Wednesday, 5th October, 2022

Hon. Members, I have confirmed that we have quorum. Let us proceed.

Thank you Mr. Speaker, Sir. I take this moment to welcome these young Kenyans undergoing one of the most important programmes that we run as Parliament. This is one of our living legacies as Members of the fourth Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) .

This programme is one of the most competitive in the country for pupillage. If you speak to many young lawyers in the country, they will tell you despite Parliament not being considered as a prestigious posting in terms of a law firm, this programme has given opportunity to many young people to join the ranks of Parliament after gaining experience in it.

The way it is administered is such that we pick the best of the applicants after an interview, from each of the 47 counties. We cannot pick all of them at ago. It takes us three years to go through our list of 47 counties.

I do not know each of them individually, but if you ask each of them, you will hardly find any two coming from the same county. It tells you that the programme is administered by competent staff, who are well ranking in the legal profession and provide such a good opportunity and platform for young people to learn the workings of Parliament.

This is so that in future, in the course of their career, much as it may not arise in many occasions, they may find demand for them to understand the operations of Parliament. Sometimes when you follow court proceedings, even senior lawyers and counsel struggle about very basic operations of Parliament. The experience they receive from Parliament cannot be gainsaid.

I congratulate and wish them well. May they extremely work hard in the things they are doing. May they interact with Members as freely as they can and learn as much as they wish to in their six months’ stay in the institution.

Hon. Senators, it was not my intention or plan to give comments on this Communication, but allow me to give at least two more Senators a chance to make their comments. I will start with the Senator for Makueni County, Sen. Maanzo.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me a chance to welcome these young people under pupillage to the Senate. As a lawyer, there is a lot to learn here. The legal profession has very many branches and opportunities, including a lot of work process in the Senate and the National Assembly (NA) , where there is a lot in law required to be learned.

As the Senate Majority Leader has said, quite a number of people do not understand this branch of Government, the drafting and intrigues, which go into the practise of law and the learning you are going to go through here.

When this young people sit here, they get to imitate, learn from us and get role models. I believe that some of them are going to be good lawyers. Some will end up in this Chamber as Senators and Speaker.

I welcome, congratulate and wish them well in their career.

I am looking for a non-lawyer to give a comment. I know you are a lawyer by profession, Sen. Cheptumo.

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

What is out of order? A minute Sen. Faki. Just a minute. I hope you have your Standing Orders with you because you must give me the correct Standing Order you are quoting.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I will.

Okay.

I wanted to----

Which Standing Order? Do you want to contribute or make a point of order on?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am not contributing. I am surprised that my learned friend, Sen. Maanzo, a lawyer of repute, can allege in this House that there are bad and good lawyers.

Sen Maanzo, do you want to withdraw? Withdraw. You know there are lawyers of good repute---

I was talking of lawyers of good repute. We know that in the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) we have a disciplinary committee and a number of lawyers have gone through it, having stolen clients’ property.

I am encouraging the young lawyers to be good lawyers and to emulate good lawyers like Sen. Faki.

Sen. Gataya, Senator of Tharaka-Nithi. Let us close there, Hon. Senators.

Thank you Mr. Speaker, Sir. I am not a lawyer, but I know that this House is composed of very many brilliant brains. I am sure that the young people taking their pupillage from this Institution will harvest a lot.

I know that they really want to become good lawyers like Sen. Maanzo, Sen. (Prof) Tom Ojienda, SC, and any other person of that calibre. This is the best ground from which they can learn.

As a Senator from Tharaka-Nithi, I wish them well. I am very sure that in future they are going to find themselves in this House.

I wish you well. I hope you continue making serious decisions, so that you can learn more.

I have decided to give a few more Members. I understand that we should encourage these young professionals and also get advice from seasoned lawyers like the Senator of Kisumu County.

At least two minutes each. Sen. (Prof.) Tom Ojienda SC.

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

What is out of order, Sen. Cherargei? Just a moment, Sen. (Prof.) Tom Ojienda, SC.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Sen. Cherarkey was my student. He should respect his senior.

Proceed, Sen. Cherarkey.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Sen. Dullo should stop intimidating people. She should be aware that she is on the Minority side. She used to intimidate us then, but not now.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, despite Standing Order No.1---

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, he is out of order.

No, have your seat Senator for Kisumu County.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, you have power under Standing Order No.1 to allow seamless running of the House. However, I have seen my colleagues from both sides of the aisle raising their hands to catch your eye. To allow that seamless running of the House, you should advise them to request.

Sen. Cherarkey, you are out of order. I am following a very elaborate list here on my left. If you continue guiding me on how to preside over this session, you will be treading on very dangerous ground.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am not guiding you. I am requesting my colleagues to request when they want to speak.

They are all guided. Thank you. Sen. (Prof.) Tom Ojienda, SC, proceed.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I wish to encourage the students who are in the Senate today. Parliamentary practice, especially learning the practice experientially from seeing how Senators do their work, will add to the knowledge that the students require to learn.

I am a law teacher and I know some of the students seated in the Gallery must have read the books that we have published. I can see Sen. Cherarkey is smiling. This is the beginning of preparation for the practical undertaking of learning at the Kenya School of Law (KSL) . When they finish their pupillage, I am sure they will be seeking employment in law firms and in other institutions, including Parliament. Therefore, I encourage them.

As the Senate Majority Leader has advised – he is the Majority Leader until we change – this is an opportunity to learn and also interact with other professional colleagues. Since this is a programme that is open to many Kenyans who have learnt law,

I expect that in future, we diversify beyond those who are here. With time, let us get people from different counties, so that the programme goes on.

Proceed, Sen. Mungatana.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I join the previous speakers in congratulating the students who have come to join us. I am sure they will have a good opportunity to learn.

In reference to the selection that the Majority Leader mentioned, when selecting the new lot of students to come on attachment, we want the principle of equality to be applied.

Yes. Kindly proceed, Sen. Mungatana.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, kindly protect me from the other Senators who are not giving me a chance.

