June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Thursday, 18th June, 2015

Hon. Senators, is there any Chairperson ready with a statement? The House appears to be very empty.

On a point of order, Madam Temporary Speaker. Has it come to your notice that this House, as it is today, has neither leader of Government Business nor the leadership of the Opposition? Do you condone that kind of behaviour?

Definitely, we do not condone that kind of behaviour. As you are aware, hon. Senators are having a seminar in Mombasa. We will, however, proceed with the business of the Senate as indicated in the Order Paper.

There being no statements, we will proceed to the next order.

Where is Sen. David Musila? He does not seem to be in the House.

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Madam Temporary Speaker, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order No.45, I present the business for the coming week.

The Rules and Business Committee (RBC) will meet on Tuesday, 23rd June, 2015 at 12.00 noon to schedule business of the Senate for the week. Subject to further directions by the RBC, the Senate will consider the Natural Resources Benefits Sharing Bill, 2015, and the Tobacco Control Regulations, 2014 at the Committee of the Whole stage. The Senate will also continue with the business that will not be concluded in today’s Order Paper focusing on debates on Bills at the Second Reading stage.

On Wednesday, 24th June, 2015, subject to further directions by the RBC, the Senate will consider various Bills at the Second Reading stage, including the Reproductive Healthcare Bill, 2014 and continue with the business not concluded during Tuesday’s sittings. The Senate will consider any other business scheduled for the RBC.

On Thursday, 25th June, 2015, the Senate will consider the County Allocation of Revenue Bill 2015 at the Committee of the Whole stage and also deliberate on Motions and any other business scheduled by the RBC.

Once again, hon. Senators, I appeal to you to make yourself available to dispose of business pending before the Senate, especially the County Allocation of Revenue Bill, 2015, which will enable the county governments prepare their own budgets.

I thank you and hereby lay the statement on the Table.

Hon. Senators, I have one communication to the Senate. I am pleased to acknowledge and to welcome to the Senate this afternoon the Members and staff of Elgeyo-Marakwet County Assembly, Siaya County Assembly and Kwale County Assembly who are seated in the Speaker’s Gallery.

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Madam Temporary Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for recognising the Members of the Committee on Delegated Legislation from Elgeyo-Marakwet County.

I am happy that they are here to see that their Senator is working very hard to ensure that more resources go to Elgeyo-Marakwet and to strengthen both the Senate and the county assemblies. In the process of strengthening this House and devolution, there are no greater supporters than of MCAs from Elgeyo-Marakwet, Kwale and Siaya county

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Sen. (Prof.) Lesan, are you on a point of order or do you want to contribute?

I want to contribute, Madam Temporary Speaker.

Proceed.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I take this opportunity to thank the visiting delegation from Elgeyo-Marakwet County. A few weeks ago, we, as a Committee on Information and Technology, had the privilege to visit the county. I congratulate members of the delegation for paying us a visit.

The only one thing I wish to point out is that when we visited Elgeyo-Marakwet County Assembly, we found that every MCA is a chairman of something. I found that a bit unusual. It is an arrangement that is unique to Elgeyo-Marakwet County. I think they were advised on this arrangement by their Senator. I hope the arrangement will work for them very well and help them to serve their people diligently.

On the issue of chairmanship, some MCAs should just be members so that they are attended to by the chairman. Otherwise, I congratulate the delegation and I wish it well.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker.

Thank you. The Senate Majority Whip, Sen. Elachi.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I also take this opportunity to thank delegations from Elgeyo-Marakwet, Siaya and Kwale counties. We hope that the Senate staff will assist them to understand how to do drafting of Bills and Motions as they do their benchmarking. I also hope that they will be assisted on how to build synergies as they move on.

While all MCAs are chairmen of committees, I hope that women are also being allowed to be chairpersons. We must adhere to the two-third rule of either gender in the committees. I hope that is what they have done in their counties.

I thank and wish them well as they move to prepare the new budget. They should ensure that their budgets are within the ceilings so that they do not find themselves in trouble.

Senator for Elgeyo-Marakwet County, I can see that you have another intervention

Madam Temporary Speaker, I appreciate the appreciation by Sen. (Prof.) Lesan. However, every county has its own unique way of doing things. Not all county assemblies are as huge as Nairobi City County or other counties. Elgeyo- Marakwet County Assembly has less than 30 MCAs. That explains why almost half, not all of them, are chairpersons.

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Madam Temporary Speaker, I also wish to extend my welcome remarks to members of the Committees on Delegated Legislation from Elgeyo- Marakwet, Siaya and Kwale counties. I, the Vice Chairperson of the Committee on Delegated Legislation, could not attend the meeting because I had other urgent matters to attend to. I apologise for that.

Our sister colleagues should know that they are well represented. If they have any issues; legal or concerning gender, they are welcome and can always get in touch with us. I am sure that we will continue working together. Welcome to the Senate.

Thank you. There being no further requests to contribute on that, let us move on to the next Order.

Hon. Senators, before we take any contributions, I have a further communication to make.

Hon. Senators, I wish to recognise the presence of the students and teachers from Ng’inda Girls High School from Murang’a County who have visited the Senate, seated in the Public Gallery. As you all know, hon. Senators, the tradition of receiving and welcoming visitors to Parliament is a long time tradition and one we shall endeavor to continue upholding.

On behalf of the Senate, and on my own behalf, I extend warm welcome to the students and teachers of Ng’inda Girls High School.

Thank you.

