Wednesday, 12th October, 2016

What is it, Sen. Njoroge?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, pursuant to Standing Order No.45 (2) (b) , I rise to seek a Statement from the `Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Land and Natural Resources regarding the ongoing Northern Water Collector Tunnel Project which is intended to provide reliable water supply to Nairobi City County and its environs. In the Statements, the chairperson should explain;

Sen. Khaniri!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, that is a very topical and touchy issue in the Republic at the moment. I will consult with the Ministry and see if we can issue a Statement in two weeks’ time.

What is it, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale?

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. As admitted by the Vice Chairperson of the Committee, this is a very important matter of grave national

matter over the weekend. Very many Kenyans especially those ones who live downstream at the River Tana are so scared, that in five years, there will be a desert.

Could the vice-chairperson also in his report, bring us a study of comparative studies and experiences elsewhere in the world so that we can see whether a similar project has succeeded anywhere else in the world? I have googled, and I am unable to get that kind of information. Let them help us see where water is tapped upstream and how they succeeded in ensuring that there is still the normal water supply downstream.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, noting that we will be going for a recess very soon, I request that this matter be responded to within one week’s time. The matter has to do with water, which is life, and it is raising a lot of issues. The Chairman is just a walking distance to the Minister’s Office.

Order! Put the request and do not go for the mechanics. Let us hear from Sen. Wetangula before the Vice-Chairperson responds.

The Senate Minority Leader (Sen. Wetangula) : Mr. Speaker, Sir, alongside the very good Statement sought by Sen. Njoroge, the Vice-Chairperson in so doing, should tell the House and the country how many mega dam projects are being undertaken in this country and at what cost. There is general talk that exaggerated figures are being put on dams. One just blocks a river and gets a reservoir behind it and we are told it costs Kshs10 billion to Kshs20 billion. We would like to know how many dams are being constructed, at what cost and in which parts of the country.

Vice-Chairperson!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, alongside the very good Statement sought by Sen. Njoroge, the Vice-Chairperson in so doing, should tell the House and the country how many mega dam projects are being undertaken in this country and at what cost. There is general talk that exaggerated figures are being put on dams. One just blocks a river and gets a reservoir behind it and we are told it costs Kshs10 billion to Kshs20 billion. We would like to know how many dams are being constructed, at what cost and in which parts of the country.

Vice-Chairperson!

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. It sounds amusing. However, I am concerned that the Vice-Chairperson says that he might not agree with the Government’s position, but all the same, he will attempt to give an answer. In the record of political parties, there is an entry that Sen. Khaniri has since dropped membership to any party in this country. Is he still a Member of the Alliance that recommended him to become a member of a Committee and subsequently become a Vice-Chairperson? Could the Speaker guide us since the communication originated from the Office of the Speaker?

Order, Members! That is a straight forward matter. Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale and Sen. Khaniri, just relax. I am particularly pleased that Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale is addressing that matter to Sen. Khaniri who is well versed with the Standing Orders. That issue is completely irrelevant to the matter before us. Our Standing Orders, in theory and in practice, allow Members of what the Minority Leader would call the Alternative Government, to be chairpersons of committees. You have been enjoying that privilege. I do not know why you are now running away from it.

Therefore, the vice-chairperson will respond in two weeks’ time. Let us move to Statements to be issued. Before we do so, I have a Communication to make.

Order, Members! That is a straight forward matter. Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale and Sen. Khaniri, just relax. I am particularly pleased that Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale is addressing that matter to Sen. Khaniri who is well versed with the Standing Orders. That issue is completely irrelevant to the matter before us. Our Standing Orders, in theory and in practice, allow Members of what the Minority Leader would call the Alternative Government, to be chairpersons of committees. You have been enjoying that privilege. I do not know why you are now running away from it.

Therefore, the vice-chairperson will respond in two weeks’ time. Let us move to Statements to be issued. Before we do so, I have a Communication to make.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I join you in welcoming the delegation of Women parliamentarians from the Parliament of South Sudan. We have been very privileged, as the Kenya Women Parliamentarians, to host them in this Parliament. Yesterday, we hosted them for dinner. They have just come from meeting the National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC) and they have also visited many other organisations in this country. It is my hope that the delegation will come out better after learning the best practices that we will portray to them as Kenyan women. I hope they will become better legislators as we also learn from them. I welcome them and hope that they will take our greetings to the Parliament of South Sudan. I thank you.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I join you in welcoming the delegation of Women parliamentarians from the Parliament of South Sudan. We have been very privileged, as the Kenya Women Parliamentarians, to host them in this Parliament. Yesterday, we hosted them for dinner. They have just come from meeting the National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC) and they have also visited many other organisations in this country. It is my hope that the delegation will come out better after learning the best practices that we will portray to them as Kenyan women. I hope they will become better legislators as we also learn from them. I welcome them and hope that they will take our greetings to the Parliament of South Sudan. I thank you.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I join my colleagues in extending a warm welcome to the Parliamentarians from South Sudan. We are very concerned regarding what we have been reading in the newspapers taking place in their country and we pray for them. There is a saying that the pain a mother feels over her child, whether a girl or a boy, is heavy. Since they are here on behalf of the mothers of South Sudan, we will ask them to do all they can in their Parliament. They should talk to their leaders. The joy they acquired recently when they became a new Republic should be the standard measure and Kenya has continued to stand with them. We are their neighbours in--- Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo, it is not a debate.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I wish them well.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is a pleasure to see, in the Speaker’s Gallery, eminent ladies from South Sudan. May I request them to convey my greetings to Hon. Kong who was the first Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee in the National Legislative Assembly of South Sudan, and I was privileged to train them. I hope that normalcy will be restored in the Republic of South Sudan. We have played a big role as good neighbours and brothers to make sure that the country stabilizes. My brother died in Juba just three months ago. He was there to train the people on military intelligence. Thank you very much, you are welcome.

help things stabilize and come to normalcy, they are always welcome. As a country, we are together--- Order, Senator, please conclude.

help things stabilize and come to normalcy, they are always welcome. As a country, we are together--- Order, Senator, please conclude.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, that is enough. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, thank you at long last. I thought being senior, I should have been the one to start.

Order! Senator. I definitely appreciate seniority and I acknowledge you but there are also procedures in which you catch the Speaker’s attention and seniority is not one of them.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have been doing without my proper card for nearly four months. I am almost becoming a stranger in the House. Anyway, allow me to join you in welcoming my sisters from South Sudan and I commend them. I would like to tell them that a woman is a pillar of a home and the country. We will rely on them to make South Sudan a peaceful country and a good neighbour, so that all of us can enjoy the fruits of our hard work as the women of Africa. I congratulate and welcome them. They should enjoy staying in Nairobi and learn as much as they can from us because Kenyan women have supported South Sudan for a long time especially on issues of women caucuses. We wish them well and they should take our greetings home when they go back to South Sudan. The Senate Minority Leader (

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I join you and other colleagues in welcoming the distinguished delegation from South Sudan. Like my colleagues have said, Kenya played a critical role in hosting and championing the process of bringing peace between South Sudan and the Republic of Sudan which led to independence. As we do so, it is our wish that normalcy, peace and tranquility are restored in the Republic of South Sudan through magnanimous and selfless conduct of the leaders of that country, particularly President Salva Kiir Mayardit and Dr. Riek Machar. As an incoming president of this country, I want to assure the Sudanese compatriots that I will do everything humanly possible to assist them achieve a sustainable peace in their country. For a moment, I wondered whether the Senate Minority Leader was reporting his days as the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I also want to add my voice to what my fellow Senators have said in welcoming MPs from South Sudan. I am happy to see quite a number of women parliamentarians. We all know that women are peacemakers. I hope they will embrace peace building in their country. I wish them well and request them to pass our greetings when they go back home.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to join you and my colleagues in welcoming the gracious ladies from the Republic of South Sudan to the Senate of the Republic of Kenya. My colleagues have already alluded to it that South Sudan is our younger brother. We midwifed the birth of that Republic. As an old brother, we want to see them do well. We want to see a peaceful South Sudan. We want reason to prevail among leaders to ensure that the people of South Sudan enjoy the independence they fought for with their sweat and blood.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I have been listening to the debate and I want to welcome the leaders from South Sudan who are our neighbors. The South Sudanese are our brothers and sisters. I was a lecturer before I came here and a number of my students were from South Sudan. The relationship between us and South Sudan is tight but I am told that the Parliament of South Sudan borrowed the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) concept from us.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, as I welcome them, I also recognize the fact that they are women. It is important a young nation like South Sudan started by recognizing the importance of all actors in the society and the participation of women leadership. I say this because it also seems to be the season of women leadership in the world. You have seen the Prime Minister of Britain, the Prime Minister of Croatia, the President of Argentina and Brazil, and I have no doubt in my mind that the next President of the United States of America will be a woman.

So, I believe women leaders will take this moment including those sitting here from South Sudan to provide the right leadership and use the soft power that comes with motherhood in dealing with the issues of conflict in our country and South Sudan. We do not want to see South Sudan continue in the situation it is. We believe we will continue

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would also like to join you and my other colleagues in appreciating colleagues from South Sudan who have come here to learn the best practices we have in our Senate and our country. Peace has been very elusive in South Sudan. I would like to urge them not only to allow those occupying senior position to carry the cross of peace but they should all come together and guarantee peace in South Sudan.

One of my family members is entrenched in peace building in South Sudan. I would like them to work with all Kenyans and take them as their brothers because we would like to see peace prevailing in South Sudan.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, through you, I am representing the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in presentation of a paper on how women can participate in elections, free from violence and intimidation. As a special rapporteur on behalf of the Kenya Senate, I will seek to know whether we can have a resolution passed in Geneva on the situation in South Sudan because the IPU where you occupy a privileged position can intervene in the crisis in South Sudan.

As we welcome them, I hope that one of our deliberations is how we can help the women and children who are the victims of violence of war to benefit from the strong IPU Parliament that will meet in Geneva. Thank you.

Granted. The Deputy Majority Leader has stepped in. Let us give him the last bite on the cherry.