Okay. You are well protected Senator. Proceed.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. In the Senate of the United States of America (USA) where we borrow a lot from, even the chairs are measured, such that the entire Senate people are equal. There is neither a tall or short person. It is the principle.

May I emphasize from the very beginning that all counties are equal in this Senate. So, when choosing students, let us not be told that these are the best students and so, we pick from Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu counties. What about Tana River County? We want to see equality in this House from all the 47 counties. I urge that the next lot should not repeat the same students who are represented in this lot.

Thank you, Sen. Mungatana. However, you should know that this House does not decide who should come for pupillage or attachment. Those decisions are not made from this Floor. A different office is involved. That office should make sure we have diversity from all the counties.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, without revisiting your direction---

If I did not give you the microphone to contribute---

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, if I could clarify this issue? It is very important. If a student has been taken from Nairobi City County, the next lot in terms of waiting and those to be selected should be from other counties. It should be circulatory.

I honestly agree with you, Senator. Sen. Madzayo, Senate Minority Leader, proceed.

Sen. Wambua, do you mean you are more senior than Sen. Madzayo in this House? Do you know there is superiority in contributing?

Proceed, Senate Minority Leader.

The Senate Minority Leader (Sen. Madzayo): Asante Bw. Naibu wa Spika. Kwanza ninawapa kongole wanafunzi wote wanaofanya kazi katika hili Bunge la Seneti. Wako katika hali ya kujifunza jinsi kazi inafanywa ili watakapomaliza masomo, wawe wafanyakazi wa kutekeleza majukumu yao.

Ninakubaliana na ndugu yangu, Sen. Mungatana, kuwa ingekuwa vyema kuona wanafunzi kutoka sehemu mbalimbali ya taifa la Kenya. Tusiwatoe tu kaunti moja peke yake. Ni jambo muhimu kuwa Bunge la Seneti linatoa fursa kwa wanafunzi, waje kujionea viongozi wao wakiwa kazini. Watakapotoka hapa, watakuwa na elimu ya kutosha ambayo itawasaidia maishani.

Vilevile, ni vizuri hili Bunge la Seneti lionyeshe mfano bora. Ni muhimu na pia ni jukumu letu sisi viongozi, kuonyesha njia murwa kwa watakaokuja baada yetu. Ninawashukuru Maseneta wenzangu kwa sababu wanakutana na hao vijana mara kwa mara na kupata maoni kutoka kwao. Tutaendelea kutembea pamoja nao na kuwafunza. Wakitoka hapa, niko na hakika elimu hii itawasaidia katika siku zijazo.

Asante sana. Proceed, Sen. Cheptumo. After that, we will have one more.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I support this pupillage programme for our students from KSL, which is being taken in this House. Over the years, the intake of students to the university has increased substantially, especially for the law students. My hands and classmate, Sen. (Prof.) Tom Ojienda, SC, will confirm that the number of practicing lawyers are unable to take all the students for pupillage.

This programme is important. I propose to the Majority Leader, who seems to be consulting here, to increase the number from 15 to 47 annually, if space will allow.

If we do that, we will have at least one pupil from every county every year. That will deal with two situations. Firstly, it will deal with the numbers that are increasing every other year. Those of us who have law firms and practice do have problems sometimes. We receive about 20 students who want to be admitted for pupillage, and we only take either one or two and others remain without opportunities. I would really urge-- -

Give him 30 seconds to finish.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I propose that we increase the number. I also encourage our young people that this is the way to go. We were like them before. I was in their situation in 1989 and, today, I am a Senator. They can still be great leaders in this country. I want to encourage them to work hard and take this programme seriously.

The last one is the Senate Deputy Minority Leader, Sen. Wambua. You may proceed.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for this opportunity. I want to join you and my colleagues in welcoming the students who are here on internship. For the record, we need to clarify a point to this country. These students are not attending pupillage, but they are from different disciplines. They are all not lawyers. There are also other disciplines in the internship programme. For our benefit and the benefit of those

The last one is the Senate Deputy Minority Leader, Sen. Wambua. You may proceed.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for this opportunity. I want to join you and my colleagues in welcoming the students who are here on internship. For the record, we need to clarify a point to this country. These students are not attending pupillage, but they are from different disciplines. They are all not lawyers. There are also other disciplines in the internship programme. For our benefit and the benefit of those

who want to apply for this programme, it is important that they know that the burden of deciding who joins this programme and who does not is not that of the Senate. It is a burden that lies elsewhere.

Having said that, I want to make an observation. With your permission, I refer you to Standing Order No.1, which gives you, the Speaker, a lot of latitude and discretion. I beg that we read Standing Order No.1 together with Standing Order No.2. Decisions made by the Chairperson should be based on the Constitution of Kenya, consented laws, messages, precedent, customs, procedures and traditions of the Parliament of Kenya. That will help us to transact business in a more dignified manner.

I thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

Next Order!

The Senate Majority Leader, you have a couple of Papers to lay. Take enough water or your deputy should be beside you to give you additional bottles.

You may proceed.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I beg to lay the following Papers on the Table of the Senate, today, 5th October, 2022. It is a lengthy one. They are about 40 papers.

Report of the Auditor General on the Financial Statement of Nyandarua County Executive Committee Members’ Car Loan and Mortgage Scheme Fund for the year ended 30th June, 2018.

Report of the Auditor General on the Financial Statement of Baringo County Assembly Members’ Car Loan and Mortgage Fund for the year ended 30th June, 2018.

Report of the Auditor General on the Financial Statement of Baringo County Assembly Catering and Health Services Scheme Fund for the year ended 30th June, 2018.

Report of the Auditor General on the Financial Statement of Baringo County Assembly Catering and Health Services Scheme Fund for the year ended 30th June, 2019.

Report of the Auditor General on the Financial Statement of Nyandarua County Assembly MCAs Car Loan and Mortgage Fund for the year ended 30th June, 2019.