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

The last time we had this Bill, Sen. Orengo was on the Floor and had some minutes remaining, but he is not in the House. So, I will give a chance to Sen. (Prof.) Lesan.

Madam Temporary Speaker, first, I wish to thank you for giving me the opportunity to make a contribution to this very important Bill. I also wish to congratulate my colleague Senators who have made significant comments on this Bill. This is, perhaps, one of the most important Bills that we can debate in this House. In fact, it is the yardstick Bill against which the Senators’ functions are measured.

Madam Temporary Speaker, in supporting this Bill, I want to make a few comments relating directly to the Bill itself. First, in the last session where we dealt with the Division of Revenue Bill, we have done a commendable job. This can be seen by the fact that there has not been a complaining county as regards the division of revenue. In fact, most of the counties had only complaints of inadequate funds, but there were no complaints against the neighbouring counties or any other county having unfair advantage over the other counties. This is, of course, because we dealt with the issue of division of revenue as per the formula that has been provided for doing so.

Madam Temporary Speaker, let me just take the opportunity to make one or two comments as regards the formula that we have been using, which has been quite satisfactory up to this point. This formula, perhaps, has been used only up to this stage. As we go forward, we must be careful to look at this sharing formula to avoid bringing any disagreements within the counties themselves. I am looking at a situation where in the years to come, we are going to get exploitation of natural resources in various counties in this country. In future, it is important that in sharing resources, we need to look at the resources that are accruing as a result of the mineral or petroleum resources that exist. It is important that these resources are considered when we are sharing resources, not only between the national Government and the county governments, but also between the county governments and the other neighbouring county governments.

I know that there will be royalties that will remain in the counties that have explored resources. However, it is important to consider the neighbouring counties to those counties that may be very fortunate to have natural resources. This will ensure that we do not create conflict in counties that neighbour each other as a result of differences in

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Hon. Senators, even though it is not in the tradition of the House, I will accept the passionate plea by Sen. Orengo to be allowed to conclude his contribution. He had six minutes.

Proceed, Senator and do not repeat that again.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I am sorry. Looking at the Business of the House, I did not think that my turn to contribute will come so fast. I appreciate your generosity for giving me this opportunity.

First of all, before I pick up from where I left yesterday, I wish to appreciate the fact that you have already introduced to the House the delegation from Siaya. As the Senator for Siaya County, I also appreciate the delegation.

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Hon. Senators, we are considering a very important Bill, kindly consult in low tones.

Proceed, Sen. Murkomen.

Madam Temporary Speaker, thank you for giving me this opportunity to make my contributions to the County Allocation of Revenue Bill 2015. I am a very proud contributor of the County Allocation of Revenue Bill 2015, knowing very well that our contributions make a difference. There is no other year that we have robustly fought for our responsibility in the Division of Revenue Bill which has transited to being what we are seeing in the Allocation of Revenue Bill.

Last year, my county got about Kshs2.8 billion. Under the equitable sharing allocation, this year, Elgeyo-Marakwet County will get Kshs3.2 billion. In addition, with regard to the Second Schedule on conditional allocation, we will be getting Kshs93 million as the County Emergency Fund (CEF) . This would never have been anywhere

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Thank you, Sen. Murkomen. Please, proceed, Sen. Hargura.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I would like to join my colleagues in supporting this important Bill, which forms one of the main functions of this House. As we debate this Bill, we have to know that at least this time round, we had our way in making sure that unlike the first years. We made a difference in the Division of Revenue Bill stage, so that what we are sharing is out of what we have worked to make sure that the counties get their allocation. I would also like to say that the formula that was used in this Bill was the old formula. Although we had the opportunity of coming up with a new formula, we still insisted on using the old formula because the new one was detrimental to most of the counties.

However, that does not mean that we have to stop there. We need to have that formula reviewed, so that more weight is given to the factors which will advocate for more equitable sharing than it is now. The equitable share was at least shared using that formula and there is no much problem with it. However, when we come to the conditional funds; first, it is very clear that we have several items under conditional funds, like the Level 5 hospitals, which do not benefit most of the counties. They only benefit 11 counties. We need to upgrade hospitals in other counties, so that they also benefit from this conditional share.

If Kshs4.29 billion is allocated for free maternity care, please, go ahead and make it easy for this service to be available. The way that it has been shared also, we need to ensure that counties get at least enough funding in this area. Initially we knew very well that women were not able to access these facilities. If they are available now, then funding should not be an inhibition to them getting these benefits. These allocations also need to be increased to make sure that as the medical facilities grow due to investments by the county government, the funding for free maternity is improved.

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to make a few remarks on the County Allocation of Revenue Bill 2015. You will recall that just before this Bill, this House passed the Division of Revenue Bill, 2015, with amendments. That is the Bill which vertically divided resources between the national Government and county governments. You will also recall that the Senate proposed that we increase the amounts by Kshs7 billion to support heath care in county governments through referral hospitals and also deal with emergencies that occur in our counties.

Our good intentions in passing that Bill were misrepresented. It has been a major source of controversy between the National Assembly and the “Upper House”. I am particularly very pained by the rejection of the National Assembly of the Kshs1 billion which had been allocated to the Senate for implementing its mandate under Article 96 of the Constitution – to provide oversight for the funds that the Senate has made it possible to be transferred from the national resources to counties.

