this Committee informed me that they were also being threatened. This is not the first time that Members of a Committee are being threatened when they are performing their duties. You heard that letters were written, even to the Speaker, on mere allegations. You heard that even the press was being intimidated not to cover what was happening within the Committee, and names have been given.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we also saw in the newspapers that those who are used to impunity in this country were actually busy trying to intimidate this Committee through newspaper reporting these false allegations. Why did they not come before the Powers and Privileges Committee to bring forth their concerns? The conclusion I can make is that they had no allegations. They were only trying to intimidate this Committee not to perform its duties.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do not know what else we can say for this country on matters corruption. How can a government or a Ministry purport to compensate for land

Your time is up; you have one minute.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Report should form the basis of how we engage in future in terms of ensuring interests on public property and institutions are protected.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I rise to support this important Motion and Report. Looking at it, I was wondering how important this report is to this country. Looking at the recommendations that have been made by this Committee, I wonder whether we should have given more time for this debate on this particular matter.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I applaud the Powers and Privileges Committee for clearing the Members of the Committee on Public Accounts and Investments on the allegations that had been made. If anybody had evidence pointing to any malpractice, then those people should have come forward. There was no such a good opportunity other than being given a hearing by the Powers and Privileges Committee. Therefore, the fact that they did not turn up shows that they were trying to intimidate this Committee from performing its duties.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Members of this Committee informed me that they were also being threatened. This is not the first time that Members of a Committee are being threatened when they are performing their duties. You heard that letters were written, even to the Speaker, on mere allegations. You heard that even the press was being intimidated not to cover what was happening within the Committee, and names have been given.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we also saw in the newspapers that those who are used to impunity in this country were actually busy trying to intimidate this Committee through newspaper reporting these false allegations. Why did they not come before the Powers and Privileges Committee to bring forth their concerns? The conclusion I can make is that they had no allegations. They were only trying to intimidate this Committee not to perform its duties.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do not know what else we can say for this country on matters corruption. How can a government or a Ministry purport to compensate for land

Thank you. Not the word “shame”. What you should withdraw is to direct debate by saying anybody who has a certain opinion is categorised in the manner of shame.

That was not my intention, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

In fact, withdraw the entire sentence

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I withdraw the entire sentence because it did not really reflect my intentions

And apologise to the House.

I apologise, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I applaud the Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Lands, Madam Farida Karoney, who happens to be a schoolmate. The report that we have is that she actually upon suspecting foul-play---

Senator, are you applauding the CS because she is a schoolmate?

No, I am proceeding to say why I am applauding her.

So, it is just by coincidence that you went to school together?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am simply just happy that a schoolmate has come out strongly on this one.

No, I am proceeding to say why I am applauding her.

So, it is just by coincidence that you went to school together?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am simply just happy that a schoolmate has come out strongly on this one.

Your time is up. I will give you one minute to conclude with your schoolmate’s issue.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I wish to applaud her because immediately she suspected that there was foul-play she put a caveat on this land. We would have lost much more money than we are claiming right now. For that cause and her actions, public money was not lost.

Finally, upon the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) realising that these alleged fraudulent companies were not registered, what did they do? Have they followed up? Do we have any cases to recover the money owed to the taxman from these companies? It is

Without evidence!

Yes, without proper evidence. Reading through your recommendations and that---

Order, Sen. (Dr.) Kabaka. You cannot carry out tuition in the Chamber. You are engaging in tuition. I do not know where the Senator for Kericho has paid fees!

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, you know I advise Sen. (Dr.) Kabaka on many other things. So this is one of the moments he gets to advice me.

Order, Sen. (Dr.) Kabaka. You cannot carry out tuition in the Chamber. You are engaging in tuition. I do not know where the Senator for Kericho has paid fees!

Order, Leader of Majority. There is no intimidation here.

Absolutely!

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for that appreciation. These counterfeit titles which are prepared by cartels along River Road are fake documents. The operation involves the entire range of transactional stationery used in Ardhi House. Those guys are completely equipped with rubberstamps. They even have experts who forge the signatures of senior officers of the Ministry of Lands and the registrars. These cartels are very sophisticated. With due respect to my learned colleagues, they also have very good lawyers. When these matters are taken to court, lawyers will apply for injunctions and so forth. It will be a ping pong game.

In the meantime, these cartels, especially in Nairobi, are known to move around identifying some properties whose owners are either deceased or those who have relocated to foreign countries especially targeting the Asian Community and Wazungus. They ultimately forge their documents and “sell”, because that sale is illegal, those properties at very hefty proceeds. Those are the proceeds which are used to run the rings around the cartels for many years.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, since they are now known, they have moved to other big towns such Eldoret, Nakuru, Mombasa and Kisumu where we have very old land registries and they are doing exactly what they have done in Nairobi.

Land fraud is widespread and has inflicted suffering and loss to many families as well as investors who have either lost land or money to these fraudsters. I can say with confidence that these fraudsters have created a parallel registration system to that of the Government. I was watching the Senate Minority Leader, Sen. Orengo, when he was talking at lengthy about what is happening. I would especially have wanted him to mention something when he was a Minister for Lands, what exactly happened but he kept away from that reality.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is very interesting to note that---

Your time is up, Sen. (Dr.) Kabaka.

Give me two minutes to conclude.

You have one minute.

These cartels are known by those in the Government. They actually act in cahoots with them to prepare those documents. As Sen. Orengo has said, with a revitalised investigative arm of the Government whether it is prosecutorial agencies, it is high time that the war is upped so that we can have these people behind bars. They should not enjoy the sweat of those who own the land legally.

