June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Thursday, 25th June, 2015

Hon. Senators, we have a number of Petitions. I was just wondering whether we should deal with all of them or not. I will propose that I read them out and you can contribute to all of them collectively. I think that will be the best approach.

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Mr. Speaker, Sir, Petitions are very important, therefore, it requires that we deliberate on them as quickly as possible. Would it hurt if we could deal with these two, then the others are committed next week?

It would not hurt, but they have been outstanding. They have also been submitted to the relevant Standing Committee. You will only be making preliminary comments. If you are really interested, you follow them at the committee level.

Hon. Senators, pursuant to Standing Order No.220 (1) and Standing Order No.225 (b) , I hereby report to the Senate that a petition has been submitted through the Clerk by one Maj. (Rtd) Joel Kiprono Rop, a citizen of Kenya and resident of Bomet County concerning the state of the national economy of Kenya.

As you are aware, under Article 119 of the Constitution, every person has a right to petition Parliament to consider any matter within its authority in enacting, amending or repealing any legislation.

Hon. Senators, I have reviewed the petition and wish to highlight the salient issues raised in the said petition. These are follows:-

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Order, Senators! You will appreciate that the entire Order on Petitions is not given more than 30 minutes, including when I was reading them and your interventions. We still have other business on the Order Paper. I will only give one minute per person. Just speak, but life is about priorities. Pick the one that you think you really want to comment on.

As I said, I have identified the committees that will be dealing with the matter. On the issue raised by the Senate Minority Leader on which committee will deal with the fourth petition, if you look at it, most of them actually go to the Committee on Finance, Commerce and Budget. Given their workload and the issues raised on this other petition; unlawful and procedural appointment of the County Secretary, impropriety of the CEC member for Lands, Physical Planning and Housing in handling land matters in the absence of a County Land Management Board (CLMB) , unprocedural conduct of members at the assembly, contravention of public procurement, public finance and other laws, I decided that it is proper that we give them to the Committee on Legal and Human Rights because that is the bulk of the issues. However, they are at liberty to borrow from the Committee on Finance, Commerce and Budget and any other committee of the House or whatever other expertise that is required. I do not think it is rocket science. Even if it were, rocket scientists are available.

Bw. Spika, wahenga husema: “Mbiu ya mgambo ikilia, kuna jambo. Ndege wengi wakilia, mtafute nyoka.” Leo tunapata watu wa makundi matano tofauti wakipendekeza vilio vyao kwa Bunge hili. Ni mwanzo mzuri ingawa wengine walishafanya hivyo hapo awali lakini tunaona kwamba wananchi wanaanza kutambua umuhimu wa Bunge hili la Seneti. Pia wanatambua kazi yetu. Ibainike, ijulikane na itambulike Kenya nzima, kwamba Bunge hili lina jukumu kuu la kuangalia hasa utu wa Mkenya pamoja na kustawisha na kuangaza mawazo ya usawa. Pia itambulike kwamba hata mahakama imetambua jambo hilo jana, ingawa kidogo ilitunyang’anya nguvu za kuadhibu.

Muda wako umepita.

Bw. Spika, ninashukuru lakini nilikuwa na mengi.

Utapeleka hayo mengi mbele ya kamati.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, having listened to the Petitions, allow me to add my voice and commend Kenyans who now know their responsibility. It seems quite a number of them now know what the Senate can offer. We are receiving quite a number of them even from MCAs. The Senate should really take its role responsibly, execute and answer Kenyans favourably.

We need also to encourage the entire citizenship to read and understand the Constitution. It is theirs and it will only serve them in a better way if the Senate will execute its mandate properly.

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I congratulate Mr. Cheruiyot from Bomet for his suggestion that some of the functions of the Ministry of Health should be taken back to the national Government. I support him and let me point out to the county that devolution is facing challenges in the department of health, not because of devolution, but because of mismanagement of human resources. It is important that we quickly create the Medical Health Workers Commission (MHWA) just like the Teachers’ Service Commission (TSC) and we shall have responded.

I also support the petition from Machakos County. The purchase of motor vehicles, allowances and foreign travels by MCAs cuts across many counties. I hope that the Committee will come up with a comprehensive answer.

Finally, the act of the Governor creating a confidential account where he expends money in a confidential manner is actually impunity and criminality.

I support the Machakos petition.

You have done well, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale. You took one and a half minutes. I was willing to allow you two because of your other issues.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I thank the petitioners for having faith in the Senate. My request is that we expeditiously finalise with these Petitions within the given time. That way, we will also settle the disputes that they have within those counties.

I would also like to request the Senate to talk to Ms. Serem. Members were either elected through a party list or the suffrage system. However, when we arrive in this House, all Members are equal and no one should feel less important. It is unfortunate that in county assemblies, you will find all the Chairs are men because these other ones were nominated. This is something that we now need to stop. I hope the recommendations that will come out of the petition will work on that.