Report of the Auditor General on the Financial Statement of Nyandarua County Assembly Staff Car Loan and Mortgage Fund for the year ended 30th June, 2019.

Report of the Auditor General on the Financial Statement of Nyandarua County Assembly Bursary Fund for the year ended 30th June, 2019.

Report of the Auditor General on the Financial Statement of Nyandarua County Assembly Civil Servants Car Loan and Mortgage Scheme Fund for the year ended 30th June, 2019.

Report of the Auditor General on the Financial Statement of Nakuru County Bursary Fund for the year ended 30th June, 2019.

Report of the Auditor General on the Financial Statement of Bungoma County Assembly Trade Development Loan Fund for the year ended 30th June, 2019.

Report of the Auditor General on the Financial Statement of Bungoma County Assembly Emergency Fund for the year ended 30th June, 2019.

Report of the Auditor General on the Financial Statement of Samburu County Assembly Staff Mortgage Scheme Fund for the year ended 30th June, 2019.

Report of the Auditor General on the Financial Statement of Samburu County Assembly Youth and Women Enterprise Development Fund for the year ended 30th June,

Let us go to the next Order. Senate Majority Leader, read the two, one after another.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to give Notices of the following Motions-

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move the following Procedural Motion-

THAT, pursuant to Standing Order No.111 (1) , the Senate resolves that debate on a Motion not sponsored by the Majority or Minority Party or a Committee shall be limited in the following manner: - A maximum of three hours with not more than twenty minutes for the Mover, twenty minutes for the Majority Party Official Responder, twenty minutes for the Minority Party Official Responder and fifteen minutes for each other Senator speaking and that fifteen minutes before the time expires, the Mover shall be called upon to reply. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this is a Procedural Motion. Just to mention, at the beginning of the term of a new Parliament like now, we usually have a number of such Motions to lay ground rules on the procedures to be followed. There are similar Motions such as the one I have just read. It is a fairly straightforward matter and I do not expect a contest like we had yesterday.

In fact, Sen. Faki was concerned about the induction process. We showed our new colleagues how debates can be protracted in this House. Let us also show them how peaceful and amicable we can coexist in the course of our business.

This is a straightforward matter. We have two others that we are expected to deal with today on limitation of time. Basically, it is to do with how much time an individual can take when a Motion is sponsored.

We have limitations of time for the Senate Majority Leader, the Senate Minority Leader, the Mover and the Responder. It is, therefore, important that our colleagues get to acquaint themselves with these rules.

That is displayed on our tablets. If you want to keep record of how many minutes you can speak to a particular matter, the same has been availed on the tablets that are before each Senator.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move the following Procedural Motion-

THAT, pursuant to Standing Order No.111 (1) , the Senate resolves that debate on a Motion not sponsored by the Majority or Minority Party or a Committee shall be limited in the following manner: - A maximum of three hours with not more than twenty minutes for the Mover, twenty minutes for the Majority Party Official Responder, twenty minutes for the Minority Party Official Responder and fifteen minutes for each other Senator speaking and that fifteen minutes before the time expires, the Mover shall be called upon to reply. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this is a Procedural Motion. Just to mention, at the beginning of the term of a new Parliament like now, we usually have a number of such Motions to lay ground rules on the procedures to be followed. There are similar Motions such as the one I have just read. It is a fairly straightforward matter and I do not expect a contest like we had yesterday.

In fact, Sen. Faki was concerned about the induction process. We showed our new colleagues how debates can be protracted in this House. Let us also show them how peaceful and amicable we can coexist in the course of our business.

This is a straightforward matter. We have two others that we are expected to deal with today on limitation of time. Basically, it is to do with how much time an individual can take when a Motion is sponsored.

We have limitations of time for the Senate Majority Leader, the Senate Minority Leader, the Mover and the Responder. It is, therefore, important that our colleagues get to acquaint themselves with these rules.

That is displayed on our tablets. If you want to keep record of how many minutes you can speak to a particular matter, the same has been availed on the tablets that are before each Senator.

Let us go to the next Order.

Senate Minority Leader, you have the Floor. The Senate Minority Leader (

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move the following Procedural Motion-

THAT, notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order No.110 (4) , the debate on any Motion for the adjournment of the Senate to a day other than the next normal sitting day in accordance with the calendar of the Senate shall be limited to a maximum of two hours with not more than fifteen minutes for each Senator speaking after which the Senate shall adjourn without question put; Provided that when the period of recess proposed by any such Motion does not exceed nine calendar days, the debate shall be limited to a maximum of thirty minutes, and shall be confined to the question of adjournment.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this is also an important one. The reason we have this one complete with the rules is because we experienced difficult times in this House. Somebody moved an Adjournment Motion and they did not have a specific number of days for which they wanted the House to adjourn.

Therefore, they abused the provisions of the Standing Orders, and the House almost went on a long recess, when we were in the middle of a busy period of Parliament. That must have been around the budget time, which is normally between February and April.

I like the provisions of the Standing Orders that expressly provide for how long a recess that is occasioned by a Motion like this, which is different from the normal recess periods in our Senate Calendar can take. It can only be a maximum of three months.

I do not foresee any such situation because this is the beginning of a new Session of Parliament and people are anxious and want to present Bills before this House. Therefore, I do not foresee any of that happening. However, like I said in the previous Motion, it is important that we lay ground rules. These are the rules that will guide us for the next five years.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this is a Procedural Motion. I second. (Question proposed) If the House is agreeable to that, then I will proceed to put the question. (Question put and agreed to)

Colleagues, it is important that before you approve or reject any Procedural Motion, first of all, you need to read and understand it. That is actually akin to signing a contract.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would also like to say this before I resume my seat. The tradition of the House is that we normally do not debate Motions on Procedure. However, like you did by allowing us to graciously welcome pupils who visited the Senate, two or three Senators may have a chance to speak on it.