The Deputy Speaker (Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki) : Proceed, Sen. Ndwiga, the Senator of Embu County.

Give me two minutes to conclude.

You have one minute.

These cartels are known by those in the Government. They actually act in cahoots with them to prepare those documents. As Sen. Orengo has said, with a revitalised investigative arm of the Government whether it is prosecutorial agencies, it is high time that the war is upped so that we can have these people behind bars. They should not enjoy the sweat of those who own the land legally. The Deputy Speaker (

Sen. Ndwiga, you are a very experienced parliamentarian. I know you are gesturing at Sen. M. Kajwang’. So, you assume the HANSARD will capture that when you say, “Your Committee” it is the one of Sen. Kajwang’. Unless you clarify perhaps the HANSARD will put it as if you are saying - the Speaker’s Committee.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I stand to support the work done by the Committee. What this Committee had done makes one proud to be a Member of the Senate at this time. We were elected to protect the interests of Kenyans at a time when nobody else can. This Committee has before been accused of so many things but they have got over it.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, as we talk about the Ruaraka land matter, I was hoping that my friend from Narok County would tell us that his people are dying of poverty because we now cannot export beef out of this country. The reason is that the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) is in-operational. As we debate this important Report today, the land of KMC in Athi River is in jeopardy. The Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries visited KMC two weeks ago and we saw beacons on the land of KMC, which is public land yet, that is going on as we debate this Report.

Last week, the Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries visited the Kenya Veterinary Vaccines Production Institute (KEVEVAPI) in Embakasi where they produce vaccine that is meant to create disease free zones so that we can get disease-free beef for export. We cannot do that today. Why? KEVIVAPI has lost almost half of their land. Right now, fellows are moving towards the main laboratories and the production plant of KEVEVAPI.

We have got to put a halt to this nonsense and the country expects that this House will move steadfast. I salute Sen. M. Kajwang’ and his Committee for the good work that they have done through a lot of intimidation. We want to prove to this country that no amount of intimidation will stop the war on corruption. This House has set the right mood in that direction. We will support the Government in its war against corruption.

The Report says that we expect the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) and the Director of Criminal Investigation (DCI) to move with speed. We do not expect less.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, having said what I have about the two pieces of land, I hope that because it is public land, your Committee will move in and safeguard it.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity---

An hon. Senator: Supuu!

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, protect me, because a Senator here is calling “Supuu”---

Order, Senator! Proceed, Sen. Shiyonga.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity---

An hon. Senator: Supuu!

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, protect me, because a Senator here is calling “Supuu”---

Order, Senator! Proceed, Sen. Shiyonga.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. First of all, I would like to congratulate Sen. M. Kajwang’ and the Committee that worked on this Report. They have done an excellent job and they have represented this House well. If you look at the recommendations given, we salute the team. This team has worked under frustrations, intimidation and all manner of humiliation, but they stood their ground to defend their work and bring this Report to this House. We are happy that we are discussing it today.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, land is an investment; it is potential money and wealth. However, looking at land in Kenya nowadays, you will find that people have taken advantage of land that belongs lawfully to other people or to the Government. These people, as we have seen, have taken land that does not belong to them and they want to investment in it and make wealth out of it.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Report has made several recommendations. This is public land where public funds of over Kshs150 billion have been spent. This is enough money to pay workers of this country in a ministry, and we can even remain with some change. We cannot be suffering and talking about a ballooning wage bill when such an amount of money has been lost.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we are talking about 96 acres of land which has been subdivided. Up to now, 35 acres is being occupied by the General Service Unit (GSU) ; while 13 acres is being used by the public and the rest has been subdivided. However, the title deed of the land still reads the original owner’s name. Where on earth does any land owner divide his land, and gives it to different individuals and still owns one title deed? It does not happen and it cannot happen. This is fraud of the highest order which needs to be looked into. If there is any recommendation to be made, it is that money has been lost here and needs to be recovered.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to congratulate the Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Lands, Hon. Farida Karoney, for issuing a caveat on this land. This action has saved the children of Kenya a lot because that land was going to be stolen or it had been stolen. I applaud her for her action.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, if you look at the corruption that is taking place in terms of land and land ownership, a lot needs to be amended. As lawmakers, we are going to be judged harshly in this House. However, we thank God because we are able to discuss, disclose and applaud those that are working against any ill motive.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, money has been stolen through this land. How do we pay for one property double or triple its value in billions, yet on the other hand we are

talking of preserving and protecting Kenyans against corruption? I, therefore, applaud and support this Report. People, whether in the Government or in the private sector, should stop from taking advantage or making use of Government properties and money and anything that belongs to the common mwananchi.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

Very well. Proceed, Majority Leader.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, permit me to, first of all, congratulate the Committee and its Chairperson, Sen. M. Kajwang’, for doing a very good job despite my reservations on some of the recommendations made. I applaud their overall commitment to serve and the desire and passion they have exhibited, despite all the challenges they endured to get to the truth of this matter.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, land issues are emotive and are part of the problems of this country. I agree with Sen. (Dr.) Kabaka, who has said that even in Nairobi, we have witnessed many situations where private members of the public are being fleeced of their property. This is especially so with the ending of leases and the discussion about lease period and so on and so forth. This has become a problem and a cancer in the land sector in this country.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also want to thank the Committee for going further ahead to look at the historical situation related to this land and even coming to the conclusion that payments have been made previously, and not just the Kshs1.5 billion. The Report has captured that there have been other previous compensations related to the property, which is along that road, and not just the Kshs1.5 billion. In addition, it has also been established elsewhere that the compensation is not just the school, but also for the roads related to the same person and land. Therefore, it seems as if that property has become a cash cow for the same people such that when they do not have money, they resort back to the same issue.

