Tuesday, 20th February, 2018

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to lay the following Papers on the Table of the Senate, today 20th February, 2018.

The Senate Calendar

for the year 2018

.

The Chairperson, Standing Committee on Education, is not in the House neither is the Vice Chairperson. We, therefore, defer the laying of the Paper. Let us move to the next

Please proceed, Sen. Poghisio

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to lay the following Papers on the Table of the Senate, today 20th February, 2018.

Report of the 8th Ordinary Session of Forum of Parliaments of Member States of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (FPICGLR) , 5th – 7th December, 2017, Central African Republic.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to give notice of the following Motion:- THAT, pursuant to Standing Order 29

(1)

, this House approves the Senate Calendar

for the year 2018

, laid on the Table of the House on Tuesday, 20th February, 2018.

We have Statements to be requested. Please proceed, Sen. (Dr.) Ali.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise to seek a Statement from the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Lands, Environment and Natural Resources regarding human wildlife conflicts and livestock predation in Wajir County.

In the Statement, the Chairperson should respond to the following concerns:

Please proceed, Sen. Olekina.

February 20, 2018 SENATE DEBATES KILLING OF LIVESTOCK IN RATIA, LAIKIPIA NORTH CONSTITUENCY, LAIKIPIA COUNTY

Mr. Speaker, Sir, Mr. Speaker, Sir, pursuant to Standing Order no. 46 (2) (b) , I rise to seek a Statement from the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on National security, Defence and Foreign Relation regarding the killing of livestock in Ratia, Laikipia North Constituency, Laikipia County.

In the Statement, the chairperson should state:

Before I call the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on National security, Defence and Foreign Relations to respond, let me call the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Lands, Environment and Natural Resources to give a commitment on the first statement.

Mr. Speaker Sir, I undertake to give an answer to the Statement two weeks from now, obviously after consulting the Ministry concerned.

That is adequate. Chairperson of the Standing Committee on National security, Defence and Foreign Relation, please proceed.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, in as much as this statement is extensive, in terms of the number of questions, 10 questions to be exact. The statement even requires some statistical data from the Ministry as well as percentages of communities, ownership of ranches, et cetera. I note that this is a statement that was asked previously in the Session. I am assuming that it was already forwarded to the relevant Ministry. The answer should be ready somewhere. Let me give a response in the next seven days.

Is seven days okay with you Sen. Olekina?

Mr. Speaker Sir, that is fine.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, pursuant to Standing Order 46 (2) (b) , I rise to seek a statement from the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries regarding the introduction by the County Government of Mombasa of a tax/levy of Kshs32 per packet of tea being exported through the Port of Mombasa. In the statement, the Chairperson should:

The Chairperson, Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to ride on that statement because there is a growing trend across the country, especially with many governors to ignore the very specific provisions of the chapter on Public Finance. Article 209 of the Constitution is clear, for instance, that only the national Government may impose:

Additionally, imposition of tax is governed by law in this country. You cannot impose a tax if there is no law that supports it. I, therefore, just want to ride on that request and ask that as those questions are being responded to, the Chairperson should:-

The Chairperson Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I undertake to give that statement within fourteen days.

That is okay. Sen. Olekina.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, pursuant to Standing Order No. 46 (2) (b) , I rise to seek a statement from the Chairperson, Senate Committee on Land, Environment and Natural Resources regarding the status of over 63,000 acres of land owned by the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) in Laikipia County. In the Statement the Chairperson should:-

ends up disenfranchising the people of the counties that have looked after these lands from time immemorial as properties of those people and counties.

the Chairperson, Senate Committee on Land, Environment or the vice-chairperson.

Okay the Chairperson is there. I hope you heard the question.

He needs to provide an answer when he will be ready.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I did not hear what he asked so I am requesting that he repeats so that I can tell him when I will give him the answer, whether in one day or three weeks.

Okay repeat.

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

Proceed.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I paused so that you could watch the offending Senator in action. The Senator for Samburu County has done it not only once, but twice. He has crossed the aisle without ceremony. You need to guide us and he is a former Speaker. We might need to take him for induction on how to be a Senator.

As a punishment he knows that he should go back and do the right thing. Walk to the Bar and do the right thing, he was a Speaker so he should be able to understand the rules and procedures.

-

Yes, Sen. Wetangula.

The Senate Minority Leader (Sen. Wetangula): Mr. Speaker, Sir, the question will be found in The HANSARAD and the distinguished Senator can peruse the HANSARD and answer the question.

However, for avoidance of doubt, ADC lands were trust lands that were then transferred to ADC by the former governments at no cost, including your County Nyandarua. These lands are being routinely disposed of on spurious loans defaults and so on.

Will you bring an answer to this House and to the country, stating clearly where ADC lands are to disposed of, the first point of call is to transfer them from the National Government to the county governments to use them as tools of production to enhance the economies of the counties. Since, that is where the lands came from anyway.

The Chairperson of Committee on Agriculture, livestock and fisheries.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I will undertake to give an answer in three weeks because this question was not in the Order Paper. In the answer, I will include what my friend Sen. Wetangula has asked.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, during the last Session I brought this matter up. The reason why I revived it is because we could not proceed with matters of the last Session. So, three weeks is not good enough. One week would be enough because this is a matter that the Speaker referred to the relevant Senate Committee. Therefore, seven days are sufficient to get us a detailed answer.

The Chairperson of Committee on Agriculture, livestock and fisheries.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, this question requires a comprehensive answer. Listening to what Sen. Wetangula said, I require to do a lot of work on it. I need to talk to the Ministry concerned. I need to interrogate the Ministry to get the appropriate answer. If I am given one week, I will bring a shoddy answer and that will not be pleasant to this House and it will erode my integrity.

The Chairperson of Committee on Agriculture, livestock and fisheries.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, this question requires a comprehensive answer. Listening to what Sen. Wetangula said, I require to do a lot of work on it. I need to talk to the Ministry concerned. I need to interrogate the Ministry to get the appropriate answer. If I am given one week, I will bring a shoddy answer and that will not be pleasant to this House and it will erode my integrity.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, this is a very important question touching on land which was trust land and then given to ADC. If you read the Ndung’u Land Report, you will see that quite a number of pieces of land which now belong to corporations like ADC have been alienated in favour of some individuals and not reverted back to the trust land or the county governments.

I would like the Chairperson in his answer to inform this august Assembly whether any of the lands being referred to here have been alienated to other people other than being reverted to trust land. Those people should be named and the procedure that was used for them to get those lands be set out.

inform the Chairperson that his reputation will be a lot more injured if he attempts to do what he says he will do.

It is not for him to carry out investigations. If he does so, the report that comes in here may injure his reputation even further.

The information concerning issues that have been raised by the Senator for Narok are available in Government documents. Therefore, I believe a maximum of two weeks should be enough to do this job.

I will make a ruling. Time is not a strategy so I will give you three weeks to present the answer as requested.

Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. Is not in, we move on. Yes Sen. Kasanga, you have two Statements to make. Please, proceed.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, as much as Sen. Wambua would like me to bring the answer in two weeks’ time, I would like to inform him that I can be given answers by the Ministry which would not be satisfactory. I may also require to return the same answers to them and advise them to give me answers that are satisfactory. So, three weeks is not far too long to get the right answer. In any case, the Senator for Narok settled for three weeks. If he did not settle, he can put his case and I will consider it.

I will make a ruling. Time is not a strategy so I will give you three weeks to present the answer as requested.

Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. Is not in, we move on. Yes Sen. Kasanga, you have two Statements to make. Please, proceed.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I undertake to give the statement in two weeks’ time.

Is two weeks okay? Yes, Sen. Haji.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, can the Chairperson also give us an answer to the problem of repairs of roads in the city. If you go to oversees, these repairs are normally undertaken at night or over the weekend. However, in this country, they are done in the middle of the day and in the morning. We see tippers with stones blocking people going to work. Can there be a rule that will guide these people to be doing their work on

Is two weeks okay? Yes, Sen. Haji.

holidays, weekends and in the evenings, instead of the mornings when people are going to work?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker Sir. I seek the Chairman’s indulgence to ride on that statement as requested by Sen. Kasanga with respect to National Housing Cooperation (NHC) , which has been a player in matters of low cost housing. As we know, part of the Governments big four agenda is universal housing. Can the Chairman also seek the policy that NHC employs when it deals with the tenants, many of who were previously in slums and such informal settlements?

Only recently, we heard of more than 160 families being evicted from the NHC houses in Majengo Estate, Nairobi only for the NHC to hold a forum the next day, sensitizing Kiambiu slum owners on how they will build houses for them. So, now that we have focused on the Big four at this time, can we get the policy on how they are dealing with the low income earners who they are charging more than Kshs11,000 to stay in those houses, yet we want to achieve universal housing for them?

Sen. Olekina, the Floor is yours.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to ride on that statement, specifically on the road reserves. We have noted, particularly in Nairobi County, that most of the road reserves are occupied by people. There are stalls for businesses and sometimes they cause a lot of hazards and many accidents occur, particularly in Kangemi on your way to Narok. So, the Chairperson of Standing Committee on Roads and Transport should come up with a policy on whether those road reserves are reserved for roads or for markets and people’s housing.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

Chairperson of Standing Committee on Roads and Transport, please respond to that?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker Sir. The question that has been raised by Sen. Sakaja, on the NHC policy, is a far reaching issue affecting so many people in Nairobi. The House may note that, indeed, most of the houses previously owned by, for example, the County Government of Nairobi when it was the City Council of Nairobi, also reverted to the NHC. Therefore, in light of the width and depth of this matter and for us to give a comprehensive reply to the statement on the matters raised, I seek your indulgence to do it in two weeks. This is so that I can make a demand to the NHC and probably rope in the County Government of Nairobi so that they can give satisfactory answers, including details of the transactions and how they have proceeded to either compensate or dispose of such property in such cases.

Are you asking for two weeks?

No, I am asking for three weeks, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I seek your indulgence to expand it to three weeks.

Okay.

This is also in order to include the new statements as requested by Sen. Haji and the Senator for Narok County. In as much as the request by Sen. Olekina is a new statement, I still undertake to bring an answer.

Three weeks is okay. Your plea is granted.

This is also in order to include the new statements as requested by Sen. Haji and the Senator for Narok County. In as much as the request by Sen. Olekina is a new statement, I still undertake to bring an answer.

Proceed, Sen. Kasanga.

Proceed, Sen. Kasanga.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker Sir. Two weeks will be adequate for me to give a reply to that statement.

Sen. Kasanga, is that okay?

Yes, Mr. Speaker Sir.

Thank you. Proceed, Sen. Chebeni.

Yes, Mr. Speaker Sir.