Despite this being a Procedural Motion, it is important that we acquaint our colleagues who are still learning the curves, ways of doing things and procedures in this House. Let them have a chance to speak. Parliament is a place for people to speak. I am not a fan of the business of “the mood of the House is that we pass” because we came here to speak and debate regardless of the mood.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I can see that my colleague, Sen. Wambua, is probably not okay because of the situation he has found himself in this afternoon. I will, therefore, grant him the opportunity to second this Motion. Perhaps he will talk about issues that he was putting across to you earlier on.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, when you gave him a chance to speak, instead of welcoming visitors, he went on a long rant about why you need to observe Standing Orders and be firm. Now that he has brightened up a bit, I am sure he will do a good job.

I request my friend and pastor from Kitui, Sen. Wambua, to second this Motion. I thank you.

I thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. From the outset, I want to second the Procedural Motion on limitation of time.

Let me hasten to say that there is a reason we would have limitation of time on debates on Motions, Bills and every matter that comes to the Floor of this House. I think this comes from a tradition before this principle of limitation was introduced, where Members would speak on one issue for three hours. At times their intentions were not pure. However, now that we have limitations, it guides and makes us be able to efficiently use the time of the Senate. Therefore, I support.

As you know, the Majority Leader is a ranking Member in this House and does a lot of good things in this House apart from just bringing the business of the Government to the Floor of the Senate.

We looked at the names of those brilliant students that have been nominated for internship in Parliament and noted that this time round there is a serious observation of gender issues. Knowing Sen. Cheruiyot and his passion for gender issues, he must have had a hand in making sure that we have more ladies than men in this internship.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I second and congratulate the outgoing Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) representative of the Senate for doing a good job in this selection.

I thank you.

I can see from my list a few Members. I do not know whether they want to contribute to this Procedural Motion.

Let us now listen to the Senator for Nairobi County.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, welcome to Nairobi. Reading from the Motion on the Order Paper, it makes reference to Standing Order No. 110 (4) . My copy of the Standing Orders has Standing Order No.111 (4) as the order dealing with the limitation of debate on Motions. Do I have the wrong document?

It also talks about nine calendar days and I heard the Majority Leader refer to 90 days. That is the clarification I seek.

I thank you.

For HANSARD purposes, Majority Leader can you correct that?

Let us now listen to the Senator for Nairobi County.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, welcome to Nairobi. Reading from the Motion on the Order Paper, it makes reference to Standing Order No. 110 (4) . My copy of the Standing Orders has Standing Order No.111 (4) as the order dealing with the limitation of debate on Motions. Do I have the wrong document?

It also talks about nine calendar days and I heard the Majority Leader refer to 90 days. That is the clarification I seek.

I thank you.

For HANSARD purposes, Majority Leader can you correct that?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, apologies if I said 90 days. I meant nine days. The correct number is nine calendar days.

Thank you. Let us now, listen to Sen. Methu.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to move the following Procedural Motion-

THAT, pursuant to Standing Order 27 (6) , the Senate resolves that the debate on the Motion on the Presidential Address shall be limited to a maximum of three sitting days with not more than 15 minutes for each Senator speaking, excluding the Mover in moving and replying who shall be limited to 30 minutes in either case and that the Senate Majority Leader and the Senate Minority Leader shall be limited to 30 minutes each. I request Sen. Dullo to second.

Proceed, Sen. Dullo.

I second.

Proceed, the Deputy Senate Majority Leader.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to move the following Procedural Motion-

THAT, pursuant to Standing Order 27 (6) , the Senate resolves that the debate on the Motion on the Presidential Address shall be limited to a maximum of three sitting days with not more than 15 minutes for each Senator speaking, excluding the Mover in moving and replying who shall be limited to 30 minutes in either case and that the Senate Majority Leader and the Senate Minority Leader shall be limited to 30 minutes each. I request Sen. Dullo to second.

Proceed, Sen. Dullo.

Of course, in his beginning, he noted that for the first time, this is a Parliament that has had as many as 193 Members of the National Assembly and 17 Senators re- elected to this House. That has not happened under the new Constitution before.

We have such a high attrition rate as Members of Parliament (MPs) that it was getting to a place where being an MP in Kenya was about to be added to the list of a thousand ways to die. When you are an MP, after every five years, you have to face the electorate and chances of survival are only 20 or 30 per cent. Therefore, this is not the kind of job that many people would pick.

However, with this count, 17 out of 47 works up to slightly close to 30 per cent. It is an improvement. If you are a keen follower of many legislatures, especially those that are bi-cameral in nature, like the one we have in our country, the ‘Upper House,’ that is the Senate, is actually a House that retains the best that it has to offer in terms of leadership.

On many occasions, it is the holding place before people proceed to either Presidency or higher levels other than legislation.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the fact that most of our colleagues were voted back, is good testimony that the country is beginning to appreciate us. There was a huge debate in the country, especially to those that faced reelection in the 2017 General Election on what the work of a Senator is. On many occasions, you had to defend yourself since this whole Senate business was new to the Kenyan voter.

Many of us would attend functions during the first Senate of this Constitution and have cases where the governor would rise to speak and mention the development he had brought to a particular area. Then the Member of the National Assembly would rise and say, “Good people of this village, this classroom was built by myself. Let us now welcome our Senator, to say something.” You would then be speaking about oversight, which was completely strange. What is this animal called oversight?

On many occasions, the ordinary voters would consider Senators to be joyriders or idlers, who disappear into Nairobi and come back after five years for another chance. That seems to be waning off in the mind of Kenyan voters. They are beginning to appreciate the place of the Senate and that can be seen in the number of Senators that were re-elected.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I believe that the people will begin to enjoy more the fruits of devolution, if we as a House pull together, execute our constitutional mandate and hold governors and Executive to account. We shall ensure we devolve as much as possible of the national resources to our counties and partner with our county assemblies. It will then be possible to have more than 50 per cent of us reelected to this House. Therefore, it will be just a good celebration.