Having said that, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have been a victim of such recommendations. Sometime last year, a committee of the National Assembly provided a report where one said “investigate” and another one said “indict so and so.” I, therefore, found it strange that our Committee would say that further investigation need to be done, but also that somebody should be held responsible.

Granted that Parliament does enquiries on various issues that take place, however, it does not have prosecutorial powers; neither does it have the power to investigate crime for purposes of charging anybody. It is, therefore, true and right for the Committee to say that there should be further investigations, and if found culpable, people should be charged. However, to make a conclusion that this or that person should be held responsible is prejudicial. This is particularly so considering that while the Committee was making this recommendation, investigations were already ongoing by with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) . We all know this because we take judicial notice of what has been

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have a lot of respect for the DPP and I agree with Sen. Orengo. As a lawyer and a person who is likely to be called a whale or a big fish, when you are a Member of Parliament---

I am alive to the fact that the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) or the DPP might be watching what we are saying. Let them do a thorough job in the investigation which has been going on. Let them find those who are culpable. The problem with this country is that in every corruption or purported corruption investigation, there is always a desire to find what is called the ‘big fish’. So many people have suffered reputation wise and in their careers. This is because when culpable people are found, people say that: “He or she is too small; we are looking for a bigger fish.” A human being has a similar life line. The Bible says---

I respectfully disagree with the Committee when it comes to such a conclusion despite the fact that they are saying that investigation must still go on.

On a point of information, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

Are you willing to be informed by Sen. Orengo?

Yes, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I have not said anything that would make me expect adverse information. The Senate Minority Leader (

Yes, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

Did you say the Chair was building schools?

Senate Majority Leader, in the context of that information, you have already accepted that you are a whale.

Not necessarily, Mr. Deputy

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is a statement of fact and congratulations.

Very well. Proceed.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. Therefore, with Kshs100 million, we will still end up with 32 schools. Therefore, Kshs3.2 billion is a lot of money that can finance the budget of Lamu County for a year.

We visited the children of Ruaraka Primary School and assured them that their learning shall never be disrupted. That is our message to them as the Senate. Those who disrupt the activities of little boys and girls deserve nothing else than what Sen. Shiyonga proposed yesterday. Therefore, people who use school land as pawns in a game of economic crime are sabotaging the future of this nation and serious action should be taken against them.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Cabinet Secretaries Farida Karoney and Amina Mohammed appeared before the Committee and they were very candid. However, I want to mention one particular individual, the Principal Secretary (PS) Ministry of Education, Dr. Belio Kipsang, who appeared before our Committee, even though we ended up holding him responsible and recommended he be investigated. When he appeared before us, he made us aware of the taskforce that was established. In fact, it looked like he was shooting himself on the foot. However, we took it that he was being honest and for that, we recommend him even though it is that honesty that has now landed him into trouble.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the issue of responsibility, Section 107 (1) of The Land Act says that the process of compulsory acquisition of land must be initiated by a Cabinet Secretary or a County Executive Committee (CEC) Member and not the National Land Commission (NLC) . Secondly, the NLC does not have a budget for compulsory acquisition; the budget comes from the parent or acquiring Ministry. That is why we cannot pin the NLC and the land sellers without assigning responsibility to the persons responsible for the main Ministry.

Finally, we hope that when this House adopts this report, the necessary constitutional institutions and statutory bodies shall ensure that their recommendations are implemented in good time. We have gone ahead and defined which Committee of the House should follow up on implementation.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I thank you and the House for overwhelmingly supporting this Motion. I hope that the verbal support shall also translate into the votes that we are about to take at the end of this debate.

Order, Sen. M. Kajwang.’ Retreat to your seat.

I also thank everyone for the debate this afternoon. You have tried to manage the issues within the Standing Orders. Therefore, you did not make my life as difficult as I thought. The life of an umpire can be difficult when there are contestations.

Did you say the Chair was building schools?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am advised by the Whips in the House that we defer the putting of question in line with the relevant Standing Order No.61 (3) . Therefore, with your indulgence, I beg that you defer putting the question to a later date.

On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

What is it, Senate Majority Leader?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the tradition we have established in this House is that when we have a vote, we ensure that we are at least more than 24 Senators or above although the Constitution and Standing Orders do not require that. However, it is a tradition so as to avoid a technical failure of debate.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Senate Majority Whip and I have counted and we sort of have the numbers. If you can give us two minutes, we can confirm the numbers to you.

The Senate Minority Leader (Sen. Orengo) : On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

What is your point of order, Senate Minority Leader?

The Senate Minority Leader (Sen. Orengo) : Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, you had proposed to the Mover whether the vote should go on or not.

Order, Senate Majority Leader! Carry whatever transaction you are carrying in accordance with the Standing Orders.

Proceed, Senate Minority Leader.

Order Sen. Cherargei!

I also thank everyone for the debate this afternoon. You have tried to manage the issues within the Standing Orders. Therefore, you did not make my life as difficult as I thought. The life of an umpire can be difficult when there are contestations.

Before the Senate Majority Leader says what he wants to say, the Chair is not engaged in helping either side to achieve any purpose. Therefore, Senate Minority Leader, your comment about non-partisanship is a political issue between you, your counterparts and the troops you lead in this House, which the Chair is oblivious of.

