July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Wednesday, 15th July, 2015

Yes, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale. REPORTS OF THE AUDITOR-GENERAL ON THE FINANCIAL OPERATIONS OF VARIOUS COUNTY GOVERNMENTS

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to lay the following Paper on the Table of the Senate today, Wednesday, 15th July, 2015.

Report of the Auditor-General on the financial statements of the County Government of Migori for the 16 months period that ended on 30th June, 2014.

Report of the Auditor-General on the financial statements of the County Government of Homa Bay for the 16 months period that ended on 30th June, 2014.

Report of the Auditor-General on the financial operations of Nyamira County Executive and Nyamira County Assembly for the period 1st July, 2013 to 30th July.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to lay the following Paper on the Table of the Senate today, Wednesday, 15th July, 2015.

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Where is the Chairperson of the Committee on Finance, Commerce and Budget?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise to give a statement on the increase in the minimum share capital of commercial banks which was sought by the Senator for Bungoma. The Senator had sought to know a number of issues regarding the increase in the minimum share capital, what policy informed the announcement by the CS to upscale the minimum capital of the banks to Kshs5 billion. He also wanted to know whether the policy statement was subjected to public sector participation. He also wanted to know when the policy is expected to be effective and a number of questions that I will respond to as we move along.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Statement from the Cabinet Secretary is long, so I will not go to the preamble and the introduction which explains the overview in the banking sector development. I want to draw the attention of the Senator to the East Africa Monetary Union Protocol which was signed in November, 2013 which, among other things, seeks to integrate the member states’ financial systems and adopt common principles and rules for regulation and supervision of financial institutions.

I want to go specifically to the questions sought in the Statement. The Senator wanted an explanation on what informed the policy announcement by the Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury to upscale the minimum capital for banks to Kshs5 billion. As you know the current capital requirement for banks in Kenya is Kshs1 billion. The policy statement in the Budget is to raise that to Kshs5 billion. Pursuant to Vision 2030, the financial services sector has been identified as critical to achieving the targeted 10 per cent annual economic growth which requires that this sector stimulates a significant increase in investments and savings by mobilizing both domestic and international resources. The Government’s strategy is to move Kenya to new development frontier. To achieve this, the banking sector is expected to play a catalytic role through the mobilization of substantial resources which are expected to achieve this vision. Therefore, the Kenyan banking institutions are expected to be well capitalized to rise up to this challenge.

The second reason that informed the policy is that the Government also aspires to transform Kenya into an international financial centre which is able to attract

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, if you watched the Chairman, who is normally a very confident person, his body language betrayed him. He did not even believe in what he was reading. How can the Cabinet Secretary and you, as our Speaker, sitting there unilaterally, because he says there was no public sector participation to raise the capital of banks from Kshs1 billion to Kshs5 billion. Banking is not about size, it is about services. Sen. Khaniri, Sen. Ndiema and Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale can tell the House that courtesy of devolution, five western counties have come together and are putting Kshs250 million together to start a bank to cater for their special county needs. This can be done in Mt. Kenya region, in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) region and so on.

Order, it is Statement time. The Senate Minority Leader (Sen. Wetangula) : Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is the Central Bank that determines, sets, guides and breeds monetary policy of any country. If the Governor says he is not for this, where is the Cabinet Secretary getting authority to do the misguided pronouncement?

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is the Central Bank that determines, sets, guides and breeds monetary policy of any country. If the Governor says he is not for this, where is the Cabinet Secretary getting authority to do the misguided pronouncement?

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Mr. Speaker, Sir, in trying to justify why there was the increase of the share capital from Kshs1 billion to Ksh5 billion, the Chairman says that the Cabinet Secretary informed him that the banking sector should play a catalytic role to achieve Vision 2030. That is what informed their increase from Kshs1 billion to Kshs5 billion. How can they play a catalytic role when the local entrepreneurs are being locked out?