I thank the court for its ruling that governors must appear before Senate to account for public funds. I believe the Senator for Kakamega will be above board as he deals with governors.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I thank you for the opportunity. I came in a bit late and only listened to the last two Petitions. I want to thank the nine patriotic Kenyans from Nakuru for bringing this to our attention. What impresses me about this petition is the fact that Kenyans are now so enlightened about their rights. In fact, they have now become the biggest protectors of devolution which they hold so dearly. We, as a Senate, have partners in Kenyans who are helping us to ensure that devolution actually works. They do not want people to play around with the monies that we send to the counties. I am glad that they are very vigilant.

The allegations that have been made about Nakuru County Assembly are very grave. I am glad that pursuant to the relevant Standing Order you have referred the matter to the relevant Standing Committee. These matters must be investigated thoroughly so that we get to know the truth. If there are people who will be found liable for committing these offences, stern action must be taken. We support the whole idea of Kenyans being enlightened and bringing their issues to their representatives in the Senate.

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I came in late and I found you reading the last two Petitions which in my view are very detailed. I want to thank the nine MCAs from Nakuru County Assembly and also Mr. Cheruiyot from Bomet County. This is because they really gave detailed information concerning the Petitions that they have forwarded to us.

I would like to urge Senators, especially the relevant committees to speed up these investigations so that within the shortest time possible, we, as a House, can make a resolution. The issues raised do not only concern Nakuru County, but cut across most of our counties. This is important for the maintenance of dignity in our county assemblies. If we do not act right now, it will spread to other counties since there is a lot of animosity on the ground. This must be dealt with accordingly.

Despite the court rulings, the executive of Nakuru County has never acted. It is upon the Senate to act on this matter.

The healthcare situation in the country is really worrying. Most of the health facilities in all the counties are wanting. Even the basic pain killers are not there. You will even find people going to private hospitals to be treated.

Thank you.

Hon. Senators, by 3.30 p.m., I will stop the interventions. I will just go by the list as prompted and I will robustly enforce the one minute limit.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. The number of Petitions being brought to the Senate does, indeed, demonstrate that the public has a lot of confidence in the Senate. I would request that the committees concerned do thorough investigations and come up with recommendations that will settle the matters.

All the issues raised here are important. The fact that the MCAs are beginning to come to us, perhaps, is a pointer that there is something wrong with the oversight role of the MCAs in the counties.

On the issue of the petition on health, indeed, health services area suffering. As you will recall, I brought a Motion to this House which this House approved, that the issue of personnel management in our health institutions, including counties, should have a national management outlook. We need to manage personnel issues in the health sector, particularly doctors at the national level.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, allow me to comment on the last petition that talks about the state of healthcare in Kenya. There have been calls to take back healthcare management to the national Government. However, I am glad that the petitioners are very clear in their mind that they are not calling for a centralization of healthcare which is already devolved. They are only calling for the centralization of human resource management.

We have abused our doctors and yet, they are some of the sharpest and brightest people we have in our society. If you look at the high entry requirements that have been put in place for those who join medical schools---. Unfortunately, we have now left them at the mercy of village based recruitment cartels.

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the petition by Nakuru County on the municipal courts is very curious. The Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee will handle this issue decisively, but it has far-reaching implications. Nairobi County has three City Courts. The same applies to Mombasa and many others. Therefore, we will get into a crisis. At the same time, since the repeal of that Cap.265, we have passed the law on protecting counties on matters that came before the Local Governments Act. We do not know where the Bill we passed here disappeared to.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, we also plead with you, that as we are trying to protect those courts from what is happening in Nakuru, we would like to see the law that we passed here being implemented. Right now, it is still gathering dust somewhere.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, during the short two weeks’ recess, we visited a number of counties. The last county we visited was Nakuru County. Though we were going for a different mission with regard to ICT, a number of issues came up. It is in order for the committee to make sure that some of these issues are addressed. One is on the role of the county assembly in vetting. There were a number of issues raised by the MCAs that an individual was proposed by the Governor, the name was forwarded for vetting by the county assembly. However, at the end of the day, when the county assembly rejected that person, the same person was appointed a chief officer.

These issues are grave. I believe the relevant committees of the Senate will do a good job to ensure these issues are sorted out.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I wish to commend Kenyans who have petitioned the Senate. This shows that they are aware of their rights. It also shows that as much as they know what is required of them, awareness creation or dissemination of the Public Procurement Act and other relevant laws needs to be conducted. There needs to be a deeper understanding of the Constitution which, probably, is why they are petitioning because someone somewhere is not doing what is right. What I like about these Petitions is the fact that they are resorting to legal and peaceful means of resolving disputes instead of the ugly scenes we saw in Makueni County and other places.

I believe and pray that they will be resolved. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, as my colleagues have noted, these Petitions are raising pertinent issues that have come up as a result of devolution. It is time that we critically looked at them. Nearly every county is affected, particularly in the health sector. It looks like diseases are aware that the function was devolved and thus the rise in the number of problems in the counties than before. It is good we model it along the teacher management model so that it is easier to address those problems and find out how we can manage them.