What guides the Chair in a very impartial manner is the application of the rules, the Constitution and Standing Orders. For that reason, I want to clarify that---

Order, Sen. Cherargei! You are extremely disorderly. Even the courtesy we normally give the Mover to request for deferment is actually aimed at achieving the noble objective of ensuring that no agenda collapses simply because of a technicality. For that reason, having listened to both the Senate Majority Leader and the Senate Minority Leader and spent the entire afternoon transacting this important matter, the only thing that can stand between the House and voting is the technical issue of numbers, but not the political issue of mobilisation.

For that reason, could the Whips confirm whether we have the threshold? If we have, then we have to dispose this agenda, so that we can also deal with other equally important agendas that have stalled over time. Senate Majority Whip, do we have numbers?

We do not have numbers.

Senate Minority Whip, do we have numbers?

What is it, Senate Majority Leader?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I could not help because we had a small issue about the Building Bridges Initiative.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we do not have numbers. Part of the reason is that we did not alert our Members that we would vote on the Motion.

On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

What is your point of order, Senate Minority Leader? The Senate Minority Leader (

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, you had proposed to the Mover whether the vote should go on or not. (Sen. Murkomen stood up in his place)

Order, Senate Majority Leader! Carry whatever transaction you are carrying in accordance with the Standing Orders.

Proceed, Senate Minority Leader.

Order Sen. Cherargei!

Hon. Senators, you have done very well. Do not spoil the afternoon. The Senate Minority Leader shall be heard.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, during the debate, it was quite obvious in the contributions of Members that there was a bi-partisan position being taken by both sides of the House.Secondly, this determination has been made towards the tail-end of the debate on this Motion. So, in the similar fashion where some people came at the end without having participated in the debate, other people who did not participate in the debate should be given a chance to take part in voting if all we want is to vote.In this House, many times, consensus is reached on a bi-partisanship basis. If there is no agreement, like in this case, we better give both sides of the House a little time to whip Members. We let many Members go because we did not know that this determination will come at the end. Otherwise, we would have asked everybody to stay until the vote is taken. We have been working well with Sen. Murkomen. This time round, he did not warn--- If you were keen, you should have noticed that I sat with the Whip and the Senate Majority Leader. They should have told me that they have taken a position.Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg that we defer voting on this matter.

Before the Senate Majority Leader says what he wants to say, the Chair is not engaged in helping either side to achieve any purpose. Therefore, Senate Minority Leader, your comment about non-partisanship is a political issue between you, your counterparts and the troops you lead in this House, which the Chair is oblivious of.

What guides the Chair in a very impartial manner is the application of the rules, the Constitution and Standing Orders. For that reason, I want to clarify that---

Order, Sen. Cherargei! You are extremely disorderly. Even the courtesy we normally give the Mover to request for deferment is actually aimed at achieving the noble objective of ensuring that no agenda collapses simply because of a technicality. For that reason, having listened to both the Senate Majority Leader and the Senate Minority Leader and spent the entire afternoon transacting this important matter, the only thing that can stand between the House and voting is the technical issue of numbers, but not the political issue of mobilisation.

For that reason, could the Whips confirm whether we have the threshold? If we have, then we have to dispose this agenda, so that we can also deal with other equally important agendas that have stalled over time. Senate Majority Whip, do we have numbers?

We do not have numbers.

Senate Minority Whip, do we have numbers?

Order! You are off record. You have just arrived, but you were part of the---

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I could not help because we had a small issue about the Building Bridges Initiative.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we do not have numbers. Part of the reason is that we did not alert our Members that we would vote on the Motion.

On that point alone, which is the confirmation by the Whips of both sides that we do have threshold, I would not wish that this agenda collapses on a technicality of numbers. Therefore, accordingly, I direct that the Division on this matter be deferred to a later date as requested by the Mover. It is so ordered.

Thank you, Senate Majority Leader. Sen. Mwaruma, proceed.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. Pursuant to Standing Order No.48 (1) , I rise to seek a Statement from the Committee on and Environment and Natural Resources on the division of revenue obtained from mining in Taita-Taveta County between the County government and the national Government.

In the Statement the Committee should-

Very well. Sen. Mwaruma, have you made any specific request?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am in total agreement with the Senate Majority Leader that there is no rule that says that if you do not contribute to a debate, you cannot vote. In fact, we have the right to vote. What I meant is that there are those who supported this Motion, but did not know whether it

Order, Senator! The Chair has noted under our new rules that we should pursue the matter with the Chairperson.

Chairperson, would you want to say something?

Yes, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. Sen. Mwaruma happens to be a Member of the same Committee and knows the new Standing Orders. We shall do what the Committee should do together.

I hope that he will satisfy himself within the workings of the Committee.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. Pursuant to Standing Order No. 48 (1) , I rise to seek a Statement from the Standing Committee on Roads and Transportation on the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects and programmes under the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) by the Kenya railways. In the Statement, the Committee should-

Chairperson, Committee on Roads and Transportation? Is the Vice Chairperson or any Member here?

Proceed, Sen. Lelegwe.

Sen. Mwaruma.

Very well. It is so ordered. The other Statement by Sen. Dullo is deferred at her request.

November, 2018. Pursuant to Standing Order 52(1), I hereby present to the Senate, the business of the House for the week commencing Tuesday, 20th November, 2018.

On Tuesday, 20th November, 2018, the Senate Business Committee (SBC) will meet to schedule business of the Senate for the week. Subject to further directions by the SBC, the Senate will on Tuesday 20th November, 2018 consider Bills scheduled for Second Reading and those at the Committee of the Whole. The Senate will also continue with consideration of business that will not be concluded in today’s Order Paper.