As it had been mentioned earlier, the President is a champion of gender inclusion in leadership. This has been noted in his Speech. In the 12th Parliament, we had only 23 women elected into single constituencies. The National Assembly has now 29 women elected into single constituency. That is a good improvement.

It is unfortunate that as a Senate, we did not have growth in terms of women Senators that were elected. We had three last time and three this time as well. I wish that

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move the following Motion-

THAT, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order No. 27 (6) , the thanks of the Senate be recorded for the exposition of public policy contained in the address of the President during the opening of the 13th Parliament delivered on Thursday, 29th September, 2022 be hereby recorded. Mr. Speaker, Sir, this was a very important day. Many of us were happy about it because we had been assured that we will never see such a day, but who is God in heaven?

When we left this Chamber a few days to the general election, many of us had come here to transact a Motion for the House to formally adjourn Sine Die.

You remember how my colleagues in the Minority Side, on that particular day were excited, exuberant and sure that they had the ‘system’. We promised them that we had the people and God.

The fact that we are here today referring to this particular Speech moved on that particular day, has reminded all of us that elections are like a sign wave; you never know when it will toss you up or down.

On that day, we were reminded that elections are firmly behind us. It is now time to close ranks. We have a very serious agenda before us. As the leadership of the country, Kenyans are looking up to us to solve many issues that continue to bedevil them.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, many of our colleagues, especially those who have joined Parliament for the first time will come to learn that this issue of Majority, Minority, opposition or Government only exists in our minds as leaders.

On many occasions, for example, in social gatherings, members of your family or friends ask you questions about the things that bother them and look at you as a leader. In most cases, they will not be so much bothered about which side of the political divide you come from. They look up to you to provide direction and leadership. The excuse that you are not in Government or it is the Executive and not the legislature that is supposed to do this or that rarely holds in such discussions.

Many times, they will demand that because we have been granted the opportunity by the people of Kenya, our constituents who gave us the chance and the platform to be in this House, to represent them, legislate and oversight the Executive and ensure that we leave a country that is better than we found it when we first came to this House.

It was on that account that the President, His Excellency William Samoei Ruto came before a Joint Sitting of both Houses of Parliament and laid his initial agenda of what he intends to do for the country and what he considers to be important for us as Legislature.

Remember, in a democracy such as ours, even a popularly elected President, without the support of a Legislature, will find themselves in a very difficult place. The President is less likely to deliver unless he has the thumb of approval from the Legislature.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, for the Judiciary, unless somebody files a petition or complain about things that the Executive is doing, they are innocent by standers to what the Executive is doing. However, as parliamentarians have the singular honour of interrogating every business that the Executive busies themselves with. From the day that we joined this House, up to the last day.

Many colleagues are yet to realise that when proper work begins and you find Statements being laid before this House with request for exposure or even members of the public raising issues via petitions, all of us in this House will speak with one voice. We will demand from the Executive that they do that which they promised.

The fact that we sit to the left or right of the House is a small matter. We know very well that what ranks at top of the work of a Legislature is to represent your people and ensure that any time there are challenges, and there will be many challenges across as we move on this leadership journey, we demand the best from our people.

Therefore, the President laid a speech. I will give a few highlights of the things that struck me out of his presentation before the joint sitting of the Houses and raise my thoughts on the same.

I expect my colleagues to also take time to read, understand what the President was saying and speak about it because we are duty bound and we have it in our Standing Orders.

The last Motion that we just passed gives each Senator at least 15 minutes to give a reaction to whatever was said. Whether you agree or disagree with him, the same is contained in this Speech. I have seen hard copies of the same being circulated and soft copies are in the tablets that are before each and every Member of this House. This is very important.

Of course, in his beginning, he noted that for the first time, this is a Parliament that has had as many as 193 Members of the National Assembly and 17 Senators re- elected to this House. That has not happened under the new Constitution before.

We have such a high attrition rate as Members of Parliament (MPs) that it was getting to a place where being an MP in Kenya was about to be added to the list of a thousand ways to die. When you are an MP, after every five years, you have to face the electorate and chances of survival are only 20 or 30 per cent. Therefore, this is not the kind of job that many people would pick.

However, with this count, 17 out of 47 works up to slightly close to 30 per cent. It is an improvement. If you are a keen follower of many legislatures, especially those that are bi-cameral in nature, like the one we have in our country, the ‘Upper House,’ that is the Senate, is actually a House that retains the best that it has to offer in terms of leadership.

On many occasions, it is the holding place before people proceed to either Presidency or higher levels other than legislation.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the fact that most of our colleagues were voted back, is good testimony that the country is beginning to appreciate us. There was a huge debate in the country, especially to those that faced reelection in the 2017 General Election on what the work of a Senator is. On many occasions, you had to defend yourself since this whole Senate business was new to the Kenyan voter.

Many of us would attend functions during the first Senate of this Constitution and have cases where the governor would rise to speak and mention the development he had brought to a particular area. Then the Member of the National Assembly would rise and say, “Good people of this village, this classroom was built by myself. Let us now welcome our Senator, to say something.” You would then be speaking about oversight, which was completely strange. What is this animal called oversight?

On many occasions, the ordinary voters would consider Senators to be joyriders or idlers, who disappear into Nairobi and come back after five years for another chance. That seems to be waning off in the mind of Kenyan voters. They are beginning to appreciate the place of the Senate and that can be seen in the number of Senators that were re-elected.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I believe that the people will begin to enjoy more the fruits of devolution, if we as a House pull together, execute our constitutional mandate and hold governors and Executive to account. We shall ensure we devolve as much as possible of the national resources to our counties and partner with our county assemblies. It will then be possible to have more than 50 per cent of us reelected to this House. Therefore, it will be just a good celebration.

As it had been mentioned earlier, the President is a champion of gender inclusion in leadership. This has been noted in his Speech. In the 12th Parliament, we had only 23 women elected into single constituencies. The National Assembly has now 29 women elected into single constituency. That is a good improvement.