Madam Temporary Speaker, it is like the National Assembly said, okay, give them all the money, but do not worry how that money will be spent. As the Chairperson of the ad-hoc Committee on Monitoring, Evaluation and Oversight which negotiated the Kshs1 billion for the Senate, that was a great insult to Members of this Sub-committee. I believe the decision to deprive the Senate of that money was influenced by some dark anti-devolution forces who do not want devolution to succeed in Kenya. It is more unfortunate because the decision itself is unconstitutional, illegal, immoral and, indeed, made in bad faith. Given the rush with which the amendment was made, it leaves the Senate in a situation which I would call “high and dry”.

However, this is not the end of that story. I think it was Wole Soyinka, the renowned African poet, who said that the man dies in every person who keeps silent in the face of tyranny. We, the men and women in the Senate, will be considered dead if we keep quiet in the face of injustice which has been done by that Mutava Musyimi Committee. I will not sit in this House and allow the Senate to be destroyed before my very own eyes. I was not here on Monday when the Motion was unanimously carried by the Senate, but I take this earliest opportunity to record my support for that Motion.

For those who read the Bible, there was a time when the people of Israel had been taken into captivity and they felt very low. However, I remember one of the prophets

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. Would I be in order if I were to propose that Sen. Murungi is asking the wrong institution to carry out civic education when we know that the Ministry of Devolution and Planning is carrying huge quantities of money which should be allocated either to the Senators at the county level or institutions elected by the Senators so that the country can be educated with regard to the role of the Senator? The money is there. Let us not think that the Senator should spare some money for civic education.

This money has been given to Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) which are using that money in little hotels calling the same individuals day in, day out, distributing that money to the same individuals. These are the same individuals; they started working with from January to December in the same little hotels instead of carrying out civic education. Would I be in order to propose that the Committee on Devolution asks the Cabinet Secretary responsible for devolution to come to this Senate and explain to us how the money for devolution, particularly money for civic education is being used?

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

I think that was a point of information and not a point of order.

Proceed, Sen. Murungi.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I appreciate the point of information which has been given to me by Sen. Kagwe. If there are those funds out there for civic education, then they should be utilized properly. I think civics means governance institutions. Those funds should have been brought and made available for the Senate to explain its role in our society.

In addition to that, we are the ones who are wearing the shoe and the ones who feel the pinch. The Senate has a duty to go out there and explain that the role of the Senator is to mobilize resources for the counties and oversight those funds. It is not our role to build classrooms, do harambees and roads. Ours is simply to talk and see the necessary people, provide necessary policies to ensure that enough resources are transferred from the national Government to the counties.

Thank you.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I stand to oppose the County Allocation of Revenue Bill (Senate Bill No.5 of 2015) . In English, they say that no good house is built on a bad foundation. No good house ever will.

Madam Temporary Speaker, we are here to defend the interests of counties. I am not at all in any doubt about what my role is. I cannot be a Member of this Senate who simply appreciate patch work. Literally, from the time we allocated revenue to this point where we are renegotiating this Bill, the Senate has always had to settle for second class.

I opposed the revenue formula. I also opposed the Division of Revenue Bill. I am now duty bound because of the oppressive nature of the formula for allocation of revenue or the division of revenue. If the formula for division of revenue is not fair, then the formula for allocation of revenue cannot be fair.

Madam Temporary Speaker, our Constitution is very succinct. In the preamble, it says:-

“Recognising the aspirations of all Kenyans for a government based on the essential values of human rights, equality, freedom, democracy, social justice and the rule of law.”

Madam Temporary Speaker, social justice is a value of the Constitution. Article 10 (2) (b) of the Constitution states that:-

“The national values and principles of governance include human dignity, equity, social justice, inclusiveness, equality, human rights, non-discrimination and protection of the marginalised.”

Madam Temporary Speaker, when you talk about equity, then the formula on the division or allocation of revenue is extremely not good. The CRA continues to carry out the same miscarriages of the past by agreeing to a formula that is applied in a blanket way across counties. That is why, today in Kenya, people have the audacity to ask why Turkana is getting more money than their county which is more populous. That was the whole idea of devolution yet we must do more.

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Order, Sen. Hassan. Do you mean that I am not within the gender frequency?

You are a very gender sensitive Senator who agitates for women rights. Last time, I saw you agitating for women rights. I have not seen you pronouncing very clearly on the one-third gender rule. However, sooner than later, we will pronounce ourselves on the matter.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, look at what the Bill of Rights talks about. We keep celebrating it as the most elaborate Bill of Rights in the world. This should not just be rhetoric. Chapter Four of the Constitution is; The Bill of Rights. The first provision of the Chapter states that:-

“The Bill of Rights is an integral part of Kenya’s democratic state and is the framework for social, economic and cultural policies.”

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, if that is the case, how have we protected the rights of Kenyans who are most vulnerable? That should be through the Budget Policy Statement (BPS) . Initially, before I joined Parliament, I thought that BPS meant your “blood pressure.” How has the BPS addressed the issue of human rights in terms of how have we protected the marginalised, the most vulnerable in our society and people who are most disenfranchised? How have we made sure that they have access to food, shelter and other basic amenities so that we put dignity into their lives?

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Order! Order! You cannot talk forever.

Sen. Machage, thank you for alerting me.

On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. Have you just rewarded Sen. (Dr.) Machage with the Floor just because he alerted you?

Order! It is possible that he alerted me because he knew that he was the next in line.

Proceed.

On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I rose to speak at

Order, Sen. Hassan! You are eating into another person’s time. You stood to speak at 3.55 p.m. and the Chair here has an automatically timed system. When you start speaking, it counts from 15 going down.