Proceed, Sen. Murkomen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I have been listening to the debate and I want to welcome the leaders from South Sudan who are our neighbors. The South Sudanese are our brothers and sisters. I was a lecturer before I came here and a number of my students were from South Sudan. The relationship between us and South Sudan is tight but I am told that the Parliament of South Sudan borrowed the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) concept from us.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, as I welcome them, I also recognize the fact that they are women. It is important a young nation like South Sudan started by recognizing the importance of all actors in the society and the participation of women leadership. I say this because it also seems to be the season of women leadership in the world. You have seen the Prime Minister of Britain, the Prime Minister of Croatia, the President of Argentina and Brazil, and I have no doubt in my mind that the next President of the United States of America will be a woman.

So, I believe women leaders will take this moment including those sitting here from South Sudan to provide the right leadership and use the soft power that comes with motherhood in dealing with the issues of conflict in our country and South Sudan. We do not want to see South Sudan continue in the situation it is. We believe we will continue

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. As you ruled yesterday, I will go straight to the answer and I believe my colleagues who had requested for information on this have gone through the statement.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Government is not aware that five children aged between eight and sixteen years have disappeared in Chesuwe village, Nandi Hills Sub-County, Nandi County, since 5th July, 2016. However, the Government is aware that two cases of disappearance of children were reported at Kapsabet Police Station via O/B No. 50/1st July, 2016 and O/B No. 25/18th July, 2016. Following the reports, the Government security agencies, with the support of the community members managed to recover two mutilated bodies from the bush; one on 7th July, 2016 and the other on 10th July, 2016.

Investigations were launched immediately and one suspect; Newton Kipleting was later arrested in connection with the abduction and murder of the two children. Investigations are ongoing to establish whether he is the syndicate behind the

The following measures have been proposed which will facilitate a long lasting solution to the education sector. These are improvement of housing for teachers and putting up security walls around all institutions of learning.

alone or incorporation with other persons. In the investigation, the public has been of a lot of help through provision of information. The Government is not aware that the suspect; Newton Kipleting is a repeat offender as records held by the police do not have such information.

Further, my Ministry has no vote to cater for the cost of burial expenses. The Government is not aware of the disappearance of 40 students from Kakamega County and about 30 youth from Tana River County. However, the Government is aware of the disappearance of the following persons. I believe my colleagues can look at the statement. They are about 11 persons from Tana River District and they are between the ages of 17 and 35. Kakamega County, there are about 12 persons between the ages of 17 and 41 years. This clearly shows there are no students that have been reported in Kakamega missing.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Government is aware that on various dates, in the last one year, bodies have been retrieved from Ol Donyo Sabuk River. The incidents include:- On 5th December, 2015, a badly decomposed body of an African male adult was retrieved near Mithini area in River Athi and was escorted to City Mortuary in Nairobi for postmortem. On the 7th April, 2016, the body of an African juvenile aged about four years was retrieved at Kangemi area without the head and the right leg. The body was escorted to City Mortuary. On 8th April, 2016, a decomposed body of a well built African male adult was retrieved near Fourteen Falls and taken to the City Mortuary pending investigation. On the 29th May, 2016, a decomposed body of a well built male African adult was retrieved near Fourteen Falls and taken to the City Mortuary. On 30th June, 2016, three dead bodies of Lawyer Willy Kimani Kinuthia, Joseph Mwenda Mwathi and Joseph Thinguri Muiruri were retrieved from River Athi in Machakos County and transferred to Nairobi City Mortuary. Four suspects have been arrested and arraigned in court.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I wish to state that the Government has no policy to promote extra judicial killings. Any police officer who kills will be held personally liable for his or her conduct. Further, the Government is not aware of any relationship between extra judicial killings and the ongoing vetting of senior police officers. In addition, the Government has not formed a squad within the National Police Service with a mandate to carry out extra judicial killings.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Government has employed appropriate security measures to ensure all the learning institutions are secured and conducive for learning, both for the pupils, students and teachers and to ensure students do not disappear. This includes continuous profiling and registration of new students, frequent meetings among stakeholders in the education sector and local leaders to discuss the modalities of addressing any concern in the learning institutions, vetting of religious leaders who conduct pastoral education to ensure radicalization is not spread during such pastoral sessions, proper monitoring of school dropouts to ensure they are not recruited by terrorist groups.

There should be stringent control measures on movements of visitors into institution compounds. Kenya has undertaken continuous training to ensure capacity among the security agencies on techniques to combat terrorism particularly in areas of

The following measures have been proposed which will facilitate a long lasting solution to the education sector. These are improvement of housing for teachers and putting up security walls around all institutions of learning.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to take this opportunity to thank the Vice- Chairperson of the Committee for submitting this particular response. However, I want to be on record as having said that it is unfortunate that it had to take the Ministry of Interior and National Coordination a whole four months to respond to an issue of this magnitude. I also want to confirm that out of the five children who were reported missing, three children have been found. I, therefore, agree with the statement to that extent.

However, I want to seek clarification with regard to the suspect. The responsibility of a Government is to protect its citizens and more specifically children. I want the Vice-Chairperson to indicate to us whether the suspect, known as Newton Kipleting, who was arrested, has been charged and whether he has been released on bail or not. We should be told the status of the case.

The two families that lost their children are barely surviving in terms of their economic status. It is wrong for the Government to say they do not have a vote to cater for the burial yet it is its responsibility to provide security. In this case, the Government failed to provide the security and we ended up with children being kidnapped and killed. The families are not asking for compensation. They are asking for support to bury these children. I am aware of one situation in this particular case where the family had to postpone the burial for three days.The body of the young child had already decomposed when it was being buried yet the Government has the audacity to say they do not have a vote. This Government has resources. Why is it that they cannot provide resources to support families, especially in situations where they failed to carry out their responsibility?

The other clarification is with regard to the disappearances of persons. They may not be students, but the Vice-Chairperson needs to know that even masters’ students who might be well over 40 years old are still students. Therefore, the indication that 40 year old might not reflect a student is not right because that could still be a student.

This country is treading on a dangerous path when we make it look normal that 11 people disappeared in Tana River County and 12 people disappeared from Kakamega County. Who killed these people? We need to know if they were killed. Who is responsible for providing security? It is the Government. Could they give us more detail on this?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. It is very disheartening to me, on behalf of the parents whose children got lost in Kakamega, for the Vice-Chairperson to tell us that the Government is not aware. Before I raised this matter, I was aware that for every disappearance, the parents went to the Assistant Chief, the Chief, the District Officer and the District Commissioner; they reported the missing children and gave details. In this list, we have the latest who is Biko Mukabwa the son of Benard Likhanga from Museno Sub-Location of Khayega Location in Shinyalu. I am aware of this because I took part in the reporting.

Could it be that in the system of the Government, members of the public can report on a matter and Nairobi is not given the information when it asks for it? That

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Is it in order for the Vice Chairperson to purport to be speaking on behalf of the police? That is a serious issue. She needs to inquire from the office of the Inspector General of Police whether they are doing it or not. She is a Member of the Senate. I do not think she qualifies to give that direct answer.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have a portfolio to represent the Government. The information I have read in the statement clearly says that if any police officer is involved

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. On Sen. Sang’s question, I have no information whether the suspect was released on bond or not. The information I have is that he was arrested. It is something I need to, probably, clarify from the relevant police station through the police department.

He also raised the issue of supporting the family in burying the deceased. Of course, as I said yesterday, we do not have a budget in support of burials for the relevant Government departments and the counties. However, if the family was aware of this, they would have gone to the county government for support and I believe that should have been granted.

On the issue of the masters’ students being 41 or 42 years old, this was in relation to the question that was asked by Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale. The answer is directed to whether they were students or not. I believe in that answer, there was only one student.

Another question was; if the security agencies are aiding in disappearance of children to Somalia. It is untrue and totally wrong to say that police officers are aiding and abetting disappearance of youths into Somalia.

The other issue is why Shinyalu is targeted. We need to investigate this. What is it, Sen. Njoroge?

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Is it in order for the Vice Chairperson to purport to be speaking on behalf of the police? That is a serious issue. She needs to inquire from the office of the Inspector General of Police whether they are doing it or not. She is a Member of the Senate. I do not think she qualifies to give that direct answer.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have a portfolio to represent the Government. The information I have read in the statement clearly says that if any police officer is involved

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I do not have the information that Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale is trying to get from me. If a child has called from Somalia saying that he wants to come back home, that does not implicate a police officer. Even from Isiolo there are such children who have called their parents and said that they want to come back home or they are luring other children to join them. That is not the work of the police. If there is evidence against any police officer, can that be brought to the attention of the police and the Government? Action will be taken immediately against that officer.

Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, it is also good to accept certain things. When you spoke I was almost persuaded until the gracious lady came back to you. I wondered; the facts were flying on whose face?

Proceed, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, thank you for your indulgence. I am afraid that I could be right because on these very children, reports have been made by their parents at the office of the assistant chief, the chief, the assistant county

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Categorically, the Chairperson is denying the possibility of the existence of a cartel within the forces that is aiding children to end up in Somalia. In view of the fact that Mr. Boniface Luvembe from Shinyalu ended up being arrested by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in Somalia and in view of the fact that Mr. Biko Mukabwa, who is not on this list rang the father and said, “Dad, I want to come home.” In view of the fact that in Kapenguria, a police officer, two months ago, killed fellow officers on duty at the desk until he was disarmed and killed after a very big fight, could the Chairman undertake to do further inquiries so that she can come with a more solid answer? The facts I have stated are flying right into the face of your answer.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I do not have the information that Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale is trying to get from me. If a child has called from Somalia saying that he wants to come back home, that does not implicate a police officer. Even from Isiolo there are such children who have called their parents and said that they want to come back home or they are luring other children to join them. That is not the work of the police. If there is evidence against any police officer, can that be brought to the attention of the police and the Government? Action will be taken immediately against that officer.

Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, it is also good to accept certain things. When you spoke I was almost persuaded until the gracious lady came back to you. I wondered; the facts were flying on whose face?

Proceed, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, thank you for your indulgence. I am afraid that I could be right because on these very children, reports have been made by their parents at the office of the assistant chief, the chief, the assistant county

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I request that you direct the Chairperson to provide information on the status of the case within two days since already the Vice Chairperson has the answer. More importantly, the said person, suspect Newton Kipleting is known in the community as a repeat offender.

What Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale said initially becomes relevant in this case. It is possible that the public is apprehending criminals and forwarding them to the police who book them in. However, when you go to the details within the police stations, you do not have records of the same. This is something that happened in Mosoriot, Nandi County, where members of the public arrested suspected criminals, they were booked but in the night, we are told that they broke out through the roof of the cell and disappeared. Up to now, that information has never been provided to the public.

I think that the Chairperson can confirm that every record of crime presented by the public to the police station is recorded and kept so that when the public indicate that

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I still deny that this is the work of the police. If Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale believes or maybe there is a record at Kakamega Police Station on the report of those parents, that can be given to me or brought to the headquarters for further investigation then we can verify the information he has given us.

Order, Senator! Order, Chairperson! The work of a people’s representative is not to do police work. I will not allow this House to be one more opportunity for the police to abscond their responsibility. I agree completely with you and I am convinced that the presence of certain youth from Kenya in Somalia does not imply complicity by the police. There are many ways in which people travel.

The question is, if you can deny unconvincingly that the police are not involved, then, who is involved? That is the statement you need to interrogate further on your own motion. What Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale has given is on the HANSARD. Use that information. This House will not be used to do police work. Let the police do their work. Ours is to interrogate the output.

What is it, Sen. Murkomen?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, am I in order if I become of help to the Chairperson? If the question is not within the police service, it could be within the defence department. If it is not within the defence department, it is in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. All of them fall within the same Committee. The Chairperson can go to the Diaspora Desk at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Ministry of Defence and find out exactly what the situation is.

What Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale has raised is of great concern. Some of the students whom we taught in the past, a law student from Moi University was part of those who were accused of having participated in the Garissa attack. I have information that a few other universities have law students who have been traced to Somalia. It is still of great interest to this House that this information is dealt with. This Committee has consolidated its responsibilities around the same issue in different departments of the Government.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I request that you direct the Chairperson to provide information on the status of the case within two days since already the Vice Chairperson has the answer. More importantly, the said person, suspect Newton Kipleting is known in the community as a repeat offender.

What Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale said initially becomes relevant in this case. It is possible that the public is apprehending criminals and forwarding them to the police who book them in. However, when you go to the details within the police stations, you do not have records of the same. This is something that happened in Mosoriot, Nandi County, where members of the public arrested suspected criminals, they were booked but in the night, we are told that they broke out through the roof of the cell and disappeared. Up to now, that information has never been provided to the public.

I think that the Chairperson can confirm that every record of crime presented by the public to the police station is recorded and kept so that when the public indicate that

Mr. Speaker, Sir, obliged.

I hope you are not intimidated by Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr.

Shall we move to Statement (b) ?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I will act on that as quickly as possible. Order, Madam Vice Chairperson! What will you act on? You have been asked the status of the case in two days. Are you acting in two days? You were asked about the records being submitted.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, we are not able to submit the response in two days. We request for a week.

Madam Vice Chairperson, you can read the mood of the House. This is one issue where the entire membership across the political divide is united and not just for the sake of unity. It is because it is a very important issue affecting the lives of Kenyans. The Government has one responsibility. In fact, all the others are extras. If there is one basic responsibility, it is to protect lives and particularly that of vulnerable people like children.

Madam Vice Chairperson, I think it is in that light that the House expects much more from your docket. So, I will give you up to Tuesday next week to come up with an appropriate response taking into account all the issues that have been raised.

Finance, Commerce and Budget; and Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries?

Finance, Commerce and Budget; and Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is unfortunate that this Statement has not come to this house. It was requested a while ago by Sen. Leshore. The confusion that came in is that we had asked this question from the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare who in turn directed us to the Ministry of Devolution and Planning. So, we have had to do it twice. We are still waiting for it. I just spoke to them before we came to the Chamber and we hope to have the answer next week.

Tuesday next week.

Next Order.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, give us seven days although the question on certain banks is not clear. Maybe the question should have been which banks have complied. “Certain banks” is ambiguous. I do not know whether anybody would know which banks they are unless they are specified.

You can clarify that with the Member. It is a moot point. Please, respond next Wednesday.

I have not seen anyone willing to do so.

Next, Order.

Next Order.

Next, Order.

constituencies to hold meetings with the people and explain to them what Article 96 means on oversight. We should demand that every ward gets its share of the recurrent expenditure if it means expenditure related to development. This is because every time I ask this question in my county---

Order, the Senate Deputy Majority Leader. Look at the Motion.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, this Motion is critical. If you see where I am coming from, it is critical in so far as the extension of this week.

Your argument is not promoting the Motion.

constituencies to hold meetings with the people and explain to them what Article 96 means on oversight. We should demand that every ward gets its share of the recurrent expenditure if it means expenditure related to development. This is because every time I ask this question in my county---

Order, the Senate Deputy Majority Leader. Look at the Motion.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, this Motion is critical. If you see where I am coming from, it is critical in so far as the extension of this week.

Your argument is not promoting the Motion.

years, Kakamega County would have been allocated Kshs36 billion. If you sub-divide the Kshs36 billion among the 12 sub-counties, you will find that every sub-county should have received about Kshs3 Billion. If you go to Shinyalu as a Senator of Kakamega, you must ask where the Kshs3 billion is. The development expenditure should be shown after the recurrent expenditure is subtracted.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, these counties must account for the money before the next election. We will not renew the mandate of those managing our resources if this House is not going to provide the necessary oversight. That is why when Senators ask for an answer in this one week, we must get an answer. We must know where the resources to assist the Senators to carry out these meetings are so as to make sure that the people understand and appreciate the importance of devolution.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. That will be next week. There is a slight and important point I wish to conclude. Every time we are in our counties, you hear governors and Members of the County Assemblies (MCAs) telling Senators - this is important for County Public Accounts Committee - that the money received from the national Government is little. They say most these amounts go to recurrent expenditure.

However, when you go to any ward in Kisii, Busia or Lelmok Ward in Nandi County, the question is that the money received in the county has been spent on recurrent expenditure; who is consuming this recurrent expenditure? How many people have been employed in the ward that is part and parcel of the expenditure referred to in the recurrent expenditure? There is none. The people say that nobody has been employed in the ward to serve in the county government.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, this recurrent expenditure that is a basis of complaints by governors must be demonstrated by indicating the citizens of the ward that are part and parcel of the recurrent expenditure enjoyed by the county staff.

years, Kakamega County would have been allocated Kshs36 billion. If you sub-divide the Kshs36 billion among the 12 sub-counties, you will find that every sub-county should have received about Kshs3 Billion. If you go to Shinyalu as a Senator of Kakamega, you must ask where the Kshs3 billion is. The development expenditure should be shown after the recurrent expenditure is subtracted.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, these counties must account for the money before the next election. We will not renew the mandate of those managing our resources if this House is not going to provide the necessary oversight. That is why when Senators ask for an answer in this one week, we must get an answer. We must know where the resources to assist the Senators to carry out these meetings are so as to make sure that the people understand and appreciate the importance of devolution.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Order! You are completely out of order, Sen. Boy Juma Boy!

This is a fairly straight forward matter. Try to conclude, the Senate Deputy Majority Leader.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. The Senate Deputy Majority Leader leads the business of the Jubilee Government in this House. What Jubilee is only clear about, especially in Nyanza, Ukambani, Coast and Western regions is that to get development you must go to Jubilee. Could he substantiate what has changed? You have indicated that in Embobut Ward, people are suffering and they are in Jubilee. In the next ward, people are suffering and they are in Jubilee. A clergy man said that women and children are sleeping in caves with snakes in your sub-county of Markwet and yet they are in Jubilee. Has Jubilee changed its policy that---

Order, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale! I did not hear the Senate Deputy Majority Leader talk about the political divide. He talked about governors and accountability for the money that you allocate to counties.

us. Our Members of Parliament and the rest should also do what we are doing as far as the national Government projects are concerned in their Constituencies. If we must be effective, we must not be kept scattered.

Let us focus on how much money we have put to our counties. For example, Kshs36 billion has been put in Kakamega and they could have collected another 15 billion in the last four years. So, cumulatively, they have about Khs50 billion to Kshs60 billion. I could ask Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale if he is convinced that Kshs50 billion or Kshs60 billion that was put in Kakamega in the last three and half years, if he could see projects worth Kshs50 billion if he goes around the county. Those are the questions we need to ask ourselves.

Mombasa County collects a lot of money. We give them about Kshs4 billion a year. If you multiply it by the four years we are talking about--- they have got Kshs16 billion; that is over Kshs30 billion. Can we be shown projects that can be said Governor Joho has worked on? If Governor Joho is going to be defeated tomorrow, is there any project that you can say he initiated and this is his legacy? These are the things that are supposed to guide us, as a Senate, as we provide the oversight.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to ask the Senators that we accept to postpone our recess for another one week so that we can prepare a proper template. We also need to pass legislation that is in place, prepare ourselves well for the two weeks recess and use those two weeks to organise barazas in every part of this country. Let governors in every corner of this country and Members of County Assembly in the wards in this country feel the heat of oversight of this House. This will enable the people of Kenya to benefit from devolution and feel the impact of oversight that comes from this House.

Finally, I want to appeal to my colleagues that we postpone our recess for another one week; go for recess for two weeks and come back and review it early November. We should think about oversight in our counties and exchange strategies. By December, we should saturate this country with serious oversight on devolved resources so that we can have collective impact as a Senate on the role of this House in as far as accountability of our country is concerned.

I beg to move and ask Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. to second.

your role in this business is to second.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Since our Standing Orders may not have guidance on what I am just about to ask, I will need your guidance. What would this House do if a Mover finds his seconder erratic and feels that he is not only hostile but also not worth the appointment to the duty? He may wish to withdraw the seconder and appoint another one. We need your direction on this.

Order! Seconder, conclude in the normal way; it will help me dispose the issue raised by Sen. (Dr.) Machage.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Since our Standing Orders may not have guidance on what I am just about to ask, I will need your guidance. What would this House do if a Mover finds his seconder erratic and feels that he is not only hostile but also not worth the appointment to the duty? He may wish to withdraw the seconder and appoint another one. We need your direction on this.