On Wednesday, 21st November, 2018 and Thursday, 22nd November, 2018, the Senate will consider business that will not be concluded on Tuesday and any other business scheduled by the SBC.

quality, clean and safe water in adequate quantities, education, and social security; CONCERNED THAT the street family phenomenon has persisted despite the existence of the SFRTF and street families do not enjoy the rights enshrined in the Constitution due to lack of a national policy on the rehabilitation of street families, with women and children being the primary victims; COGNIZANT THAT the Ministry of Devolution and ASAL Areas through the SFRTF supports children and youth through charitable and community based organizations which are vetted and approved for funding under the rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration of street families programme; NOTING THAT both the national and county governments have a role to play in addressing the plight of street families across the country; NOW THEREFORE the Senate resolves that the Ministry of Devolution and ASAL Areas in collaboration with the Council of Governors:

Thank you, Senate Majority Leader. Sen. Mwaruma, proceed.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. Pursuant to Standing Order No.48 (1) , I rise to seek a Statement from the Committee on and Environment and Natural Resources on the division of revenue obtained from mining in Taita-Taveta County between the County government and the national Government.

In the Statement the Committee should-

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move that The County Allocation of Revenue (Amendment) Bill (Senate Bills No.29 of 2018) be now read a Second Time.

This House initiated amendments to the Division of Revenue Act, 2018 and the purpose was to include Ksh3.74 billion additional conditional grants to counties in the Financial Year 2018/2019 from the three development partners: The Government of Sweden, European Union (EU) and the World Bank (WB) .

The Bill---

Order, Senator. You are off record. You need to repeat that sentence.

Sen. (Eng.) Mahamud: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, The Division of Revenue Bill (Senate Bills No.14 of 2018) was considered by both Houses of Parliament and assented to by His Excellency the President on 5th October, 2018. Subsequently, The County

Order, Senator! The Chair has noted under our new rules that we should pursue the matter with the Chairperson.

Chairperson, would you want to say something?

Very well. Pursue it accordingly.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I beg to second that the County Allocation of Revenue (Amendment) Bill (Senate Bills No.29 of 2018) be read a Second Time.

This is an extremely important amendment that we are making to the earlier Bill that was passed - The County Allocation of Revenue Bill - for the reasons that have been ably shared or deliberated by my Chairperson. I do not want to repeat what he has said, but just to bring to the attention of this House that when we did public participation for this Bill, I was part of the Committee Members who sat in the Old Chamber and listened to the members of the public. Interestingly, on that day, only two gentlemen showed up before our Committee. By face value, we would have easily dismissed them as busybodies or some of those people who just show up to be a nuisance or just to listen. It was not until they engaged us that we realized that there is an increasing concern from the members of the public on what the exact position of the Senate is on matters of holding county governments to account with regards to how public funds are being spent.

The two gentlemen who appeared before us told us that they had not come to either oppose or raise issues on how the funds, such as the additional grants and loans

Chairperson, Committee on Roads and Transportation? Is the Vice Chairperson or any Member here?

Proceed, Sen. Lelegwe.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. We take note of the Statement. The Committee will meet and give our response in two weeks.

The truth of the matter is that, in future, residents of our counties will pay and want to know the person who was supposed to look and ensure that the residents got value for money. Are we not abdicating our responsibility when we allow ourselves to just come and issue statements, feel nice about it and then call it a day? Why is it that we do not get the kind of interest that we got a few minutes ago when we were discussing a matter like the report on Ruaraka, when reports of CPAIC are tabled? It should be the duty and concern of each and every of our colleague to debate the Auditor General’s reports about our counties and raise specific tangent issues.

After the passage of this Bill, can the Senate Business Committee retreat and devise a better formula than what is currently being used? We have tasted this method for the last six years and the truth of the matter is that it is not working. We need to find a better formula for holding our governors to account for them to know that, when they appear before the Senate, they are appearing before a very informed Committee that will put them to task. Once we are done with the paperwork, a Senator can then retreat to their counties to go and see what has been done.

When a governor says that they did water reticulation projects of up to “X” amount of money, the Senator can physically go to inspect those projects and see if there was value for money. If we have not done the simple oversight that can be done with pen and paper in the Senate, can we claim any form of responsibility that needs physical inspection?

I, therefore, challenge us, as a House, to pay great attention and focus to the oversight role that is expected of us, so as to ensure that funds – like these ones that we are passing for our county governments – are put into proper use. That way, our future generations can know that the Senate made a pronouncement; that they took the governors to task during the time they were in office and stood their ground when issues did not go right. That way, we, as the Senate, can finally assert ourselves and ensure that Kenyans get value for money.

Finally, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I look at the Senate as the last wall of

defence for devolution. The minute the Senate crumbles and the citizens give up on us, it will be the end of devolution. This is because when you engage many members of the public on the fruits and benefits of devolution, they generally share with you their feelings of frustration about the huge amounts that they hear counties receive. For instance, when they hear that Kericho County received Kshs6.2 billion in last financial year, they ask: “Can you physically point out where this money went to by way of specific projects that affect our daily lives?” If we, as Senators, lack answers to such questions, then we are not doing justice to the people we represent in this House.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, with those many remarks, I beg to second.

quality, clean and safe water in adequate quantities, education, and social security; CONCERNED THAT the street family phenomenon has persisted despite the existence of the SFRTF and street families do not enjoy the rights enshrined in the Constitution due to lack of a national policy on the rehabilitation of street families, with women and children being the primary victims; COGNIZANT THAT the Ministry of Devolution and ASAL Areas through the SFRTF supports children and youth through charitable and community based organizations which are vetted and approved for funding under the rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration of street families programme; NOTING THAT both the national and county governments have a role to play in addressing the plight of street families across the country; NOW THEREFORE the Senate resolves that the Ministry of Devolution and ASAL Areas in collaboration with the Council of Governors:

DEEPLY CONCERNED that some schools have also remained closed even after other schools reopened while others have been closed as a result of floods and instances of insecurity; FURTHER NOTING that closure of schools due to the said floods as well as insecurity places students and pupils in those schools at a disadvantage as they are unable to access education which is their right, while some of the students in those schools are expected to sit for their national exams at the end of the year and their performance risks being negatively affected by the lost time out of school; NOW THEREFORE, the Senate resolves that the Committee on Education investigates this matter with a view to: -

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move that The County Allocation of Revenue (Amendment) Bill (Senate Bills No.29 of 2018) be now read a Second Time.