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Next Order!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to lay the following Paper on the Table of the Senate today, Thursday, 25th

June, 2015: The National Government Budget Implementation Review Report; Third Quarter Financial Year 2014/2015.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to lay the following Paper on the Table of the Senate today, Thursday, 25th June, 2015; A Report on the Inter- Governmental Relations Amendment Bill, 2014.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to lay the following two papers on the Table of the Senate today, Thursday, 25th June, 2015:

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Next Order!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have a Statement to give in response to what was requested by Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr.

Before I do so, I want to say that at the Plenary of the Senate held on 21st May, 2015, the Senate adopted the Motion filed by Sen. Adan requiring the joint Standing Committees of the Senate, the Committee on Land and Natural Resources and the Committee on National Security and Foreign Relations to conduct comprehensive investigations into the matter of human wildlife conflict affecting people of Kinna Community in Isiolo County and present its report within 30 days.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the 30 days have since lapsed. That was on 21st June, 2015. The Joint Committee seeks the indulgence of this honourable House and the leave of the Chair for an extension of 45 more days so that it tables a comprehensive report on the matter.

I am glad to report to the House that the Joint Committee has made a lot of progress. The Committee traveled to Isiolo and had two meeting sessions in Isiolo. We managed to have a session with the Governor of Isiolo County.

Order, Senator! What are you asking of the House?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, we are requesting for an extension. At the same time, I am briefing the House on the progress report on the matter. That is why I am giving the justification why we need the extension.

You should have given the justification, but not a report. The most important thing was a request for an extension. It will be granted.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for allowing us 45 days.

You will have 45 days.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have three Statements to give as requested yesterday. However, I will start with the one about the Business of the Senate for next week.

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES BUSINESS FOR THE WEEK COMMENCING TUESDAY, 30 TH JUNE, 2015

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I would like to remind the Senate Majority Leader that we tabled, in this House, an interim report by the County Public Accounts and Investments Committee. The tradition in Parliament has been that a Public Accounts Committee Report should be given the earliest opportunity to be debated on and adopted by the House. Therefore, we request that the Report be brought on the Order Paper at the earliest convenience.

Chief Whip.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, next week, in the RBC, we will ensure that the report appears on the Order Paper.

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES INSECURITY ALONG THE TURKANA AND WEST POKOT COUNTY BORDERS

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have two Statements to seek. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise to seek a Statement from the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on National Security and Foreign Relations concerning insecurity along the Turkana and West Pokot County borders. In the Statement, the Chairperson should:-

What is your wish? If you have not finished the first one, why should you go to the second one? I do not see your second request for a Statement in the Order Paper.

Where is the Chairperson of the relevant Committee? When do you hope to give that Statement?

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I would request Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo to give us about two weeks to respond. I wish to inform this House that I spoke to the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government this morning on the matter that affects boundaries, especially to address the concern that was raised yesterday in this House. Matters affecting Vihiga County were raised yesterday and also the one appearing on the Order Paper today about Isiolo and Meru counties. He informed me that he is putting up committees to look into the boundary issues that are affecting the counties. So, he will be able to respond to those matters next week, because he will be engaged in an international conference this week.

Are you comfortable with that?

No, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. As we wait for a detailed answer to be given in two weeks, could she undertake in this House to proceed to

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

It might not be the orthodox thing to do it your way. You need a comprehensive report that will include every prayer that you may wish. Two weeks is not too much, especially knowing the amount of work that, that committee has.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I do not know whether you followed what I was saying. For the first time in our lifetime there has been relative peace. Could this construction be stopped and then they can proceed with all the details?

Hon. Senator, you say for the first time in your lifetime, there has been peace in the last two months in your area. Now, with the construction going on, why do you want to disturb the ground if it will lead to flare-up? Let the status quo be maintained as we seek for that Statement. Maybe interfering with the construction will ignite the fighting again.

You are right, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. The construction was initiated last night and it is bringing problems. Let the construction be stopped and the status quo be maintained.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I would request, Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo to bear with us, because I am sure, that stopping the construction might complicate issues. I believe that this is a contract that has already been entered into by the relevant counties.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I am very sorry that the Chairperson is not getting me right. There has been no problem for the last two months. We even signed a memorandum of keeping peace and stopping all construction in the presence of the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government. Suddenly, there is construction going on. I request that it be stopped to avoid flare-up. So, it is not a usual development. This is something that is strangely going to affect what we have worked for.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, since Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo insists on this matter, and I am not privy to the construction that is on the ground, I will share the same information with the Cabinet Secretary. If it is possible, we will deal with it immediately. If is not possible to do so, then I will request that the Statement be given in two weeks’ time.

Very well. It is so ordered. Sen. (Prof.) Lanyangapuo, proceed to the next Statement.