It is unfortunate that as a Senate, we did not have growth in terms of women Senators that were elected. We had three last time and three this time as well. I wish that

Do you want to be informed by Sen. Omogeni?

I, however, at least celebrate him. It begins by first voicing it and admitting that there are people who may not have necessarily voted for you and do not see you as their President. Regardless of that particular situation, he says he will still undertake his duties, execute programs and run his development agenda so that every Kenyan will feel part and parcel of this country. That is something worth applauding.

He then moved on to lay the legislative agenda in this House. We have a long- standing issue between us and the National Assembly, on which Bills are supposed to come to the Senate and which ones can be prosecuted by the National Assembly without any particular reference to this House.

I listened to him. I have had an occasion to privately hear him commit and say that this protracted battle that has existed for the last two Sessions of Parliament is not helpful to us as a country. We need to lay this matter to rest. The Members of the National Assembly should listen to the good reason of the Senators even as we wait for the Supreme Court to make a determination.

There is nothing wrong with having a second eye. A different House from the one that laid out a particular Bill, may speak to it, add their voice, make it better and make particular changes. There is nothing wrong with that. It does not reduce their authority as a House.

In any case, if it is about resources, because that is the source of the biggest battle, none of us has ever insisted that we want to do the national budget. As Senate, we always busy ourselves with the Division of Revenue. Once it has been divided between the two levels of government, our next point of debate with them has been how much goes to the specific counties.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I hope that as we conclude on this process by either a ruling of the court or consensus, we can settle this matter soon, even before this Session of Parliament comes to an end. As we begin the new calendar year, we can then know very well the place of Senate and National Assembly, so that we can focus to that which matters to ordinary citizens.

The ordinary citizen is not bothered with which is the upper or lower House and who is supposed to consider budgetary issues. What they want to see are tangible results, better lives, their votes counting and having a meaningful proposition for waking up early and giving us a chance to lead them. Therefore, it is something worth considering.

Consequently, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in paragraph 16 of his Speech, the President requested if, through our Standing Orders, we can consider allowing Cabinet Secretaries (CSs) to explain Government policy and answer questions on the Floor of our House.

If there will be a bigger beneficiary to this policy, then it is the Senate. Senators who have been in this House previously know that this will be quite important to us. In the course of time, you will realise that on many occasions, when a CS has been invited before the National Assembly and the Senate, Sen. M. Kajwang’ will tell you where they are most likely to go and why.

Therefore, if we succeed to convince both Houses and have this included, I do not see a reason we cannot do this. It will be important to face our colleagues in the Cabinet and have them appear before this House. We will set time for them either in the morning

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to inform the Senate Majority Leader, my neighbour from Kericho County. The Member is creating the impression that the Constitution of the Republic of Kenya has not created an enabling constitutional framework for CSs to appear before the House and respond to all the queries that this House may wish them to clarify.

However, I want to inform the Senate Majority Leader that, that issue is adequately addressed by the provisions of Article 153 (3) . If you may permit me, Article 153 of the Constitution states that:

“A Cabinet Secretary shall attend before a committee of the National Assembly, or the Senate, when required by the committee, and answer any question concerning a matter for which the Cabinet Secretary is responsible.”

I wanted to inform the Member---

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, he is out of order.

Do you want to be informed by Sen. Omogeni?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do not mind being informed by my neighbour, the Senator for Nyamira County. In any case, if he wrongly informs me, I will block his way home to Nyamira County.

business runs here.

I wanted to inform my neighbour that even without amending the Standing Orders, the Constitution already has a very clear framework for CSs to appear before us. What I should be hearing from the Senate Majority Leader is that the President should tell his incoming CSs to respect the Senate.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to inform the Senate Majority Leader, my neighbour from Kericho County. The Member is creating the impression that the Constitution of the Republic of Kenya has not created an enabling constitutional framework for CSs to appear before the House and respond to all the queries that this House may wish them to clarify.

However, I want to inform the Senate Majority Leader that, that issue is adequately addressed by the provisions of Article 153 (3) . If you may permit me, Article 153 of the Constitution states that:

“A Cabinet Secretary shall attend before a committee of the National Assembly, or the Senate, when required by the committee, and answer any question concerning a matter for which the Cabinet Secretary is responsible.”

I wanted to inform the Member---

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I only allowed Sen. Omogeni because he is my neighbour and lawyers refer to him as Senior Counsel.

However, little did I know that Senior Counsel can misinform as well. I am afraid what he gave me was misinformation and not information. If he bothers to read the Speech of the President, there is no impression, whatsoever, that the President suggested in any way that his Cabinet will not honour or respect this House.

Read Paragraph 16 of his Speech and you will understand of what value the proposition is.

An hon. Senator: On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir!

business runs here.

I wanted to inform my neighbour that even without amending the Standing Orders, the Constitution already has a very clear framework for CSs to appear before us. What I should be hearing from the Senate Majority Leader is that the President should tell his incoming CSs to respect the Senate.

Sen. Korir, why are you interrupting the Senator for Nyamira County?

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I only allowed Sen. Omogeni because he is my neighbour and lawyers refer to him as Senior Counsel.

However, little did I know that Senior Counsel can misinform as well. I am afraid what he gave me was misinformation and not information. If he bothers to read the Speech of the President, there is no impression, whatsoever, that the President suggested in any way that his Cabinet will not honour or respect this House.

Read Paragraph 16 of his Speech and you will understand of what value the proposition is.

An hon. Senator: On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir!

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

On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir! The principle of a Member being responsible for the accuracy of his statement in this House is a cardinal principle.

Secondly, ---

What point of order are you on?

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

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Article 153 of the Constitution speaks through on the mandatory---

If Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale interpreted this Article and read it in Kiswahili language, he will understand that those powers are there. The problem has been the failure by the CSs in responding to summons whenever issued by the Senate.