Order! Seconder, conclude in the normal way; it will help me dispose the issue raised by Sen. (Dr.) Machage.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I stand to support this Motion to alter the Senate calendar. I support that we go on with the business of the House for one more week.

I must commend the Mover and the Seconder for the spirit in which they moved this Motion and the compliments they have made regarding our Committee; the County Public Accounts and Investment Committee, a Committee that never went on recess. We have been moving on full blast on a daily basis - Monday to Friday quite often - mainly to ensure that the audited accounts of the Financial Year 2013/2014 of both the county executives and county assemblies are finished.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, we are looking forward to the Auditor-General tabling in this House the audited accounts for the Financial Year 2014/2015. We are surprised because by law they should have already been here, but they are not yet here. I am politely reminding your office and that of the Clerk that may be, the Auditor-General is

so that we can begin our next journey.

Having said that, when Sen. Murkomen was moving the Motion, he lamented the rather profligate manner in which public funds are being used in the counties. We are now heading towards the homestretch of elected executive bodies in this nation; those who are in position of executive power by dint of being elected. This is the time when specific attention should be paid to the diversion of public resources for purposes of electioneering.

As Sen. Murkomen rightly pointed out, this nation has been permissive towards county governments in their irresponsible manner of using public funds. This irresponsible manner does not simply mean that money is wasted, but that laid down procedure, according to laid down law, like The Public Finance Management (PFM) Act, The Public Audit Act of 2015 and the fundamental principles of good governance, laid down in the Constitution, which are important to the management of public resources, are not followed. In this homestretch, all organs of Government responsible to ensure that no criminality is done in the use of public resources should be more than attentive.

public resources in counties, which is definitely not good for this country.

Elsewhere, in this nation, we have seen - as was being dramatized in radio and television this week - the issue of water resources in Murang’a County, which we shall discuss next week. It demonstrates benefits that can accrue to a county assembly when they do their work properly. However, because of corruption, some people are compromised not to expedite and execute works of county assemblies diligently so that in a rather bizarre manner, a report that had been adopted by the county assembly is then peculiarly disowned by the county assembly speaker and some of the Members.

These are the things that make Kenyans extremely cynical about devolution. We must pay attention to this because devolution is a wonderful opportunity for development to take place at the grassroots and for resources to go to the counties for purposes of improving reproductive forces in the counties, providing opportunities of employment for the youth, giving opportunities for agricultural produce to be commercialized and increased value addition in agriculture, opening up counties that were not previously opened up for commerce to take place and building infrastructure beyond levels imagined ten years ago, let alone even five years ago.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, if these resources are properly utilized, then as envisaged in Vision 2030, this nation should be a middle income nation not just in words but in reality. That dream will be realized. If we do not put our foot down and make sure that there is responsible use of resources at the county level, we may miss an important opportunity in the history of this country. This is because as the present Constitution provides, we cannot cease to channel resources to the counties every year through the Division of Revenue Bill. We cannot avoid that. However, if we do not have equivalent responsibility in the use of these resources at the counties, this nation will write a very sad history.

During the recess, we should pay attention to the problem of insecurity and, quite often, insecurity perpetrated by the security agencies. What happened yesterday in Ahero was as a result of the police moving into a girls’ school at night and when the Member of Parliament for that area went to find out what was happening, the police decided that the Member of Parliament was now the enemy of the security agents and a complementary partner in trying to deal with insecurity.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, when we play our oversight role, we run foul of the security agents who think otherwise. There must be collaboration and understanding in the things we do, because in this House in particular, we have men and women with tremendous experience in public affairs who are not going to do guess work. Therefore, as we go on recess we should seriously think about insecurity in the countryside. However, it is not for legislators to ensure security in the countryside.

I gave an example yesterday of how our colleague Sen. Sang and I experienced conflict on our common border. It was not for us to bring security. We just went there because there was a crisis and being representatives of the people we had to be there. However, the State organs responsible for security should have been ahead of us and not waited for any of us to call them and tell them what to do.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, Kenyans pay taxes so that services can be delivered in terms of roads, water and health, but much more importantly, services in terms of

because you cannot wake up one early morning and go to work unless you are assured of reaching where you are going. Otherwise, you may never arrive where you are delivering your labour.

I was told last night that in my village, people cannot get together at night in funerals. This is because they are likely to be attacked by thugs who attack the vulnerable community from which to steal money and food. I would like to appeal to this Senate to do something about this provision in our Constitution when we come back. I do not know whether it is the Committee on Devolution which should have been seized of this matter which is extremely serious. This is because the Government has never done anything concrete about it. Every time we have asked about it, vague answers have been given.

Regarding Article 17 in the Transition and Consequential Provisions of the Constitution, 6th Schedule, it says:-

“Within five years after the effective date, the national Government shall restructure the system of administration commonly known as the Provincial Administration to accord with and respect the system of devolved Government established under this Constitution.” Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I do not know why the Jubilee Government has not done this. The fact that they have appointed regional commissioners, they are not fulfilling this provision of the Constitution which states: “To accord with and respect the system of devolved government established under this Constitution”

Who has power in the villages to ensure security? It is not the village council and the village administrator, but still the assist chief and the chief, a much known remote institution under the devolved system of Government. This conflict between the Office of the President and devolved system is one of the reasons why we have uncertainty at the grass root level.

I beg to support.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, by the end of the current Session, this House will have voted for close to Kshs1 trillion to be allocated to the counties. This has never happened before and this is the kind of money that should change the lives of Kenya. However, as Senators, we have watched in disbelief as counties become citadels of corruption. The monies that we are giving out to counties are not reflected in the lives of the citizens of our country.

I thank and congratulate the County Public Accounts and Investments Committee (CPAIC) , chaired by Sen. (Prof.) Anyang’ Nyong’o, for doing a commendable job in tracing and asking serious questions on how this money is being used in the countryside. Through this Committee, we know that the Senate is doing a good job by following up on the amounts that have been sent to the counties. However, unless this Committee and this House are assisted by other institutions of Government, the monies that we are allocating to counties in the hope that they will help the communities will be in vain.

I single out the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) that was established in this country with great hope that it would rein in some of the activities that have resulted in major losses of funds in this country. To date, there is nobody from the counties that has been nabbed and held to account for the enormous monies that have been revealed by the CPAIC as having been misused and wasted.

On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. My younger sister, Sen. Daisy Kanainza, may not have understood this Motion. She thinks that we are going on recess, but on the contrary, we are postponing recess.

Whereas I accept your interpretation, I would rather give her time to push her point.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for protecting me. I have read the Motion and it is clear that we are supposed to postpone our recess from 14th to 19th October, 2016.

Considering what my colleagues have said, we have a lot to deal with as the Senate. That is why I advise the Senate Majority Leader and his deputy that it is not necessary to go on recess from 19th October to 1st November, 2016. We better stay---

Order! You are out of order! I would not want to invoke Standing Order No.109, which talks of irrelevance. Can you

Whereas I accept your interpretation, I would rather give her time to push her point.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for protecting me. I have read the Motion and it is clear that we are supposed to postpone our recess from 14th to 19th October, 2016.

Considering what my colleagues have said, we have a lot to deal with as the Senate. That is why I advise the Senate Majority Leader and his deputy that it is not necessary to go on recess from 19th October to 1st November, 2016. We better stay---

Order! You are out of order! I would not want to invoke Standing Order No.109, which talks of irrelevance. Can you

On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. My colleague will have an opportunity next week, when the Motion for adjournment will come up, to oppose or support it.

You are also out of order! You are anticipating debate.

Sen. Hassan Abdirahman!

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I support this Motion. I have a few comments to make. First, if I heard the Mover right, he said that the Opposition did not support devolution. If I did not get him right, I stand to be corrected.

What is it, Sen. Murkomen?

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, what I said is that there was a time we clashed with the Leader of the Opposition who was Former Prime Minister, Hon. Raila Odinga, in public over my stand on accountability. He interpreted it to mean that fighting for accountability in the counties was fighting counties. I was trying to use that position to remind my colleague, Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr., that my stand on accountability has been the same from the time we came to Senate.

In any case, whatever your view may be before or after the Constitution was promulgated, you are compelled and you have no otherwise. The Constitution provides for devolution. So, you do not have to revisit your stand.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, those are still his personal views and he can hold them but I want to confirm we all support devolution.

I join my colleagues in thanking the County Public Accounts and Investments Committee (CPAIC) of the Senate for the good work they do. In fact, many a time, people say that the Senate does not have power but it has a lot of power. In fact, it has shown that we can assert our authority, effort or functions very clearly through our committees if we work very effectively. So, I would like to thank them for the good work they have done.

At some point, I personally attended one of their sittings when they were interrogating officials from Wajir County Government and I honestly felt they are doing a good job. However, that may not make much meaning if the Auditor-General’s report becomes a routine inspection done year in, year out because that does not help. The reason for doing audits may not necessarily be improving financial systems. We must hold accountable those who flout financial regulations. State agencies like the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) , the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and other organs of Government must act on culprits who have either wasted

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, what I said is that there was a time we clashed with the Leader of the Opposition who was Former Prime Minister, Hon. Raila Odinga, in public over my stand on accountability. He interpreted it to mean that fighting for accountability in the counties was fighting counties. I was trying to use that position to remind my colleague, Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr., that my stand on accountability has been the same from the time we came to Senate.

In any case, whatever your view may be before or after the Constitution was promulgated, you are compelled and you have no otherwise. The Constitution provides for devolution. So, you do not have to revisit your stand.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, those are still his personal views and he can hold them but I want to confirm we all support devolution.

I join my colleagues in thanking the County Public Accounts and Investments Committee (CPAIC) of the Senate for the good work they do. In fact, many a time, people say that the Senate does not have power but it has a lot of power. In fact, it has shown that we can assert our authority, effort or functions very clearly through our committees if we work very effectively. So, I would like to thank them for the good work they have done.