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES STATUS OF THE EAST AFRICAN SAFARI RALLY

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I rise pursuant to Standing Order 45 (2) (b) to seek a Statement from the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Labour and Social Welfare on the status of the world famous East African Safari Rally.

In the Statement, the Chairperson should:-

Where is the Chairperson of the Committee on Labour and Social Welfare? Any Member of the Committee?

Yes, Sen. Halima.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, on behalf of the Committee, I promise to get back to the Senator in two weeks’ time, if that is okay with him.

Very well. Are there any other requests?

On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I rise to seek guidance from the Chair concerning the positions of the Governor and Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) .

I would like to draw your attention to the CBK Act, Section 13 (1) , which provides that there should be a Governor who shall be appointed by the President through a transparent and competitive process and with the approval of Parliament. Section 13 (b) (1) , provides that there shall be two Deputy Governors, who shall be appointed by the President through a transparent and competitive process and with the approval of Parliament.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, on 18th June, 2015, the National Assembly debated the report on the approval of nominees and passed it without amendments. The Senate was not involved in the vetting process and approval of the nominees, as required by the Act that I have just quoted. I would like to remind the House that in a similar provision of a statute, a precedent was set by this House and the National Assembly, where the Inspector General of Police was subjected to a Joint Vetting Committee of the two Houses.

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Could you read the law to the House?

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, at the beginning, I referred to Section 13 (1) of the Central Bank of Kenya Act. It provides that there shall be a governor who shall be appointed by the President through a transparent and competitive process with the approval of Parliament.

Section 13 (b) (1) provides that there shall be two deputy governors who shall be appointed by the President through a transparent and competitive process and with the approval of Parliament.

The functional word here is “Parliament”. The law does not speak to the National Assembly alone.

What is it, Sen. Wetangula? The Senate Minority Leader (Sen. Wetangula) : Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I fortify that argument by drawing your attention to Article 231 of the Constitution which establishes the Central Bank of Kenya. Article 231 (5) states: “An Act of Parliament shall provide for the composition, powers, functions and operations of the Central Bank of Kenya.”

It is from this that the Central Bank of Kenya Act that Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale has referred to, comes into relevance. I also draw your attention to Article 93 (1) of the Constitution which states: “There is established a Parliament of Kenya, which shall consist of the National Assembly and the Senate.”

Unless, otherwise expressly provided, Parliament means the National Assembly and the Senate. Therefore, if an Act of Parliament provides for a process of vetting, validation or in whatever manner the exercise of authority to Parliament, it is means that it is concurrently exercised by both Houses. You remember that we had an altercation on the matter of the Inspector General of Police, when he was being vetted. The Speaker agreed that we were right, but he had already let the cat out of the bag.

Joint vetting is not anticipated; the National Assembly should do their vetting and the Senate should do theirs of such nominees. The upshot is that the National Assembly having done what they did, the two nominees to the Central Bank of Kenya; the governor and the deputy must then be forwarded to the Senate for vetting. If approved, then they can be forwarded to the Head of State for appointment. If not, the consequences are known in law.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, as I end I want to tell you as the Chair of this august House, that jurisdiction is not a gift. It is conferred by the Constitution and the law. This House has no capacity or right to sign away the little jurisdiction that we have been given

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I fortify that argument by drawing your attention to Article 231 of the Constitution which establishes the Central Bank of Kenya. Article 231 (5) states: “An Act of Parliament shall provide for the composition, powers, functions and operations of the Central Bank of Kenya.” It is from this that the Central Bank of Kenya Act that Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale has referred to, comes into relevance. I also draw your attention to Article 93 (1) of the Constitution which states: “There is established a Parliament of Kenya, which shall consist of the National Assembly and the Senate.” Unless, otherwise expressly provided, Parliament means the National Assembly and the Senate. Therefore, if an Act of Parliament provides for a process of vetting, validation or in whatever manner the exercise of authority to Parliament, it is means that it is concurrently exercised by both Houses. You remember that we had an altercation on the matter of the Inspector General of Police, when he was being vetted. The Speaker agreed that we were right, but he had already let the cat out of the bag. Joint vetting is not anticipated; the National Assembly should do their vetting and the Senate should do theirs of such nominees. The upshot is that the National Assembly having done what they did, the two nominees to the Central Bank of Kenya; the governor and the deputy must then be forwarded to the Senate for vetting. If approved, then they can be forwarded to the Head of State for appointment. If not, the consequences are known in law. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, as I end I want to tell you as the Chair of this august House, that jurisdiction is not a gift. It is conferred by the Constitution and the law. This House has no capacity or right to sign away the little jurisdiction that we have been given

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. The greatest fear of Kenyans is that if that ruling does not come quickly, the appointment will be made.

On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. The greatest fear of Kenyans is that if that ruling does not come quickly, the appointment will be made.