This House initiated amendments to the Division of Revenue Act, 2018 and the purpose was to include Ksh3.74 billion additional conditional grants to counties in the Financial Year 2018/2019 from the three development partners: The Government of Sweden, European Union (EU) and the World Bank (WB) .

The Bill---

Order, Senator. You are off record. You need to repeat that sentence.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I thank Members for contributing effectively to this Bill. As I said, the aim of this Bill is to add some extra funding from three donors to support counties through conditional grants. One thing that Members have said, which is correct, is that grants are negotiated and agreed between the National Treasury and specific development partners, but we in the Senate, do not know the details.

Going forward, as a Committee, we will engage the National Treasury so that we understand the conditions of the grants. All I know is that before counties get those monies, they engage various departments of the national Government and specific donors. That is why some monies in the County Allocation of Revenue Act (CARA) are not disbursed as required to various counties, because they have to meet certain criteria before they get access to those funds.

With those remarks, I beg to reply. Pursuant to Standing Order No.61 (3) , I request that you defer putting of the question on the Bill to a later date.

The Temporary Speaker (Sen. (Dr.) Lelegwe) : Hon. Senators, I defer the putting the question on The County Allocation of Revenue (Amendment) Bill (Senate Bills No.29 of 2018) to Wednesday next week.

Hon. Senators, the rest of the Orders are deferred.

Allocation of Revenue Act, 2018 (CARA) has to be amended to reflect the funds that will be generated from these development partners.

Therefore, this amendment is important so as to regularise and facilitate the equalization of these funds by the respective beneficiary counties in the Financial Year 2018/ 2019.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the proposed allocations among the beneficiary counties has resulted in an increase in the allocation of conditional allocation as loans and grants from development partners by Kshs3.74 billion, from the current Kshs33.24 billion to Kshs36.98 billion.

The financial agreement has already been signed between the National Treasury and development partners. The programmes to be funded have been included in the proposed amendment Bill which is before the House.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the conditional grants from development partners are mainly three. The first one is Agricultural Sector Development Support Programme by the Government of Sweden that has been increased to Kshs1.005 billion. The second one is the Water Tower Protection and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaption Programme by the EU that has been increased to Kshs880 million. The last one is the Kenya Urban Support Project (KUSP) Urban instructional grant allocation of Kshs1.85 billion from the International Development Association of the World Bank.

The Agricultural Sector Development Support Programme will benefit 47 counties and be implemented through the national Government State Department of Crops Development. The Water Tower Protection and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaption programme will benefit 11 counties and be implemented in Cherangany Hills and Mt. Elgon ecosystems, and includes lakes Turkana and Victoria basins. It will also address a number of crosscutting issues such as climate change, gender equality, good governance and human rights.

As we moved on, there was need for a harmonized timeframe for this conditional allocation, so as to ensure productivity and credibility of the budget process. At the beginning, Treasury wanted us to include this money in The County Allocation of Revenue Act without being in The Division of Revenue Act, but we stood our ground and said that whatever would be in The County Allocation of Revenue Act had first of all to be enacted in The Division of Revenue Act, and that is why we are here.

The conditional allocation from loans and grants from development partners to the county governments have increased over the years. Therefore, there is need for a framework for reporting to the Senate. Currently, we do not see any framework of supporting. In fact, the reporting is only on the shared revenue, hence there must be a framework put in place. The conditional allocations by the implementing national Government Ministries must be looked at and reported on.

Noting the increased number of projects funded through conditional grants, I implore the various Standing Committees of this House to take keen interest in the implementation of projects funded by conditional grants. They should engage respective state agencies and ministries charged with implementing specific projects with a view to determine the effectiveness of discharged funds.

Last time, we heard that there were some changes in the allocation to the counties. I am glad that nothing has come to us so far. In fact, once we enact this Bill, this House should resist any amendment that will come without the support of this House. This is a very important amendment to the Bill and we should fast-track it, for these funds to be channeled to the counties because we are almost halfway into the Financial Year.

While on this Floor, I want to Report that the counties have reported receipt of some funds from the Treasury. I was told that, for now, they are about two-and-a-half months behind. Going forward, as the Committee on Finance and Budget, we will ensure that counties get the money they are supposed to get as per the Schedule that this House passed.

With those few remarks, I beg to move and I ask Sen. Cheruiyot to second.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I beg to second that the County Allocation of Revenue (Amendment) Bill (Senate Bills No.29 of 2018) be read a Second Time.

This is an extremely important amendment that we are making to the earlier Bill that was passed - The County Allocation of Revenue Bill - for the reasons that have been ably shared or deliberated by my Chairperson. I do not want to repeat what he has said, but just to bring to the attention of this House that when we did public participation for this Bill, I was part of the Committee Members who sat in the Old Chamber and listened to the members of the public. Interestingly, on that day, only two gentlemen showed up before our Committee. By face value, we would have easily dismissed them as busybodies or some of those people who just show up to be a nuisance or just to listen. It was not until they engaged us that we realized that there is an increasing concern from the members of the public on what the exact position of the Senate is on matters of holding county governments to account with regards to how public funds are being spent.

