July 2nd, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Thursday, 2nd July, 2015

Hon. Senators, we will start with those people who have requested for statements.

On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. Pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order No.45 (2) (b) , I rise to seek a statement from the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Finance, Commerce and Budget regarding Uwezo Fund.

Order, Senator Bule! Do one thing at a time.

That was with regard to Uwezo Fund.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to give a statement that was requested by Sen. Gwendo.

July 2nd, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

No, no! The statement sought by Sen. Bule was directed to your Committee. He is asking about Uwezo Fund. When will you give him an answer?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, before he responds, I also want to ride on it. First, I want to thank him for bringing this very important question before this House.

Just a minute, Sen. Ndiema. Sen. Billow Kerrow, do you have a copy of the statement sought by Sen. Ndiema? Could the Clerks-at-the-Table furnish you with a copy so that you follow up the request? In the meantime, pick it up and look at it.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, since most counties will be interested, including Trans Nzoia County, I would like to request something similar to this statement. Therefore, Would l be in order to ride on it and request it be expanded to cover all counties?

On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. This is just a rider. The statement being sought by Sen. Bule is very important. In fact, it has issues in all counties. I would like Machakos County to be considered along the same aspect when a statement is issued.

On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. The Chairperson of the Committee should tell us how many youth of this Republic have benefited from Uwezo Fund. We all know that the Kshs6 billion was meant for young people although it has been shared amongst the youth, women and people living with disability.

You are asking the Chairman of the Committee a very difficult question. The statement sought reads:

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the statement sought is good. However, I advise the House that the Uwezo Fund is a statutory Fund provided for in law. There are regulations which were passed by this House which Members can access to, which explains the criteria for the disbursement. The criterion is set out in the regulations of the

July 2nd, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

How long do you want for you to give a response?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would request two weeks because I will have to write to the Ministry and also interrogate it in our Committee.

You have heard the interventions from the Senators who want to ride on it. I would like you to include their requests in your statement.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, yes, the clerks could expand to include all of them, particularly on Item (d) which talks about how much money for each county instead of only Tana River County.

It is now up to you to look at the HANSARD. My direction is that you read what Sen. Ndiema has said and include it.

So, two weeks from today.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order No.45 (2) (b) , I rise to seek a Statement from the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Finance, Commerce and Budget regarding the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) . In the Statement, the Chairperson should highlight the following:

July 2nd, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Sen. Billow, as you give us a date on when you will respond to the Statement, I approve this statement with a bit of reservation because he is now asking about CDF and how it was used. It is not my wish that we should be seen to deal with issues that are not within our mandate. You can tell us how you propose to go about it and when you can give the answer.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is a matter touching on development of this nation and funds that are voted by Parliament. This House had an opportunity to discuss in the Budget Policy Statement funds that are earmarked for CDF among other national projects. We will look at it and get the information that the Member wants.

With your indulgence, I would also like to advise the Member that some of these things he is asking for are actually available from the CDF Board office. They have a website where much of the information on CDF of each constituency is uploaded regularly. For example, how much money is allocated each year is in the estimates. You can also get it from that website. You can also get information on how much they have used, how many projects are ongoing and how many are complete.

We will respond as requested. In the meantime, I urge him to also seek some of the information that we will provide in the next two weeks, the same Thursday that we will be responding to his other statement.

Sen. Bule, are you satisfied?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am satisfied although I urge the Chairperson that this issue of pouring money to the Constituencies and not finding it is our task as Senators ---

Order! I did not ask you to go on a tangent and bring in new issues. I just asked if you are satisfied that you will get the answer in two weeks’ time, having been informed and correctly so, that three quarters of the information you have sought can be found on the CDF website. That is important information that you have been given by the Chairperson. If you check, you may find exactly how much went to your county, constituency by constituency, in terms of CDF for what projects and what is being done about it. Since the Chairperson has said he will give you an answer in two weeks’ time, so be it.

Those were the only statements that were being sought today. Sen. Billow, did you want to issue or seek a statement? Let us start with the statement that you wanted to issue

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to make a statement pursuant to Standing Order No.45 (2) regarding the county government budget ceilings on recurrent expenditures.

My Committee this morning met and felt that there is a lot of misleading information that is being issued in the media the last couple of days by the Council of

July 2nd, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Are you proceeding under Standing Order No.45 (2) (b) or 2 (a) ?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am proceeding under Standing Order No.45 (2) (a) .

This House will recall that last week we passed the County Allocation of Revenue Bill. In that Bill, there was an annex on the amount of budgetary allocation to the county assemblies, which is always referred to as budget ceilings. In fact, it is an allocation for the 47 county assemblies.

The Public Financial Management Act (PFMA) , Section 107 (2) (a) , as amended by the County Allocation of Revenue Act 2014 provides that pursuant to Articles 201 and 216 of the Constitution, the CRA shall recommend to the Senate the budgetary ceilings on the recurrent expenditures of each level of the county governments and so they submitted to us a ceiling allocating approximately Kshs25 billion to the 47 county governments for their Recurrent Expenditure for 2015/2016.

Consequently, the Committee received representations from the public, including the County Assemblies Forum (CAF) , representing the 47 county assemblies. Based on those reviews, the Committee recommended to this House an increase in the allocation for 34 counties that requested additional money because they felt that the amounts allocated by the CRA in their recommendation was not adequate to finance the entire Recurrent Expenditure of the county assemblies.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, you will recall that last year county assemblies had serious difficulties. In fact, they brought Motions to this House, including an attendance by representatives of the Speakers of the 47 counties. Many of the county assemblies were literally grinding to a halt because of lack of finances.

This year, we asked the CRA to critically examine the expenditure structure of the county assemblies and give them adequate money so that they can carry out their mandate of oversight, representation and legislation effectively in the county assemblies. They went through that process and came up with that figure. On the basis of the needs and requests by the county assemblies, we felt to adjust that figure for 47 counties to bring the total figure to Kshs27 billion.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, a sum of Kshs47 billion allocated to 47 counties for their entire Recurrent Expenditure, including the salaries of all the employees, MCAs, the entire travel expenses and all their overheads; operations and maintenance of the 47 counties. This hon. House passed those amendments. We want to make it clear to the public that, indeed, that Kshs27 billion for the entire second arm of government in the counties known as the county assemblies for the entire Financial Year 2015/2016. Out of

July 2nd, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

July 2nd, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

July 2nd, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Thank you very much, Sen. Billow, for that very important statement. I allowed you a lot of time because I appreciate the importance of the statement that you have issued. I am saying that because I can see that there are a few Senators who want to make interventions. I want them to be brief. That is the whole purpose of saying what I am saying. I want the interventions to be brief because Sen. Billow has been very clear on the issue.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I thank Sen. Billow for the clarification and for being very exhaustive in the way he has explained it.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Senate is receiving very negative publicity as a result of this decision. Despite the very good explanation by the Chairman, I am not quite sure that the general public out there will get precisely what the Senate’s position is. I was wondering if you could direct from your position that the Communications Department of the Senate takes up this matter and makes sure that the Chairman’s exposition receives as much coverage as possible so that we are understood. It should be known that we are doing legitimate work as enshrined in Constitution and that all that we are interested in, as an institution, is to ensure that there is accountability for resources given to the counties and that we want the county assemblies to exercise their oversight roles effectively.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, allow me to support the statement by my Chairman. If I am unkind to any person, it is because this matter has been given the wrong coverage.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I happened to chair one of the meetings regarding this issue. I was extremely disappointed by the CRA. There appears to be a common trend and consistency by the CRA. In fact, in our Committee on Finance, Commerce and Budget, we thought that, maybe, it is time we went the Indian way where a commission of this nature sits once every five years. The commission makes recommendations on finance, then, it is appointed afresh. That should be the case because the CRA, through Mr. Cheserem, has let this country down.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there are three instances; on the revenue sharing formula, Senators rejected the formula because the CRA did not consult the Senate.

Concerning the division of revenue, the CRA agreed, with an organisation called Intergovernmental Budget and Economic Council (IBEC) , without consulting Senators.

On the county budgets, particularly county assembly budgets, I want to highlight the mistake they did. They lumped counties together. An assembly that has got 80 Members of County Assembly (MCAs) and another one like Nairobi County Assembly with 124 MCAs were treated the same. How fair is that yet they are supposed to have a detailed account?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the request that we received in our Committee was to the tune of Kshs4.6 billion for 34 counties only. Without even consulting this Committee,

July 2nd, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Sen. (Dr.) Machage, are you seeking the Floor on this? I remind you to press the correct button.

Go on, you have the Floor.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, certain small privileges are important at a certain age.

The conduct of the Chairman of the CRA, Mr. Cheserem, is below what we expect out of a person of that kind of experience and respect in this country; especially taking note of the problems that county assemblies have had in the last few months. For example, Migori County has its assembly nearly totally grounded, especially because of the mischief of the governor controlling funds. Thanks to this House because we are reviewing the law that regulates how money will be handled at that level. It is an important opportunity to tell his and his cohorts that their role is advisory; totally advisory to this Senate. The decision is for the Senate and not them. However, I blame the Executive for having planted horns on the Cheserem Commission and IBEC. Let me remind them that they have are wax horns and not strong horns. We will uproot all of them with the powers of this House.

Migori County now has an extra Kshs74 million for the county assembly. I think that it will go a long way to try and alleviate the problem that, that county has had at that level.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

Thank you very much, Senators. A lot of issues have arisen out of this statement by the Chairman of the relevant Committee, Sen. Billow. I know that Sen. Obure has asked me to make a finding regarding the publicization of the statement. I would request that the Clerk’s office, in liaison with the Chairman of the Committee, sees how best this can be brought to the public domain---

(Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. consulted

July 2nd, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I want to seek further direction.

I will not allow you for the simple reason that I opened the Floor and gave everybody who wanted to speak a chance before I wound up the issue. I have wound it up in the best of my ability.

I wanted to enrich it, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

The situation is reasonably enriched at the moment. There is always the danger of closing and reopening matters. We cannot do business like that. There will be another time when you will get that opportunity. We must move on.

Sen. Haji, I hope it is not on this issue.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I requested to contribute to this before you made the decision. I do not know whether my request was displayed on your screen.

You heard me asking everybody whether they wanted to contribute. My screen has two windows. One window is for somebody who wants to contribute to a debate. The second one is for interventions.

July 2nd, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I quite agree with you. I pressed the intervention button. So, it is my own mistake. I am sorry.

Thank you very much. I admire your honesty.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, you have said whatever I wanted to say; that we should publicize the issue through all media houses, including vernacular stations.

What I would propose, because of the importance of it, is that we may need to buy space, so that it is not edited. We want to be able to tell the nation exactly what it is that we are saying about the role of the Senate vis- à-vis the role of the a CRA, whose work is to recommend to the Senate what needs to be done for devolution to work. That is the point I was making on this issue.

Sen. Kanainza, what is your point of order?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to make a recommendation.

On what?

That the Committee should invite the Chairman of the CRA.

It is too late. That is finished. There are two statements to be issued; one by the Senate Majority Leader. Before the Senate Majority Leader issues his Statement, Sen. Billow has a statement to issue at the request of Sen. Gwendo.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Sen. Gwendo sought the Statement on Thursday, 20th November, 2014, but I will respond. The statement is on the amalgamation of the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) , Export Promotion Council (EPC) , Kenya Investments Authority (KIA) and Brand Kenya Board (BKB) into one agency.

First, hon. Senator wanted to know why the amalgamation has not been done, since the report by the Presidential Taskforce on Parastatal Reforms that recommended the amalgamation of the four agencies into one was presented to the President on 12th November, 2013. It is true that the taskforce recommended the merging of the KTB, EPC, BKB and KIA into one entity known as Kenya Investments and Marketing Agency (KIMA) . KIMA will be responsible for marketing Kenya as a destination for tourism and investment, in addition to promoting Kenyan products in the regional market. The process is being handled by the Presidential Taskforce on Parastatal Reforms and is not yet complete.

The second part of her request was on whether the Ministry is aware that the failure to amalgamate has disrupted the operations of the Kenya Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) , because the board of management has not been in operation. The

July 2nd, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Proceed, Sen. Gwendo. Please, just seek a clarification.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in regard to what Sen. Billow has brought to the House, it is good he has mentioned that this agency is supposed to be responsible for promoting Kenyan products in the regional market.

Kenya is known for sports, tourism and other good things which we cannot promote if we do not develop the hotel industry. These loans are supposed to be available for investors who would like to develop the hotel industry. Currently, these loans are not available due to the fact that the board is not in place.

I sought this Statement in November, 2014 yet until now investors cannot get these loans. Could the Chairman state whether there is a specific time that investors will get these loans? We cannot say that investors are unable to do things that will promote our country as a tourism destination while we cannot support our investment.

Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, do you want to contribute on this?

Yes, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

Please, do it briefly.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in the Budget, billions of shillings has been set aside for marketing brand Kenya as a preferred tourist destination. Could the Chairman explain whether this delayed amalgamation will in any way affect the expenditure of these billions of shillings for marketing Kenya? If the amalgamation is a problem to the marketing, who is controlling and spending those billions of shillings?

July 2nd, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the same note, I would like the Chairman to clarify on the contracts given to some companies and individuals in America to market Kenya. Where did they emanate from, if this board is not in place?

That is a complete different question which you may need to seek a Statement on.

Sen. Billow, you may respond.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the clarification sought by Sen. Gwendo, it is true that there has been a delay. When the Presidential Task Force submitted this to Parliament, the process of actualizing all those recommendations has taken very long. It involves making appropriate legislation. However, because of that delay, the President has decided to go ahead and appoint boards of directors to various State corporations so that they can continue with their work. This process of amalgamations or restructuring of the parastatals is taking too long because of the legal requirements.

Last month, over 300 directors were appointed to various boards. I am aware that in the next few weeks, there will be other appointments to the remaining boards. This will, probably, be one of them where the board structure will be complete.

However, in this year’s Budget, the Government has provided Kshs6 billion to finance marketing of tourism externally. The financing of tourism is not only being done through the Kenya Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) . It is also done through the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) and several other players who are actually spending that money to go and market and brand this country outside in the relevant tourist destinations in Europe and other countries. That is what they normally do and whatever has been budgeted for will be spent through them.

Thank you. That brings us to the end. Proceed, Senate Majority Leader.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise under Standing Order No.45 to issue the Statement of the Business of the Senate for the week commencing Tuesday, 7th July, 2015.

On Tuesday, we shall have the usual Rules and Business Committee (RBC) meeting at 12 noon to schedule the business of the week. Subject to that meeting, the Senate is expected to continue with the business which will not be concluded in today’s Order Paper, including the various Bills which are going through Second Reading and Committee of the Whole, including the following Bills:

July 2nd, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Thank you, Senate Leader of Majority.

Sen. Kittony, I will allow you to give your Notice of Motion.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to give notice of the following Motion.

THAT, aware that traffic congestion in Nairobi metropolitan region is increasingly becoming worse, leading to increased costs, longer travel times, constrained economic productivity and adverse health and environmental externalities; concerned that the economic cost of the congestion is estimated to be over Kshs1 billion annually on account of wasted man-hours and wasted fuel due to vehicle queuing; appreciating the Government’s effort in mitigating the problem by expanding infrastructure and initiating other interventions such us installation of traffic lights in the Central Business District, the Senate now calls upon

July 2nd, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Thank you very much, Senator. That brings us to the end of Statements and Notice of Motion.

Next Order.

Hon. Senators, this is coming for Division. Do we have the numbers?

Hon. Senators, we are going to Division and the Bell will be rung for five minutes.

July 2nd, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Order! Sen. Wetangula. Normally

You may now draw the Bars and open the Doors.

Next Order.

July 2nd, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

I note that Sen. Sang has a balance of 45 minutes, but he is not in the House. The Bill has not been seconded or moved. Therefore, I will drop it from the Order Paper and that will have its own consequences.

The Motion had been moved by Sen. Abdirahman, seconded by Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo and the Question had already been proposed. Therefore, the Floor is now open.

Please, proceed Sen. Sijeny.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this Motion. I wish to support and commend the Mover. I know that having been a teacher and an educationist before, he is concerned about the standard of education of not only his voters, but all Kenyans. This is a very good and urgent move that will, not only help solve the unemployment problem, but also an issue which if left for a long time will be a danger to not only that region and the country, but the entire continent.

I support this Motion and urge the national Government to go ahead and immediately introduce the untrained teacher programme, as well as in-service training for the untrained teachers in the northern region. This can be done on contractual basis. Once the Government is able to deal the major issue of insecurity within the region, then the education system can go on as usual. The untrained teachers will not be left idle as they

July 2nd, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for giving a chance to add my voice to this Motion. Education is compulsory for every Kenyan. I feel sorry for the north eastern region for what has befallen them. However, if young people are not engaged in education, and are left to be idle, they will be subject to many things. Knowing that the north eastern region borders other countries, if these young people are not engaged, they can be lured to be very dangerous people in our nation.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, since charity begins at home, I would propose that the people of north eastern region should be given a chance to employ their own

July 2nd, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Please, proceed Sen. Muthama.

Bw. Spika wa Muda, ninashukuru sana kwa nafasi hii ili nichangie Hoja hii ambayo ni ya maana sana. Matukio au vituko haviishi katika taifa letu. Kutoka mwaka wa 1963 tuliponyakua Uhuru, majukumu fulani yalipewa kipaumbele. Haya ni elimu, maji na umasikini. Jinsi tulivyo sasa ni dhahiri kwamba taifa hili linarudi nyuma. Kamwe hatuendi mbele.

Ukigusia mambo ya elimu ni shida tupu. Walimu hawatoshi na wale walioko wanadai malipo zaidi. Waziri mhusika ameweka miguu katikati; hatembei wala hasimami. Zaidi ya hayo, swala la ukosefu wa usalama linajitokeza; linawavuta na kuwatoa walimu wachache kutoka sehemu ambazo wanahitajika sana. Tume ya kuwaajiri Walimu nchini ndio ya kwanza kusema, “Ondokeni!”

Bw. Spika wa Muda, niliangalia juzi wakati walimu walipokuwa wakiajiriwa. Niliona Serikali ya Jubilee ikitapatapa na kujidai kwamba inaajiri walimu zaidi, ilhali tunajua kwamba nafasi za walimu ambazo tunahitaji kujaza ni 87,749. Serikali ya Jubilee imetangaza kwamba itaajiri walimu 5,000 peke yake, wala haifikirii miaka miwili, 10 au 20 ijayo. Makadirio ni kwamba ukiajiri walimu 5,000 kila mwaka, itachukua takriban miaka 16a ndipo tutimize idadi ya walimu 87,749 inayohitajika. Hiyo Serikali ambayo inaajiri walimu kiasi hicho, inatumia Kshs24 bilioni kununua vipakatalishi vya watoto wa darasa la kwanza. Sasa unashindwa kuelewa kama hii nchi ina viongozi ambao wanapanga mambo hayo. Ni nani anahitaji profesa kumwambia hizi hesabu zinaenda nyuma?

Kando na hayo, kuna Kshs17 bilioni zingine ambazo zinatakiwa kutumika mwaka huu kugharamia usimamizi wa madarasa ambayo hayana watoto. Kisha tunasema tunamaliza umasikini katika taifa letu. Tumeongea nje na ndani ya Bunge na hata katika Bunge lililopita. Viongozi wa taifa hili waache ubwanyenye na kujitajirisha.

Bw. Spika wa Muda, tuko katika njia panda. Serikali ya leo haiangalii uekezaji kwa niaba ya Wakenya lakini inaangalia kandarasi na biashara. Katika ujenzi wa reli ambapo kuna pesa nyingi, wana Jubilee wote wanakimbia bila viatu wakiwa na kalamu mikononi kuenda kuweka sahihi kwa kandarasi ya kutoa marupurupu. Ukijitokeza na useme tunataka shule za watoto wetu zijengwe na walimu waajiriwe, hawataki.

July 2nd, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Order! You are going against the Standing Orders. Can you recant your statement? President Moi is a former Head of State of this country and he is a Kenyan citizen.

Bw. Spika wa Muda, ningetaka kurudia yale nilikuwa ninasema; mpaka siku mhe. Rais aliyeko madarakani iwe ni sasa ama siku zijazo aandamwe na wananchi na wamlazimishe afanye yale wanayoyataka. Inafaa aingiliwe vilivyo hadi anyanyue mbio. Hivyo atakuwa ameweka rekodi ya kusema kwamba kama hutendi yale matendo yanayofaa, Wakenya hawatakupatia nafasi. Labda nimejielezea kwa lugha ngumu kidogo, lakini hivyo ndivyo nilivyomaanisha.

Inafaa Wakenya walalamike wazi wazi na kukataa kutendewa maovu. Ni dhahiri kwamba mhe. Rais wa kwanza wa Taifa letu la Kenya ndiye aliyemiliki mashamba makubwa zaidi. Mhe. Rais wa pili ndiye anayemfuata, na mhe. Rais wa tatu anawafuata. Huyu wa nne anakalia yale mashamba ya babake. Hatusemi kwamba ni mwananchi wa kawaida ndiye anayetenda vitendo hivi; ni wale walioko kwenye mamlaka. Ndio maana ninasema kwamba viongozi katika nchi hii wametajirika vya kutosha. Hivi sasa

July 2nd, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. With all due respect to Sen. Muthama, we are trying to look at a solution on how we shall get untrained teachers to ensure that normalcy returns in educational institutions in the north eastern part of Kenya. Is he in order to bring in other issues which when anybody will read in the media, they will not know what we were doing?

Bw. Naibu Spika---

Hold on. Sen. Elachi, what is it that is not in order?

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, he is talking about land issues and the presidency and yet we are talking about very serious issues. Today, Kenyans may listen to him and forget what we are really trying to achieve. We are dealing with a specific issue. Is he in order to derail our line of thought?

There is a religion in this country where they read one quote from the Bible: “Take up my cross and follow me”. What they do is to get a huge wooden cross and walk with it. What they forget to do is to look at the context in which that phrase was given. While listening to Sen. Muthama contributing, you should look at the context; where has that phrase been proved? My understanding is that the hon. Senator is complaining about wastage of resources.

However, Sen. Elachi is not totally out of order and so I caution you that I will soon hit you for contravening Standing Order No.90. For now I forgive you.

Proceed!

Bw. Naibu Spika wa Muda, kuna chanzo cha kila tatizo. Tatizo halitokei bila sababu. Hivi leo shida ya nchi yetu ni uharibifu wa mali ya Wakenya na mpangilio mbaya ambao pesa zinachukuliwa na kuwekwa pahali itatoa marupurupu.

Tunapoongea juu ya matatizo haya, hatuwezi kukosa kusema kwamba chanzo cha matatizo haya ni uongozi mbaya. Ni nani anayebeba msalaba wa kutoa uongozi mwema na kujaza pengo la mahitaji ya Wakenya? Ni sisi viongozi. Watu wasikubaliwe kufanya wanavyotaka katika nchi hii bila kushtumiwa. Hatuwezi kusingizia kuwa Hoja hii ni juu ya waalimu, kwa hivyo tusiongee mambo mengine ila tu kumshtumu Bw. Sosion, kwa sababu anatetea maslahi ya waalimu kulipwa mishahara mizuri ilhali hatutaji wale wanaoiba pesa hizo. Tunataka kusimama katika uongozi dhahiri na uliyo wazi. Chanzo cha mambo haya ni kwa sababu tumekuwa na uongozi mbaya. Tunaweka pesa mahali ambapo hapafai.

Bw. Naibu Spika wa Muda, anakotoka Sen. Abdirahman---

Your time is up, but I will give you two more minutes.

Bw. Naibu Spika wa Muda, anakotoka Sen. Abdirahman ni sehemu ambayo watu wanamudu maisha kwa ugumu sana. Hivi tunapoongea hapa Bungeni – ningetaka Sen. Elachi afahamu haya – ni kwamba waalimu wametoroka pale kwa sababu hakuna usalama na chama cha walimu kimewaambia wanachama wake

July 2nd, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, first, I want to thank the Mover of the Motion. This is a Motion that seeks to unlock the challenges that we are facing in the education sector in the north eastern part of Kenya. It is a Motion that is very emotional and we should not play around with it.

It is not easy for us to convince our brothers and sisters from other regions to go back to north eastern and continue working because of fear. If we give them the strength through this Motion by recruiting untrained teachers, students in north eastern will sit for their mock examinations like any other student in this country.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we also need to look at the issue of extremism. It does not just affect the youth who come from north eastern, but this is happening all over. This is a problem which is affecting the youth and we must address it. When the teachers wanted to go back, the KNUT came out very strongly and told them not to go back unless their security was assured.

We forgot that even in Mandera, we had challenges, but we still have our brothers from other regions working there. The moment the KNUT started that campaign, all teachers left. They left because they thought that the more Sossion campaigned, the more they will be given the money and yet this was a big lie. This is an issue that the Senate must address. If possible the Committee on Education should summon Sossion and ask him a few of these questions.

Maybe you should comment on Sossion a bit sparingly because, first, he is not here to defend himself. Secondly, I do not know whether you are sure that he is the one who started the whole problem. Which came first; is it the hen or the egg? Be careful.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, now that I should not talk about him, let me talk about the KNUT in general. The KNUT came out very well in both the electronic and print media. Having said that, today we are looking at finding a solution.

I urge fellow brothers and sisters from north eastern who are well educated to come forward and assist their own brothers and sisters to ensure that they also perform well in their education.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this is a very unique issue. It is an issue that as much as we want to come in and ventilate about it, we should also know that we have a challenge of terrorism. That is why there is fear. We know that terrorists want to intimidate and cause fear so that people can run away.

Since the security docket was allocated more money in the budget, we want to see change in the region as we move to the new financial year which has begun this July. I also urge Members of Parliament (MPs) to use the Constituencies Development Fund

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Indeed, Sen. Elachi, I hope that they were listening to you, especially, the Jubilee Government. Indeed, this House has passed very important Motions including the Motion concerning matters of drug and substance abuse that made the President nearly cry yesterday in the State House. This Senate warned about that. Now, we are talking about education of children of the former North Eastern Province. Are they listening?

Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I appreciate your remarks.

Let me start my contribution by thanking my leader, Sen. Abdirahman, for moving this Motion, which brings into focus the predicament facing learning institutions and particularly children in the three counties of North Eastern Kenya. This Motion tells a very sad story; that in some parts of this country, children cannot access education because of security challenges. The provisions of our Constitution, more specifically Chapter 4, Articles 43 and 53, are categorical on the rights of children. Children have a right to free and compulsory basic education. Nobody can take away this right, regardless of the circumstances. On the contrary, all of us are obligated by the Constitution to do everything possible to ensure that children everywhere in this Republic enjoy that fundamental right.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we all know that the country has a shortage of up to 87,000 teachers. We also know that the three counties of North Eastern Kenya share the greatest number of this teacher shortage. In the case of the three counties, the situation is made worse than saying that many of the teachers who were manning schools in that region actually came from outside that region. Many of those teachers from outside North Eastern took this decision not to report back to their stations of duty because of the security challenges in the region. These very unfortunate developments have led to the closure of schools and other learning institutions in that region.

We, as a country, must now urgently consider the adverse implications of the closure of schools in the three counties of north eastern region and, indeed, the other counties which the last speaker mentioned. We need to consider the implications for the individual children now and in the future. We also need to consider implications for their families and the community of the region as a whole and the impact that this closure of schools is going to have on the social and economic development of the region in the long-term, taking into consideration that we have had complaints from the three counties in the north eastern region about historical marginalization. I fear that there is a huge potential that this closure could aggravate this marginalization. I do not think we need that at this moment when we are implementing devolution.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, more importantly, what message are we sending out by closing schools in the three counties of north eastern region? What are we saying to our people? Are we saying that we have given up and have surrendered because of

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Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I also like to add my voice to this important Motion which has been brought to the Floor of this House by Sen. Abdirahman. It acknowledges that the north eastern region and other counties are faced with challenges of acute teacher shortage following what happened recently when one of the schools was attacked by Al Shabaab. We lost the lives of our children.

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What is it, Sen. Ndiema?

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I do not know whether you heard the hon. Senator saying that our own policemen were disarmed by Al Shabaab. Could she cite a situation where that has happened or withdraw? As far as I am concerned, nothing like that has happened.

An hon. Senator: It is true!

Order! Let me dispose of that. Sen. Ndiema, do you live in Kenya?

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An

He does not!

Proceed, Sen. Nabwala.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this is common knowledge. This has been in the media, for instance, in Mombasa. So, I do not have to cite the instances unless, it is his deliberate move to derail me. I, therefore, support the objective of the Motion by calling upon the national Government to re-introduce the untrained teacher programme as well as in-service training for untrained teachers in the north eastern region as a measure to bridge the shortage of teachers. The programme was there before and it worked well. We should embrace it and urge the national Government to implement it. We should not sit back and watch our children go astray. For example, if they are not in class, what else could they be doing? They will be involved in other activities that are harmful to them, particularly drugs. Since they live in an area which is prone to radicalisation, they may be easily radicalised. Drugs and alcohol is found everywhere in this country. We condemn alcohol and drugs because we know how much damage it does to our children. I beg to support.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I thank you for giving me this opportunity to support this Motion which seeks to address issues which are central in our Constitution. Article 43 (f) of the Constitution guarantees a right to education for every citizen. Since it is the responsibility of the Government to provide education in all parts of Kenya, including the north eastern counties, it behooves upon them to ensure that at all times, there are teachers. Without teachers, we cannot talk about education. It is unfortunate that this situation has arisen. I firmly believe that teachers at all levels, teaching in any particular county should reflect the face of Kenya for the purpose of national cohesion and unity. However, in a situation like this, because of emergencies, perhaps, it is right. It is considered that the youth in those counties who have the necessary qualifications are employed to provide education. I would wish that this is a temporary while the key issues are addressed. The problem here is not lack of trained teachers, but it is a question of security.

If we recruit the untrained teachers through an advertisement, perhaps, citizens from other counties will apply. There are youth, from all over Kenya, who will say that even if it is in North Eastern Kenya, they are ready to go. They have a right to seek employment there as untrained teachers once those opportunities arise.

The solution rests in ensuring that there is security. That as it may, because of the current situation, it appears as if majority of the teachers in these counties consists of persons from outside the county. That, perhaps, points to historical injustices or inequalities. This means that among the trained teachers, we do not have a good number who are trained from those counties. Their quota was not considered and this is the time that the Government should come up with a policy regarding all counties. The policy

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On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. Sen. Ndiema has referred to an incident I quoted regarding chiefs teaching in a school in Turkana. That was also on the media. I sought a statement on this Floor. I do not know where he just got his information from. Is he in order to mislead this House?

Order, Sen. Nabwala Mukite.

On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. Did you notice that when Sen. Nabwala had the Floor, she was interrupted justifiably so by Sen. Ndiema? When Sen. Ndiema is on the Floor, she is also doing likewise.

Are they in order to drag their 2017 competition for the Senator for Trans Nzoia to the debates of this House?

Indeed, I have noticed that. What I did not know was that they intend to compete in the 2017 General Election. Be that as it may be, keep your affairs out of this House.

Continue, Sen. Ndiema.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I am not privy to any information that I face competition from my colleague, Senator. As far as I am concerned, she appears not to be in competition at all. We are just playing our roles as Senators of the Republic of Kenya. We happen to come from Trans Nzoia and we complement each other. We do not always have to agree on each and every issue. I do not even think that I contradicted her. I quoted her. I said that as Sen. Mukiite had said, even chiefs had to teach in Turkana. I was agreeing that this issue can happen in Turkana since it has also happened in the north eastern region. I was coming closer home to talk about Mount Elgon where I said that some teachers had to leave the area due to clashes. Up to today, that constituency has not recovered from shortage of teachers. Whenever teachers are posted there, sometimes, some of them decline.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, with regard to teachers who have left those counties, the Ministry of Education has, at times, created the opinion that they have deserted duty and, that therefore, they are culpable and could be dismissed.

Every citizen is guaranteed by the Constitution of the right to life. It is the responsibility of the Government to make sure that the person gets the protection and is

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Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for giving me an opportunity to also add my voice to this Motion.

First of all, I want to appreciate Sen. Hassan Abdirahman for thinking about the people he represents. Education has been said to be the backbone of many economies both in our country and internationally. However, it is unfortunate that in our country Kenya, education has not been given the seriousness it deserves. Currently, we have over 90 schools in Wajir and Mandera counties that have been closed and children are not going to school because of the problem of insecurity.

We urge the national Government to immediately introduce the untrained teachers programme. This will try to deal with the gap. When children do not go to school to acquire knowledge, they also do not have the capacity to compete with other Kenyans and even with other citizens of different counties. We have heard of measures put into place to deal with this issue but much has not been done. We have had several massacres and in the first one teachers were killed. This has created fear in teachers who were teaching in that place. That is why the majority decided to leave the north eastern region to come and struggle in a different way. I heard my colleague speak about what the union is doing. I stand to protect the union because it is meant to protect the interest of teachers. It has done its best to say that the national Government should provide security to North Eastern region before they release teachers to that place.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, Article 43 (f) of the Constitution talks about education for the young people. Article 55 also talks about youth education and training. It is important for the national Government to look into it and ensure that the affected people of north eastern get education. We appreciate that during President Kibaki’s regime, free education was introduced. The intention was to ensure that many people get

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Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, as I strongly support this Motion by my brother, Sen. Abdirahman, it is a pleasure to know that I am making this contribution when the benches in the Government side are “full”. It shows how serious the Jubilee Government is taking the matters of north eastern region.

Hold on. Look at the benches on your side too. Are you not enacting the proverbial baboon story?

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I love the way you remind me but it is because I do not have eyes at the back of my head. So I could only report on what I was seeing before me.

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Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, that is a very serious allegation. However, nobody has challenged you and so, you can continue.

Thank you Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I cry because I buried those children in Kakamega, Vihiga, Bungoma and Trans Nzoia counties. If I had the power, I would have gone elsewhere. When the children of the rich die, we quickly see adverts in the newspapers but out of 147 deaths, we rarely saw adverts in the papers. That suggests the social background of those children. In fact, if Kenyans would care to remember the television footages that came, you could see how desperate their homes were, even the central region where those children were going back to be buried. This matter must be looked at because we are the House of equity.

With those few remarks, I support.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for allowing me to contribute to this very important Motion. I thank the Mover of the Motion, Sen. Abdirahman, who is a Member of our political party.

Indeed, it is so saddening that as a country, we are not taking education seriously. I urge the Jubilee Government to invest seriously in education. Education is the backbone and it reminds me the hardship that I face when lobbying for employment of persons with disability.

As the Constitution and the Disability Act provide, 5 per cent of job opportunities must be reserved for people with disability. Among the counties that face many challenges, are those in northern Kenya? It is not easy to get a person with disability who qualifies to compete in the job market. We are working hard to see that the future of this nation has equal education opportunities for all Kenyans so that each county has 5 per cent job reservation for persons with disability.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I pose a challenge that if people without disability fear to stay in the north eastern region, what about a person with disability who may be living and working there? What about learners who are vulnerable? This reminds me of the need to have boarding schools for learners with disability in hardship areas like north eastern, so that we can guarantee protection and access to quality education.

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Thank you Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I stand to support this Motion. Allow me to congratulate the Member who has come up with the Motion. There is very little we can give to our children more important than education. All these other things we have are all sideshows. In the modern world, the only thing which is worth enumerating to be given by either the parent or the Government is education.

The problem that we have in the north eastern region of this country – insecurity – is so big that I am not convinced that the Government is making every effort to ensure that education continues smoothly in that part of our country.

I would like to urge the Mover of the Motion not to assume that the teachers refused to go to north eastern. It simply became untenable when people come into a bus and they separate Muslims and non-Muslims and then they shoot the non-Muslims dead. If you survive from that kind of situation, to them be told to go back to a similar situation is very difficult. Kindly let me urge the Mover to see that those of us who are non- Muslims and one way or the other are required to go and work in that part of the country, we find it very difficult. Some solution must be found so that one can feel safe to be there. We do appreciate that it is probably not the ordinary citizens of that area who are engaged in these heinous acts, but I am aware of a number of teachers who were in Garissa around the time teachers were taken out of a bus and killed and the reason they survived was because they missed the bus. Otherwise had the bus not been full, they would have boarded the bus and would also have been killed.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, to this extent, I would also like to call upon the leaders in that part of the country to take part in helping the Government to get a solution

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Very well. I see no other Members interested in contributing. I, therefore, call upon the Mover to reply.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I stand to reply to the Motion about recruitment of untrained teachers and providing in-service training for the same. I would like to start off by thanking colleagues from both sides of the House for unanimously supporting the adoption of this Motion.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, education – as a number of them have rightly put – is a basic right. It is a right that cannot be denied by anyone. That is explicitly provided for in the Constitution of this country.

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I have carefully looked at the Motion and it affects a very well defined region. It does not affect other areas of this country outside that region. It is, therefore, not a county Motion.

I will, therefore, put the Question.

Next Order.

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Proceed, Sen. (Eng.) Muriuki. What is it, Sen. Abdirahman?

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

Sen. (Eng.) Muriuki, you have to sit down. The two of you cannot stand at the same time.

On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. We seem not to have sufficient quorum to transact any further business.

Sen. Abdirahman, please, approach the Chair.

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Hon. Senators, after ringing the Division Bell for ten minutes, we are unable to raise quorum. That, therefore, marks the end of today’s House business.

Hon. Senators, the House, therefore stands adjourned until Tuesday, 7th July, 2015 at 2.30 p.m.

The House rose at 6.15 p.m.