I can assure you that, locally, no one can amass or raise the Kshs5 billon that they have put. Will this figure apply only to foreign investors so that local people are exempted? The figure for the local people should remain at Kshs1billion. In answering whether there was public participation, the Cabinet Secretary is telling us that he expected that when people participated in the Budget-making process, it was to also cover this particular issue. We expected a proper structured public participation for such a policy to be implemented. Could they consider shelving this particular policy until the public is properly consulted as required by the Constitution?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I understand that it has been the policy of the Government that Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) are the key to developing this country and they should be encouraged. I want a clarification as to why the Government has decided that it is only foreign institutions that are supposed to be involved in the banking sector and not SMEs.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, while we appreciate the need for developing strong banks in order to become a regional banking sector, in this country the unbanked are more than the banked. In other words, people with bank accounts are a lot less than those who operate without. Therefore, there is need for small banks. Consequently, I ask the Chairman, in reviewing this policy, to develop what we will call “county banks” that will have much less capital requirement or that will keep the same capital requirements as we have today and provide those services at the county level.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the mischief of business monopoly in this country is a well known factor. Could the Chair table the list of all the banks he mentioned with their capital ability? Especially so, I am more interested in the banks which are more than or equal to Kshs5 billion capital ability.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, this is clearly a very significant policy change but it has also become clear that it was not specifically subjected to public participation and public scrutiny as required. Is the Chairman satisfied that it met the constitutional threshold before it is operationalized? The second question is, what happens now that we are convinced that it did not go through this process and how do we move forward?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is not in doubt as who are the private Kenyans who own banks. If you go to Wall Street, they are still opening new companies; a bank is just like any other enterprise. The Chairman has been misled to tell us that the reason for this is to rise to the need for harmonization of the financial system in the East African Community (EAC) . Yes, we are all committed to a common market in the EAC. Are you telling me that Kenya being the giant in the EAC, the people of Burundi and Rwanda will find much more ease in raising Kshs5 billion compared to the people of Kenya? Could you please table in this House the same regulations as it appears in the five

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the last time this question was asked, I had sought my own separate question on the list of banks that fall under the category of under Kshs 5 billion. This is because we wanted to determine whether or not there was something ulterior about the proposal to increase the share capital; that has not been tabled.

Secondly, the Chairperson has quoted the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Act, 2015, which to the best of my knowledge is still a Bill and not an Act of Parliament. Therefore, we would like to get those clarifications. However, more importantly, is whether or not according to the law the Cabinet that is required that all their decisions are in writing, has made a decision on this and why they have not consulted Parliament on this issue, that has far reaching consequences on our economy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Kenya is one of the developing countries and Kenyans are still struggling to come to the level of doing business in competition with the rest of the world. You need ten Kenyans to each come up with $5 million to raise $50 million to start a bank. Whoever came up with that suggestion wanted to eliminated the local banks that are owned by Kenyans.

One of the best banks in this country today, the Equity Bank, is owned and managed by Kenyans. History is very clear that Mr.James Mwangi started that bank with Kshs50,000 and today, it is one of the best banks. It is wrong to have the big corporate banks come in the market and eliminate Kenyans. I want the Chairperson to consider that and ensure that decision is reversed, as much as we want to be in business and put Kenya where it should be.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

The Chairperson may now respond.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. When the Government raised the minimum capital of the banks from Kshs250 million to Kshs1 billion, it was an increase by four times. Literally, all the banks complied within the timeframe and the objectives at the time was also the same; to encourage banks to merge, so that we have few stronger banks and that helped.

In early 1900s up to 1996, almost 30 to 40 banks collapsed because of a lot of management problems in the banking sector. Today, the banking sector is very strong and resilient because of a stronger capital, among other things, that they have. Therefore, the intention at the end of the day is to also look at the global aspect of the economy. When we rebased our economy last year to Kshs4.8 trillion, the per capita is now $1.1246. This country is now rated as a lower middle income economy. So, we really need banks that can attract funding for this economy from international markets and have very strong core capital. I think that is the general reason.

The second answer that I gave and which I think is important, is the regional aspect. Because of the East Africa Monetary Union, there has been attempt to try and create a regional financial structure that would be similar in all the countries. I disagree with some of the Senators, because some of my friends and I tried to open a bank in a

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Anybody who has studied business trends will tell you that one of the strategies used by business people and investors once they have built enough capital to insulate themselves from competition is to raise thresholds to lock out the competition. The move by CBK to revise the capitalization is a serious matter that needs to be looked at because so many times in this country, we have tried to urge banks to lower interest rates, for example. If this is left unchecked and then banks form a cartel, then, in future, it will be very difficult to regulate this industry. If, for example, we will consider international banks which have been in business for hundreds of years, how on earth would one expect Standard Chartered and Barclays banks to compete with other local upcoming banks? A market place without competition is a bad market place; bad for the economy and the county. If we do not have small and middle level banks and only the big players are allowed to form their cartels, then we will have a big problem especially with wananchi. The lower cadre of people will not have a say in this field. Thank you. The Senate Minority Leader (

Order, Sen. Ndiema! You are completely out of order.

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I stand to request for two Statements which I have been following on behalf of this House.

Order, Sen. Ndiema! You are completely out of order.

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Is it in order for the Chairperson to refer us to a private meeting and discussion that he had with Sen. Musila, when this matter concerns and is a property of this House? It is just proper that he puts it on record that that will happen. We need your guidance.

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is correct that Sen. Musila asked for a Statement regarding the presence of herders who were causing some serious problems there as well the recruitment of police reservists. The gracious Vice Chairperson and myself went to the Cabinet Secretary’s office, and he received us very well. He agreed that since they are doing harmonization of the Kenya Police Reserve, as soon as they finish, he will consider employing reservists for Sen. Musila.

With regard to the confirmation that the herders have been removed, we will pursue it. On the question of homeguards, in our presence, he directed that a Statement should be written to state that he is considering that issue. Up to now, the Statement has not been signed and so next week on Tuesday, we will endeavour to make the Statement.

Next week we should be able to get the responses. Sen. Haji, since you are pleased with the deliberations and you were accompanied by your Vice Chairperson contrary to the earlier assertion, you can make an attempt on Tuesday. The same applies to Sen. Madzayo. The latest should be Tuesday. However, if you can get it tomorrow, the better.

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Order, Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. More in what respect?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, in respect of percentage. In terms of the percentage, it appears that the number of persons who receive these awards in Baringo which is a smaller county than Kitui are much more. That is the criteria we wanted. There was even another issue; that these decisions were made in the National Assembly and we wanted those records. In my case, we raised the issue of those OVCs particularly in my county at a place called Emali where we have more street children than Nairobi.

Is there any Member of the Committee here? Senate Majority Leader, can you make an undertaking to supply the Chair with the HANSARD?

Yes, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I will do so.

Sen. Billow!

Is there any Member of the Committee here? Senate Majority Leader, can you make an undertaking to supply the Chair with the HANSARD?

Yes, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I will do so.

Sen. Billow!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to assure Sen. Billow and the House that the report of the investigation will be presented to the House on Thursday next week.

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Sen. Haji, what is your reaction?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to assure Sen. Billow and the House that the report of the investigation will be presented to the House on Thursday next week.

It is so ordered.

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Order, Senators. You should remember that Wednesday afternoon is a day for voting and we have three items ready. I encourage that you come back and vote on them.

Order, Members. Could the Division Bell be rung for three minutes?

Order, Members. Could the bars be drawn and the door closed?

You should be ready to vote. Order, Members. I, therefore, wish to put the question.

Hon. Senators, the results of the vote are as follows:

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I beg to report that the Committee of the Whole has considered The Public Appointments

Bill

(Senate Bill No.20 of 2014)

and seeks leave to sit again tomorrow.

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES BILL (SENATE BILL NO.20 OF 2014)

Next order!

Mr. Temporary Chairperson, Sir, I beg to move that the Committee do report to the Senate its consideration of the County Early Childhood Education Bill (Senate Bill No.32 of 2014) and seek leave to sit again tomorrow.

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

I call upon the Chairperson to move.

Who is seconding?

Madam Temporary Speaker, I would like to request Sen. Obure to second.

Sen. Obure seconded.

Next order.

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Mr. Temporary Chairman, Sir, we just need some clarification on the concerns being raised. I thought the issue raised by Sen. Obure was that he wanted me to confirm whether we consulted with the Ministry and the industry players. That is what I understood but I did not get any request from him in terms of whether to stop or proceed.

Regarding the issue of Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr., the process of considering regulations is captured under the Standing Orders. If you look at Standing Order Nos.114 and 115, it gives the Committee on Delegated Legislation mandate to consider the regulations.

The Temporary Chairperson (Sen. (Dr.) Machage) : Order! I think you are lost. You have not refused to do anything neither were you out of order. So, Standing Order No.114 does not arise. Maybe, if you relax a bit and he gets to hear a few more points of order, you may be guided.

On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Chairman, Sir. In the past, this House established a tradition where we take consensus and vote for Bills without much strain. It looks like there is a feeling especially from this side that certain regulations are not acceptable. Therefore, I would like to plead with the Chair that we do more consultation so that we do not break our tradition of working together in a bi-partisan manner.

I plead with the Chair that we stand down this matter and we do more consultations and bring it back after a week, particularly, the issues being raised by the industry in as far as the regulations are concerned. We could discuss and come to terms instead of voting and breaking our very good tradition.

The Temporary Chairperson (Sen. (Dr.) Machage) : I request the Mover to approach the Chair.

The Temporary Chairperson (Sen. (Dr.) Machage) : Very well. Members, I have considered your requests. I have also listened to the Chair of the Committee who has expressed his feelings that Members have not presented their feelings and contribution to the Committee on the changes they want. Considering that consensus is important as put forward by Sen. Musila - this is a House of mature legislators - I request the Mover to report to the Speaker. At the same time, I advise Members that they have one more chance to present their contributions to the Committee. Otherwise, when it will be put on the Order Paper again, this Chair will not entertain any other suggestion.

Mr. Temporary Chairman, Sir, I want to respond to the issue raised by Sen. Obure. As a matter of fact, when these regulations appeared on the Order Paper, there were a few concerns. First, people had not looked at the regulations and the report by the Committee. We said that we had tabled the reports and regulations in the Senate. Therefore, any Senator who needed to look at the regulations would get them from the Clerk’s Office. The second issue related to the consultations between the Senate, the Ministry and the Tobacco Control Board. I want to share this with the Senate: We invited the Ministry of Health, the Principal Secretary together with the Cabinet Secretary and had a meeting with them informally because they indicated to us that they had worked on the regulations and the preferred option to them is that the Senate considers the regulations, returns a verdict on them and then they would proceed to act according to the resolutions of the House. We also invited the Tobacco Control Board chairman and he also gave the same position. Both parties had decided that they will work with the resolution of the Senate. The other industry players were also invited and they made their presentations. In the decisions that we are proposing in these regulations, the industry’s contribution is there, the Ministry’s position is clear to us and to that extent we are ready to proceed with discussions on these regulations. The Temporary Chairperson (

Mr. Temporary Chairman, Sir, I think that captures the mood. We are comfortable with that as a Committee. Therefore, we accept it.

Mr. Temporary Chairman, Sir, the Committee of the Whole is considering The Tobacco Control Regulations, 2014 and has instructed me to report progress and seek leave to sit again tomorrow.

The Temporary Chairperson (Sen. (Dr.) Machage) : It may be tomorrow or any other day that I may so desire.

After hearing that response, Sen. Obure, you have only one decision to make and that is at the voting time; either to support or not.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to report progress that a Committee of the Whole is considering The Tobacco Control Regulations, 2014 and has instructed me to report progress and seek leave to sit again another day.

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Mr. Temporary Chairman, Sir, we just need some clarification on the concerns being raised. I thought the issue raised by Sen. Obure was that he wanted me to confirm whether we consulted with the Ministry and the industry players. That is what I understood but I did not get any request from him in terms of whether to stop or proceed. Regarding the issue of Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr., the process of considering regulations is captured under the Standing Orders. If you look at Standing Order Nos.114 and 115, it gives the Committee on Delegated Legislation mandate to consider the regulations. The Temporary Chairperson (

Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to move that the County Assembly Services Bill (Senate Bill No. 27 of 2014) be now read a Second Time.

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

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Before Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. seconds, I can see an intervention by Sen. Musila.

Madam Temporary Speaker, it is a mistake.

Please, proceed, Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I must say from the outset, as I second this Bill that I am a little disappointed that we have taken this long in bringing this Bill to fruition.

It was first published in June 2014. Most of our county assemblies are facing problems as a result of not having clear guidelines on how their funding should be done.

Yesterday, the County Assemblies Forum (CAF) through their Chairman, Dr. Noor, issued a press statement which was responded to by the Chairman of the Council of

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES THE TOBACCO CONTROL REGULATIONS, 2014

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I stand to support this important Bill. Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. decried the delay that has been caused over the past one year in bringing this Bill to the Floor of the Senate since it was published. I also feel so because it is very important and we all know that without an independent and autonomous assembly and, therefore, the County Assemblies Board, county assemblies cannot purport to function efficiently. You are aware that the National Assembly and even the Senate in the past used to depend on the Executive to be supplied with funds, employees and everything that they needed.

Madam Temporary Speaker, as you are aware, lack of autonomy of Parliament did not augur well because it was an appendage of the Executive. In the same token, as I speak, the county assemblies are now appendices of the executive in the county governments. Recently, we had some governors and even the Council of Governors (COG) addressing itself to this issue and purporting to believe that county assemblies do not require money, independence and autonomy because they should be working under the executive in the county government.

This is wrong. That is why it is very important that we must create a formal County Service Board because as of now, it is just a lose arrangement. The service boards are there to perform duties, but under the executive. It is, therefore, so important that we pass this Bill to establish a County Assembly Service Board so that the county assemblies can become independent to serve the county governments by way of oversight.

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Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to report progress that a Committee of the Whole is considering The Tobacco Control Regulations, 2014 and has instructed me to report progress and seek leave to sit again another day.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Committee on the said report.

Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. seconded.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to move that the County Assembly Services Bill (Senate Bill No. 27 of 2014) be now read a Second Time.

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Before Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. seconds, I can see an intervention by Sen. Musila.

Madam Temporary Speaker, it is a mistake.

Please, proceed, Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr.

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

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Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I stand to support this important Bill. Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. decried the delay that has been caused over the past one year in bringing this Bill to the Floor of the Senate since it was published. I also feel so because it is very important and we all know that without an independent and autonomous assembly and, therefore, the County Assemblies Board, county assemblies cannot purport to function efficiently. You are aware that the National Assembly and even the Senate in the past used to depend on the Executive to be supplied with funds, employees and everything that they needed.

Madam Temporary Speaker, as you are aware, lack of autonomy of Parliament did not augur well because it was an appendage of the Executive. In the same token, as I speak, the county assemblies are now appendices of the executive in the county governments. Recently, we had some governors and even the Council of Governors (COG) addressing itself to this issue and purporting to believe that county assemblies do not require money, independence and autonomy because they should be working under the executive in the county government.

This is wrong. That is why it is very important that we must create a formal County Service Board because as of now, it is just a lose arrangement. The service boards are there to perform duties, but under the executive. It is, therefore, so important that we pass this Bill to establish a County Assembly Service Board so that the county assemblies can become independent to serve the county governments by way of oversight.

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to move the Universities (Amendment) Bill (Senate Bill No.31 of 2014) .

Madam Temporary Speaker, we know that education plays an important role in promoting economic and social development in a specific country or region. Education is also seen as the primary means of social mobility, national cohesion and socio-economic development. Kenya has made great stride in education and training since we got our Independence. This has been demonstrated by the growth of the number of institutions, increased number of enrolments, increased transition rate, increased teacher numbers---

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Sen. Halima, there was a procedural oversight on your side. You need to make the opening statement that The Universities (Amendment) Bill (Senate Bill No.31 of 2014) be read a Second Time, then you proceed.

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July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

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Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. From the outset, I wish to support this very important Bill. As you are aware, the essence of devolution was to have arms which are interdependent of each other. However, there was an oversight in this regard. The role of county assemblies is to oversight the county executive. However, in terms of financial entanglements, the counties assemblies have become an appendage of the county executive. This has caused a lot of harm to the citizens of Kenya. In most cases, MCAs are not patriotic enough to the nation. They are induced to look the other side when they are supposed to look after the interests of their counties.

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Before I call upon the Mover to reply, I want to make an observation.

Hon. Senators have always raised issues with the manner in which county governments conduct their affairs, especially when it comes to priority areas and service provision. However, it is interesting that when a Bill that addresses these issues is on the Floor of the House, apart from the Mover, it was only the Senator for Makueni County, Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr.; Senator for Kitui County, Sen. Musila; Senator for Kisii County, Sen. Obure; Senator for Kiambu County, Sen. Wamatangi; Senator for Nyamira County, Sen. Okong’o and Sen. Mohamud who found it worth their time to give their input to this Bill.

Hon. Senators should take their work seriously. Nonetheless, I call upon the Mover to reply.

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Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I also rise to support this Bill and congratulate the Mover of the Bill which is timely and important for the future of this country and our young people.

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Sen. Halima, there was a procedural oversight on your side. You need to make the opening statement that The Universities (Amendment) Bill (Senate Bill No.31 of 2014) be read a Second Time, then you proceed.

I am sorry, Madam Temporary Speaker. I beg to move that the Universities (Amendment) Bill (Senate Bill No.31 of 2014) be now read a Second Time.

We know that education plays an important role in developing our socio- economic aspect in a country and we know that it is the primary means of social mobility and national cohesion. Since Independence, Kenya has put education in the forefront as evidenced by the number of enrolments in our institutions and the increased number of teachers in our institutions. There is also an increased enhancement of equity and gender considerations.

Madam Temporary Speaker, education spearheads innovation and promotes good governance. Kenya is one of the countries that have made education a priority. This is evidenced by the effort of the state to make education affordable. This is also enshrined in our Constitution; that is, free and compulsory basic education. Increased access to primary education will have an impact on the enrolment of the number of students proceeding to secondary schools and universities.

In Kenya, university education had a humble beginning. The University of Nairobi was the first university in Nairobi. It had only one campus in Nairobi. As demand increased, Moi and Kenyatta universities were established as constituent colleges of the University of Nairobi. Over the last four decades, the social demand with respect to education in Kenya has clearly intensified leading to establishment of many universities both public and private. This has necessitated the initiation of several educational programmes in the universities. For example, there is a self-sponsored and the open learning programmes introduced for students.

Madam Temporary Speaker, we have cases where public universities are supported and funded by the government. For example, in India, education is provided by the public sector and the private sector with controls and funding coming from the three levels of government. These are central government, state government and the local government.

The decentralization of university education is in line with the spirit of devolution. If we establish universities in each county, we are dissemination information in various counties thus improving innovation and research. We know that different counties have different livelihoods. We expect a university in north eastern region to dwell more on the issue of livestock and other related research compared to a university in the coast region.

It is anticipated that as more students are able to access primary education, the demand for university education will increase tremendously. We all agree that today’s pass to economically vibrant and comfortable success is brought about by higher education. However, we are witnessing a scenario where our society has more people with low income and middle income. This makes university education unattainable by many.

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Proceed.

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Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I also rise to support this Bill and congratulate the Mover of the Bill which is timely and important for the future of this country and our young people.

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Order, Sen. Wamatangi! He is not doubting my gender, but he only thought that the previous Speaker was still on the Chair. My gender is not in doubt.

On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. Is the Senator for Kiambu County, Sen. Wamatangi, in order to refer to you as Madam Temporary Speaker? Is he in order to doubt your gender?

Sen. Omondi, he is totally out of order and he is so advised.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I apologise for that. I did not, at any one time suggest, imply or even think that your gender is in question. It is the Senator for Nyandarua County who insisted that I had referred to you as Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. He thought that it could have been Madam Temporary Speaker. I was only trying to correct him.

Proceed.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I was addressing the issue of the ratio of our young people who happen to pass their O-Level examinations, but unfortunately, never get the opportunity to see the inside of a university in spite of the great effort they made and a lot of money that was invested in their earlier education. If this is made a reality, then the mitigation of this anomaly will be made a reality.

Needless to say, one of the most important issues that this Bill should address is to encourage expansion and movement of education to counties. We also need to emphasize that the quality of education in all the 47 counties must be maintained at its tiptop. In the absence of this – as it has been lamented many times in several fora – we will end up having half-baked graduates. If this is not taken care of, then, it will make the intent of giving this education a folly. So, we have to emphasize – as it is proposed that universities are opened in the counties – and maintain the standards as dictated by the proposed commission.

Opening of universities and other institutions of learning is a way of integrating communities. Sometime back, we were in a function with one of my colleague Senators. He drew an example to us and said that he went to school in his rural areas. Having completed his primary education in his rural area, he also joined high school in his rural area just like most of us. After that, he got an opportunity to join university here in Nairobi. Thereafter, he went to a college outside this country. The difference between

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to also support the Universities (Amendment) Bill (Senate Bill No.31 of 2014) which was brought here by my sister, Sen. Mohamud who is also a beneficiary of university education.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the essence of this Bill is to help the CUE be compliant with the requirements of the Constitution and the resolutions that have been passed by this Senate. Since our role is to defend devolution, there will be many amendments to Acts which will be brought here, so that we realign them. This amendment will assist the CUE to comply and to create an atmosphere where we will have unity and diversity.

By each county having a university it does not necessarily mean that it will only have the locals from those counties. We are going to interrogate the CUE as per the

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for recognizing and giving me this opportunity.

I want to start by thanking Sen. Halima, especially for the eloquent manner in which she moved and provided the basis for debate on this Bill. This Bill seeks to provide for a structured format for coordination and liaison between the national Government and the county governments on matters to do with university education. This Bill also specifically will require the CUE to update the National Assembly and this Senate on achievements made and challenges faced by universities in our counties.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the Bill also seeks to put in place a framework which will give guidance on how best activities of the universities could impact on the

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES

Order, Sen. Obure! When we resume, you will have 11 minutes when the Bill comes up again for debate.

Hon. Senators, it is now time to interrupt the business of the Senate. The Senate stands adjourned until tomorrow Thursday 16th July, 2015 at 2.30 p.m.

July 15th, 2015 SENATE DEBATES