The two gentlemen who appeared before us told us that they had not come to either oppose or raise issues on how the funds, such as the additional grants and loans

that are being added to The County Allocation of Revenue Act, have been allocated. What was of concern to them was our stand, as the Committee on Finance and Budget, on the issues that they were reading in the media about governors buying palatial homes and billions of money being looted in our counties. They engaged us for about 15 minutes. We realized that there is a growing sense of desperation amongst our population.

I want to propose that during the long recess, the Senate Business Committee should rack its brain and think through our organization and the speed with which we are looking into audited books of accounts for our counties. We are still considering the 2014/2015 Financial Year. What audacity or courage can one have, as the Senator of a particular county, to go and say: “I am the person charged with the responsibility of providing oversight for the funds that are being sent to my county?”

It is something that we should be careful with, especially now that we have politics going round about the Senate being a toothless dog that people can easily do away with. I sometimes think that we are shooting ourselves in the foot by not coming out strongly. That is why when I was making my contribution earlier on to the Report that we were debating, I asked the County Public Accounts and Investments Committee (CPAIC) to give us a detailed report, like what they did for Ruaraka. They need to point out where the errors are when handling reports of audited accounts from our counties.

It is no longer an issue of CPAIC. The time has come for us to question the whole organization and whether it is prudent for us, as a House of oversight, to charge the responsibility to a group of five to 10 Senators and ask them to take charge. This is work that we should divide amongst all the 47 delegations that are in this House. I should be able to sit in the Committee that reads through the audited accounts of Kericho County, so that when I stand in a public baraza in Kericho, I know what I am speaking about. I should not just go before the Committee as a friend on the day when they have invited the governor. I should be able to interact with the report that is being brought.

I look at a county government as a company, where the governor is the chief executive officer and the Senator is the chair of the board. The Senator is the person charged with the responsibility of giving strategic direction and ensuring that the person who has the accounting powers spends the money on what it was meant for. If you set an exam in this House and ask each of our 47 Senators to give you a breakdown of the financial year that ended in 2017, how many can tell you the resource allocation to their counties? How many of them can tell you how much money their counties collected in terms of revenue, what the expenditure on remuneration was and how much went to actual development or in acquiring of assets, and yet that is a simple breakdown that any person running a business can tell you? Even mama mboga running a kiosk can tell you what it costs to run and operate her business.

Unfortunately, for us Senators, we have not risen to that level; to know that we are charged with the responsibility. Some 20 to 30 years from now, when we will be in our counties as retired politicians, people will want to know what some of these grants and debts that are being accrued by counties did. We should be able to provide the answer and do it accurately and justifiably. We should tell them that they are paying a certain amount of money because, at that time, the money was used to equip the local referral hospital or conserve the forest, like the grants that are being given here will do.

The truth of the matter is that, in future, residents of our counties will pay and want to know the person who was supposed to look and ensure that the residents got value for money. Are we not abdicating our responsibility when we allow ourselves to just come and issue statements, feel nice about it and then call it a day? Why is it that we do not get the kind of interest that we got a few minutes ago when we were discussing a matter like the report on Ruaraka, when reports of CPAIC are tabled? It should be the duty and concern of each and every of our colleague to debate the Auditor General’s reports about our counties and raise specific tangent issues.

After the passage of this Bill, can the Senate Business Committee retreat and devise a better formula than what is currently being used? We have tasted this method for the last six years and the truth of the matter is that it is not working. We need to find a better formula for holding our governors to account for them to know that, when they appear before the Senate, they are appearing before a very informed Committee that will put them to task. Once we are done with the paperwork, a Senator can then retreat to their counties to go and see what has been done.

When a governor says that they did water reticulation projects of up to “X” amount of money, the Senator can physically go to inspect those projects and see if there was value for money. If we have not done the simple oversight that can be done with pen and paper in the Senate, can we claim any form of responsibility that needs physical inspection?

I, therefore, challenge us, as a House, to pay great attention and focus to the oversight role that is expected of us, so as to ensure that funds – like these ones that we are passing for our county governments – are put into proper use. That way, our future generations can know that the Senate made a pronouncement; that they took the governors to task during the time they were in office and stood their ground when issues did not go right. That way, we, as the Senate, can finally assert ourselves and ensure that Kenyans get value for money.

Finally, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I look at the Senate as the last wall of

defence for devolution. The minute the Senate crumbles and the citizens give up on us, it will be the end of devolution. This is because when you engage many members of the public on the fruits and benefits of devolution, they generally share with you their feelings of frustration about the huge amounts that they hear counties receive. For instance, when they hear that Kericho County received Kshs6.2 billion in last financial year, they ask: “Can you physically point out where this money went to by way of specific projects that affect our daily lives?” If we, as Senators, lack answers to such questions, then we are not doing justice to the people we represent in this House.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, with those many remarks, I beg to second.

Having concluded the business of the day, it is now time to adjourn the House. The Senate, therefore, stands adjourned until Tuesday, 20th November, 2018 at 2.30 p.m.