At some point, I personally attended one of their sittings when they were interrogating officials from Wajir County Government and I honestly felt they are doing a good job. However, that may not make much meaning if the Auditor-General’s report becomes a routine inspection done year in, year out because that does not help. The reason for doing audits may not necessarily be improving financial systems. We must hold accountable those who flout financial regulations. State agencies like the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) , the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and other organs of Government must act on culprits who have either wasted

there are a lot of flaws in a number of county governments.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, while on recess last time – I am not saying we will go on recess because for me, what is indicated in the Motion is very clear – I witnessed compilation of projects in all marginalised areas regarding the Equalisation Fund. My understanding is that as a Senate, we have a responsibility. The Constitution is fairly very clear on counties that are marginalised. Article 204 of the Constitution clearly says that the national Government may use the Equalisation Fund only to the extent that the expenditure is approved by Parliament.

It can either directly or indirectly allocate money through conditional grants to marginalised counties. Members of the National Assembly have funded project priorities or programmes in the counties. Therefore, the Senate’s role gets diminished in this. That money is meant for counties where marginalisation existed before and the right thing should have been to take it to counties but with input from the Senators. I do think the national Government has done the right thing in doing this. It is important that we get involved as Senators.

Finally, we are coming to what one of my colleagues called a home stretch but I will call it the final lap. This is 2016. As we move towards the end of our term, we need to protect public resources more than ever. Maybe one of our representatives in the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) should explain to us. I happened to co-chair the issue of oversight funds with Sen. Murungi. Later, we established a committee in this House to help us move on and see when we can get the funding. It is important that we get the funds at one stage to enable us to go and monitor what has happened and evaluate the performance of counties.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, a number of counties have spent billions on projects some of which are not even visible. So, it is important that we work out how to get funds to help Senators move to rural parts of counties, so that we see how the billions we have passed in this House have been utilised.

With those few statements, I support the Motion.

Kenyans so that we are not seen as cry babies at the end of the term. We will be saying the problems we have had with the national Assembly is that we have had these Bills, they have not been listed for First Reading and we have had challenges here and there.

It is important for us to find a formula of ensuring that some of those Bills can appear for First Reading. Once they appear and are listed for First Reading in the National Assembly, it means if they do not finalize those Bills, it will be failure on their part. As we speak, the Bills are neither here nor there and we are done with them, approved and passed them, they are in the National Assembly but they have never appeared on the order paper in the National Assembly.

That is a point of concern that I think the leadership of both the Senate and the National Assembly should address. Moving forward, since we have never had serious conflicts between us and the National Assembly in the last six months, if the leadership in this House can persuade the leadership of the National Assembly to prioritize the business of the Senate, then we will have a better account of ourselves with regard to legislation once that is captured.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the other component would be the representation aspect. I want to laud the Senators for doing a good job in terms of representing our counties. We only need to engage a little more in ensuring we are forthright and ruthless in executing and protecting the interests of counties even if those interests are threatened by internal characters. The greatest assault on devolution today is where the county governors, county executives and county assemblies are the ones undermining devolution.

The concept of devolution was crafted to ensure power and resources go to the grassroots. If you look at the Fourth Schedule in terms of classification of functions, you could identify that drafters of the Constitution – the exciting thing is that a number of Members of this House were key players in the drafting of that Constitution; yourself, the Attorney-General emeritus and the various Members of this House. One of the reasons why the functions under the Fourth Schedule were allocated to county governments were some of those critical functions that affect the lives of wananchi on a day to day basis; local infrastructure, roads, water and Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE).

These are small things the county governments were given but they have huge impacts. If you go to counties - I will give the example of ECDE in my county - the county government budgeted for employment of two ECDE teachers in each of the 600 ECDE centers. Until now, they have only employed one ECDE teacher per center on contract basis yet the amount of resources in the budget was to employ two ECDE teachers per centre on permanent basis. That is a failure.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the county government allocated resources to build ECDE centres in each of the 600 centres in our counties. As at now, only less than 50 have been completed yet resources are no longer within the county coffers. The level of corruption in our counties is discouraging. As we wind up our term and go into the last leg, we need to focus on ensuring that we have something on our score card when we move to the next election to persuade Kenyans that this is an institution that should continue in terms of serving the interests of Kenyans.

we give a greater thought into what we need to conclude as a Senate between now and the next elections so that Kenyans can enjoy the fruits of devolution.

With those few remarks, I beg to support.

Kenyans so that we are not seen as cry babies at the end of the term. We will be saying the problems we have had with the national Assembly is that we have had these Bills, they have not been listed for First Reading and we have had challenges here and there.

It is important for us to find a formula of ensuring that some of those Bills can appear for First Reading. Once they appear and are listed for First Reading in the National Assembly, it means if they do not finalize those Bills, it will be failure on their part. As we speak, the Bills are neither here nor there and we are done with them, approved and passed them, they are in the National Assembly but they have never appeared on the order paper in the National Assembly.

That is a point of concern that I think the leadership of both the Senate and the National Assembly should address. Moving forward, since we have never had serious conflicts between us and the National Assembly in the last six months, if the leadership in this House can persuade the leadership of the National Assembly to prioritize the business of the Senate, then we will have a better account of ourselves with regard to legislation once that is captured.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the other component would be the representation aspect. I want to laud the Senators for doing a good job in terms of representing our counties. We only need to engage a little more in ensuring we are forthright and ruthless in executing and protecting the interests of counties even if those interests are threatened by internal characters. The greatest assault on devolution today is where the county governors, county executives and county assemblies are the ones undermining devolution.

The concept of devolution was crafted to ensure power and resources go to the grassroots. If you look at the Fourth Schedule in terms of classification of functions, you could identify that drafters of the Constitution – the exciting thing is that a number of Members of this House were key players in the drafting of that Constitution; yourself, the Attorney-General emeritus and the various Members of this House. One of the reasons why the functions under the Fourth Schedule were allocated to county governments were some of those critical functions that affect the lives of wananchi on a day to day basis; local infrastructure, roads, water and Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE).

These are small things the county governments were given but they have huge impacts. If you go to counties - I will give the example of ECDE in my county - the county government budgeted for employment of two ECDE teachers in each of the 600 ECDE centers. Until now, they have only employed one ECDE teacher per center on contract basis yet the amount of resources in the budget was to employ two ECDE teachers per centre on permanent basis. That is a failure.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the county government allocated resources to build ECDE centres in each of the 600 centres in our counties. As at now, only less than 50 have been completed yet resources are no longer within the county coffers. The level of corruption in our counties is discouraging. As we wind up our term and go into the last leg, we need to focus on ensuring that we have something on our score card when we move to the next election to persuade Kenyans that this is an institution that should continue in terms of serving the interests of Kenyans.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the Mover of the Motion correctly put emphasis on our oversight role as enshrined in Article 96 of the Constitution. It states that we oversight the national revenue allocated to the counties. This is a very important role of the Senate. The Senate would have succeeded in this role if we ensured that corruption at the national level is not devolved to the county level. Owing to the transitional problems that we have had, the institutions which deal with this matter have had problems. The Senate and the Judiciary have had problems.

The seed of corruption has been planted in the counties. It is about to sprout. We would have succeeded as Senate if in the remaining term of our tenure, we ensure that whatever has sprouted or is about to develop roots is uprooted. I say so because it has been proved that corruption in this country is normally at its highest levels when we are approaching elections. This is evident from Independence to date. Whenever we approach elections, the levels of corruption go up.

We, as the Senate and the oversight body must triple our efforts in the remaining period to ensure that this year is an exception particularly in relation to county governments. I sit in the County Public Accounts and Investments Committee (CPAIC) . In a number of counties, the budget allocated to the governor for this year is double or even triple what has been the average allocation to the office of the governor in the previous years. In my county this has happened in spite of me going to the county assembly and addressing them that they must interrogate that particular item before they approve it.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, interestingly, when I tried to find out why they approved it, some of the Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) were very candid. They said that they approved it because they were told by the county government led by the governor that: “Herein lies the money for you to campaign for elections.” So, right from the word “go” the county assembly has gone to bed with the governor because of the impending elections. They are colluding to see how public money can be diverted to private use and interests of the MCAs to be re-elected. They are doing this with impunity. That is why I would urge various institutions concerned with corruption to be alert.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, somebody has talked about the Office of the Auditor-General. I disagree with the Senate Majority Leader that the Auditor-General has strayed and that he must go. My Committee called the Auditor-General and he had his reasons which were valid as to why he is not working up to the optimal level that he would want to work at. One is inadequate staffing. Unfortunately, he cannot rectify that inadequacy not only because of the poor terms of service but because of an amendment that was made in the National Assembly.

Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki!

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I will be very brief. I want to take this opportunity to thank the Mover, Sen. Murkomen, who is the Deputy Majority Leader for moving this Motion.

In support of the Motion, allow me to say a couple of things; one, this Motion has not been brought by the Leader of Majority in terms of the dates. It has also not been recommended by the Senate Business Committee (SBC) in terms of the dates. These dates were agreed at the beginning of this Session. In February, when we resumed, we adopted the yearly calendar. That calendar provided that this week, we should proceed on a 10 days recess. But because we had interfered with the August recess because of the several special sittings we had, we ended up pushing the August recess by a week. We thought it wise that we need to be around this week also so that we compensate for that one week that was affected.

So, in essence, there has been no alteration whatsoever. The calendar in terms of the balance between recess and the days when we should be sitting has not been affected. The totality of that balance has been maintained.

Should this Motion go through and we proceed on recess on 19th October, 2016, we are expected to resume on 1st November,

disillusioned and the culprits will begin to boast that they know what to do. When culprits begin talking in that manner, then you know that impunity has arrived.

Still on oversight, I hear the Speaker of the National Assembly has signed the regulations which relate to the oversight fund. I urge the leadership of Parliament to ensure that Senators get that money. We can only exercise that role properly in the remaining period where corruption levels are high if we move around and alert the Auditor-General: “Please, do a special audit here.” I hope that before or immediately after the recess on 1st November, 2016, we shall have funds in our accounts so that we can begin this important exercise of oversighting county governments.