The Senate Majority Leader, Sen. Cheruiyot, will tell you that in the last Senate, we issued several invitations or summons to CSs, but they never appeared before the Floor of this House. This is why I was informing the Senator for Kericho that what he should be telling---

Thank you, Sen. Omogeni. Before you resume, I would like to guide this House in this manner---

Sen. (Prof.) Tom Ojienda, SC. Proceed. Sen. Omogeni, I give you just two minutes to clear that issue.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have known the Senator for Kakamega County, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, as a fairly experienced Senator. However, I am surprised that the Senator does not seem to understand that even a Senate Sitting can sit as a Committee of the Whole House. This is a basic principle that is in our Constitution. There is nothing out of order on Article 153 of the Constitution which I have read to this House. This Article is broad, liberal and gives leeway to this House to summon a Cabinet Secretary (CS) to appear before the House and answer any question which the CS is responsible for. The point I was trying to bring to the Floor of the House is that the Article is adequate; it gives power to this House to summon any CS to appear before the House and respond to any issue.

If Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale interpreted this Article and read it in Kiswahili language, he will understand that those powers are there. The problem has been the failure by the CSs in responding to summons whenever issued by the Senate.

The Senate Majority Leader, Sen. Cheruiyot, will tell you that in the last Senate, we issued several invitations or summons to CSs, but they never appeared before the Floor of this House. This is why I was informing the Senator for Kericho that what he should be telling---

Thank you, Sen. Omogeni. Before you resume, I would like to guide this House in this manner---

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is one point I would like to make. The Member is breaching our Standing Orders by imputing wrong motive, that as a Senior Counsel I have misread Article 153 of the Constitution.

I have not added a comma nor a full stop to the provisions of Article 153 (3) . I have read it the way it is. Therefore, the Member is out of order for imputing wrong motive on my person. He should apologise.

I would like to give guidance to this House as follows: If you want to have a point of order executed, do not shout ‘point of order.’ Press the intervention key and keep quiet. There are seven hon. Senators who want to contribute to the Motion, but most of them are not even talking.

I would like to guide you that if you raise your hand, shout or stand up you will not catch my eye. I will only look at the intervention key so that we can have order in this House.

I would like to give two more Senators an opportunity to raise their point of orders. I will start with number one on this list. This is the Senator for Homa Bay County, Sen. M. Kajwang’. I thank you because you did not shout. This is the way I would like us to proceed.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to encourage the House that we do not have to fight on every matter. The first two sittings of this House have been tumultuous. However, there are some things we should take a common position on as a House. I refer to Standing Order No.181 that talks about the Committee of the Whole to anchor my point of order.

I also bring my experience in the last Senate. I am perhaps the only Senator who was fortunate to chair two Committees; that is the County Public Accounts and Investments (CPAIC) and the Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations Committees.

There was impunity in the Executive. As a Chairperson of a Committee, you could never get the CSs to appear before the Committees. That impunity was entrenched by the leadership of the House that shielded them. You would find people going on retreats with the Matiang’i led National Development

Implementation and Communication Committee (NDICC) and the leadership of the Senate and agree in hotels.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, you would find a situation where a Committee summons a CS and he/she goes to the Speaker’s Office to negotiate whether he/she should appear or not. The matter as raised by Sen. Omogeni is clear in the Constitution.

On the matter raised by the Senator for Kakamega County, when the Mace is lowered, we can go into a Committee of the Whole and a member of the Executive can come to this House and be grilled. The only thing we cannot do without a constitutional amendment is to bring members of the Executive in this House when the Mace is on the Table. That requires a constitutional amendment.

What the President wants to achieve is possible if he talks to his CSs to desist from impunity. What encourages me is the fact that Sen. Murkomen, who has sat in this House, will be a Cabinet Secretary. I do not expect us to drag him to appear before us. Sen. Soipan Tuya, Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki Kithure and Sen. Linturi have also been to this House. We might be having one of the best executive teams.

On this matter, we do not have to caucus into the majority or minority side. The provisions are there and what we need to deal with is the impunity that we saw in the last administration.

our farmers rely on, if we did not incentivize them and ensure that they can access markets and farm inputs at a cheaper price, then we shall never be food secure as a country.

I appreciate the commitment by the President when he read his speech. He reported that he has put mechanisms in place to bring down the cost of fertilizer from Kshs6,500 to Kshs3,500 for a 50-kilogramme bag. I want to challenge our colleagues. For those who will have the opportunity to be Members of the Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, please hold the Executive to account and ensure that subsidized fertilizer is available across the country.

In fact, you need to push the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development because agriculture is largely a devolved function. There is absolutely no reason why the national Government should not partner with our county governments to ensure proper distribution of fertilizer, so that we do not have cartels at the Ministry where if someone knows another person, they can access cheap fertilizer and store it in their hardware before selling to farmers. That has been the story of our subsidy programmes as a country.

I urge colleagues who will be Members of the Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries to push the Ministry to partner with the county governments, so that our farmers can have the right fertilizers in the right quantities and at the right time so as to produce cheaply. They should push county governments as well to work with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development and the Ministry of Cooperatives and Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise Development because we need to ensure that our farmers get value for their produce.

For those of us who had the opportunity to move around and listen to farmers during campaigns, the main two challenges are the cost of farm imputs and market for their goods. They should sell their produce at good prices without feeling that they are being exploited.

A good aggregator for all our products will enable our farmers to enjoy the fruits of their labour. As it is the practice now, if we allow it to continue without having the kind of policies that he proposed, we will continue with the trend where an ordinary farmer is not the beneficiary of their practice.

As a country, we must have a discussion about value addition. We cannot continue, for example, talking about the tea sector. We have 14 Senators in this House who represent tea farmers. We cannot be the world’s leading producer of the best black tea, yet we are only bulk selling. We must have a discussion about value addition so that in the next five years, we can add value to our tea in excess of 50 per cent. Right now, we are only doing 5 per cent.