The Senate rose at 6.30 p.m.

with the Supreme Court Advisory Opinion to the extent that The Division of Revenue Bill is an ordinary Bill and can commence either from the Senate or the National Assembly. We have, therefore, set a good precedent, which means that before there is any reduction of the money that is allocated to the counties, the first point of call is an amended Division of Revenue Bill; while the second one would be the County Allocation of Revenue Act.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, while I support the increase here, I must admit that it is extremely disappointing. We are now in November, and possibly all counties except a few, have already agreed on their budgets by this time. According to the Controller of Budget – and I have a received a letter issued to my governor on these conditional grants

Proceed, Sen. Seneta.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving me a chance to add my voice on this important County Allocation of Revenue (Amendment) Bill. The people of Kenya voted for the Constitution, 2010 because of the hope they had in devolution. Therefore, this House should stand for devolution, so that the people of Kenya can get the gains they voted for Constitution, 2010. This is because the monies we allocate to the counties and give to them must be seen to develop those counties.

However, as we speak, we have quite a number of challenges, as the hon. Senator has said. There is either delay of disbursement of monies to counties or little money is going to development in our counties. Therefore, as a House, we should make sure that the monies allocated to these counties do not only appear in the Bill and the Schedules, but actually go to the counties and develop them.

The delay by the National Treasury to give money to counties is paralysing county activities. As I speak, there are many counties which have not received funds. We are only giving counties salaries and, therefore, development is at standstill because of the delay.

When I look at this amendment of the conditional allocation to counties, I am impressed specifically by the Kenya Urban Support Project that is targeting urban infrastructure. Today, when you visit the urban areas in our counties, many of them are in problems because of poor sewerage systems, traffic jams because of narrow roads, lack of recreational facilities, such as public social halls for meetings, sports facilities such as stadiums and public toilets. Thus, the big population that is in urban areas in our counties

is suffering. Therefore, I am happy to see that an allocation of Kshs1.85 billion will go to 45 counties in our country. I will support this Bill because of this. This is the second phase of this support.

I want to believe that these grants going to the urban support projects in our counties will serve the purpose intended. These grants are coming from development partners, that is, the Government of Sweden, the European Union (EU) and the World Bank. The development partners must see the benefit of the conditional grants and loans that they give to the people of Kenya whom they intend to help. Therefore, I hope that counties will target the priorities in their urban areas and use the money for urban support projects wisely. If an urban area does not have public toilets or recreational activities, they should be given first priority. We should not just put money into roads or bus parks when other urban areas do not have sewerage systems.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, if you go Kitengela, for example, it is very populated, yet it does not have a sewerage system. Therefore, investors in exhausters get a lot of profits. Therefore, the allocation for urban support project should benefit people in the counties.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I am happy with these amendments because they propose to allocate Kshs1.5 billion to the Agricultural Sector Development Support Programme, which will go to the 47 counties. This money is intended to facilitate transformation of crops, livestock, and fisheries production into commercially oriented enterprises that ensure food and nutritional security.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for us to be food secure, we need to support farmers who are producing food. Therefore, counties should look into ways of supporting their farmers. Equally, they should look at agricultural products that will thrive in their counties. This is because we have counties where livestock has a potential to steer economic development. We also have other counties that have fish production, which can also be supported, while others have crops. Therefore, our counties should be very creative in what to support.

I am happy with Makueni County. I recently watched a programme on Smart Farm where they talked about farmers being given subsidized Artificial Insemination (AI) services and educated on value addition in the production of mangoes. Therefore, we should encourage our farmers and give them subsidies, so that our counties can be food secure.

Our counties should also look for local markets for their people. Some sections of our country, for example, the North Eastern part of Kenya, may not have a lot of maize. Therefore, we should have inter-county trade to create market for the people.

As I support this Bill, I concur with my colleagues that conditional grants should be brought at the right time, when the Budget is being made, so that when we pass it, and counties can appropriate the money in their budgets. We should not have supplementary budgets in the middle of a financial year because counties might not have allocated the monies. That is why we find counties spending money even without looking at their priorities. When you are given money that was initially not in your County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP), you may end up misappropriating it.

I also concur with my colleagues that the Senate should oversight funds that go to our counties. We should not only allocate money, but also make sure that we follow up to ensure that it is used for the functions that it was allocated for. I urge colleagues that when reports are brought to this House, we should scrutinise them to see which projects were allocated money and how much was allocated. We also need to follow up on the implementation of the projects. We should also make sure that we look at the development versus recurrent expenditure allocations. A lot of monies go to recurrent expenditure rather than development.

I support this Bill and urge colleagues to not only support it, but also make sure that we correct the delay in releasing of funds to counties.

Hon. Senators, there being no other request to contribute on the Bill, I now call upon the Mover to reply.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I thank Members for contributing effectively to this Bill. As I said, the aim of this Bill is to add some extra funding from three donors to support counties through conditional grants. One thing that Members have said, which is correct, is that grants are negotiated and agreed between the National Treasury and specific development partners, but we in the Senate, do not know the details. Going forward, as a Committee, we will engage the National Treasury so that we understand the conditions of the grants. All I know is that before counties get those monies, they engage various departments of the national Government and specific donors. That is why some monies in the County Allocation of Revenue Act (CARA) are not disbursed as required to various counties, because they have to meet certain criteria before they get access to those funds. With those remarks, I beg to reply. Pursuant to Standing Order No.61 (3) , I request that you defer putting of the question on the Bill to a later date. The Temporary Speaker (

Hon. Senators, I defer the putting the question on The County Allocation of Revenue (Amendment) Bill (Senate Bills No.29 of 2018) to Wednesday next week. (Putting of the Question on the Bill deferred) Hon. Senators, the rest of the Orders are deferred.

(Motion deferred)

Having concluded the business of the day, it is now time to adjourn the House. The Senate, therefore, stands adjourned until Tuesday, 20th November, 2018 at 2.30 p.m.

The Senate rose at 6.30 p.m.