Order, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale! You are now stepping on the Chair. Have a seat and relax! You should not ever imagine what the Chair will rule on Tuesday; just wait. The Senate Minority Leader (

In the past, precedence has been set in the House, that when the questioner is not here, a Statement cannot be submitted to the House. So, we will wait. Until such a time as when the questioner has notoriously avoided appearing, then we can say that the Statement belongs to the House and then we listen to it. For now, that suffices.

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES POLLUTION OF ATHI RIVER

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I rise to give a Statement. At the sitting of the Senate held on Wednesday 4th March, 2015, Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr., the Senator for Makueni, requested for a Statement from the Chairperson of the Committee on Land and Natural Resources on Pollution of Athi River in Machakos and Makueni counties. In the Statement, the Senator sought information on the following:

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

In the past, precedence has been set in the House, that when the questioner is not here, a Statement cannot be submitted to the House. So, we will wait. Until such a time as when the questioner has notoriously avoided appearing, then we can say that the Statement belongs to the House and then we listen to it. For now, that suffices.

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES POLLUTION OF ATHI RIVER

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I rise to give a Statement. At the sitting of the Senate held on Wednesday 4th March, 2015, Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr., the Senator for Makueni, requested for a Statement from the Chairperson of the Committee on Land and Natural Resources on Pollution of Athi River in Machakos and Makueni counties. In the Statement, the Senator sought information on the following:

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

You just repeated what Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. asked. You are quite out of order. I want to listen to more interventions. I can Sen. Ndiema has an intervention and may be someone else may be having an intervention. This is cumulatively considered by the Chair who may be having all your answers right now. It is up to him to tell us that he does not have all those answers. May be the Committee has done everything you want. It is up to him to say that he is not able to answer.

Please, do not cast aspersions at the Chair whom we know to be very effective.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the Report from the Chair of my Committee---

Chair, please, listen because you have heard the interests of the Members.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, as I was saying, from the report, it is evident that very little has been done to protect the river in terms of allocation of funds or even to stop further pollution. This does not only affect this river, but also other rivers. I

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Order! It is not for you to object. What is your question?

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, my question is whether the institutions concerned have the capacity to safeguard our rivers from pollution?

Which institutions do you have in mind?

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I have in mind the authorities concerned with water, the National Lands Commission (NLC) and NEMA.

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the issue that the Senator for Makueni has raised with regards to his county and the response that my colleague, the Vice Chairman of the Committee on Lands and Natural Resources has given, gives us an opportunity to raise very fundamental issues on the environment.

If you look at the Fourth Schedule, you will find that looking after the environment is a shared function between the national Government and the county governments, water is entirely in the hands of the county governments. I do not know how the environmental protection agency NEMA will function, given these constitutional provisions. Because of this lacuna, people are doing all kinds of crazy things with the environment. You wonder whether there is NEMA or not.

If you travel on Kiambu Road just after passing the Runda Estate entrance, you will find a huge shopping mall being built on a riparian area, on top of a river and it covers a huge area. If you pass there, you wonder who the hell did the environmental impact assessment for that project. There is a disaster in Langata because some time ago, somebody built on a river. When it rains, it floods and people cannot reach Langata. I see it in many other cities. One of the reasons our roads are being flooded is because---

I am really withholding my comment on what you are saying. Be specific and ask a question.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, let me be specific because I can give many examples. My question is, could the Committee come out with a response to this House, which will address this issue comprehensively? I am quite sure that almost every county will come up with a similar concern as the Senator for Makueni. Since by Article 96, this House has a responsibility of protecting the interests of the counties and since environment and water are the responsibilities of the counties, could we ask the Committee to spread its net a little wider and come to this House with a response that can address this issue?

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, as I listen to the answer, it sounded like a blame game. WARMA is blaming the Ministry and the Ministry is blaming WARMA. Everybody is saying that they should not have done this or that. My specific issue is on the Statement from the Ministry that monitors the disposal. What sort of monitoring do they do if the disposal is at that high level? If they were monitoring in the

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

What do you have to say, Mr. Chairman?

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the questions that have been raised by Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. are now more specific than the question he raised when he requested for this Statement. The Senator tells me to give the names of the persons polluting, yet in the original Statement, he did not ask for the names, but wanted to know the measures that have been put into place to deal with the persons. He did not ask for the names of the persons polluting. I responded to the questions as they came. He did not ask exactly how much has been allocated.

Those are very specific questions that he might put up. We will go to the Cabinet Secretary to get specific answers to the specific questions that he is raising at the moment.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I fully agree with Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. about the Committee making a visit to this place. I remember when he raised this matter; we had agreed that the Committee could make a visit to the river and witness this instead of receiving answers from the Cabinet Secretary and coming to read them here.

I agree with the proposal made by the Senator and the Senate Minority Leader that the Committee can visit the place. If we are facilitated by the Office of the Clerk, we should visit the place and table a full report.

Indeed, questions 1, 2 and 5 by Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. were relevant. Questions 3 and 4 were completely different questions, on matters of budget and financing. However, the magnitude of the problem on Athi River contamination is an issue that has been of concern to this House for quite some time. This is not the first time this has been raised, I remember in the last session, the Committee on Health also had a similar question and they laid a Report on the Table of this House.