Sen. (Dr.) Machage, proceed.

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Bw. Spika wa Muda, sijui wivu ni wa nini nikitaka kuongea. Niachieni nafasi niongee kwa sababu ni wakati wangu. Niko na mengi ya kusema.

Mswada huu ni muhimu na ni wajibu wetu kuusoma vile ulivyo na kupendekeza mawazo yetu. Kukataa kutia maanani yalio katika Mswada huu ni hasira za mkizi kwa sababu utakuwa umeuwacha wajibu wako. Tunajua kwamba hasira za mkizi ni furaha ya kunguru.

Bw. Spika wa Muda, hawa wawili walioko mbele yangu wana kelele na wananikera nikiongea. Tafadhali nisaidie.

Order, Sen. Wako and Sen. Omar. Sen! Even Sen. (Dr.) Machage is unable to hear himself.

Proceed.

Bw. Spika wa Muda, asiye na mvi wakati mwingine hana hekima.

Sen. Machage, wawili hawa wako na mvi.

Wamepaka rangi, Bw. Spika wa Muda. Sura ya kwanza ya Mswada huu inatupatia stakabadhi ambayo inatuonyesha mgao wa pesa ikitumia mfumo fulani kwa kaunti zote ili kuhakikisha mgao ni sawa. Sura ya pili inatupatia nyongeza kutoka kwa Serikali kuu. Mgao wa tatu unahusu mikopo na misaada.

Migao hii imefanywa kulingana na sheria, hasa Kipengele 218 cha Katiba ya Kenya ambacho kinatupa wajibu wa kuyafanya hayo wakati huo. Lakini baada ya mgao kutoka kwa Bunge la Kitaifa lililogawa na kusema sisi tupate pesa chache; karibu asimilia 15 ya mapato ya Serikali na nyingine asimilia 85 ya pesa zibaki kwa Serikali Kuu. Utapata kwamba kaunti zote zitapata chini ya Ksh300 bilioni. Pesa hizi ni kama za kugharamia shughuli za Wizara ya Ulinzi wa Kitaifa. Si haki, lakini hivyo ndivyo ilivyo. Ni wajibu wetu kugawa hizi pesa kwa serikali zote za kaunti. Lakini hata baada ya kugawa pesa hizi, wengine, hasa magavana hujitapa wakisema: “Mimi nimetoa hiki,” na kumsahau mama aliyetoa maziwa hayo wanayoyanywa. Tunatoa hizi pesa ziende mashinani zikasimamiwe na magavana kwa ajili ya ujenzi, maendeleo, malipo ya wafanyikazi na kadhalika kwa njia ya haki isiyo ya mapendeleo pasipo na wizi wala ufidhuli.

Bw. Spika wa Muda, lakini ukiangalia mgao wa mwaka wa kwanza na wa pili, ukitazama Migori Kaunti, kwa mfano, mwaka wa 2014/2015 walipata mgao wa Kshs5 bilioni. Mwaka huu tumetengewa zaidi ya Kshs6.2 bilioni. Pesa hizi zitatumika kuendeleza maendeleo katika kaunti yetu. Wito wangu ni kwamba pesa hizi zitumike vizuri kwa mpango uliopo na kuzingatia ndoto zetu. Hii ni Kwa sababu serikali nyingi za kaunti hizitumii pesa zao kwa njia ya uadilifu.

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this Bill which we have looked at very carefully in the Committee on Finance, Commerce and Budget. I share the sentiments of Sen. Hassan and the frustrations that he has expressed in this House, but as a Member of the Committee on Finance, Commerce and Budget, I am bound by collective responsibility to support the Bill in the House, although, I have a lot of misgivings about how we have arrived at the figure of Kshs285 billion to allocate to the counties.

Out of a budget of Kshs2 trillion, given the provisions of the Fourth Schedule and the fact that in this House, we have always said that resources should follow functions. If you carefully look at the Fourth Schedule and the functions that are performed by the national and the county governments, you will find that 35 functions in the Fourth Schedule are allocated to the national Government. This is an exercise that I have involved myself in. In part 1 of that Schedule, 18 of those functions are purely policy making functions.

In other words, they are functions that require governmental bureaucracy to make policy not to go out in the field and implement those policies. Those policies are made for implementation mainly by the county governments. For example, function number 28 on health policy, 29 on agriculture policy and 30 on veterinary policy means that when

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

I think it is the Sixth Schedule, paragraph 17 or 18.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, thank you; you are right. It is the Sixth Schedule. I want to be on record on the HANSARD because this is very important.

There is a reason I am saying this. This is because having been a Member of the Committee on Devolved Government, under the chairmanship of the able Temporary Speaker there; I left so that my sister, Sen. Ong’era, could take the position having been exiled to the Pan African Parliament (PAP) . Section 17 of the Sixth Schedule says very clearly, I want to read it, so that it is on record because these things are very important.

“Provincial Administration Within five years after the effective date, the national government shall restructure the system of administration commonly known as the provincial administration to accord with and respect the system of devolved government established under this Constitution.”

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I think that the effective date was sometimes in 2010 and it is 2015 today. Five years are over. I remember that in our first meeting with the Cabinet Secretary for Ministry of Devolution and Planning, Ms. Waiguru, it is I who asked her:- “Madam, Cabinet Secretary, when are you giving us a Sessional Paper telling us exactly how the Government is going to implement this particular article in the Sixth Schedule?” She said that she would do it soon.