Thank you. Proceed, Sen. Chebeni.

Education regarding the violence that broke out in Jamhuri High School, Nairobi County, on 23rd January, 2018. In the statement, the Chairperson should:

Mr. Speaker Sir, I believe there are Members of that Committee in the House. One of them needs to respond.

Sen. Seneta?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. On behalf of the Chairperson of the Committee, I undertake to give a comprehensive answer to that statement in two weeks’ time.

That is satisfactory.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. On behalf of the Chairperson of the Committee, I undertake to give a comprehensive answer to that statement in two weeks’ time.

That is satisfactory.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, cases of police brutality against unarmed peaceful citizens are on the rise. When the Chair of the Committee on National Security, Defence and Foreign Relations brings the Statement, could he tell this House under what circumstances and what provoked the incident for the police to unleash live ammunition on citizens that were peacefully demonstrating, in line with the provisions of the Constitution.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

Sen. Outa, that sounds like a different statement. It does not sound like a rider on a question.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I want to put a rider. When the Chair brings the Statement, it should include the case of the three teenagers who were killed in Ahero in Kisumu County. Have the officers who killed the innocent peaceful demonstrators been arrested? Is there any compensation to the families that lost the three teenagers who will be buried on Friday? Lastly, will there be an end to this police brutality and use of live bullets anytime there are peaceful demonstrations, especially in NASA areas?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, if it is not a rider, then I will seek a fresh statement, because we will be burying these innocent Kenyans on Friday.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I have listened to Sen. Khaniri and it is true that there are certain things that should not take long. I know the area he is talking about. In fact, I am very closely attached to it. The place is near a market called Kima, where I made my transition from a boy to a man, if you understand what I am saying. We will do our best to bring the response as soon as we can.

After discussing with the relevant organs, the Committee will see whether we can give a status update on where we have reached, if we will not have the full answer to it, before the last sitting this week. So, by the close of business on Thursday we will be able to give a status update. However, we will try as much as possible to have the entire Statement done by then, because it is a matter that happened recently.

Okay. Raise a new statement, which will be addressed.

Chairperson, Committee on National Security, Defence and Foreign Relations.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I have listened to Sen. Khaniri and it is true that there are certain things that should not take long. I know the area he is talking about. In fact, I am very closely attached to it. The place is near a market called Kima, where I made my transition from a boy to a man, if you understand what I am saying. We will do our best to bring the response as soon as we can.

After discussing with the relevant organs, the Committee will see whether we can give a status update on where we have reached, if we will not have the full answer to it, before the last sitting this week. So, by the close of business on Thursday we will be able to give a status update. However, we will try as much as possible to have the entire Statement done by then, because it is a matter that happened recently.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Pursuant to standing 46 (2) (b) , I rise to seek a Statement from the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on National Security, Defence and Foreign Relations regarding the Ongoing Recruitment Exercise to the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) . In the Statement, the Chairperson should:-

failure of successive governments to provide them or their areas with clean drinking water. I want to understand why young men and women are still being locked out because their teeth are not of the right colour.

He should further tell us whether our soldiers use their “teeth” to fight the enemy or they use other gadgets.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I would also like to ride on that statement by Sen. Mugo. What surprises me is that when young men and women go for recruitment as KDF officers, it is not only the issue of the teeth that they look at; but they also check whether one has scars on their body. Someone who lives in the northern part of Kenya and has been looking after animals, obviously, has scars all over his body. There are small scars here and there. You get somebody who is fit, but because of scars, he is chased away. We should have an answer on that one as well.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me the chance to ride on the statement by Sen. Mugo. With regard to the recruitment exercise, I would like to add onto what the Senator has said about the scars and cuttings on the body of the people that would have been recruited to be in KDF. The Turkana people do have cuts on their bodies. If I take off my shirt right now---

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I would also like to ride on that statement by Sen. Mugo. What surprises me is that when young men and women go for recruitment as KDF officers, it is not only the issue of the teeth that they look at; but they also check whether one has scars on their body. Someone who lives in the northern part of Kenya and has been looking after animals, obviously, has scars all over his body. There are small scars here and there. You get somebody who is fit, but because of scars, he is chased away. We should have an answer on that one as well.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me the chance to ride on the statement by Sen. Mugo. With regard to the recruitment exercise, I would like to add onto what the Senator has said about the scars and cuttings on the body of the people that would have been recruited to be in KDF. The Turkana people do have cuts on their bodies. If I take off my shirt right now---

Order, Senator! Do not remove your clothes here.

I hope that the recruitment exercise will be fair this time and that they will recruit brave Turkana young men to go and defend Kenya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I would also like to ride on this statement. I find the requirement that one cannot get employment with KDF because she is pregnant discriminatory. I know that there is strenuous exercise that needs to be done, but why is it that a woman cannot get employment because she is pregnant? That kind of exclusion is discriminatory. What needs to happen is that KDF or anybody else, should come up with ways in which a pregnant woman does not get excluded from employment and livelihood. It is discriminatory and we need to find some answers to it. We should also find some innovative ways in which pregnant women can be given chance to be recruited into KDF.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the question that I wanted to add on has been asked by Sen. Halake. I wanted to speak for the girl child, but she has done it and I am satisfied. I find that law---

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I would also like to ride on this statement. I find the requirement that one cannot get employment with KDF because she is pregnant discriminatory. I know that there is strenuous exercise that needs to be done, but why is it that a woman cannot get employment because she is pregnant? That kind of exclusion is discriminatory. What needs to happen is that KDF or anybody else, should come up with ways in which a pregnant woman does not get excluded from employment and livelihood. It is discriminatory and we need to find some answers to it. We should also find some innovative ways in which pregnant women can be given chance to be recruited into KDF.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the question that I wanted to add on has been asked by Sen. Halake. I wanted to speak for the girl child, but she has done it and I am satisfied. I find that law---

They seem to doubt you. Sit down Senator.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, my final point is that the Chairperson should explain to us the logic behind sending away the young girls who are found to be pregnant while leaving the young man who is responsible. Why should they send away the girl child alone? They should also send away the responsible young man, if he is there.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, we have been recruiting in the same way since Independence and even after Independence. Could the Chairperson find a way to have continuous recruitment which in modern sense does not discriminate anybody?

To add on what Sen. (Prof.) Ekal said, some of those markings that he talked about indicate that one is a brave man. They should help in recruitment or make one to be recruited faster because the person has already shown that they are brave.

Hon. Senators, this is getting interesting, but we have to bring it to a close it. I will now call the Chairperson of the Committee on National Security, Defence and Foreign Relation to respond. The others can follow later.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I would like to respond to the statement and all the riders to that statement. Mr. Speaker, Sir, you should encourage

Hon. Senators, this is getting interesting, but we have to bring it to a close it. I will now call the Chairperson of the Committee on National Security, Defence and Foreign Relation to respond. The others can follow later.

Members to be asking their own statements because, sometimes, those who ride on others’ questions have more other issues than the original questioner.

I will respond that, cognisant to the fact that the recruitment is going on, I do not think it is prudent for us to injunct an on-going process. However, we will respond to the policy question that has been asked. What we know for sure is that the Military is not an equal opportunity employer and that is for a good reason; because of their specialised service. I have heard questions about Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) having the same opportunity to be a military officer. It is not realistic because it is a physical job. But there are certain administrative functions within the military where we can have the PWDs, such as, some office work, carpenters, et cetera. Many PWDs are very skilled in different arts, but in terms of being officers like the ones being sought in the recruitment that is going on right now, apart from the cadets and the specialised ones, we do not expect to see that.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I do not know if we will ask about the issue of teeth as asked by Sen. Kajwang. We will just know their policy. Maybe it affects the camouflage.

Members to be asking their own statements because, sometimes, those who ride on others’ questions have more other issues than the original questioner.

I will respond that, cognisant to the fact that the recruitment is going on, I do not think it is prudent for us to injunct an on-going process. However, we will respond to the policy question that has been asked. What we know for sure is that the Military is not an equal opportunity employer and that is for a good reason; because of their specialised service. I have heard questions about Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) having the same opportunity to be a military officer. It is not realistic because it is a physical job. But there are certain administrative functions within the military where we can have the PWDs, such as, some office work, carpenters, et cetera. Many PWDs are very skilled in different arts, but in terms of being officers like the ones being sought in the recruitment that is going on right now, apart from the cadets and the specialised ones, we do not expect to see that.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I do not know if we will ask about the issue of teeth as asked by Sen. Kajwang. We will just know their policy. Maybe it affects the camouflage.

Two weeks is granted.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, two weeks is far too long. The recruitment will be over and the girls will not be helped. So, we would like this answer to come quicker. There is nothing to go and look for. The commanders and the generals are there.

As Sen. Poghisio has stated, the military has been recruiting the same way since independence. The Committee would like to engage further with the military to look at an overall change in the military policy. Recruitment is just one of the things. So, we will just ask for that time to get the answer and moving forward, we will have some of these changes in-cooperated.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. My question is already answered by the Chairperson.

I presume two weeks will be adequate, because just as the Chairperson has said, we may not change so much what is already going on. However, we will inform the other recruitments that will occur in future.

Proceed, Sen. Kalonzo Jnr.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, it should be Kilonzo. Otherwise, you will expose me to many things.

I presume two weeks will be adequate, because just as the Chairperson has said, we may not change so much what is already going on. However, we will inform the other recruitments that will occur in future.

Proceed, Sen. Kalonzo Jnr.

This is a request for a statement on the delayed compensation for displaced persons during the construction of Manooni Dam in Makueni Constituency.

In the statement, the Chairperson should:-

This is a request for a statement on the delayed compensation for displaced persons during the construction of Manooni Dam in Makueni Constituency.

In the statement, the Chairperson should:-

Let us hear from the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Lands, Environment and Natural Resources or any Member of the Committee.

The Senate Majority Leader, can you take a commitment. Where is the Chairperson?

Yes, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I can provide an answer in the next two weeks.

Sen. Mwangi, this is the second time you are not paying attention to questions. Since it is on Hansard, can you provide an answer in the next two weeks?

Yes, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I can provide an answer in the next two weeks.

Hon. Senators, you are aware that the Committees of the Senate were constituted in December, 2017 and the elections of the positions of chairpersons and vice chairpersons were held in January, 2018. So, to equip Senators with the requisite information to effectively execute their mandate in Committees, the Senate leadership has organised a half day induction retreat for all committees of the Senate on cross-cutting topics, scheduled to be held at the New Stanley Hotel, Nairobi, tomorrow, Wednesday, 21st February, 2018, from 7.30 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. This will be followed by clustered induction retreats for respective committees commencing this weekend.