Let me also touch on the Bill that was passed yesterday; The National Cohesion and Integration (Amendment) Bill. I was not here, but it was brought by Sen. Elachi. I support the Bill. As we know, the aim of that Bill is to give the Commission ways of following up on mediation ---

the Public Service Commission (PSC). Therefore, having removed the powers of the Auditor-General over his staff through an amendment by the National Assembly, how can we blame the Auditor-General for not doing his job properly? This is a critical time. For some of us who have been in the Government service for a long time, at times the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) used to consider audited reports of six or seven years before when the people who were involved were long gone from the Government. The records would not be there by this time. At least on that one, there has been an improvement. The audited reports are interrogated on time. In fact, the audited reports for the Year 2015/2016 are ready. As a Committee we shall embark on considering them as soon as possible.

I commend the County Public Accounts and Investments Committee (CPAIC) chaired by Sen. (Prof.) Anyang'-Nyong'o, ably assisted by Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo. Whereas this Motion is about going for recess, in the last recess we did not go for recess. In fact, we doubled our meetings. We were meeting from Monday to Friday in the morning and afternoon. In one day we would consider three county governments. That is why we are about to complete. Otherwise, without that discipline and denying ourselves the recess to meet our people, we would be far from completing. Our people are complaining that we are never seen on the ground but we are busy doing our oversight. Without doing that, we would be nowhere near completing the audited reports for 2014/2015.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, if we have to grapple with oversight this year, maybe we should not depend so much on some of those reports. We should take into account that corruption will be on the increase this year. We should enable the Auditor- General to do immediate special audits when required to do so. For instance, if I hear something drastically wrong in my county, I should not wait for the end of the year or elections so that burdens come up after elections.

The Auditor-General should be enabled to move with speed, gusto and efficiency to do an immediate audit and our Committee looks at it urgently. The Ethics and Anti- Corruption Commission (EACC) should also look at it and that governor or whoever is involved is put behind bars. That is the only way we will ensure that corruption is not devolved to the county level. This should be done particularly this year so that you bring people to book. Of course, people say, “that is now politicizing; this is an election year why are they doing this now.” However, if you have to deal with the issue of corruption - provided we are objective, investigations are thorough, if we put the governor or whoever is responsible in, we would have gone a long way in succeeding in our mandate.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, let me touch on the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and other institutions. We have seen in a number of cases the EACC going to counties with a lot of gusto and newspaper reporting. We then hear that people are being investigated in Nairobi and in county headquarters, some are on the radar and so on. After two or three days, the whole thing dies off and we never hear of that again. This demoralises people who know that corruption is going on.

People then begin having unfounded suspicions that maybe something has happened. So, it would be useful for the EACC to, at least, keep people informed if they go in such big style with headlines and so on. Let them keep people informed that this is

Order! Time is up!

With those few remarks, I support.

Sen. Murkomen, remain standing.

I respect the Speaker.

With those few remarks, I support.

Sen. Murkomen, remain standing.

I respect the Speaker.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, thank you. I congratulate and welcome the students from the KSL, a very important institution in the legal profession. As their senior colleague, I tell them that this is the right place to be, where two senior counsel, Sen. Wako and Sen. Orengo, are seated.

I suspect that one or two of them, might have been my students, and one of the clerks seated here was my student. So, I have done a lot of things in this country. Let me just tell them that at their very young age, they have made the right decision to come to the “upper” House – a place of inspiration. In their careers, they need not only serve in the corridors of the courts, but some of them will do public service in political environment, serve as clerks in Parliament and many other positions. In the old days, the legal profession was a place for only litigation and conveyancing. However, there are many areas where lawyers are required to provide legal services across the country.

I welcome them and wish them well as they prepare for their bar exams. Very well. Let us now continue with the Motion.

On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. Am I in order, in one minute, to also join you in congratulating and welcoming the delegation?

You are completely in order.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I join my colleagues in supporting this Motion of altering the Calendar of the Senate. This is in respect to Part Three of the Fourth Session which was meant to have a recess from this Friday, 14th October, 2016. We had had a long recess as a result of the many Bills that we were handling from July and our recess was interrupted.

This Motion seeks to defer the recess to start a week later; that is from next week, 19th October, 2016 and we resume on 1st November, 2016. As mentioned by most of my

Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo, did you say the thieves will be happy to see the three of you sitting? What are you saying?

the governor - who is charged with the implementation of the county projects - and the National Assembly Members together with the MCAs, suddenly the residents will see the common good. Sometimes they want to see us talking.

I have told Sen. Murkomen that we need to go to Kerio Valley. When they see Sen. Moi, Sen. Murkomen and I sitting together, that symbol will make the thieves to be proud that they have seen the leaders together. This is the psychology that we want to do. For that reason, we require some break. If there are no funds---

Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo, did you say the thieves will be happy to see the three of you sitting? What are you saying?

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, first, there are some loud consultations.

Sen. Kivuti and Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr., your consultations are too loud.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, what I am saying is that when the cattle rustlers, thieves or murderers see leaders together, they are disarmed by our presence. That alone is sufficient.

I have heard for the last two days Sen. (Prof.) Anyang’-Nyong’o talking about his presence with Sen. Sang at the boundary of Kisumu and Nandi counties when there was a problem last year. The moment you appear there, they will go talking in low and high tones that they saw their leaders. They will also say that the dispute has become painful that their leaders have left their offices to come to the bush and talk to them. That is what I meant.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this is what we require. However, you remember that for a Senator to move from this Chamber to such areas, he must use his personal resources. Suppose you have taken a loan. How will you move from one place to another? This is where we have failed. We have not effected the Constitution properly. We should have had an oversight fund.

The manner in which the National Assembly was given more power on Money Bills was not right. We should have been getting our own oversight funds from the funds that we allocate to the counties. We should have taken about two per cent just like the National Government Constituencies Development Fund. That is a percentage of about two point five of the national funds. In our case, it should be money for the county governments. It should also be audited by the Auditor-General because it is not our funds.

This is where we would put order on how some of these projects are done. We have come to learn during the sittings with the governors. Some of the projects that are done haphazardly are driven by the desire to get some cut of about 10 or 20 per cent. I do not know how much it has risen to nowadays. When you build things like that, you do not care whether they will be finished or not. You do not care which financial year it will be ended. It may extend from one financial year to another.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, some of the Members of the National Assembly have issues because they see the money allocated to the counties and they start listening

It is essential that we all sit and wait for the funds that may be allocated. I do not know how much the money can do, but since we should have received the money for the last three financial years, it should be an accumulated amount.

We can then get the professionals that will assist as proposed in the regulations. They will work in the Senator’s oversight office. It is not the Senator’s duty to do that, but he or she can get the people to internalise and produce a report that can be used, together with the reports of the Auditor-General and the Controller of Budget.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, a number of the Members are now busy, but we have a calling to work to the last day. I commend our colleagues who have worked tirelessly to make sure that devolution is anchored. There are Bills that have been brought here and others were shot down like the one that I introduced recently that tried to put sense into what has happened. There are some people personal to the governors who are called ward and sub-county administrators.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, those people are now very busy in the field. Today Sen. Wako was telling me he found one who told him they were busy and nothing can be done to them. These are some of the excesses that can easily be checked.

Finally, even the national Government has failed in its own duty. How can a county commissioner, deputy county commissioner and police Commander be at the disposal of a governor? These officers are protecting the governors everywhere. They should do their work independently and in consultation with the governors, but instead, they accompany them everywhere. Police vehicles are now used for the purpose of protecting the governors. If the governors want vehicles with sirens, why can they not buy theirs instead of using Administration Police (AP) and the Regular Police vehicles? Besides, what is the reason for running around with sirens? I thought it is only ambulance vehicles which should have sirens. We have a long way to go, but one day we shall be there and our people will enjoy devolution.

I agree with Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki who said we should be bold enough to audit the Constitution and go for a referendum to correct some of the weaknesses with devolution. This will make us go far as a nation in terms of development. Fortunately, the way we work here we do not have opposition and Government. We work as a team. When it comes to issues that touch the people of Kenya like security, we come together. Also, we come together on the issues of examination and how universities are run, but when it comes to politics and ideologies, we can compete.

chance to have their hand in the cookie jar?

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, it is the Senate to stand up to defend devolution. We must see to it that it lives up to its dream and expectation. Are we getting value for our taxes? Is the colossal amount of money we allocate to counties helping our people?

I agree with my colleagues that one of the things we may need to look at is the audit process. How long does it take us to know what is happening in a county in a given financial year? It is so unfortunate that we are in 2016, but we are still talking about audit reports of 2013/2014 Financial Year. What will happen by the time we read the reports of 2016/2017 Financial Year?

We know that given the realities of the political space in our country, this is likely to be the year where people are likely to disappear even with entire budgets of departments if we do not have time to interrogate and question the decisions that are being made. Are the citizens of this country getting value for their money? If we are still doing over 50 per cent of taxes going to recurrent expenditure which, to me, is just for paying salaries, do we really need the number of employees that are in county governments?

There would have been better ways of doing it. For example, what legislation can we put in place and live with their realities? One of the challenges that have been raised in this House is the number of employees that were inherited by county governments from the defunct local authorities. What have we done about it? Why are we allowing county governments to pay salaries for services that have not been rendered?

I have noted within my county that some drivers are paid more than other professionals like accountants and procurement officers because of the number of years that they have served. Is this good value for money? The Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) set for us a good example. About 4 per cent can be spent to pay salaries and then dedicate about 96 per cent to real and actual development.

I may not have been part of the drafters of our Constitution, but I believe that was the dream they had for our country. When they provided for devolution, they did not envisage a situation where 70 per cent of the money will be used to just pay salaries and rent. It is so unfortunate that we have allowed it to go this far. I expect us, as Senators, to rise to the occasion and question what we can do about this.

There are emerging challenges that we have not properly addressed. Some of them are unique challenges that we have been observing. Of late, we have observed a unique case in Murang’a County where the governor would launch a particular project that would turn out to be a public relations exercise. The governors erect billboards along the road and put advertisements in newspapers and television showing what they have done

We need to question whether this is prudent use of resources. How can we divorce the success of an office and the funds that have been devolved? It is unfortunate for Senators - it is not that we are salivating at that opportunity – that we pass the County Allocation of Revenue Bill in this House and funds go to the counties, but we never get the chance to be invited even to one occasion and be thanked for the good work we do here in Nairobi.

stories of how much their lives have been changed since the advent of devolution. I should be facilitated, as a Senator to go back to the county and sit with my people in their tiny, dusty houses and find out their expectations and aspirations.