I am no longer a Member of that Committee, but I do not think that the Sessional Paper has seen the light of the day. In the meantime, that Ministry is performing functions it should not be performing. What has the Ministry of Devolution and Planning got to do with the National Youth Service (NYS) ? If I remember well, the NYS should be either in the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government or if it is an educational thing, it should be in the Ministry of Education.

If I remember the original philosophy behind the NYS, it is a service in which people coming from high schools or even universities could go and get certain practical skills that they could use either as individuals or in groups when they are out there in life. However, that is not what is happening.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I think that this is of great concern to Kenyans because we would like governmental structure and systems to follow the Constitution. We all swore to support this Constitution and it is important that we do that. I am glad that we are going to interrogate the system of budgeting and looking at how these divisions of functions are being operationalised in the budget making system. I think that for the next budget, we should start very early and ensure that we cost functions and work with the necessary governmental agencies in costing these functions in detail before such a Bill is brought to this House. It should not be an exercise in futility but in reality.

The other thing that we need to do and this is with regard to the counties, is that if we are going to put a budget for a programme like irrigation, for example, the requirement for irrigation in a place like Turkana County is obviously much higher than

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Your time is up. Please proceed Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I join my colleagues who have supported the County Allocation of Revenue Bill (Senate Bill No. 5 of 2015) . This is because it is what is now going to release the funds that the governors have been waiting for in order to build the counties. Right now, the governors and their teams are waiting for these funds. The moment their hands land on these funds, you will see a lot of flurry of activities rotating around one man, because I know there is no woman who is a governor. They forget where the money has come from and what it has taken.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, let me revisit the total budget that has just been passed last week by the National Assembly and was assented to, which was about Kshs

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Asante sana, Bw. Spika wa Muda, kwa kunipa nafasi hii ili niunge mkono Mswada huu wa ugawaji wa hela kwa serikali za kaunti 47. Hakuna kisicho na kasoro isipokuwa Mwenyezi Mungu, na Mswada huu wa ugavi wa pesa katika mashinani pia una kasoro fulani ambazo ingekuwa vizuri zichambuliwe kwanza kabla ya kuupitisha.

Pesa tunazopeleka mashinani ni pesa nyingi sana; Kshs259 billioni. Tunawaeleza magavana kwamba pesa hizi si zao. Inafaa wakae wakijua kwamba pesa hizi ni za wananchi waliowachagua katika zile kaunti. Lakini kunao mtindo ambao tunauona hivi sasa, ambao unaendelea mpaka kila mtu katika kaunti, hivi sasa ukimuuliza atakueleza kwamba pesa zinazokuja mashinani ni pesa za gavana ilhali pesa hizi ni za wananchi. Majukumu haya yako kwa wananchi wenyewe kuangalia pesa hizi ambazo tunazipeleka katika mashinani ikiwa zinafanya ile kazi inayotakikana. Kama hazitumiki kiusawa, wana jukumu kama wananchi kusema kwamba pesa hizi zinazokuja mashinani hazitumiki sawa sawa kwa maana tunaona mtafaruku. Wananchi wanalalamika kwamba Maseneta wamenyamaza huku pesa zinatumika vibaya. Hili sio jukumu la Seneta peke yake bali pia ni jukumu la wananchi wenyewe wanaotengewa zile pesa.

Bw. Spika wa Muda, pia katika ugavi wa hizi pesa, tunasema kwamba Bunge za kaunti zitengewe pesa za kutosha ambazo zitawawezesha kujikimu na kuongeza ujuzi katika vikao vya kutembelea bunge zingine. Hii ni kwa sababu serikali ya mashinani inaangaliwa, hasa zaidi na Seneti. Kama nilivyosema hapo awali, katika mengi mazuri yaliyoko hapa, hakukosi kasoro. Sisi kama Wakenya tunasema kila siku kwamba Kenya ni moja, sisi ni watu wamoja au ndugu mmoja. Lakini ukiangalia zaidi, ugawanyaji wa

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Order.

consulted with the Clerks-at-the-Table)

Asante sana, Bw. Spika wa Muda, kwa kunipa nafasi HII ili nichangie Mswada ambao umeletwa katika Seneti kuhusu Ugawaji wa Rasilmali. Nilikuwa nikiangalia na kusoma kwa undani kuhusu vile pesa katika nchi hii zimegawa ili zitumike katika serikali za kaunti. Neno moja ambalo ningependa kuwambia viongozi katika kaunti zetu ni kwamba waangalie jinsi pesa hizo zitatumika. Najua kuwa sisi sote tuna haja ya kuhakikisha kwamba pesa hizo zimetumika vizuri kwa manufaa ya wananchi wa Kenya.

Nawaambia viongozi kule mashinani; wakilishi wa wadi wanaojulikana kama Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) ambao walichaguliwa na wananchi kuwa hizi ni pesa ambazo tunakusanya kutoka kwa wananchi wa Kenya katika Serikali yetu ya Kenya. Wananchi wanangoja pesa hizo zitumike kwa njia ambayo itawanufaisha.

Tunajua kwamba katika nchi yetu ya Kenya kilimo kinachangia sana katika maendeleo ya taifa letu. Watu wengi katika nchi yetu ya Kenya wanashiriki kilimo cha aina mbali mbali. Kuna wale wanakuza mahindi, pareto na viazi. Pia, kuna wafugaji wa ng’ombe. Watu hawa wanafaa kushughulikiwa sana. Kwa hivyo, magavana na serikali za kaunti zinafaa kutumia pesa za wananchi kwa njia ambayo itawafaidi.