This is my ruling; I have listened to the prayer of Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr., Sen. Wetangula and Sen. Ndiema. My ruling is that there is nothing that prevents you, Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr., from making such a request. I have also listened to the prayer of Sen. (Prof.) Anyang'- Nyong'o and Sen. (Dr.) Zani’s concern. There is nothing that prevents you, as a Member of this House, from requesting this House to commission an ad hoc Committee, specifically to look into the pollution of Athi River.

It is so ordered. Please, proceed Sen. Halima.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I have two Statements to issue. One is additional information on the Garissa Teachers Training College and the

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

The guidance is that precedence has been set in this House that unless the questioner is around, the Statement cannot be read. So, we will wait.

Sen. Orengo, do you have a point of order?

On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I want to appreciate the Chair. Normally when people make prayers, it is very difficult to get them answered. However, before you, at least prayers are answered. I am very happy with that.

Thank you, Sen. Orengo. I am flattered.

Please, proceed Sen. (Dr.) Zani.

On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. Would I be in order to say that it is also good, even if the Members are not in the House, that once the Statements are ready from the Committees, even as they say it, it is a way of reporting to the House that those Statements are ready and they cannot give them because the Members are not there? It is then recorded that the Committee has actually completed the investigations.

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I want to appreciate the Chair. Normally when people make prayers, it is very difficult to get them answered. However, before you, at least prayers are answered. I am very happy with that.

Sen. (Dr.) Zani, you have 35 minutes.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I continue to move the County Early Childhood Education Bill, (Senate Bill No.32 of 2014) ; that it be read a Second time. Yesterday, at the rise of the House, I was talking about the issue of the Teacher Service Commission (TSC) going to exercise the disciplinary and professional control over the teachers. This is very important.

In the last few months, we have had very disturbing experiences in schools where teachers have abused children, especially the girl-child. We have also had cases that are going further lower into the educational system. You now find this kind of abuse taking place even at pre-primary institutions, to very young pupils. The fact that TSC is mandated in this Bill to ensure that they exercise disciplinary control over the teachers is very critical.

Having said that, I also want to add that I think sometimes the TSC has not really been effective in this. This is because the cases regarding the indiscipline of teachers tend to be increasing rather than reducing over time. It may not be the fault of the TSC, but the sort of society that we tend to be producing over time, with different issues coming out more often like abuse and homicide, among family members. Remember that if we are thinking about a child who should be safe within a particular environment, then the teacher should be the first person whom the child should feel that is the person who will protects them. When the child is in turn abused by the teacher, then I think that we have a big problem.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the Bill wants to address such issues of discipline and ensure that it is taken into consideration and that teachers must exercise this sort of control. The actual employment of the teachers is going to be done at the level of the county in terms of payment. It is the county government that is going to be in charge of payment of the teacher, but the responsibility for the discipline of those specific teachers has actually been given to TSC.

The Bill also targets and discusses the issue of free education. In Clause 40, every child is going to go to school free. No sort of fee is expected to be charged by the county and the board has made this very clear. The only sort of charges that are perceived that

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Sen. (Dr.) Zani, you have 35 minutes.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I continue to move the County Early Childhood Education Bill, (Senate Bill No.32 of 2014) ; that it be read a Second time. Yesterday, at the rise of the House, I was talking about the issue of the Teacher Service Commission (TSC) going to exercise the disciplinary and professional control over the teachers. This is very important.

In the last few months, we have had very disturbing experiences in schools where teachers have abused children, especially the girl-child. We have also had cases that are going further lower into the educational system. You now find this kind of abuse taking place even at pre-primary institutions, to very young pupils. The fact that TSC is mandated in this Bill to ensure that they exercise disciplinary control over the teachers is very critical.

Having said that, I also want to add that I think sometimes the TSC has not really been effective in this. This is because the cases regarding the indiscipline of teachers tend to be increasing rather than reducing over time. It may not be the fault of the TSC, but the sort of society that we tend to be producing over time, with different issues coming out more often like abuse and homicide, among family members. Remember that if we are thinking about a child who should be safe within a particular environment, then the teacher should be the first person whom the child should feel that is the person who will protects them. When the child is in turn abused by the teacher, then I think that we have a big problem.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the Bill wants to address such issues of discipline and ensure that it is taken into consideration and that teachers must exercise this sort of control. The actual employment of the teachers is going to be done at the level of the county in terms of payment. It is the county government that is going to be in charge of payment of the teacher, but the responsibility for the discipline of those specific teachers has actually been given to TSC.

The Bill also targets and discusses the issue of free education. In Clause 40, every child is going to go to school free. No sort of fee is expected to be charged by the county and the board has made this very clear. The only sort of charges that are perceived that

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for giving me a chance to contribute to this wonderful and very important Bill.