Hon. Senators, due to the importance of this meeting, I direct that all committee meetings scheduled for the morning of Wednesday, 21st February, 2018, be suspended to allow all Senators to attend this half day retreat. I appeal to you to make time to attend and participate at this workshop.

Thank you.

Hon. Senators, you are aware that the Committees of the Senate were constituted in December, 2017 and the elections of the positions of chairpersons and vice chairpersons were held in January, 2018. So, to equip Senators with the requisite information to effectively execute their mandate in Committees, the Senate leadership has organised a half day induction retreat for all committees of the Senate on cross-cutting topics, scheduled to be held at the New Stanley Hotel, Nairobi, tomorrow, Wednesday, 21st February, 2018, from 7.30 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. This will be followed by clustered induction retreats for respective committees commencing this weekend.

Hon. Senators, due to the importance of this meeting, I direct that all committee meetings scheduled for the morning of Wednesday, 21st February, 2018, be suspended to allow all Senators to attend this half day retreat. I appeal to you to make time to attend and participate at this workshop.

Thank you.

Thank you,Mr. Speaker, Sir. I beg to move the Motion for the approval of the senate Calendar for the Second Session.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I believe that it is important for this House to come up with a Calendar so that we are properly organized in terms of our mandate. I believe it is a fairly straightforward Motion. I do not have to belabour so much on it. I would request Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. to second.

Thank you,Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to move the following Motion:- THAT, pursuant to Standing Order 29

(1)

, this House approves the SenateCalendar

for the year 2018

, laid on the Table of the House on Tuesday, 20th February, 2018. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as I said earlier, it is fairly important for a House like this to have a Calendar and programme for the Session that we will have. I believe it is a fairly straightforward matter. I do not have to waste a lot of time on it. I hope the House will approve the Calendar as it is. I, therefore, request Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. to second.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I rise to second the Motion for the Calendar of the Second Session.

For the Senators who have the Calendar with them, there is some consideration on some of the things we are doing from number one to ten, for example, the Devolution Conference in Kakamega County, Legislative Summit in May, consideration of the Budget Policy Statement (BPS) , Division of Revenue Bill, County Allocation of Revenue Bill and the Cash Disbursement Schedule.

The advice is that we will need the cooperation of 24 Senators to be present so that we can pass all these things that appear from number four to ten.

We are all advised to be available, particularly for the Devolution Conference and the Legislative Summit. I hope that we will be sufficiently accommodated in Kakamega County to be able to participate in the first Devolution Conference of this Session.

Thank you,Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to move the following Motion:- THAT, pursuant to Standing Order 29

(1)

, this House approves the SenateCalendar

for the year 2018

, laid on the Table of the House on Tuesday, 20th February, 2018. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as I said earlier, it is fairly important for a House like this to have a Calendar and programme for the Session that we will have. I believe it is a fairly straightforward matter. I do not have to waste a lot of time on it. I hope the House will approve the Calendar as it is. I, therefore, request Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. to second.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I rise to second the Motion for the Calendar of the Second Session.

For the Senators who have the Calendar with them, there is some consideration on some of the things we are doing from number one to ten, for example, the Devolution Conference in Kakamega County, Legislative Summit in May, consideration of the Budget Policy Statement (BPS) , Division of Revenue Bill, County Allocation of Revenue Bill and the Cash Disbursement Schedule.

The advice is that we will need the cooperation of 24 Senators to be present so that we can pass all these things that appear from number four to ten.

We are all advised to be available, particularly for the Devolution Conference and the Legislative Summit. I hope that we will be sufficiently accommodated in Kakamega County to be able to participate in the first Devolution Conference of this Session.

solving a problem which has permanently been there; scarcity of food and water which leads to insecurity.

If we sort out the food and water situation in some of these insecure areas, people will settle down. It will be very unusual for somebody to run away with another person’s cow when they know they have food in their home. It will be hard for us to have the situation that we have right now, where Mr. (Dr.) Matiang’i has to go around telling people to open a school because of insecurity or not to move cows from one area to the other. We should sort out the problem of food. It is the biggest resource that people do not have. We should also sort out the issue of drinking water and water for the livestock.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I believe by passing this Motion and being able to support it, we will have improved our farming methods, improved technology and improved food security for our people. We will change the face of this country. We will have more children going to school. We will then begin to repay our national debt very quickly, become more secure and free from begging.

I beg to support. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

solving a problem which has permanently been there; scarcity of food and water which leads to insecurity.

If we sort out the food and water situation in some of these insecure areas, people will settle down. It will be very unusual for somebody to run away with another person’s cow when they know they have food in their home. It will be hard for us to have the situation that we have right now, where Mr. (Dr.) Matiang’i has to go around telling people to open a school because of insecurity or not to move cows from one area to the other. We should sort out the problem of food. It is the biggest resource that people do not have. We should also sort out the issue of drinking water and water for the livestock.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I believe by passing this Motion and being able to support it, we will have improved our farming methods, improved technology and improved food security for our people. We will change the face of this country. We will have more children going to school. We will then begin to repay our national debt very quickly, become more secure and free from begging.

I beg to support. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

does not produce value because the farmers there have to wait for God to send rain. So, God has given them the soil and they have to wait for Him to send them rain again, yet God has given them a lake. It is the duty of both the county and the national governments to help the people of those regions to tap the potential of that natural resource.

Secondly, Mr. Speaker, Sir, there are a number of irrigation initiatives that this country has attempted to put up. Some of them are very well conceived but they have not delivered their full value. An example in case is one that received some media attention not too long ago; it is called the Kimira-Oluch Smallholder Irrigation Development Scheme. This is a project that was sponsored by the East African Development Bank (EADB) in partnership with the relevant Ministry. It involved digging canals across Karachuonyo, Rangwe and Homa Bay constituencies.

This project was meant to deliver water to the farms so that the farmers there would produce crops all year round. In recent media reports, we saw that the residents of those areas were using the water from the canals, not for growing of plants, but for washing clothes and, to a small extent, cattle are quenching their thirst out of that water.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, if you set up irrigation projects without having a good understanding or a good connection with the local population, it will end up like the Kimira-Oluch Irrigation Scheme. We are not saying that this is a white elephant as it is. But as local leaders and through Parliament, we will have to find a way of ensuring that the project is fast tracked and that it is handed over to the county governments. To a great extent, a lot of the initiatives that the national Government is holding as far as irrigation is concerned should, ideally, be held by the county Governments.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I also want to talk about the approach to irrigation that we have seen presented to this House through the Budget Policy Statement and in support of what is being called the “Big Four” Agenda. Food security is a matter that must be at the heart of everyone; be they in the opposition or in the Government. For us to achieve food security, we must ensure that we make rightful investments in agriculture. In agriculture, it is not just about talking about the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) of the past or trying to revive some white elephant so that people can cut deals; it is in doing meaningful things that will change the lives of our farmers.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to propose that this House, even as we look at the plans for irrigation and food security that will be brought to us, we need to ask a few questions. The Government plans to put under irrigation about 700,000 acres of land. We know that in the past three or four years, the Government’s objective of putting under irrigation one million acres of land floundered; it went up in flames. We were told that the Galana/Kulalu Food Security Project, which had one million acres, was to be the next game changer. We brought in expatriates from Israel but nothing came out of that particular project.

This is the time when we, as a House, should say that instead of centralizing the risks and projects in one place, let us identify ten counties with potential for irrigation and give them a target of putting 10,000 acres of land under irrigation and give them one year. That way, Kenya will put under irrigation, 100,000 acres of land under irrigation and, in a span of five years, we will achieve the 500,000 or possibly one million acres under irrigation. Let us not think that irrigation can only be done where you have one

million acres of land that has been set aside. But let us be confident that even if we devolved some of these resources---

Mr. Speaker, Sir, some of the reasons that make the state of the national Government want to put one million acres under irrigation, to be honest, sometimes it is the potential for big tenders which carry with them big rewards. Some of the rewards might be unlawful while others could be lawful. So, we need to push some of this thinking and some of these projects to the county levels because ideally, agriculture is a devolved function. Therefore, ideally, irrigation should also be a devolved function where, at the centre, what should be happening is policy formulation and just doing the linkages.

This will ensure that whatever the counties are doing is not too disjointed. We need to see more of the money – the Kshs14 billion that is being set aside for irrigation – going to counties. If the national Government has worries about how the counties will use that money, then it can be pushed out as conditional grants in the manner that I proposed

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the county neighbouring Homa Bay, Kisumu County, has always had rice irrigation schemes. The interesting thing about these schemes is that a good number of them were established in the 1970s or in the many days past. There are very few irrigation schemes that we have established in the recent past. The question would be whether we are getting better or worse as a nation. I would have expected that successive Governments should have identified additional areas where they could put up irrigation schemes.

As a Member of the Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, I know that this matter will come before us. Definitely, as we proceed, there are certain provisions in the proposed Bill that will need to be looked at. As a Member of the Senate, and pursuant to Article 96, when I look at a Bill, the first person whose interest I have to put forward is the county government. I hope we will not pass a Bill that will recentralize irrigation and matters agriculture, water and food security. These are the functions of county governments. We will have to look at certain clauses of this Bill which put a lot of power in the hands of the national Government.

Sometimes we think that the involvement of county governments is achieved once there is a nominee of the Council of Governors (CoG) to some parastatal or council. That should not be the case. We must look deeper and go beyond saying “a nominee of the CoG or a few consultative meetings should be undertaken.” We must find a way through which irrigation and the Irrigation Bill is one that is driven by counties upwards, so that it is more of a bottom-up rather than a top-down kind of strategy.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, with those remarks, I beg to support the Bill, subject to the amendments that will come up in the Committee stage.

million acres of land that has been set aside. But let us be confident that even if we devolved some of these resources---

Mr. Speaker, Sir, some of the reasons that make the state of the national Government want to put one million acres under irrigation, to be honest, sometimes it is the potential for big tenders which carry with them big rewards. Some of the rewards might be unlawful while others could be lawful. So, we need to push some of this thinking and some of these projects to the county levels because ideally, agriculture is a devolved function. Therefore, ideally, irrigation should also be a devolved function where, at the centre, what should be happening is policy formulation and just doing the linkages.

This will ensure that whatever the counties are doing is not too disjointed. We need to see more of the money – the Kshs14 billion that is being set aside for irrigation – going to counties. If the national Government has worries about how the counties will use that money, then it can be pushed out as conditional grants in the manner that I proposed

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the county neighbouring Homa Bay, Kisumu County, has always had rice irrigation schemes. The interesting thing about these schemes is that a good number of them were established in the 1970s or in the many days past. There are very few irrigation schemes that we have established in the recent past. The question would be whether we are getting better or worse as a nation. I would have expected that successive Governments should have identified additional areas where they could put up irrigation schemes.