Mswada huu umetaja mambo ya watoto mayatima, wajane na hata wazee. Pesa zikifika katika kaunti vikundi hivi vinafaa kufaidika. Mara nyingi pesa ambazo zinawalenga mayatima haziwafikii. Hivi sasa, kuna mayatima ambao wako nyumbani kwa sababu ya ukosefu wa karo. Kama asilimia 30 inafaa kuwafikia wananchi. Ninashangaa kwa nini asilimia 70 inabaki kwenye kaunti. Ningefurahia sana kama asilimia 40 au 50 ingeenda kwa maendeleo kwa sababu inalenga wananchi wengi. Jukumu la viongozi ni kuhakikisha kwamba pesa zimewatumikia wananchi vile inatakikana.

Bw. Spika wa Muda, ningependa pia kugusia vile pesa zinatumika. Utashangaa kuona pesa ambazo kaunti imepewa zikirudishwa katika Hazina kuu kwa sababu ya sheria zinazohusu matumizi ya pesa, ilhali wananchi kule mashinani wanaumia. Kwa hivyo, mipango na sheria za matumizi ya pesa zinafaa kuzingatiwa ipasavyo. Kwa mfano, ikisemekana kwamba Kaunti ya Nakuru inafaa kupata Ksh7 bilioni, ambazo zikitumika vizuri wananchi watasaidika, pesa hizo zinafaa kutumika ipasavyo. Kwa hivyo, natoa mwito kwa viongozi wote katika kaunti zote kuhakikisha kwamba wakati pesa zinapowafikia zinatumika kwa njia inayofaa ili Wakenya waweze kunufaika.

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to make my contribution to the County Allocation of Revenue Bill, 2015, which I support.

Even as I support this Bill, I am very saddened to see the manner in which the counties are spending these resources. Specifically, I am saddened in terms of how the procurement policy in the counties is being effected. You will find that in many counties today, there are so many briefcase contractors. You will find that the very officers who are working in the counties, who we have entrusted with these resources, are actually the owners of these briefcase contractors.

As we approve the allocation of this money, we want to see a clear procurement policy in the counties. There should be equitable allocation of resources. We know that there is a requirement that 30 per cent of the contracts awarded are reserved for women. I am yet to see a county where women have actually benefited from those contracts. What is happening is that, indeed, there could be names of women during the tendering, but the real owners of those contractors are neither women nor persons with disabilities. That clearly indicates where this money is going.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I would like to see the officers, who are also the briefcase contractors, being arrested. There should be a clear policy on how to deal with corruption in the counties. We want to see clearly how the counties are spending their revenue. We are yet to see how much revenue has been generated from the counties. I read the report where the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) was actually complaining that the fees or revenues, which are being generated from the counties, cannot be accounted for.

We do not want just to be giving money from the national Government without seeing a clear policy and how revenue is being generated in the counties. We do not want to see counties returning money to the national Government. There is no use for us fighting so hard, including allocating an additional Kshs3 billion to the counties - the distinguished Senators have actually been made the sacrificial lambs by losing their Kshs1 billion – then we find at the end of the financial year, the governors returning money back to the national Government.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I want to speak about Nairobi City County which received the highest allocation in the current and last financial years. I was saddened to

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June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I register my support for this Bill. The County Allocation of Revenue Bill is one of the greatest moments for the Senate because we are discussing an important Bill that ensures that the monies that we allocated through the Division of Revenue Bill gets to our counties.

This year, the County Allocation of Revenue Bill comes at a time when we have had a very protracted dispute between this House and the National Assembly in the passage of the Division of Revenue Bill. I am proud that though we lost the Kshs1 billion allocated to the Senate to carry out oversight, which led to an increase of Kshs.3.3 billion to the counties. I am excited that all the speakers on this particular matter made it clear that as Senators, we are willing to pay the cost of ensuring that we support devolution in this country.

However, it is important to note that as we send these resources to counties, the county governments have to be genuine and honest in the utilization of these resources. A lot of things have been said. This is one of the ways through which the Senate carries out its mandate of sending monies to counties.

It is absurd to find sometimes that county government staff, Members of County Assemblies and even governors questioning the responsibility of this House knowing

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June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I rise pursuant to the Standing Orders No. 54 (3) . Looking at the House, we have insufficient delegations. I, therefore, request you to kindly consider putting of the Question on the County Allocation of Revenue Bill (Senate Bill No. 5 of 2015) to Tuesday next week.

It is so ordered.

Next order!

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Sen. Sijeny, are you ready to reply?

Is there somebody who wants to contribute? Please, proceed Sen. Ong’era.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to also make my contribution to this Bill. From the outset, let me state that I would like to congratulate my sister, Sen. Sijeny, for being very brave to bring this Bill to the House. I know that this Bill has received a lot of negative vibes, but I am very pleased to see that finally it was brought to the House and Sen. Sijeny stood the test of time to help many women who cannot speak about these issues.

The Reproductive Health Care Bill (Senate Bill No. 17 of 2014) is supposed to help all of us be it men or women. There are many myths that people have said about this Bill. Some said that it is the “Condom Bill” and others said that it was a Bill meant to make sure that our young children in schools take contraceptives. All these are myths that were brought about for lack of understanding with regard to what the intention of the Bill is.