At the advent of counties, we established the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP), which I consider an emerging challenge. It is time to question what happened. How much has a county government lived up to or deviated from that plan? If they have deviated from the plan, do they deserve a second term? Have we, as Senators, spoken about those issues? It will be interesting to hear the opinion of the Controller of Budget who constitutionally knows well that if a county government deviates from budgetary allocations and how it spends funds, the law does not allow them to release funds to this county.

How is it that some of the counties were able to access funds continuously, not once, twice or thrice, yet they deviated from their main budget? We need to call some of these people and listen to what they have to say. We need to find out from the Auditor- General why we are still talking about the audit reports for the Financial Year 2013/2014.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I support this Motion with a sober mind and heavy heart. I know that as much as we have done our part, more still needs to be done. There is still time for us to do our part and live up to the expectation and dreams of the people who queued on 4th March, 2013 to vote for a new dispensation, believing that for the first time money would go to the grassroots; more schools would be built and there would be clean water to drink and access to electricity. We, as the Senate, may not be managers of the funds, but we need to reflect and finalize on some of the things that have bogged us for too long.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, with those many remarks, I beg to support.

chance to have their hand in the cookie jar?

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, it is the Senate to stand up to defend devolution. We must see to it that it lives up to its dream and expectation. Are we getting value for our taxes? Is the colossal amount of money we allocate to counties helping our people?

I agree with my colleagues that one of the things we may need to look at is the audit process. How long does it take us to know what is happening in a county in a given financial year? It is so unfortunate that we are in 2016, but we are still talking about audit reports of 2013/2014 Financial Year. What will happen by the time we read the reports of 2016/2017 Financial Year?

We know that given the realities of the political space in our country, this is likely to be the year where people are likely to disappear even with entire budgets of departments if we do not have time to interrogate and question the decisions that are being made. Are the citizens of this country getting value for their money? If we are still doing over 50 per cent of taxes going to recurrent expenditure which, to me, is just for paying salaries, do we really need the number of employees that are in county governments?

There would have been better ways of doing it. For example, what legislation can we put in place and live with their realities? One of the challenges that have been raised in this House is the number of employees that were inherited by county governments from the defunct local authorities. What have we done about it? Why are we allowing county governments to pay salaries for services that have not been rendered?

I have noted within my county that some drivers are paid more than other professionals like accountants and procurement officers because of the number of years that they have served. Is this good value for money? The Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) set for us a good example. About 4 per cent can be spent to pay salaries and then dedicate about 96 per cent to real and actual development.

I may not have been part of the drafters of our Constitution, but I believe that was the dream they had for our country. When they provided for devolution, they did not envisage a situation where 70 per cent of the money will be used to just pay salaries and rent. It is so unfortunate that we have allowed it to go this far. I expect us, as Senators, to rise to the occasion and question what we can do about this.

There are emerging challenges that we have not properly addressed. Some of them are unique challenges that we have been observing. Of late, we have observed a unique case in Murang’a County where the governor would launch a particular project that would turn out to be a public relations exercise. The governors erect billboards along the road and put advertisements in newspapers and television showing what they have done

We need to question whether this is prudent use of resources. How can we divorce the success of an office and the funds that have been devolved? It is unfortunate for Senators - it is not that we are salivating at that opportunity – that we pass the County Allocation of Revenue Bill in this House and funds go to the counties, but we never get the chance to be invited even to one occasion and be thanked for the good work we do here in Nairobi.

stories of how much their lives have been changed since the advent of devolution. I should be facilitated, as a Senator to go back to the county and sit with my people in their tiny, dusty houses and find out their expectations and aspirations.

At the advent of counties, we established the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP), which I consider an emerging challenge. It is time to question what happened. How much has a county government lived up to or deviated from that plan? If they have deviated from the plan, do they deserve a second term? Have we, as Senators, spoken about those issues? It will be interesting to hear the opinion of the Controller of Budget who constitutionally knows well that if a county government deviates from budgetary allocations and how it spends funds, the law does not allow them to release funds to this county.

How is it that some of the counties were able to access funds continuously, not once, twice or thrice, yet they deviated from their main budget? We need to call some of these people and listen to what they have to say. We need to find out from the Auditor- General why we are still talking about the audit reports for the Financial Year 2013/2014.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I support this Motion with a sober mind and heavy heart. I know that as much as we have done our part, more still needs to be done. There is still time for us to do our part and live up to the expectation and dreams of the people who queued on 4th March, 2013 to vote for a new dispensation, believing that for the first time money would go to the grassroots; more schools would be built and there would be clean water to drink and access to electricity. We, as the Senate, may not be managers of the funds, but we need to reflect and finalize on some of the things that have bogged us for too long.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, with those many remarks, I beg to support.

this point in time, many people can attest to the fact that the Senators have no funds. As we go with this oversight fund, there needs to be sufficient marketing for people to internalize, realize and appreciate the role of the oversight fund. Dubious political competitors might give an impression that the Senator can now give bursaries and be responsible for development.

It must be made clear that the oversight fund is simply supposed to critically assess whether the governors have delivered their mandate.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I support this Motion. Let us take that extra week, but also the Senate Business Committee must prioritize some of the businesses of the House. There are a lot of colleagues who have brought very good legislation. Let them also leave a legacy. Let us conclude some of the legislations which will require the concurrence of the National Assembly so that our colleagues can come up with Motions and legislation that can be said to have emanated from the Senate.

I think only two legislations emanating from the Senate, that are simply amendments, have seen the light of day as part of Kenya’s legislative framework. There is the Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale Bill which is now law and the Sen. Wangari amendment Bill. It is important for us to fast-track legislation because the Sen. Sang Bill, as it was called, is now a matter before courts. We, therefore, need to carry out an audit after the Senate’s first term where we can say: “These are the legislations that emanated from the Senate, were passed and informed the discourse with respect to the legislative arena in Kenya”.

Therefore, as we take this extra week or two, let us have a very robust calendar. I will also be proposing that the future Senate gets rid of this Statement Time because when a Cabinet Secretary (CS) brings you a response of how much was used on, for example, a road, it consumes so much of our time and energy. If anybody has a query, take it to the relevant Committee. Apart from the political dynamics or acrobatics, I want one person to persuade me what action these statements lead to.

For example a Member seeks a statement that goes: “Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want the Chairperson to tell us why people were killed and the Government took no action?” The Chairperson comes the next day and says: “Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Government is committed. The Government says that nobody was killed. It has taken action. Investigations are going on.” So what? Go and say those things in the Committees if you want. This is a total waste of time. That is why I was quite silent during that Statement Hour unless you just want to play to the gallery of people in the village. It is the same thing in and out. “Mr. Speaker, Sir, can the Chairman tell us why the Ministry did not do this”. Then the Chairman responds: “Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Ministry has undertaken to do this and that.” So what?

Sen. Murkomen, if you are here in the next Senate, get rid of that time, bwana! Let those things be interrogated and concluded at the Committee level. It is a gimmick. So what when the Government or the Chair gives you a cliché answer?

So, what we need is to improve the efficiency of this Senate. This Senate must be strengthened. It must be the “upper” House of this country. This Senate must have veto power against any legislation, speak to any issue and make decisions on any matter. It must be a House of last resort. We will broaden its mandate to not only take care of devolution, but to safeguard the integrity of the nation. This is because we have seen

therefore, be given teeth to bite.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, you shall sit in this Senate if you are re-elected. It shall be a Senate that can veto any proceeding anywhere, particularly in the National Assembly. Every law must come here for you to speak to it. That is how I will commit myself, because I know that for a country and devolution to function, the Senate must be strengthened. We must raise the bar with respect to impeachment. In retrospect, we might have failed in the Wambora Impeachment. At that time, we were to drop hard. However, after that, a wider array of trivial impeachments was brought. When these trivial impeachments came to the Senate, the Senate decided not to impeach these governors. So, a perception was created out there that the Senate is not firm in its mandate. It is letting go off governors. We must set the bar on impeachment so that governors can get the space to work.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, as we come back after these two weeks when we go on recess, I believe I will have the energy---

this point in time, many people can attest to the fact that the Senators have no funds. As we go with this oversight fund, there needs to be sufficient marketing for people to internalize, realize and appreciate the role of the oversight fund. Dubious political competitors might give an impression that the Senator can now give bursaries and be responsible for development.

It must be made clear that the oversight fund is simply supposed to critically assess whether the governors have delivered their mandate.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I support this Motion. Let us take that extra week, but also the Senate Business Committee must prioritize some of the businesses of the House. There are a lot of colleagues who have brought very good legislation. Let them also leave a legacy. Let us conclude some of the legislations which will require the concurrence of the National Assembly so that our colleagues can come up with Motions and legislation that can be said to have emanated from the Senate.

I think only two legislations emanating from the Senate, that are simply amendments, have seen the light of day as part of Kenya’s legislative framework. There is the Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale Bill which is now law and the Sen. Wangari amendment Bill. It is important for us to fast-track legislation because the Sen. Sang Bill, as it was called, is now a matter before courts. We, therefore, need to carry out an audit after the Senate’s first term where we can say: “These are the legislations that emanated from the Senate, were passed and informed the discourse with respect to the legislative arena in Kenya”.

Therefore, as we take this extra week or two, let us have a very robust calendar. I will also be proposing that the future Senate gets rid of this Statement Time because when a Cabinet Secretary (CS) brings you a response of how much was used on, for example, a road, it consumes so much of our time and energy. If anybody has a query, take it to the relevant Committee. Apart from the political dynamics or acrobatics, I want one person to persuade me what action these statements lead to.

For example a Member seeks a statement that goes: “Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want the Chairperson to tell us why people were killed and the Government took no action?” The Chairperson comes the next day and says: “Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Government is committed. The Government says that nobody was killed. It has taken action. Investigations are going on.” So what? Go and say those things in the Committees if you want. This is a total waste of time. That is why I was quite silent during that Statement Hour unless you just want to play to the gallery of people in the village. It is the same thing in and out. “Mr. Speaker, Sir, can the Chairman tell us why the Ministry did not do this”. Then the Chairman responds: “Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Ministry has undertaken to do this and that.” So what?