As a Member of the Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, I know that this matter will come before us. Definitely, as we proceed, there are certain provisions in the proposed Bill that will need to be looked at. As a Member of the Senate, and pursuant to Article 96, when I look at a Bill, the first person whose interest I have to put forward is the county government. I hope we will not pass a Bill that will recentralize irrigation and matters agriculture, water and food security. These are the functions of county governments. We will have to look at certain clauses of this Bill which put a lot of power in the hands of the national Government.

Sometimes we think that the involvement of county governments is achieved once there is a nominee of the Council of Governors (CoG) to some parastatal or council. That should not be the case. We must look deeper and go beyond saying “a nominee of the CoG or a few consultative meetings should be undertaken.” We must find a way through which irrigation and the Irrigation Bill is one that is driven by counties upwards, so that it is more of a bottom-up rather than a top-down kind of strategy.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, with those remarks, I beg to support the Bill, subject to the amendments that will come up in the Committee stage.

it yesterday or even many years ago. Irrigation is such an important aspect in making sure that we bring change to the livelihoods of the Kenyans.

I am also very happy that the current Jubilee Government has identified agriculture and specifically, food security as one of the big four sectors of the economy, to be the pillars of this second term of its performance.

it yesterday or even many years ago. Irrigation is such an important aspect in making sure that we bring change to the livelihoods of the Kenyans.

I am also very happy that the current Jubilee Government has identified agriculture and specifically, food security as one of the big four sectors of the economy, to be the pillars of this second term of its performance.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I rise to support the Irrigation Bill, 2017 albeit with some amendments. This Bill is timely and wants to repeal the Irrigation Act, Cap 387. Technology has evolved and given us various ways of using water efficiently to guarantee plant growth. Every year we have floods in Narok County where I come from. I would propose that this Bill be amended to include aspects on how we can harvest rain water so that we can use it for irrigation purposes.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have noted in the engagements built in the Senate Bill Digest that a lot of powers have been given to the national Government. It begs the question as to why agriculture is devolved yet the decision on this Bill will heavily be made by the national Government.

I think it is imperative that we look at the administrative structure to be really focused on the devolved government from the county levels. This is because it is where people on a daily basis are faced with big challenges such as drought. If we wait for The National Government to come up with policies for the entire structure of the National Irrigation Development Authority (NIDA) which the Bill proposes to set up, it will then

Thank you. Proceed, Sen. Olekina Ledama.

really limit what the devolved governments are able to do in order to help their people improve on food security.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I think this Bill would be able to help communities when it goes down into the sub-location levels where every community has different ways on how they carry out irrigation. Where I come from, most people use flood irrigation and sometimes, excessive water in terms of irrigation increases a lot of saline and alkaline. There are various ways we need to be able to consider when debating this Bill and also coming up with various amendments to be able to help farmers and people conserve the environment.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, today I read somewhere that the Chinese government has deployed about 60,000 soldiers to go and plant trees. When you look at Narok County, a lot of trees have been destroyed. We use them for fuel. The Mau Forest has been destroyed. All the timber which probably is used in your homes for the furniture comes from there. So, I think we need to add more incentives in terms of this Bill and also when it comes to structuring on how these projects will be developed to include things like tree planting.

I have planted over 30,000 trees using irrigation. I think in this country if we are able to tap the flood water which sometimes will require us to build dams, we can improve on the environment.

I support this Bill, and hope that the sponsor will take into consideration the contributions by the Members of both sides; that the management of this new Bill should be focused on the county governments and not the national Government.

I also would like to just contribute a little bit more on the different types of irrigation. I think it will be important that in this Bill, it narrows down - or maybe that will come up on the issue of policy - to what types of irrigation can be used in different parts of this country. There are parts where flood irrigation can work to some level, but in most parts of this country, I think if we focus on drip irrigation or new technology, it can help us to save water and guarantee that our soils will still be good to guarantee plant growth.

With those few remarks, I support, albeit with amendments.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also rise to support this Bill and say that it is long overdue. There is a lot of arable land in our country, Kenya. However, the major challenge is that we have been relying on rain-fed agriculture. You do realise that with climate change, of late we are having very unpredictable seasons. For example, right now we are having a lot of drought and sometimes when there is rain there is a lot of flood water that comes to destroy the few crops that have been gown. In this case, if an irrigation Bill was already in place under proper policy, I think we would be able to harvest this water and use it in the proper manner. I realise that Kenya has been relying on this for a long time and this has forced our country to be searching for food elsewhere to feed its population.

Secondly, agriculture has been our major backbone in the economy which has not only been feeding into the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but also assisting in

Thank you Sen. Olekina. Indeed the remarks are few.

employment. We realise that there are many unemployed youth and if the irrigation policy was in place and proper irrigation done, we would be able to encourage them to take part in agribusiness. However, right now, many of our youths will engage in such practices as drug abuse. Sometimes we even have others joining some of those militia groups

because of being idle. If we can sensitize our people on this and engage the counties, most of our youths will be engaged in the proper manner.

Thirdly, our Jubilee Government Manifesto is standing on four pillars and the most important one, of course, is food security. To be food secure will only be a pipe dream if irrigation is not properly looked into because, as I said, of late we cannot rely on rain-fed agriculture.

All the four pillars in the manifesto are just intertwined. If we are going to be food secure, we will be able to provide many of the products into the industries. We will even be able to ensure that people are healthy when they get sufficient food. A healthy people will reduce costs on medical care. I realise that if the counties are engaged to take part in this irrigation, we will be able to actually achieve these four pillars and even go beyond.

It is quite shameful or absurd to find that our country has to rely on relief food. My county of Bomet used to produce sufficient food to the extent of even having surplus but right now, it is in the list of counties that are going to rely on relief food.

With those four points, I support.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, my names are Malachy Charles---

Order, Senator. Resume your seat. I am informed that you had spoken earlier to this Bill. If that is the case, put off your microphone. You cannot contribute on the same Bill twice.

I see no reason as to why your name should be appearing on my screen. Since I do not want to pursue that matter further, put off your microphone and wait for the next Order which you might participate in. I cannot see Sen. Linturi, Sen. (Eng.) Maina, Sen. Wambua of Kitui. Is he there? He is there but I cannot see him. Now, I see him. Sen. Wambua, you have the Floor.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving me the floor. I am surprised that I am so invincible. I stand in support of The Irrigation Bill, Senate Bill No. 5 of 2017. This Bill could not have come to the Floor of the House at a better time than this. Arising from rain failure in most parts of the country and especially the lower eastern region of Kenya, millions of Kenyans---

Order! Order! Order, Senator for Turkana. You have just committed a very serious misdemeanour. It is a misdemeanour

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving me the floor. I am surprised that I am so invincible. I stand in support of The Irrigation Bill, Senate Bill No. 5 of 2017. This Bill could not have come to the Floor of the House at a better time than this. Arising from rain failure in most parts of the country and especially the lower eastern region of Kenya, millions of Kenyans---

but it is serious. The contradiction is deliberate, so organise yourself to purge your sins. You cannot criss-cross this place like you are in a---- Do not put words in my mouth.

(Sen. (Prof.) Ekal crossed the Floor without bowing to the Chair)

but it is serious. The contradiction is deliberate, so organise yourself to purge your sins. You cannot criss-cross this place like you are in a---- Do not put words in my mouth.

(Sen. (Prof.) Ekal crossed the Floor without bowing to the Chair)

Thank you, Sen. Wambua. The last speaker on this order is going to be your geographical neighbour, Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. of Makueni.

Thank you, Sen. Wambua. The last speaker on this order is going to be your geographical neighbour, Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. of Makueni.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. You are also my neighbour from far, and I hope you can join us in the former eastern province. I rise to support this Bill. I have about seven comments to make.

One, this Bill is timely, and I support the Senator for Nakuru for the contribution, particularly on the fact that this is a devolved function. I am not certain whether in drafting this Bill we have captured the idea. We might in the process create an executive body that is managing this function and at the same time, lose the function itself to National Government. I am also not certain - maybe the Majority Leader can confirm - whether this country has an irrigation policy. The irrigation policy ought to dictate what we need to do.

Thirdly, the question of whether to irrigate or not to irrigate reminds me of Shakespeare: “To be or not to be, that is the question”. It is not because we lack water or rain; it is mismanagement of our water resources which includes forest. The Senator has mentioned that unless we can manage forests and water reservoirs, it appears we will not irrigate. The way we are cutting trees in Mau forest, we will not have water in the Mau river, upstream and downstream. I am glad that the new Cabinet Secretary, the former Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr. Keriako Tobiko, the first riot act he read is on forests, since we must conserve water to have irrigation.

On the question of how to manage irrigation, I actually went to Sen. Murkomen’s County during the campaigns and discovered that they are doing one of the dams that the national Government is doing. One of the problems about all the irrigation schemes in Kenya is acquisition of land. We should have enough money to acquire land to do proper dams, unlike what is probably happening in your county, Mr. Speaker, where they are doing small water pans for Kshs3 million to Kshs4 million which is not helping.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, somebody mentioned the Budget Policy Statement (BPS) . One of the things that we have concern with in the BPS is that the national Government has issued a directive that they may start rationing water because the levels at Masinga and Sondu-Miriu dams have gone down. Is it possible that Kenya needs to find another method of generating electricity so that we can use that water for domestic consumption? Masinga Dam - I do not know where Sen. Wambua has gone – does not benefit the people of Kitui or Ukambani in general because there is no irrigation component.

On Thwake Dam, the Kshs36 billion project the national Government is doing, we have insisted - even though we are aware that it is in the interest of Kenya to do hydro - the people of Makueni, Kitui and Machakos counties should benefit from the irrigation component which must be amongst the top first or second layers. These are the issues that this Bill ought to address.

On capacity building, under Article 199, we ought to capacitate counties to do large irrigation projects. The project in Elgeyo Marakwet at some point must either be done by Governor Kipchumba Murkomen or somebody else.

Very well, but be aware of campaininging outside the official gazetted campaign period.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. If I may continue, that would, in fact, anchor this function firmly at county government. There is another component that we must tackle and I am glad that Sen. Wambua mentioned it. It is called Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) . It is obvious that Makueni County cannot afford the Kshs36 billion project that is being done in Thwake. It is also obvious that Elgeyo Marakwet cannot do the Kshs24 billion project that is being done in its county, but it is possible under the constitution to do a PPP.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want Sen. Murkomen to take note that the regulations on the PPPs on county governments have not come to the Senate. This is one of those methods of raising funds for counties so that they are able to do these projects whether it is Kshs10 billion or Kshs3 billion because, again, the three-year period for borrowing by counties has lapsed. I am told that the counties will begin to borrow. One of the things they are going to do is to enter into this sort of programme and grants so that they can do big projects. Our objective as a Senate is to ensure that counties can do these projects.

There is a canal called the Yatta Canal Water Project which has not helped food security in Ukambani. I do not know whether we are analysing these issues, like funding of these projects. I am surprised that the project in Kitui which we were all proud of is stuck because it relies on electricity as opposed to many other methods of generating electricity that we can do.

Lastly, Egypt is famous for the Aswan Dam which we learnt in primary school. It does not receive as much rain as we do. But as a desert, they are doing much better in agriculture than we are. I am glad that the Senator for Embu County, Sen. Ndwiga is here because he should know this better than I do because he was the Chairman of Tana-Athi Development Authority when we began Thwake Dam Project.

The amount of funding available to do good jobs is something that we have refused to exploit. Legislators from the County Assemblies, National Assembly and the Senate are flying to Israel like nobody’s business to check on Agriculture and part of it is management of water. So, I propose, just like the Senator for Nakuru County has said, we must look into the national Government component in this Bill to see whether in the end, we will claw-back on the functions of water services by counties and whether we will get capacity.

I would rather that we do this prospectively and say that, in future, this body that has been set up here will hand over capacity to all county governments. Sen. Murkomen was the Chairman of the standing Committee on Devolved Government when we sent all appeals by all counties on some of these functions. This was one function that he

Very well, but be aware of campaininging outside the official gazetted campaign period.

approved and moved this Senate to approve as a function that must remain at the county Government. In doing so and in following Article 187, resources must follow these functions.

Sen Murkomen, you remember fighting about whether this is a money Bill or not; just make sure that in the end, we put capacity under Article 189 and funds under Article 187 and truly make this a function that we are all going to be proud of.

Thank you, Sen. Murkomen for this Bill, it is timely. You are the true Majority Leader of the Senate. Make sure - as I finish - that this is will not be one of those Bills that will end up in the annals of shelves. It should go into history. I would want to see you standing behind the signatory and the assenting authority as one of those Bills that the third Senate will have passed.

approved and moved this Senate to approve as a function that must remain at the county Government. In doing so and in following Article 187, resources must follow these functions.

Sen Murkomen, you remember fighting about whether this is a money Bill or not; just make sure that in the end, we put capacity under Article 189 and funds under Article 187 and truly make this a function that we are all going to be proud of.

Thank you, Sen. Murkomen for this Bill, it is timely. You are the true Majority Leader of the Senate. Make sure - as I finish - that this is will not be one of those Bills that will end up in the annals of shelves. It should go into history. I would want to see you standing behind the signatory and the assenting authority as one of those Bills that the third Senate will have passed.

Order! Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. I know you are finishing. All of us know that Sen. Murkomen is the great Majority Leader of this House, but you have used a strange word. You have said: “You are the true Majority Leader” Is there a false one?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, let me conclude by saying that we want to see this Bill signed into law so that we can truly be proud of the Majority Leader.

Thank you.

Thank you, Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr.

Order Senators. Mover, do you want to reply?

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I want to thank all the Senators for their insightful contributions to this Bill. It is true that irrigation agriculture, particularly implementation of agriculture is a county function.

As to why the national Government still does irrigation, the devil lies in the detail, particularly when it comes to how a Government can guarantee food security because the national Government’s responsibility is to ensure that there is food security in the country.

Purposive interpretation of the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution would still give room to what Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. Said; that when it comes to counties, they have certain responsibilities that they can do, for example, most of the irrigation that we are saying should be done, it is now private work, more less facilitating private investors to do irrigation. It is not like a county government can go and till land, literally speaking

Thank you, Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr.

Order Senators. Mover, do you want to reply?

or that the national Government should be able to do that, except that the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) used to do it for purposes of research and training of farmers.

The truth is that irrigation is not per se a Government project. It is a Government facilitated project. If you go to Arror where I know, Mr. Deputy Speaker you have been to, you will find that the Kerio Valley Development Authority (KVDA) is facilitating an irrigation scheme that is owned by the community. The Government just facilitates the community to do irrigation and the yields and benefits accrue to the individual people who are doing the actual irrigation in the community.

At the small scale level, that county government should do it in terms of facilitating small scale farmers. For example, people who have two or three acres in places like Marimanti or Kathangachini in Tharaka Nithi County so that we can make it to Kathangachini---

or that the national Government should be able to do that, except that the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) used to do it for purposes of research and training of farmers.

The truth is that irrigation is not per se a Government project. It is a Government facilitated project. If you go to Arror where I know, Mr. Deputy Speaker you have been to, you will find that the Kerio Valley Development Authority (KVDA) is facilitating an irrigation scheme that is owned by the community. The Government just facilitates the community to do irrigation and the yields and benefits accrue to the individual people who are doing the actual irrigation in the community.

At the small scale level, that county government should do it in terms of facilitating small scale farmers. For example, people who have two or three acres in places like Marimanti or Kathangachini in Tharaka Nithi County so that we can make it to Kathangachini---

And doing other things!

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am trying to demonstrate my knowledge of those areas in your county, where you have worked very hard. I saw you over the weekend launching a water project ---

And doing other things!

in which you have sent as a Senate, but they have not primarily looked at the concerns of our clients, who are the county governments.

I, therefore, request the Committee to take it very seriously. This is coming from the Senate Majority Leader, who would otherwise have said that this Bill is clean and it should go forward; I do not believe so. I believe that there are certain things that must be tweaked in the Bill to accommodate the concerns of county governments and also to accommodate irrigation in the modern age.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, having heard all the views that came from the Senators and what Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. has said, it is a timely Bill and we need to work expeditiously since irrigation is the future of the country. It is a shame thatwe have oranges that come from Egypt on our shelves; a country where it rarely rains, and when it rains, it is news. I used to ask myself why the pyramids in Egypt stayed for those many years. I just realised it is because it does not rain there and that is why they have all the historical monuments. Yet, because of Lake Victoria and River Nile, they are doing fantastic irrigation and feeding millions of people with a greater population than us and still export produce to us.

It is a shame that we have fruits from Israel, but one might argue that they are from Canaan. Kenyans have been yearning to reach Canaan for so many years, maybe, to explore how products from Canaan taste. But when you have situations where you have to get food from countries that rarely receive rain, it is an indictment on us, who have an abundance of rivers and water.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I met the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Keriako Tobiko, who is also a Senior Counsel, over the weekend. I told him that I do not think we will have rivers in this country in another ten years. In fact, a friend of mine we were together with said it is maybe seven years. We have a problem. We have a problem and we, politicians, are also part of the problem. If we say, for instance, let us protect Cherangani Hills or Embobut Forest, where I come from, one has to make painful choices, like I did. We then ask ourselves “what is the solution to the people who are living there?” and “what can we do for them?”

The only place that Cherangani Hills has some forest is a small stretch in Marakwet West, from Kapsowar to my place in Embobut. The Embobut Forest is even depleted because if you cross to the Pokot side, there is no forest! There is absolutely no forest! In fact, the complaint there now among the Marakwet is that, why are Pokots allowed to clear the forest and our side we are told to protect the forest? Why do we not just clear the whole thing? They are saying that because of insecurity. They are saying that they attack us and run away; and so on, and so forth. Once in a while I fly over this country. I know that you are a former member of the ‘sky team’---

in which you have sent as a Senate, but they have not primarily looked at the concerns of our clients, who are the county governments.

I, therefore, request the Committee to take it very seriously. This is coming from the Senate Majority Leader, who would otherwise have said that this Bill is clean and it should go forward; I do not believe so. I believe that there are certain things that must be tweaked in the Bill to accommodate the concerns of county governments and also to accommodate irrigation in the modern age.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, having heard all the views that came from the Senators and what Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. has said, it is a timely Bill and we need to work expeditiously since irrigation is the future of the country. It is a shame thatwe have oranges that come from Egypt on our shelves; a country where it rarely rains, and when it rains, it is news. I used to ask myself why the pyramids in Egypt stayed for those many years. I just realised it is because it does not rain there and that is why they have all the historical monuments. Yet, because of Lake Victoria and River Nile, they are doing fantastic irrigation and feeding millions of people with a greater population than us and still export produce to us.

It is a shame that we have fruits from Israel, but one might argue that they are from Canaan. Kenyans have been yearning to reach Canaan for so many years, maybe, to explore how products from Canaan taste. But when you have situations where you have to get food from countries that rarely receive rain, it is an indictment on us, who have an abundance of rivers and water.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I met the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Keriako Tobiko, who is also a Senior Counsel, over the weekend. I told him that I do not think we will have rivers in this country in another ten years. In fact, a friend of mine we were together with said it is maybe seven years. We have a problem. We have a problem and we, politicians, are also part of the problem. If we say, for instance, let us protect Cherangani Hills or Embobut Forest, where I come from, one has to make painful choices, like I did. We then ask ourselves “what is the solution to the people who are living there?” and “what can we do for them?”

The only place that Cherangani Hills has some forest is a small stretch in Marakwet West, from Kapsowar to my place in Embobut. The Embobut Forest is even depleted because if you cross to the Pokot side, there is no forest! There is absolutely no forest! In fact, the complaint there now among the Marakwet is that, why are Pokots allowed to clear the forest and our side we are told to protect the forest? Why do we not just clear the whole thing? They are saying that because of insecurity. They are saying that they attack us and run away; and so on, and so forth. Once in a while I fly over this country. I know that you are a former member of the ‘sky team’---

Order, Senate Majority Leader.

country is becoming a desert. That is the case whether you cross Mau Forest, Cherangany Hills or Mt. Kenya. You may think that Mt. Kenya Forest is safe only to realize that logging is going on there and hardwood is being destroyed. Which forest will we remain with? There is a problem.

In fact, I was telling the Cabinet Secretary (CS) that his Ministry should be called a super Ministry of some sort, and that is what I can tell the President. I say this because people say that there is a ‘super minister.’ If that is the case, then the ‘super minister’ should be the one in charge of environment. That Ministry should be called the Ministry of State in Charge of Environment. The environment should be something in the heart of the President to salvage, if we care about the future generations. We want to take care of ourselves and go, but our children will have nothing called the forest.

As Kenyans, we must have this conversation everywhere. I see many people in central Kenya engage in agroforestry. This could be as a result of the impact that they have had over time as a result of depletion of the forests. If you overfly Murang’a, Kiambu or even Nyeri County, you would think that it is generally forested, because people are practicing agroforestry. However, if you go to Nakuru County where Sen. Kihika comes from, it is a desert. Apart from a few trees, there is no forest to be proud of in Nakuru County.

If we say that Elgeyo-Marakwet County is the second or third county with the biggest forest, then we have a problem. What happens to Kakamega County and Kiambu County that have 12 constituencies each? We also have other large counties like Kitui and Makueni. It means that we have a problem. We need to have a candid conversation in this country. In fact, the President should revise his focus in terms of the four agenda to include environment. I thought about it over the weekend. Without the environment, all the other things that we are trying to do such as food security and employment become impossible. This is because of the importance of the environment in supporting the other systems.

We must do something, including allocating enough money to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, so that we can salvage the environment. When that is done, we can then have a conversation on what we need to do with the indigenous people who live in the forests. We can then think of what should be done to the income generating activity that those people are engaged in. However, we must make the first decision of moving our forest cover to a certain level.

Sadly, we are now replacing our forest with soft trees such cypress and some funny trees that cannot last long. This is a country with beautiful indigenous trees in Mt. Kenya, Mt. Elgon, Cherangany Hills and Mau Forest, which are the four major water towers. Look at the beauty of the indigenous forest compared to the exotic trees that we are planting. The Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources has dealt with issues of polythene papers and so forth, which is good. However, he must take the issue of protection of the environment very seriously.

Secondly, you cannot irrigate with the water that comes from Nairobi River. The pollution in Nairobi River is a shame. If you overfly many other areas, you wonder how people survive downstream. The chemicals and toxic substances that are poured into Nairobi River ultimately get to people downstream with their livestock. This should pain

us because we think that it is only the people who live in the slums who are suffering because of the dirty water. That is not true. They are the ones who plant vegetables downstream, which are eaten in Karen, Lavington and other places. This problem affects all of us.

I am told that when Britain realized that River Thames had become so polluted, they decided to form a Thames River Commission. If you go to London they will tell you that the birds along River Thames were not there a few years ago because of pollution. The birds are now back because there is life in the river. There is even fish. The late hon. Michuki tried to clean Nairobi River. We do not want to become a nation where good things depend on one person. We must have a culture and system that pursues good things. It must be a dream of each of us to ensure that we have an environment that has clean water for irrigation and human consumption.

I saw a picture, and I am sure some of you saw it on social media, where a so called ‘clean water’ bowser was collecting water from a dirty river. That water finds its way to our houses. Even if you just use it to clean utensils or cook the food, you will still consume the dirty water in one way or the other. What goes around comes around. As leaders, we should not think that we are too comfortable to deal with environmental challenges that are in this great Republic.

I support this Bill. We want to leave it to the Committee. The Chairperson should invite the Council of Governors and explain to them the seriousness of engaging on the Bill. He should also invite the County Assemblies Forum and the rest of the public. That should also include practitioners in matters of irrigation. We should improve the Bill then have it in the next two or so weeks. We should then have the amendments that the Committee will propose. If they are good, we will negotiate and pass them, so that we can have this law in place.

With those many remarks, I beg to move.

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

What is it, Senate Majority Leader?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there was an oversight on my part. I would like to request you that the question be put at another date to be appointed by you.

Under what Standing Order are you rising? As the Senate Majority Leader, you should have crammed that Standing Order by now.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, my predecessor took about a year to cram that Standing Order.

Then your predecessor is the true Senate Majority Leader.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, my predecessor took about a year to cram that Standing Order.

Then your predecessor is the true Senate Majority Leader.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is Standing Order No.55 (3) . The Standing Order has changed. It was amended.

So, they have changed?

Yes, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. It is now under Standing Order 55 (3) .

So, the new Senate Majority Leader has changed the Standing Orders. It is now Standing Order 55 (3) . That is noted.

Order, Senators! I direct that Order No.10 be dropped by consensus with the Mover and the relevant Senate Committee of this House.

Second Reading

Yes, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. It is now under Standing Order 55 (3) .

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I beg to move that The Urban Areas and Cities (Amendment) Bill (Senate Bills No. 4 of 2017) be read a Second Time.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this is a straightforward Bill. It is simple and brings amendments to the Urban Areas and Cities Act. I had the occasion to interact a little bit with the Technical Committee of the Summit which worked on this Bill. However, I have a lot of reservations on it which can only be addressed by the Standing Committee on Devolved Government and Intergovernmental Relations. The Bill has already been referred to them and I hope they will take on board the concerns of all other stakeholders.

This Bill creates boundaries, urban areas and cities structure. At the top of that structure, is the Cabinet Secretary (CS) who is responsible for the matters related to devolution. If you read the original Bill, there is a definition of what qualifies to be urban areas, cities and the number of people who should reside there. That is provided for in the Urban Areas and Cities Act. An Ad Hoc Committee will be established from time to time

to deal with boundaries, urban areas and cities review. It will be established if the CS, on his own motion, thinks that there needs to do a review of an urban area, a city, a town or a centre or when there is an application from the county governments to the CS to establish the same.

This is a good idea to have a proper mechanism of determining boundaries of towns and urban areas because they keep changing. However, there might be some problems. In the current Act, an urban area, a city or a town, for that matter, is defined as an entity under the governance of the county governments. Therefore, what is the purpose of subjecting the determination of boundaries of towns and urban areas to the national Government? The national Government does not have a role in creating cities and urban areas. There are no extra resources it will give to a county as a result of changing their boundaries. The Standing Committee on Devolved Government and Intergovernmental Relations must relook at this to see whether it is necessary for the CS to be involved and what wisdom informs such a move.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have Kapsowar Town, for example, with less than 10,000 people. There is also a debate whether we will use the population of the people during the day or at the night, to determine boundaries of cities and urban areas. The last census and the successive census exercises used to be done at night. When it is done at night, it cannot give a true reflection of a town’s population. A town like Nairobi, for instance, has an extra of over one million people during the day. Many people travel from their villages to come and work here during the day.

Every morning, they tell their relatives that they are going to work and live in Nairobi yet they live in Ongata Rongai in Kajiado County. Others live in Gachie and Kiambu Town itself in Kiambu County. Therefore, the pressure that Nairobi has during the day is not comparable to what Tharaka Nithi has during the day. Therefore, governing a place like Nairobi is not easy because of all these people from Thika, Murang’a, Nyeri, Limuru, Kikuyu Town, Kajiado, Kitengela, Machakos, Mombasa and other places.

They come to Nairobi during the day and go back to where they live at night. When they come, they create a pressure here; they need more toilets here. There is no one who stays for the whole day without using the bathroom maybe twice. So, sanitation becomes a problem in Nairobi. They bear the brand of a dirty city. However, the person criticising Nairobi as a dirty city has brought his dirt from Kiambu, Kajiado and other places to Nairobi.

It is not just about human waste, but if you go to Burma Market, for example, where they sell meat, you will find that all the things they use to wrap the meat, they leave them there. The traders who bring cabbages from Nyandarua to Nairobi also dump the leaves of the cabbages and other waste products here. Everybody comes, does his business here during the day and goes back to his county where they live.

Now, Gov. Mike Sonko, Sen. Sakaja and all the team that manages Nairobi will have to carry that burden which is initiated by, for example, the people who come all the way from Sen. Pareno’s place in Kajiado with their cows and goats to sell in Dagoretti. They dump their waste products here and go back to their respective counties.

Be a bit diplomatic.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we must relook on this issues about the questions of what a town is, the population of a town and when to make it a city. This is because you must tell me what the incentive is. If we are going to change it to give a CS the responsibility, then there must be an incentive that counties are going to be given more money based on the more responsibilities they have. Is Kisii Town a town or a municipality? It is a municipality clamouring to be a city. The Senator of Kisii County is here. There are challenges that they deal with there. But with those challenges, there is nothing extra we are giving them from the national Government, for instance, giving them some extra money to manage their urban areas or city or municipality.

That is why I have a problem with even the original Bill. The reason why I am very conversant with this is because I was in the task force on devolved government that came up with the original Bill itself. We established what a town or a city is and so on. We did it in terms of categorisation. Looking back, in my opinion, we made a mistake in forcing a management structure to it to provide the number of people that must be in- charge of a municipality or a town.

I remember, in the debates of the task force of the devolved government, I kept saying that, for example, if you say Eldoret Town is going to be called a municipality, they must have a mayor or a municipal manager; an independent person running the municipality. But what is Uasin Gishu County without Eldoret Municipality? It is nothing. So, will a governor accept that you establish a management structure of Eldoret Municipality that will have a manager, its own system of collecting taxes and so on?

This means he becomes a governor of the rural area. Technically, the governor will be reduced to a governor of a rural area because the town itself would have been taken over by a management structure that has been created by an Act of Parliament. That Act of Parliament is likely to contravene the Constitution itself.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am just making this contribution because I respect the technical Committee that worked on this Bill. However, we can improve on it. I wish the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Devolved Government and Intergovernmental Relations was here. Why can we not allow the county governments to be in charge in the sense that we forget the management of the counties and leave it to them to pass county laws that deal with administrative structure of their counties in the manner they want?

If you tell people in the county that they must have a municipal manager, ten people and a committee involving so-and-so, you will increase their wage bill and perhaps, it is something that could have been administered by the County Executive Committee (CEC) Member responsible for urban planning in the county. That flexibility must be in-built in this law.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there was debate in the last Parliament under your leadership that people were clamoring for a municipality or a city in their towns. What is the point of reducing a city to 250,000 people? This Bill reduces the population of a city to 250,000 so that, for example, Nakuru Town should now become a city, then what will follow?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the same Bill tries to change the population of a municipality to 50,000. If the population of a place reaches 50,000, it becomes a municipality. If this is the case, every constituency in Nairobi will be a municipality

because none of them has less than 50,000. The Committee should lead us to re-think these things. Initially, it was proposed that a population of 500,000 people would be a city and 250,000 will be a municipality. In fact, the Bill says that every county headquarters must be given municipal status. What is the incentive? If, for example,the headquarters of a county like Elgeyo-Marakwet is established in a place like Tot, or the headquarters of Tharaka-Nithi is moved to Kathangachini or Marimanti which are small centres, if that was to be the case, let the town grow. Let us call the county headquarters ‘the county headquarters’. Let the status of a town be scientific in terms of the population and the challenges of a municipality that is required to be.

I believe that these things may need some re-looking at, but not in entirely the manner in which the Bill is proposing. I agreed to move this Bill because we have a duty to facilitate institutions of governance which are provided for by the Constitution and the Act of Parliament which are assisting the Summit and the Council of Governors (CoG) who worked on this Bill.

Again, like I spoke earlier in regards to the other Bill, I will be more than happy to see if the Committee can have serious conversations with the Committee of CoG that deals with matters of urban areas and cities to see what areas we might need to re-look at. We should forget the burden of creating too many bodies that are creating committees that ‘eat’ public money. If you want something not to be done, establish many Committees. There are too many Committees that will bog-down the counties and increase their wage bill.

Let us make governance as lean as possible and decision making as fast as possible to enable accountability to be easy. When oversight is done, it will be easy to know what particular role is for the governor, for example, the Governor for Narok County cannot run and say that they cannot manage Narok Town because the Act of Parliament says that it is the responsibility of the city manager. Responsibility must lie where it belongs.

Unfortunately, I am struggling to move this Bill because I do not agree with most of its clauses. The conversation about what a town, a centre or an urban area is must be finalised by the relevant Committee which is the Committee on Devolved Government and Intergovernmental Relations, to ensure that we have a proper legal framework that will support this issue.

I thank the Technical Committee of the Summit that worked on this Bill and for bringing forth these provisions. I understand some of the pressure that comes from areas that everybody wants to feel that they have a municipality. In the past, people wanted to have municipalities because it brought services closer to them.

However, under devolution, services have been brought closer to the people via the wards or village. This is the structure that is provided in Section 54 of the County Governments Act that creates administrative structures to the local level. A municipality like Eldoret Town which has four wards, already, the ward is an entity for purposes of dispensing services. Turning it back to the management of the town might be an issue of, for example, conflict.

There is wisdom in the original Act for having various bodies assisting in managing the towns. If there is a governor whose strength is only in the rural area, he or

she may not just sit there and say that he or she will not do anything about the town. There must be that entity that is delegated that responsibility. However, its links between what the county government does, what the constitutional responsibility of the county government is and the management structure must be re-looked at.

I am ready to be consulted by the Committee for ideas on this issue. From my previous institutional memory, when I was in the Committee on Devolved Government, we sat together with people like Prof. Winnie Mitullah and many other members. It will be good for this Committee to consult them for institutional memory to see if we can improve on this Bill.

I am moving this Bill to provide the structure and opportunity for conversation on this issue, properly so, through the Committee and clearly and scientifically explain to us why we need a municipality of 50,000 and not 250,000 and the incentives for reducing the requirement. Is it to force small villages to be called cities by name or is there an incentive that will benefit the counties and county governments?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those many remarks, I am aware that the Senate Majority Whip has read this Bill. Therefore, I give her the benefit of seconding it.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I rise to second the Urban Areas and Cities (Amendment) Bill, Senate Bill No. 4 of 2017).

As I second the Bill, I would briefly like to add that there is definitely need to amend the existing Bill as the urban areas and cities continue to have an increased population and as the counties continue to settle in and probably need more structures as they set up the areas and as they continue to provide services to the masses.

I also take the opportunity to point out a few things that will be great if the relevant Committee, which is the Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations, will consider as the Bill goes through the process. I question why we would be reducing the population instead of increasing because the populations of these areas continue to grow. For example, in the current Act, a city’s population is at 500,000 people. So, when I look at the amendment, the intention is to get the population to 250,000.

By halving that population, it makes it seem that almost every place or town then becomes a city. The cost implication is that we will then have a management board that will require salaries and sitting allowances in counties that are already extremely overstretched financially. When you talk of a town of just about 10,000 people, I would even think that we should be increasing the population and not reducing it.

Obviously, I am cognizant of the fact that with devolution, we want to reach to the smallest unit and maybe that is what is informing the reduction in the population. However, at the same time, the wage bill in the country has become a big concern. I have

Senate Majority Leader, resume your seat. The Chair was not so clear whether you are moving this Bill or opposing it. Eventually, you have claimed that you are moving it. We will grant you that. On the other hand, we have noted some considerable institutional memory around the issues the Bill is raising, except that you could not remember the members of the task force except for Prof. Winnie Mitullah. Be that as it may, the Bill is now moved. I now ask the Senate Majority Whip, Sen. Susan Kihika, to second.

come from a county where I worked. I saw the very small percentage of money that went to counties and the amount that went into development because a lot of that money then tends to go into paying personnel.

So, by doing this, my concern then becomes; are we increasing the financial burden on the counties at the expense of development money and what really is the necessity in doing this? Those are just a few of my concerns and I hope the relevant Committee will consider that as they proceed with the Bill. In general, I am in support of the Bill and hopefully, we will see a few of those amendments.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I take the case of Nakuru County, for example. I have been looking forward to the day that Nakuru Town becomes a city. I know that is contradictory but at the same time, it is one of the cities with very high population. So, I note with gratitude that under this category, obviously then, Nakuru Town would be a city. However, I do not think that we should make laws just for our interests but for that of the country at large. As we move in that direction, let us do that by increasing the populations of the units and not by reducing them so that then we do not have a lot of financial implications that the counties will be unable to meet.

I recall in the County Governments Act, there were also very many structures that were set up at the village level.You would have a county wanting to set those up but would not have the money to pay the people required to manage that unit. So, as we continue to add these burdens to counties, we must do so having really thought through it ,especially from the financial aspect, of what kind of a burden these counties will have to meet.

Having said all that, I second the Urban Areas and Cities (Amendment) Bill (Senate Bills No. 4 of 2017).

come from a county where I worked. I saw the very small percentage of money that went to counties and the amount that went into development because a lot of that money then tends to go into paying personnel.

So, by doing this, my concern then becomes; are we increasing the financial burden on the counties at the expense of development money and what really is the necessity in doing this? Those are just a few of my concerns and I hope the relevant Committee will consider that as they proceed with the Bill. In general, I am in support of the Bill and hopefully, we will see a few of those amendments.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I take the case of Nakuru County, for example. I have been looking forward to the day that Nakuru Town becomes a city. I know that is contradictory but at the same time, it is one of the cities with very high population. So, I note with gratitude that under this category, obviously then, Nakuru Town would be a city. However, I do not think that we should make laws just for our interests but for that of the country at large. As we move in that direction, let us do that by increasing the populations of the units and not by reducing them so that then we do not have a lot of financial implications that the counties will be unable to meet.

I recall in the County Governments Act, there were also very many structures that were set up at the village level.You would have a county wanting to set those up but would not have the money to pay the people required to manage that unit. So, as we continue to add these burdens to counties, we must do so having really thought through it ,especially from the financial aspect, of what kind of a burden these counties will have to meet.

Having said all that, I second the Urban Areas and Cities (Amendment) Bill (Senate Bills No. 4 of 2017).

capacity to effectively deliver essential services. The same applies to boards of cities and urban centres. You can see that there is even criteria for a market.

The Committee concerned should actually ensure that the ultimate purpose of this Bill is to make sure that as Sen. Kihika strives to have Nakuru County as a city or urban centre, whatever, it should do so by meeting the criteria set out in this Act. It should be able to deliver services, make sure it is clean. One of the things that make you know that you are either in Nairobi, Mombasa or Nakuru is garbage which will tell you that you have arrived at a city centre or traffic jams and immediate floods when it rains. That is what demonstrates that you are either in a city or an urban centre. So, this Senate should be able to assist. If you make Gatwikira in Kibera a market, that meets this criterion, then we ought to develop it and make sure that people are making money in a clean way and that there are services that people can be proud of.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, former Senator, Professor and now the Governor of Kisumu County, may be the only Governor – I do not know about the rest –who has appointed a City Manager. This is because the law requires that every city must have a manager. Mombasa and Nairobi cities must have managers. It is not right the way they are. I applaud the Governor of Nairobi for taking it upon himself to ensure that he walks around when they are cleaning garbage. Although, ideally, they should not wait for that garbage to accumulate such that they look like they are working.

Ideally, there should be a city manager. We should identify a manager whom we can ask questions. If the Nairobi City County Assembly wanted to ask questions of the waste; either disposal or garbage that is in our cities or Eastleigh Section III and all other places, I am sure they would not call the Governor to answer the questions but somebody else.

There are times in this country where we used to have disposable--- I do not know what you call them but there are things that people used to leave outside their gates for disposal of waste. We used to have trucks that used to recycle waste all over the city. There is nothing to be proud of about these cities.

The City of Nairobi, under Section 10 of the Urban Areas and Cities Act 2011--- I can see an amendment to Clause 10(a) here for the county governor to confer status of a market centre in areas that meet the criteria. Clause 10 itself is the only part in the Bill where Nairobi is put squarely under the national Government and the county government. That is the reason why when you look at the objects under Clause 10 in page 60, you will see that Nairobi is supposed to be a city which meets the criteria of being the center for diplomatic services. It says as follows: “The capital city shall provide infrastructure necessary to sustain the following; the seat of national Government, the offices of diplomatic missions, the efficient transport network connecting to rural areas and towns; and commerce and industry. The capital city shall decentralize its functions and the provisions of its service to the extent that is efficient”.

So, instead of amending Clause 10 of the Bill to give the governor power to approve market centres, we should be amending Section 10 of the Urban Cities Act to ensure that it meets the original objective of making it the seat of national Government and the centre of market and industry. We should do that instead of making sure that

Nyamakima becomes a centre, Gatwikira becomes a market, Toi becomes a market, and Dagoretti Corner becomes a market. Of what use is that to all of us? It does not help anybody.

One of the things that I would seek to amend, if not amended, is how do we tap into the potential? We say that Nairobi City contributes 60 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Up to what extent is that GDP or 60 per cent, if you put it in figures, is in billions? Do we return to the city to ensure that it is safe? Yesterday, I watched a very interesting clip on television of a gentleman in Karen who was attacked by AK-47 gun-wielding men, and he shot one of them. But what happens to people like us who do not own a gun, who cannot shoot and do not have CCTV?

If you, as the Senate, truly want to help the capital city and many others, one of the things we should do is that when we amend this Bill, we should make sure that in Clause 10, we can put the government to task to buy a certain number of ambulances and fire extinguishers every year. We should not load it on the county government. Nairobi County Government has pending bills of Kshs60 billion as we speak today. Strictly speaking, Nairobi County is bankrupt based on the division of revenue; and Sen. Kihika has said it. Are we actually going to load county governments in some of these amendments with such extra functions without giving them resources? How do we fund and ensure that we just do not make markets for the sake of a market?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have been to some of your markets in Nkubu, which is a big place. They have done a “modern market,” but what is modern about that market is that they have done iron sheets; that is not a modern market! That is what anybody would do; an ordinary Kenyan would do that. The idea of making these markets modern is to make the place efficient in terms of collection, cleanliness and many other things. The women who spend a lot of time in these markets must have sanitation. I do not know about other counties, but in Makueni County, all markets do not have sanitation facilities. So, other than population, the women who spend most of their time in the markets in some of our centres actually have to go knocking their neighbors’ doors to access this facility.

Sen. Pareno, this is something I would like to hear all of you mention. The people who spend a lot of time in markets are not men; they are women. So, in making these market centres, making these criteria is good enough, but they do not have the most basic thing – a sanitation facility. We must compel our county governments to ensure that if you are going to upgrade – like you are saying you want to upgrade in Clause 10 – one of the things to check is to make sure that women with children have a facility; that ordinary women working in the markets can have the most basic thing that you can offer any person. It is a basic facility.

I have done sanitation facilities through Rotary International when I was its President in Lang’ata. I put hot water showers both in Kibera and in Mathare. It has an ablution block – we do not call them toilets; we call them ablution blocks –because they have water, sanitation, a washing bay and those who can afford can use hot water. In fact, they manage them better than county governments because they pay and they are clean. We can do so for these market centres so that we are a little more useful. We must put a lot of intellect into this.

In fact, the committees and boards, as far as I am concerned are just where we are putting people to earn sitting allowances for nothing. It is not necessary. In fact, if you go to some of these centres---. When I was the President of Rotary International and I was constructing toilets in Kibera, I just got those guys to organize themselves. They cleared the garbage for all those sites and we constructed toilets. We did not need a committee; they did it themselves. All I did was to ensure that for the ten facilities that I did in Silanga, in Kibera; the funds were available.

These committees are a waste of public resources. The county governments must appoint managers for every market and not these ten people sitting and one of them holds a bachelor’s degree. What is the degree for? In Toi market, what you need to do is to make sure it is clean. You do not need a person with a degree. In any event, we want to provide employment to our youth and some of them would not meet these criteria. It is not objective at all.

As I support this Bill, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I urge the Committee that is going to look at this to put in a little more effort. Prof. Winnie Mitullah was my teacher and maybe it is time we consulted her again and made sure that we have cities. I have gone to small little towns outside the country and you will be embarrassed to say you come from Nairobi. Simple little things like management of water, like what we were talking about a few minutes ago--- One of the distinguishing features about the cities of Beijing, London, and Geneva is actually a river or a clean water source. Maybe that is what this Senate should strive to do in Nairobi as a beginning so that by the time we go to Nakuru to check on Lake Nakuru and Lake Naivasha, we would have been more useful.

We should then compel the county governments, through the Urban Areas and Cities Act 2011, to have town planning. One of the things that you do not have and which will not make Nakuru a city, is the town planning. You know how your city is; you know how crowded it is. The person who has a tuk tuk, the person who has a matatu and the person who is selling their wears are on the same road. All of them are looking for space. They are all hooting like the world is coming to an end. That is your problem in Nakuru and major cities because there is no planning. The hotels are facing one another and nobody knows what the other person is building.

If you go to Athi River, for example, how on earth did somebody approve construction of cement factories in the middle of residences? Day and night, they are grinding stone, generating all that dust. In fact, the people who live in a place called Sidai and opposite, as you go to the interchange in Athi River, do not open their windows because of poor planning. Somebody thought that they should put up a cement factory.

The one in Kajiado is possibly better placed because it is far away from human habitation. I wish we can do what Bamburi Cement Company did in Mombasa. You would not know that there is a cement factory in the middle of that city because they have planted so many trees that absorb the dust. You would not know that you are breathing limestone because the trees that they have planted have taken care of that.

Something went wrong in Nairobi and unless we can input here, it will not help us. I do not know whether the Senate Majority Leader mentioned the Metropolitan Urban Policy by the national Government that was tabled in the National Assembly last year.

Since it is available let us use that. The Committee should also use that because we have a policy, both at the county and national level, which can inform this Bill.

With those few remarks, I beg to support.

Since it is available let us use that. The Committee should also use that because we have a policy, both at the county and national level, which can inform this Bill.

With those few remarks, I beg to support.

to get our children good secondary schools when they are joining form one. We have problems of diseases to tackle.

Our children get sick from all manner of diseases since there are no decent health facilities for treatment at the local level. Our people involve themselves in fundraising activities. It is a common feature for our people to send patients to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital Eldoret, the Nairobi Hospital, India or South Africa for treatment. We need to address these concerns in the society, both at national and county levels.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, if we are making administrative arrangements in creating the boroughs like what the London City has done for convenience of goods and services, then I will support this Bill. This is because I know it will create job opportunities for parents, wazees and young men in our country. Instead of them coming to Nairobi, they will look at their town and village that has created opportunities for them as a place to work. They will have a chance to work and a sense of ownership that they belong to that place and can do something useful.That is the way I see this Bill.

Its development eventually should not just be creating an empty structure. I suggest that the drafters of the Bill at the Committee stage should put meat into it so that they can say, “Yes, we are reducing the population from 500,000 to 250,000 for a town to be upgraded to a city status.” Every town would like to be called a city. All the 47counties are potentially 47 cities. However, they should be such with a purpose. To me, at the end of this exercise, they should be serving the population that is resident in that area.

With all the attendant facilities that I have mentioned from governance which we have already said will be done by the county governor and his team, the human rights issues which are legislative in nature and will be looked after by both the governor and the County Assemblies, but, fundamentally, what does it potent to that mother who is vending her vegetables in a small market in that village at the end of the day? Does she sit waiting the whole day only selling items worth Kshs20, Kshs50 orKshs100?

I will accept the concept of urbanisation as creating a population capable to sustain commercial activities in that centre. Therefore, there is mutuality in benefiting from one another. The planning of the urban and town centre, the social facilities alongside the economic activities is every important in attracting the population and their sustainability. However, creating a bare structure is confining this thing to another level where people will see them as monuments and will have no value for anybody.

I would have started hearing from the Government side that they have now agreed on expanding the resources to devolution and support to the county governments to the extent of 45 percent. If they start with that, then as Senators,we will say that the county governments have money and now charge them with the responsibility of creating these structures. Eventually, that is what devolution is all about. Nevertheless resource sharing must be equitable to each and everyone of them. They should not be concentrated at one level. Then we should say, yes! County Government of Kisii, Tharaka-Nithi---

I am sorry, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we are all brothers and sisters in one way or the other. I am referring to that because we are the most hit, population wise, we have very high populations and our counties are almost becoming semi urban centres.You

cannot differentiate what is the rural area and what is the town or the urban centres and these are the needs that are required.

If you look at Hong Kong, basically, it is a town and a city on its own. The same applies to Singapore; basically a city in itself on its own, but by provisions of services. In Malaysia, for instance, the concern and the concentration they have put on their environment, the provision of clean water, health services, security in those areas and ICT, today, Hong Kong is a thriving city with a very high population. Singapore is a city you admire.When you get at the Singapore Airport, the surrounding and the environment is acceptable.

However, when you walk from Tom Mboya Street to Moi Street, you will see the amount of garbage. The stench you meet there and we say we are living well, we are not! As legislators, we now have both the moral and political responsibility to ensure that the resources that are collected for this nation are equally distributed in equal measure in a particularpercentage to our rural centres so that these structures we are proposing, which I support, can then serve as a template for reaching out to the population at the rural level. Then we would say this country is truly on the development path.

At the Committee Stage, I will be excited to see what the Government side is planning to do. We are with you, we are supporting you and we are not shying away from this support because all these people belong to Kenya. We must create a favourable environment for these structures to survive, to be adopted and implemented in a meaningful manner.

I can go to Keroka and tell the people there that they are now qualified for the status of a Town. They will be excited and sing my name the whole day, but at the end of the day they will ask me: Prof. Ongeri what have you put on the table for Keroka Town to be at the Municipality level?

If the road network within that town and the health centres around that area are not complete, if the Primary and ECD schools are not in place, if the courts are not there for crime control and the security system is not there, then these are the issues that we should interrogate in our minds. Once we are satisfied, the fundamental issue is the resource flow to these areas.

Let us not be greedy about the resource flow. Let us generously accept that we need to support our Rural-Urban development programmes and structures, then use the new urban agenda which I had the pleasure of negotiating on behalf of this country. I almost died in South America. They can then have a meaningful structure in uplifting these urban centres because there will be support coming in, one way or the other, once we are properly organized.

So, I want to support this with a clear understanding that we are creating a structure to be followed by the flow of resources, both internal and external, to support the development of our people to another level so that we do not become paupers. We do not have to be poverty stricken all the time. The whole idea is to improve the income of our people. Therefore, this structure will then be held as something that we have created as the Senate and as a Parliament which considers the plight of our people.

With those few remarks, I support with those amendments. Thank you.

Than you, Prof. Ongeri. Let us have Sen. Judith Pareno.

Than you, Prof. Ongeri. Let us have Sen. Judith Pareno.

you to get the assistance that you needed at the Provincial Headquarters, because you are in the Rift Valley.

Of course, with time, those services have been devolved and they have come to the counties. But this is a Bill that would ensure some of these small services can actually be delivered right at the markets and the municipalities. By doing that, we would be doing what our devolution agenda was meant to achieve.

So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Bill is good and I support it. The reason it has come to this House is not for us to say it is not a good Bill; but it is for us to improve it. If we have issues of a city or an urban area has a certain population, then it is for us to suggest what kind of population is acceptable for it to be upgraded. In my opinion, the issue should not be the population, but how you are able to sustain the city or urban area and make sure that you have the services to qualify for a certain level of development.

Why should a place not be upgraded to a municipality if it has the necessary services, even if it has a small population? I do not think we should look at population per se. We should look at every other service or qualification for a place to be upgraded to the next level. We can start by upgrading a market to a municipality. We can then move to a town and city, but we still have others that have special names like economic zones. All these are meant to gear up to certain development and improve the livelihoods.

I support the Bill.

you to get the assistance that you needed at the Provincial Headquarters, because you are in the Rift Valley.

Of course, with time, those services have been devolved and they have come to the counties. But this is a Bill that would ensure some of these small services can actually be delivered right at the markets and the municipalities. By doing that, we would be doing what our devolution agenda was meant to achieve.

So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Bill is good and I support it. The reason it has come to this House is not for us to say it is not a good Bill; but it is for us to improve it. If we have issues of a city or an urban area has a certain population, then it is for us to suggest what kind of population is acceptable for it to be upgraded. In my opinion, the issue should not be the population, but how you are able to sustain the city or urban area and make sure that you have the services to qualify for a certain level of development.

Why should a place not be upgraded to a municipality if it has the necessary services, even if it has a small population? I do not think we should look at population per se. We should look at every other service or qualification for a place to be upgraded to the next level. We can start by upgrading a market to a municipality. We can then move to a town and city, but we still have others that have special names like economic zones. All these are meant to gear up to certain development and improve the livelihoods.

I support the Bill.

Very well. Senators, for the convenience of the Senate, we should adjourn at this juncture. I direct that the Bill, under Order No. 11, be placed in tomorrow’s Order Paper as requested by the sponsor of the Bill.

Hon. Senators, it is now time to adjourn the House. The Senate stands adjourned until tomorrow, Wednesday, 21st February, 2018 at 2.30 p.m.

The Senate rose at 6.15 p.m.