This is one of the Bills that will help us in having an effective family planning way and will save many lives. There are hundreds of women who have been disadvantaged and do not have access to family planning services and information in this country. However, I know that through this Bill, some of these issues will be addressed.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this Bill will contribute enormously in having a framework particularly, on the area where we have not dealt with clearly, on the reproductive area. Many women, especially those who have infertility issues have no clear policy to assist and guide them. There has been a myth that this Bill is supposed to help women procure unnecessary abortions. However, we are all aware that there are constitutional provisions with regard to the regime of how and when a woman can procure an abortion. This Bill goes ahead to provide for proper safeguards against which a woman can procure an unsafe abortion, by prohibiting termination of pregnancy on demand and providing that termination of pregnancy should only be carried out if there is a trained healthy care professional.

This myth made many of the churches think that this Bill provides for abortion.

What is it, Sen. Sang?

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. The Senator indicated initially that there were a lot of myths that have been peddled against this Bill. However in her contributions, she mentioned something about procurement of abortions. I wonder if that is what is really captured within the legislation.

Order, Sen. Sang. Can you be very attentive and listen to the contributors? I would order that you look for the HANSARD immediately to relook at what Sen. Ong’era has been talking about. I do not have to comment further than that.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for coming to my aid. I request the distinguished Senator for Nandi County, whom I have high esteem for, to listen to what I am saying.

Order, Sen. Ong’era. I have already ordered on that.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this Bill, appreciates the need to help couples who cannot have their own children, due to medical reasons for one reason or the other, to utilize the available assisted reproductive technologies to bear children. As a lawyer, I can tell you that it is very important to have legislation that guides us around these new reproductive technologies; that we are able to know when a surrogate mother can claim that the child is hers.

We need to have a regime of law that can govern this new reproductive technology, so that people do not fight or kill each other when the biological mother claims that because she bore the child in her womb for nine months, that child is hers, yet she was a surrogate mother. These regimes are necessary and, therefore, this Bill goes a long way in establishing clear legislation that can help us in these issues.

With those remarks, I beg to support this Bill greatly and once again congratulate Sen. Sijeny for being very brave in presenting it before this august House.

I see no other interests. I, therefore, call upon Sen. Sijeny to reply. Please come to the dispatch box

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for guiding me to come here just in case I need to refer. I can see that Sen. Sang is in the mood of points of order.

I wish to thank my colleagues who have supported me in so many ways, especially those who have contributed to this noble and important Bill; starting with Sen. (Prof.) Anyang'- Nyong'o, who seconded the Bill, as well as you, The Temporary Speaker, who also contributed, Sen. (Prof. Lesan) , Sen. (Dr.) Zani, Sen. Obure, Sen. M.

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

What is it, Sen. Sang?

On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. Am I in order to request that Sen. Sijeny also gives a list of those people who supported the Bill by giving her moral support, good will and drummed up support for this even in the media? This is because she has just given the names of the people who contributed to the Motion, appreciated them and left out those of us who supported it.

Sen. Sang, that would be your wish if you were seconding. Sen. Sijeny has her own pattern of how to present the conclusion of her Bill at this stage. I would rather you hold your horses and give her the opportunity to present it. She may wish to thank whomever you have in mind, but she may not have the list that you have in mind in hers at all.

Please, proceed, Sen. Sijeny.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. All the Senators have indeed given me assistance here and there, advice; legal, medical, professional, some cultural---

Maybe mention Sen. Sang in person.

Sen. Sang, the Senator for Nandi County, has given me tremendous support and advice so often, and so has Sen. Murkomen, who walked away, as well as the Senate Majority Leader, Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki. Even as we were outside, we were debating on the same Bill, to make sure that all that Sen. Ong’era talked about, the so called myths, are no longer brought on board. That misinterpretation and some other things were just malicious.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the Committee on Health has taken me through it all. They were there with me during the first public hearing. We have scrutinized the Bill left, right and centre and it has gone through a lot of proposals. There are few amendments which, of course, do not change the main object of the Bill, which I received from the Senate and other stakeholders. Now that I am in the process of appreciating the people who have assisted me, there are other stakeholders who also contributed tremendously to this Bill.

Order, Sen. Sang! Do you know what you have just done?

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Mr. Temporary, Sir, special thanks go to the Kenya Medical Women Association (KMWA) who showed a lot of interest in this Bill, shaped it up, and helped me understand medical issues. They are the people who dealt with it hands on, came in and supported it. They helped me reach other stakeholders like the inter-religious groups, Ministry of Health, other associations within the medical fraternity like the Nurses’ Association and others.

The Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV/AIDS (KELIN) , Pharmaceutical Society of Kenya (PSK) also supported this Bill tremendously. The Department of the Reproductive Health Network within the Ministry of Health also assisted a lot. The Kenya Medical Association (KMA) , Kenya Health Care Federation (KHCF) , the Association of Medical Engineering of Kenya (AMEK) , Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) , National Nurses Association of Kenya (NNAK) , Reproductive Health Rights Alliance (RHRA) , the personnel of the Nairobi Hospital and the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) for supporting and disseminating the Bill to all the lawyers within the country.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we have also held several meetings with other stakeholders who are basically religious or faith based. That is, within the World Youth Alliance (WYA) who were accompanied by their lawyers, Lumumba and Lumumba Associates who arranged a meeting between the Kenya Medical Women Association (KMWA) and Inter-Religious Council of Kenya (IRCK) . In the meeting with IRCK, all members comprising of religions from every corner of the country were present. The Pulse and Trustees, National Council of Churches in Kenya (NCCK) , the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM) , Seventh Day Adventist Church (SDA) , Evangelical Association of Kenya (EAK) , Christian Association of Kenya (CAK) , Kenya Women of Faith Network (KWFN) , Organization of African Instituted Churches (OAIC) .

Those are just a few. The list is not exhaustive because I receive e-mails, telephone calls and messages to do with this Bill. The Catholic Church even sent its bishops who already had the Bill in soft copy with the necessary amendments which have helped us in various chapters in this Bill. I appreciate all of them.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this tells me that the whole country and the world realised that we have problems or issues to address within the reproductive health world. When I presented this Bill in New York in the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) conference, I received a standing ovation. It is because they recognised that Kenya is moving ahead of many countries. They recognised the fact that we have appreciated and that we are coming up with a proper reproductive healthcare Bill that will safeguard the lives of all Kenyans and other people living within Kenya.

During the last debate, I received feedback on the issues of the need to train health professionals. I assure Kenyans that if this Bill is enacted and implemented, only trained medical professionals who are registered – it is defined within the Bill – will attend to Kenyans and ensure their safety.

In dealing with the Chapter on the termination of pregnancy, I am using your feedback where you had proposed an amendment to ensure that only trained medical

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June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

It is so ordered. Next Order!

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

If there is no other Senator interested in contributing, I call upon the Mover to reply.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I rise to support this Motion by Sen. (Prof.) Anyang’-Nyong’o. Of particular interest is the composition of the of the membership that was identified where I note with concern – this is so that in future we make amends – that out of the 11 Members, four of them are Chairpersons of Standing Committee and four of them are Vice Chairpersons of Standing Committees and three are ordinary. People who are already laden with work should not be given more strenuous work in future. I just wanted to mention this so that in future as we compose other ad hoc committees, we also pay attention to this fact.

I support.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I wish to support this Motion. I thank Sen. (Prof.) Anyang'-Nyong'o for bringing it. I am aware that very many Kenyans have invested heavily in the Kenya Airways. Many people have bought shares in the Kenya Airways. Some who have passed through my office; many orphans have been left with only the shares which they inherited from their families. For someone to be careless to let the Kenya Airways to sink, that would mean that the future of very many Kenyans would sink.

I urge the Government to be very careful and look at all the issues about why the Kenya Airways is not doing well. We have seen the Government putting in a lot of effort; like what it did for Uchumi Supermarkets when they were sinking. It did everything to ensure that the supermarkets stay afloat. Why is the Kenya Airways being treated differently? What are the other airlines affiliated to the Kenya Airways? I do not know how the Jambo Airlines and many others could have been affiliated to the Kenya Airways. This is not something which happened without somebody knowing. This was an intentional thing. I support the team and urge it not to leave any stone unturned in order to protect Kenyans.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I beg to support.

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Very well. Professor? Sen. (Prof.) Anyang'-Nyong'o, there is no other professor here.

Could I move to the Dispatch Box, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir?

Yes, you may move to the Dispatch Box.

Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to reply to the wonderful debate that we have had in this House regarding the Motion that I moved; paying attention to what is happening to the Kenya Airways.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I must thank many Senators who contributed to this Motion; my two colleagues, Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo, Sen. Sijeny, Sen. Kagwe, Sen. Mositet and many others in this House who have made wonderful contributions on the Motion. The essence of the Motion is to save a very serious situation.

I was, recently, flying from Dakar, Senegal to Nairobi. First, I flew from Nairobi to Dakar and then from Dakar back to Nairobi using the Kenya Airways. As we were flying out from Dakar, I saw an Ethiopian Airlines’ huge plane that looked like a Dreamliner. It must have had double the passengers that the Kenya Airways had.

I thought that if the Kenya Airways had dominated the West African route for a long time, how come we were in a 777; a very old plane? The plane was either 777 or 737 yet the Ethiopian Airlines had such a big plane. When I got on the plane, I noticed that the chair I was in the business class could not recline. My colleague next to me had the same experience. He remarked that; “next time I fly this route, I will use the Ethiopian Airlines.” I then called the air stewards who were with us. I asked them why they had put on that route, a very lucrative route, such a plane which had denied us the market. They were basically tongue-tied.

Therefore, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, something has gone wrong with the Kenya Airways and we should look into it. As the Motion states, there are six key issues that we must look into. The first one is about the leasing and buying arrangements of aircrafts since 1966 that the Kenya Airways has engaged in. A lot of documents that have been brought to my office indicate that there is a lot to be desired in the leasing arrangement that the Kenya Airways has engaged in. The Kenya Airways has gone to the extent of leasing ordinary equipment that it should own because it makes much more sense to own the equipment. However, we have to look into these issues.

Secondly, the possibility that the management could actually be doing business with the airline it runs results to conflict of interest. It is something which is unconstitutional and needs to be looked into.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the third thing, which is extremely important, is that we know that in developing counties one of the things that bedevil public institutions is

June 18th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

This is not a county matter. I will, therefore, put the question.

Hon. Senators, pursuant to Standing Order No. 32 (1) and taking cognizant of the fact that Senators have had to catch early flights to Mombasa for an important mission, I will interrupt the business of this House. We shall all stand. The Senate, therefore, stands adjourned until Tuesday, 23rd June, 2015 at 2.30 p.m.

The Senate rose at 6.25 p.m.