Sen. Murkomen, if you are here in the next Senate, get rid of that time, bwana! Let those things be interrogated and concluded at the Committee level. It is a gimmick. So what when the Government or the Chair gives you a cliché answer?

So, what we need is to improve the efficiency of this Senate. This Senate must be strengthened. It must be the “upper” House of this country. This Senate must have veto power against any legislation, speak to any issue and make decisions on any matter. It must be a House of last resort. We will broaden its mandate to not only take care of devolution, but to safeguard the integrity of the nation. This is because we have seen

Very well. I see no other interests to contribute to this Motion. I, therefore, call upon the Mover to reply.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I have listened to the eloquent contributions which have been made by Senators on the important matter of the role of the Senate on accountability. I have listened to Sen. Hassan profess passionately the importance of participation and mainstreaming proper governance as per Article 174 of the Constitution. What is key is that as a House, we must never forget that the work we are doing is for posterity. It is not for now. Those of us who have come here must leave a footprint. It must be remembered. The reason why we speak on record is because it must be remembered that we had a role and we have played our role.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, since Senate came into being, we have played a critical role in various ways in terms of passing legislation and strengthening county assemblies. Our desire to strengthen county assemblies was informed by the jurisprudential aspirations of the Constitution which are basically that county assemblies were going to be oversight entities which were going to act independently of the county executive. Of course, there is a difference between text and the practice. In many of the counties now, Members of the county assemblies are appendages of the executive.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, yourself, I and Sen. Hassan are young people. It is frustrating because what we read in law school in the university – incidentally, we are all lawyers – was that classically a constitution as enunciated by Montesquieu is that there will be checks and balances in the arms of government. It was expected that the Executive arm of the Government would be checked by the legislature. What has been extremely frustrating for me, if there is a greater frustration in terms of politics is the

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I want to do the final leg of our political processing. So, I am sure that when that day comes in that last bit, most of you here, I can see Sen. Murkomen are people who are called “home of long distance runners.” You know what you do in the last few meters; you chomoka. You take off. This is now where we have been able to conserve the energy and we must finish at the top.

I beg to support.

Very well. I see no other interests to contribute to this Motion. I, therefore, call upon the Mover to reply.

because I believe that we will develop the jurisprudence, the history and what will become the traditions of this House. We will become part and parcel of those who will put the Senate’s role into perspective. Indeed, people out there, take us seriously. They took us seriously when we were sitting in the Committee to deal with the IEBC reform, when we were looking at the issues that we will use in future to amend the Constitution and even in the impeachment of Governor Wambora even though we did not succeed. This tamed the run-away corruption in many counties and it became a warning to many governors who are likely to misuse public resources.

I have heard the contributions of many Senators. I can say without any fear of contradiction that all of us are passionate about changing this country. That is why we must also deal with our citizenry. We must ask Kenyans to decide what they want. People are asking, “What have you done that is supposed to directly translate to food in my house?” What have you directly contributed to my pocket?

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, people have to make a decision. Leaders are not elected to do things for people. They are elected to lead people to do things for themselves. The taxpayers’ money is used to construct roads and so on. Public servants who are doing that are doing it on behalf of the people. The people are doing it for themselves. So, leadership is there to carry the vision, inspire, motivate and encourage people to do things for themselves. That is why sometimes when they ask me, “What will you say you have done in five years for the people of Elgeyo-Marakwet County? I will tell them that I inspired so many young people to work hard in their education. I inspired so many people to think how they will invest and how they should live in peace. That was my role.

Building classrooms or donations by leaders, are not exclusive. They can be done by everybody. In a country like the United States of America (USA), retirees or big businessmen like Mr. Mark Zuckerberg, a young man, has said that he will donate a lot of his resources towards bridging the digital divide all over the world. We must start inculcating in our people through training, public speaking, encouragement and meetings that our role as leaders is not to do things. Our role is to inspire them to do things for themselves and allow them to dream.

Former President J.F Kennedy is remembered for Americans going to the moon, but he is not the one who designed the equipment that took people to the moon. He did not sit in the laboratory to work on them. He never travelled to the moon, but he inspired those people to dream and think, focus and invest in science. The country voted in a budget that will invest in science. All these things must encourage us to continue nurturing the role of leaders in inspiring people to do things for themselves and be what they want to be and reach their full potential.

Sadly, we have a nation that needs a lot of work from us. Many people are pessimistic about life. All the time you meet people, they say, you know, this country will not be successful next year. We will not have meaningful resources. There is a lot of doubt in this nation. Our role as leaders is to give people hope. Someone said that the leadership and leaders are dealers in hope. It is our responsibility to ensure that people are hopeful and focused on what they need to do and live in peace because we are preaching peace.

people together. Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo, I and other leaders from Elgeyo-Marakwet, West Pokot and Baringo are working hard to ensure that the border fights in the Kerio Valley triangle between the three counties stop. That is part and parcel of leadership.

There are two things we need to do. We either decide that we want to lead and live by morals of leadership or use short cuts and get votes. Where we just want votes, we will lie to the people; tell them things that we want them to hear. We will ask them to clap for us. Sometimes we must tell people the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth despite how painful that pill will be to swallow.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I thank the Senators who have contributed to this Motion. I believe that the next one week will be used in a positive way to advance the interest of our people to continue dealing with these issues.

Hon. Senators, there are many pending many Bills that are supposed to go to division. We should pull up our socks next week, sit down and vote on those Bills for them to become law. Let me say this without fear of contradiction, there might be no other Parliament since 1963 that has a House other than this Senate that has many Private Members Bills. Many private Members have come up with Bills in this House. When auditing is done in future, it will become apparently clear that despite the bottlenecks that we are facing in terms of working with our sister House, this House has tried its best to ensure that we have Bills that are beneficial to the people of Kenya.

With those many remarks, I beg to reply.

because I believe that we will develop the jurisprudence, the history and what will become the traditions of this House. We will become part and parcel of those who will put the Senate’s role into perspective. Indeed, people out there, take us seriously. They took us seriously when we were sitting in the Committee to deal with the IEBC reform, when we were looking at the issues that we will use in future to amend the Constitution and even in the impeachment of Governor Wambora even though we did not succeed. This tamed the run-away corruption in many counties and it became a warning to many governors who are likely to misuse public resources.

I have heard the contributions of many Senators. I can say without any fear of contradiction that all of us are passionate about changing this country. That is why we must also deal with our citizenry. We must ask Kenyans to decide what they want. People are asking, “What have you done that is supposed to directly translate to food in my house?” What have you directly contributed to my pocket?

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, people have to make a decision. Leaders are not elected to do things for people. They are elected to lead people to do things for themselves. The taxpayers’ money is used to construct roads and so on. Public servants who are doing that are doing it on behalf of the people. The people are doing it for themselves. So, leadership is there to carry the vision, inspire, motivate and encourage people to do things for themselves. That is why sometimes when they ask me, “What will you say you have done in five years for the people of Elgeyo-Marakwet County? I will tell them that I inspired so many young people to work hard in their education. I inspired so many people to think how they will invest and how they should live in peace. That was my role.

Building classrooms or donations by leaders, are not exclusive. They can be done by everybody. In a country like the United States of America (USA), retirees or big businessmen like Mr. Mark Zuckerberg, a young man, has said that he will donate a lot of his resources towards bridging the digital divide all over the world. We must start inculcating in our people through training, public speaking, encouragement and meetings that our role as leaders is not to do things. Our role is to inspire them to do things for themselves and allow them to dream.

Former President J.F Kennedy is remembered for Americans going to the moon, but he is not the one who designed the equipment that took people to the moon. He did not sit in the laboratory to work on them. He never travelled to the moon, but he inspired those people to dream and think, focus and invest in science. The country voted in a budget that will invest in science. All these things must encourage us to continue nurturing the role of leaders in inspiring people to do things for themselves and be what they want to be and reach their full potential.

Sadly, we have a nation that needs a lot of work from us. Many people are pessimistic about life. All the time you meet people, they say, you know, this country will not be successful next year. We will not have meaningful resources. There is a lot of doubt in this nation. Our role as leaders is to give people hope. Someone said that the leadership and leaders are dealers in hope. It is our responsibility to ensure that people are hopeful and focused on what they need to do and live in peace because we are preaching peace.

Order, No.10 is a Division and Sen Adan is not in the House. The same applies to Order Nos.11, 12, 13, 14 and 15. We defer these Orders.

This is not a matter affecting counties.

Very well. Next, Order.

Order, Sen. Murkomen!

Order, No.10 is a Division and Sen Adan is not in the House. The same applies to Order Nos.11, 12, 13, 14 and 15. We defer these Orders.

For Order No.15, I give directions that Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. who has several amendments on this particular Bill to consult with the Chairperson of the Committee, Sen. Kivuti. I, therefore, direct that this appears on the Order Paper on Wednesday, next week for the Committee of the Whole. At that time, they will have agreed and synchronized the amendments.

Next Order!

Next Order. Sen. Khaniri is not there. So we defer the Motion.

Next Order. Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo is not there. So, we defer the Motion.

Next Order. Sen. Khaniri is not there. So we defer the Motion.

Next Order. Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo is not there. So, we defer the Motion.

Next Order. Sen. (Eng.) Muriuki Karue is not there. So, we defer the Motion.

disappear without a trace and that many who are subsequently traced are found dead away from where they were known to have been locked up; ALARMED by the recent incident where three young men were locked up for hours at Syokimau Police Post without any record indicating they had been at the police post, only for them to be found days later, in another area far from the police post, having been brutally killed; APPRECIATING that the Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) system installed by the Government in Nairobi has helped a lot in criminal investigations; NOW THEREFORE the Senate calls upon the National Government to install CCTV cameras in all police stations and police posts in order to record each and every person going in and out of the station; b) have the CCTV system designed in such a way that it is capable of capturing the Occurrence Book entries every twelve hours; and c) ensure the CCTV system is connected to a central depository in order to minimize chances of subsequent tampering. (Motion deferred)

Hon. Senators, there being no other business to transact, the Senate stands adjourned until tomorrow, Thursday, 13th October, 2016, at 2.30 p.m.

The Senate rose at 6.20 p.m.