First and foremost, the Constitution of Kenya, under the Bill of Rights, is very clear. Article 53 (1) (b) of the Constitution stipulates that every child has a right to free and compulsory basic education, amongst others. This is also intertwined with Section 4 of the Children’s Act which says that the best interests of the child shall always prevail. The Children’s Act also stipulates very clearly that every child has a right to education amongst others. I wish to commend the Committee which has brought this Bill. It shows that these are very responsible citizens who want this nation to be recognized.

When you start supervising and ensuring that children from the age of three to six years get the strongest foundation in education, you are actually and truly showing that you are patriotic and want a very good and prosperous country. The children of this tender age must be guided accordingly, because knowledge is power. Given the way things have been, attaining this ECD education has been mission impossible and, in fact, a nightmare for most parents and even the elite or people who come from the privileged society.

It is even more expensive than when you start from Standard One and above, for reasons which I do not understand. But with the passage of this Bill, there shall be established institutions where these children can go and get what is rightfully theirs, which is, education. This gives them a chance to learn according to the syllabus which, once the Bill is enacted and implemented, shall be uniform, age-appropriate and very useful for these children of a tender age.

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

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Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving me an opportunity to contribute to this Bill, which I support. Sometimes, early childhood education can make a difference in the lives of young people. If you look at the children we are raising in Nairobi today, particularly we who seem to be much more privileged than other members of the society, we can afford to take them to the best schools where they learn some of the concepts that we only came across later on in life. By the time they graduate from the ECDE section, you find that these children are so much ahead.

When you compare and contrast them with the children of the people who vote for us, the people we represent deep in the villages, they might not have the luxury to take their children to schools that offer Montessori curriculum and such other fancy foreign curriculum that put them ahead of the rest. Therefore, by devolving ECDE and coming up with this Bill, we will provide some basic advantage to the millions who voted

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

If I look round, it seems that if this Bill was in force at that time, our parents would have been fined Kshs500,000, jailed for two years or done community work which would have meant even flogging in public.

With a devolved system of governance, it now becomes much easier for us to see the priorities at the local level and use the county governments to come up with solutions to those local problems. For this Bill to be meaningful, we will need to conduct some civic education for parents. The fines here are quite punitive. I guess the intention of having heavy fines of Kshs500,000 or Kshs1 million is to encourage parents to take their children to school. At the age of three years, children are still seen as fairly young in the village and still walk around naked.

If ECD is compulsory, then it needs to be free. We need to address the reasons why parents do not take their children to school. One of the reasons is that they do not have clothes that they can put on to go to school. At the age of three, you will find some children not proficient in toilet training. Our mothers, grandmothers and aunties in the village might not be able to afford the things we call diapers, pampers so that their children can go to school and still keep themselves clean and civil throughout the day. So, we need to address those issues. If it is going to be free, then we have to think about the issues of uniforms.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, regarding feeding, the Bill says that county governments may carry out feeding programmes. I hope that when it gets to the right time, we shall change the “may” to “shall”. You are not going to take children to school from different backgrounds and those from poor backgrounds will come without a snack and those from privileged backgrounds will come with some. We need to create some parity or level playing ground. I do not think it would be very expensive if the county governments fund the public ECD institutions to ensure that the feeding programme is mandatory. It should not be a “may” but a “shall”.

The issue of corporal punishment has also been addressed in this Bill. At the age of three to six years in the olden days, we were still not immune to flogging particularly if you allowed the goats to stray into somebody’s compound. We are not in a different dispensation where some clever people have decided that those of us who were flogged while young tend to have violent and anti-social tendencies.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, from your demeanor, it appears you were also flogged when you were young but I have not seen your violent and anti-social side. Child psychologists tell us that children can be guided, corrected and shepherded in a different

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

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Order, Sen. (Prof.) Anyang'-

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Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I also rise to support this Bill. This Bill brings in the issue of equalization in the education sector that we have been talking about. We started free primary education but forgot the main foundation cognitive to the development of a young child which starts at ECDE. We hope that as we pass this Bill, we shall ensure that the curriculum that they are proposing will be inculcated across all the counties.

I know that education is still a national Government function but this will ensure that parents take their children to school. We must start at ECDE. Today, because of the economic challenges that we face where both parents are going to work, young children are being taken to school at the age of two years. If give these children a better home where they can appreciate education at an early age, they will get used to school life and love being in school than the way the situation is today.

I hope the country will support this initiative so that we can reach a level where our children can appreciate that education is the key to successful life.

Thank you.

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Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I beg to reply but before that, I will start by thanking all Senators. I have captured various ideas. As a Committee, we will go back and work on them as amendments. They include; the idea of a standardised curriculum, coordination especially at various boards and directorates and the language of instruction, whether mother tongue, English or any other languages can be used and also making sure that there is no conflict in supervision; targeting, for example, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and a county. The idea of devolving structure is a general idea so that counties cover both primary and secondary education not at policy level – because that remains at national level –but at infrastructural level.

The Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) also should be used for building toilets. We may not incorporate that into the Bill. Mobile schools for the pastoralist areas should be emphasized, and as the Senator who spoke last has said, our children should be given a guide in terms of morality.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, in summary, this Bill focuses on equality and inclusion, quality, capacity and partnerships. The Convention on the Rights of a Child, the UN Millennium Goals and Article 53 of the Constitution of Kenya advocate for quality education for young people in Kenya. This is what the Bill intents to do.

With these remarks, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I beg to reply. Under Standing Order No.54 (3) , I request that we defer putting of the question to a more appropriate time when we will have the numbers. Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir.

Thank you, Sen. (Dr.) Zani. You request is reasonable. Therefore, I rule that the question be deferred to such a time and day which will be determined by the Speaker in consultation with the Rules and Business Committee (RBC) .

Next Order.

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After thanking the Speaker, you should move the Motion.

Thank you, Sen. (Dr.) Zani. You request is reasonable. Therefore, I rule that the question be deferred to such a time and day which will be determined by the Speaker in consultation with the Rules and Business Committee (RBC) .

Next Order.

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

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Order, Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo!

- THAT, aware that the country in general and North Eastern region, in particular, currently faces an acute shortage of teachers; NOTING, that the problem in schools in North Eastern region counties has been exacerbated by the recent refusal by teachers to report to their duty stations in the region; CONCERNED, that the national Government has no plans to overturn the current freeze on regular recruitment of teachers; The Senate calls upon the national Government to immediately reintroduce the Untrained Teacher (UT) programme as well as in-service training for untrained teachers in the North Eastern region as a measure to bridge the shortage of teachers in the region.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, if you will allow me, I was saying that because of insecurity that has engulfed Kenya as a country and even globally, but in particular the north eastern region lately; in 2013/2014, many of us will recall tragic incidences that happened, for example, the West Gate attack. The worst which we experienced was at Garissa University College. A number of service sectors namely health and education were affected. Currently, the education sector faces a serious crisis. There has been a mass exodus of teachers from Wajir, Mandera and Garissa counties. While I honestly feel that there is some genuineness in the manner in which things have happened, I think that the bad mouth of a number of leaders, particularly from the teachers’ union led by Mr. Sossion, has exacerbated the situation.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I will shortly provide you a statistical data on the number of teachers, both local and non-local, currently stationed at counties where we come from. That is a demonstration of the fact that as much as things have been bad, the Government has made efforts. That would have helped the situation if only the teachers’ union leadership did not seriously blow things out of proportion.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, education is a right as enshrined in our Constitution. Article 43 (1) of the Constitution says that every person has a right to education. Education is both a social and economic right.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, if you also look at Article 53 (1) (b) on the Specific Application of Rights, it says:-

“Every child has the right to free and compulsory basic education.” Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, our rights and the rights of children in the north eastern part of this country have been denied. We feel that unless a specific measure is taken through the Senate, such as this Motion, to compel the Government to help us recruit and train teachers, then, we are bound to have serious problems.

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I stand to second this Motion and thank my brother, Sen. Abdirahman for standing in the gap at this time for the sake of Kenyans who have suffered.

We all know, Garissa, Wajir and Mandera are three peculiar counties. Earlier, these counties had a shortage of almost 50 per cent of primary school teachers. Before terrorism attacks, they had problems. These counties have been hit hard by the attacks of terrorism. Some teachers died while others have not resumed duty.

These three counties and by extension the neighbouring counties in the north have been hit hard. This Motion calls upon other Kenyans to stand with our brethren who have suffered. The Kenyan child is in those counties is not going to school because the mentor

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Order, Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo!

No, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. When you are not sitting on that seat, you are my neighbouring Senator.

Let us not focus on Mr. Sossion and others. We need the Government’s assistance to address this problem. As I mentioned last time, we have Kshs2 billion to employ 5,000 teachers. This is just a drop in the sea whereas Kshs37 billion is wasted in the “Lower House” in the name of Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) . This money can be utilized to employ 92,500 teachers which is the national shortfall. We should do away with this fund which is being wasted by people pretending to be building classrooms and we employ more teachers to take care of our children.

Without losing focus, I support this Motion. Moving forward, we need a law compelling the Ministry to go further and engage the untrained teachers.

Every holiday, the untrained teachers can be trained on how to teach. They have the concept: Do not be surprised that Standard Eight graduates can be very good teachers of Standard One, Two and Three, if they are taught how to teach. Similarly this can be done to Form Four graduates. We have enough of them in Garissa, Wajir, Mandera, Kitui and all the others.

This Motion has come at an appropriate time. We want to see it being implemented next week.

I beg to second.

Order, Hon. Senators, the first contributor shall have his or her time when the Motion is listed next week.

It is now 6.30 p.m.; it is time to adjourn the Senate. The Senate stands adjourned until Tuesday, 30th June, 2015 at 2.30 p.m.

June 25th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES