Thursday, 8th December 2022

Clerk, please ring the Quorum Bell. Where are the Whips? Can you go and whip Members?

Order! We now have quorum to transact our business.

Order, Hon Members. Take your seats. I have something to say about that Bill.

Order! Hon. Members there is a communication on the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill (National Assembly Bill No.60 of 2022) .

Hon. Members, as you may have followed from this afternoon’s Supplementary Order Paper, the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill (National Assembly Bill No. 60 of 2022) has just been read for the First Time. At the cost of stating the obvious, this is an omnibus Bill which seeks to amend various statutes, especially where the amendments do not merit the publication of several separate Bills. I have been informed that this is not a new Bill and, in fact, majority of the amendments proposed were contained in a similar Bill that was introduced in May 2022, but lapsed in the last Parliament.

For clarity, the current Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill (National Assembly Bill No.60 of 2022) , seeks to amend 58 statutes. As is the practice, I refer the Bill to the various Departmental Committees for consideration. I further direct that the main Committee of this Bill will be the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs, which has the highest number of statutes under its mandate. All other Committees will, therefore, forward their final reports on consideration of the proposed amendments to statutes to the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee for compilation and subsequent tabling in the House.

Hon. Members, you may further recall that I had suspended Committee sittings until mid-January 2023. However, this does not preclude the House from receiving views from the

public on matters that require public participation. I, therefore, direct the Clerk to publish a notification in the newspapers and on the Website to enable commencement of public participation on the Bill.

This House is accordingly guided. Thank you.

Let us have the Hon. Leader of the Majority Party. My apologies, I mean the Vice-Chair of the Committee Hon. Tandaza, not the Hon. Leader of the Majority Party.

Thank you Hon. Speaker. I beg to move the following Motion:

THAT, pursuant to the provisions of Section 43 (4) of the National Government Constituencies Development Fund Act of 2015 and paragraphs 5 (2) and (10) of the National Government Constituencies Development Fund Regulations 2016, this House approves the list of nominees for appointment to the following four Constituencies Committees of the National

Government Constituencies Development Fund, laid on the table of the House on Thursday 8th December 2022:

Hon. Tandaza, you have not said anything about your Motion.

Well, this is more or less what we have been doing. These are the last National Government Constituency Development Fund Committees, and for the sake of time, I thought I would ask Hon. Majimbo to second.

So, what you are saying is that the Motion speaks for itself?

Yes, exactly; we have done this before.

Where is the Member seconding? Hon. Majimbo Kalasinga (Kabuchai, FORD) Thank you very much, Hon. Speaker. Before I second, in its record time, this Committee must be thanked...

You must second first before you say anything.

Hon. Speaker, I second this Motion. As I do that, the Committee must be given accolades and we must thank them for their record time of finishing all the constituencies in such a short time. In a few weeks to come, we are going to receive funds in our constituencies, and we need this Committee to run. Currently in our constituencies, we can see many students suffering, and so we need to thank the Committee for a job well done.

Hon. Speaker, we shall prudently run this fund as required. I thank you, Hon. Speaker.

The list is appended to the Motion and Members can read if they wish.

Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning.

Hon. Speaker, the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning undertook the approval hearings of seven nominees for appointment as members of the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) …

Hon. Kimani, you move the Motion by saying, “I beg to move the following Motion,” and then read the Motion as it is on the Order Paper. After that you can make any comments.

Thank you very much, Hon. Speaker. I stand guided.

Hon. Speaker, I beg to move the following Special Motion: THAT, taking into consideration the findings of the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning in its Report on the Vetting of Nominees for Appointment as Members of the Commission on Revenue Allocation, laid on the Table of the House on Thursday, 8th December 2022, and pursuant to the provisions of Articles 215 and 250 of the Constitution and Section 8 of the Public Appointments (Parliamentary Approval) Act 2011, this House approves the appointment of the following persons as Members of the Commission on Revenue Allocation:

Regarding Dr. George Midiwo, he has a decorated career as a medical doctor holding a Masters’ Degree in Public Health. He has worked in management for the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) for more than 10 years. He is an immediate former Chief Officer in Siaya County Government. He has worked in hospitals including Mbagathi Hospital. He holds a bachelor’s degree from a university in Russia and, therefore, fulfilling the requirement of holding a bachelor’s degree and more than 10 years financial experience.

Regarding Ms. Hadija Nganyi Juma, she holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and IT from Maseno University; and a Higher Diploma in Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) from the University of Nairobi.

Hon. Speaker, we were able to establish that Ms. Juma has 12 years of experience from the time she was a clerk with the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Services, where she oversaw the digitisation of the social fund we pay to the old people.

We had a chance to listen to Dr. Isabel Nyambura Waiyaki. Until now, Dr. Waiyaki is a director with NG-CDF Board. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of Nairobi, and it is important to note that this lady had honours in her Economics degree. She holds a doctorate in Economics from the University of Nairobi, and Master of Arts in Leadership and Governance from Pan-African Christian University. We were able to establish that Dr. Waiyaki has worked extensively in various government organizations. She has done consultancy on matters of economics and finance and has an accumulated experience of more than 11 years in policies related to health, planning, trade negotiations and the economy.

We listened to Mr. Jonas Kuko, who was a candidate who started his career from getting a certificate to getting a diploma and earning a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture in Farm Technology from Egerton University. Mr. Kuko has worked as a Principal for Chebororwa Agricultural Training College, and demonstrated to have prudently used the funds that were allocated to the institution and winning, four years in a row, as the Principal of the Year. In addition, Mr. Kuko served in the Rural Electrification Authority (REA) as a board director and, therefore, having accumulated financial and economic experience of around 15 years.

Regarding Mr. Wilfred Koitamet ole Kina, this was one the people that led to the constitutional change in this country, having served as the Chairperson of the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission (CKRC). He served again as the Deputy Coordinator for Crisis Response Centre at the Office of the former Prime Minister. Has served on the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) as an Executive Director; founder of the Maasai Education Discovery, and most recently as a board member for the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA). He holds an Executive Master’s Degree in Public Policy and Administration, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy and Literature from Kenyatta University. All the seven nominees met the requirements of the Constitution in terms of their academic qualifications and academic performance.

Pertaining to Chapter Six of the Constitution, we were able to receive information from all the government agencies, including the Director of the DCI, the EACC and all those others confirming their suitability to be commissioners with the CRA. It is important to thank the members who sat through the long meetings to make sure that we vetted these nominees, because the term of the current CRA commissioners ends on 31stDecember 2020. Therefore, this Sitting was extremely important, and I really want to thank the Members of Finance and National Planning Committee for sitting through long hours and objectively vetting these commissioners.

With those many remarks, Hon. Speaker, I beg to move and ask the Hon. Vice- Chairperson of the Departmental Committee of Finance and National Planning, CPA Amb. Lang’at to second.

I move.

Benjamin Lang’at

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I rise to second this Report. I want to join my Chairperson in thanking the members of Finance and National Planning Committee for the Sitting we had on Monday. We had a very long sitting from 10.00

Order, Hon. Members. Hon. Members, I propose the Question.

Let me hear Hon. Wandayi, then I will put the Question.

Hon. Speaker, I can understand and appreciate the mood, because people are also in Christmas mood.

Hon. Members, you know Hon. Wandayi left here last time in a very foul mood. So, allow him to speak today.

You may want to hear from me if the mood has since changed or not.

Hon. Speaker, let me start by appreciating the fact that you are back here. I saw you in the morning in the television exercising your power to vote; you did vote and that is truly democratic and patriotic.

I have very few words on this Report. At the outset, I will support.

I will support it based on two things: one, is that the minority Members in that Committee who are well experienced and able are led by the veteran, Hon. Adan Keynan and others, and have been able to convince me that the seven nominees passed the test. However, I can speak more authoritatively on the three nominees from our side, because I happen to know them at a personal level. I believe the other four from the other side equally passed the test.

Hon. Speaker, our three nominees are Mr. Wilfred Koitamet ole Kina, the indomitable Hon. Fatuma Gedi, and Dr. George Jalang’o Midiwo. I have no doubt whatsoever that these three eminent patriotic Kenyans deserve the opportunity to serve in the CRA. This is not because they are Kenyans who deserve so, but also because they have the capacity which is proven from their record and history.

Cousin! Cousin!

I can hear people shouting “cousin, cousin!” I do not know who is whose cousin? We are all cousins to one another.

Put the Question!

Is it the wish of the House that we put the Question?

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I want to start by thanking the Committee for the proposal to approve these names. The CRA is a constitutional body and when you look at its role, it is supposed to advise on equitable sharing of resources, more so the vertical sharing between the national Government and the county governments. After the vertical sharing, they have a mandate to go to the county level and ensure that the sharing between the counties is also done scientifically and, at the same time, advise on how to raise revenue at that level.

As a House, we have been using CRA Reports to debate our Division of Revenue Bill, and my experience is that we have been facing challenges with the reports of this Commission. This is because when it comes to sharing revenue, at times we have allowed politics to take the front row. The reason why it is very specific that the people joining this Commission must at least have a bachelor’s degree is because whatever they do is supposed to be informed by research, so that whatever information they pass to us, as an Assembly, to the Treasury in terms of advisory role and to the Senate, is informed by research. What has happened is that despite that work being done by the Commissioners, at times we have gone for the Intergovernmental Budget and Economic Council (IBEC) , and at that level, the figures they propose are normally moderated to accommodate political interests so that we do not release what is expected.

Hon. Chepkonga.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. Would I be in order to request you, in accordance with Standing Order 95, to call upon the Mover to reply? What my very good friend, Hon. Makali, is saying is a repetition of what the Chairperson has said, which is obvious. These Members need this to be passed quickly. Kindly, allow the Mover to reply and put the Question.

Hon. Members, there is a proposal that I call the Mover to reply. Can I put the Question?

Yes!

Hon. Makali, I have already put the Question. The Mover can now reply. You may now take your seat.

Give the Mover the microphone.

Hon. Makali, take your seat; your persistence is a misconduct.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I would like to start by thanking Hon. Makali Mulu and request him to read the mood of this House. I want to thank the Members for burning the midnight oil to make it…

Let me hear Hon. Makali.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker for your indulgence.

Hon. Speaker, procedurally, I want to beg you that if a Member rises on Standing Order 95, the person speaking should be allowed to conclude, then have the Mover to reply. Hon.

Speaker, I think I am being treated unfairly, because I did not finish my submission. The Mover is being requested to reply while I am on the Floor, and you have even given him the chance.

Order, Hon. Makali. Hon. Members, the Member who moved for closure said that there was tedious repetition of issues on the Motion, which I also found to be so, and that is why I put the Question. The resolution on whether debate goes on or not is not for the Speaker, but for the House.

Mover, will you reply? The Speaker is not part of the debate in this House.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I really want to thank the Members of the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning for sacrificing a lot of their time. We called you from your constituencies and we even had to write to our party leadership to excuse us from the Parliamentary Group meeting that we were supposed to hold early in the week. We worked until very late. Some of the researchers who are visiting from the Parliament of Uganda attended our meeting and they lauded us for having proceedings that were very objective, orderly and in line with our Standing Orders and the Constitution. I want to thank the Members that have come to support the approval of these Commissioners so that at the expiry of the term of the old Commissioners, we will have new Commissioners in place. And with that, I beg to reply.

Order, Hon. Members, I will now put the Question.

Order, Hon. Members! Will you be upstanding? This Special Sitting is concluded, and the House stands adjourned until Tuesday, 14th February 2023, at 2.30 p.m.

I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. The House rose at 3.23 p.m.

Published by Clerk of the National Assembly Parliament Buildings Nairobi