Our farmers will never enjoy the fruits of their labour as long as they continue picking tea, taking it to the factories, packing it in containers and transporting it to Mombasa for auction. We must have a ready market for value added tea. The final product should fetch up to US$5 per kilogramme as opposed to what is being sold right now at a dollar or two. Those are the policies that he proposed in his speech.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I want to weigh in on the point of orders that have been raised. I totally agree with Sen. Omogeni and Sen. M. Kajwang’.

It is true that the previous national executive was full of impunity. I want to assure them that we took them home. The members of the national executive who never honoured the Senate are no longer in those positions. They should rest assured that we have a different Government. It is the same Executive that is proposing that the CSs should be coming to this House.

It is up to us. We know what we have to do if we want them to come to the Senate. If we do not want them to come, it is okay. However, the President stated that he has instructed his Cabinet appointees to appear before this House whenever they are called upon without fail. I am worried to see the opposition that supported that same Government crying foul saying that the Executive never honoured this House. They even wanted them to come back here. Nonetheless, we cleaned the country and Government.

Thank you. I beg the House to allow the Senate Majority Leader to move this Motion to the end uninterrupted so that we get the seconder and then open the Motion for debate.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to second the Motion on the Speech of his Excellency the President of the Republic of Kenya which he delivered during a Joint Sitting of Parliament. Before I do so, it is very important that I be

understood by Kenyans who are following this debate why I used very strong language on a Senior Counsel when I was executing my point of order.

Since this is a House of records, I want it to be eternally clear that the President was very clear in his mind and he has repeatedly said so, that unless we tweak the Standing Orders we will not be able to extract maximum benefit from the Cabinet Secretaries appearing before the House.

This is a problem we had in the second Senate where Sen. Madzayo and I had the privilege to sit. What goes on is actually a joke whereby the chairperson of a committee purports to respond to issues raised either in the Senate or in the National Assembly on behalf of the Executive.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I agree with Sen. Omogeni, Senior Counsel that a committee of this House can quickly transform itself into a Committee of the Whole and the Cabinet Secretary (CS) will come. Please, let it be further clearer to you that when he does so, the Mace of this Senate is lowered. Once you lower it, it means that you have stepped down the authority of the House. It is, therefore, means that if the CS is addressing this House with a lowered mace, the authority of this Senate will be such that you can only push him that much on whatever he has presented to the House.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we would like CSs to come to this House when the House is exercising full authority so that we hold them responsible for all their utterances, including their commitments on what they will do.

Sen. Omogeni, you can imagine if a Member of the lower House---

I thought I still had time. I think you did not hold my time. Allow me three or five minutes to conclude because I know many of my colleagues want to speak.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to conclude by saying that it was a good speech. There are two or three things he said which I would like to highlight. He talked of affordable credit, something that Kenyans have been talking about. If you were to call your domestic workers back in the village and ask if you can send them money to buy something from a shop, the first thing they will tell you is not to send it to a particular number because of Fuliza or M-Shwari loan and the likes.

Affordable credit is a big challenge to the ordinary citizens of this country. I am happy that it came up in his speech. Owing to that, the interest rate on Fuliza loans, which is one of the most popular avenues for mobile borrowing, has reduced by 40 per cent. However, that is not enough.

I still find the charges being pushed for to be extremely high. I look forward to our colleagues who will be Members of the Committee on Finance and Budget to demand that it should be as competitive like in other jurisdictions.

Finally, is the issue of health. The President dwelt a lot on his plan on the Universal Health Care (UHC). We have had this discussion. If there is something for which this Senate must be counted, it is UHC. Colleagues who have been here before know the journey that we have had trying to push for UHC.

We all remember the trial phase that was launched in four counties last term which had many challenges. County governments reported very little progress in terms of penetration and access to affordable healthcare.

This Senate should partner with the Executive and pass the necessary legislation for reforms in the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF). We also need to pass additional resources to go to our county government in terms of user-foregone fees, so that ordinary citizens can access primary healthcare at affordable fees. That was properly exposed.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I look forward to colleagues who will be nominated to serve in the Committee on Health partnering with the Executive because as we oversight them, we are also partners. If there are legislative interventions that they want from us, let us deal with them as quick as possible, so that all the 47 to 50 million Kenyans that live in this country can access healthcare cheaply and at the right time. Nobody should sell their land or any other property because of the unfortunate occurrence of being sick. That is the kind of a country that I look forward to living in.

I am sure my colleagues will also speak about many other issues, including the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and the kind of reforms needed which were espoused by the President.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move and request Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale to second.

Proceed, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to second the Motion on the Speech of his Excellency the President of the Republic of Kenya which he delivered during a Joint Sitting of Parliament. Before I do so, it is very important that I be

understood by Kenyans who are following this debate why I used very strong language on a Senior Counsel when I was executing my point of order.

Since this is a House of records, I want it to be eternally clear that the President was very clear in his mind and he has repeatedly said so, that unless we tweak the Standing Orders we will not be able to extract maximum benefit from the Cabinet Secretaries appearing before the House.

This is a problem we had in the second Senate where Sen. Madzayo and I had the privilege to sit. What goes on is actually a joke whereby the chairperson of a committee purports to respond to issues raised either in the Senate or in the National Assembly on behalf of the Executive.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I agree with Sen. Omogeni, Senior Counsel that a committee of this House can quickly transform itself into a Committee of the Whole and the Cabinet Secretary (CS) will come. Please, let it be further clearer to you that when he does so, the Mace of this Senate is lowered. Once you lower it, it means that you have stepped down the authority of the House. It is, therefore, means that if the CS is addressing this House with a lowered mace, the authority of this Senate will be such that you can only push him that much on whatever he has presented to the House.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we would like CSs to come to this House when the House is exercising full authority so that we hold them responsible for all their utterances, including their commitments on what they will do.

Sen. Omogeni, you can imagine if a Member of the lower House---

Majority Whip, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, I think I guided the House that we move the Motion, second and then we can continue. However, the way you are moving it, you are attracting so many points of order. Could you restrict yourself to seconding the Motion so that we make progress?

I am so guided, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

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

Are you satisfied Sen. (Dr.) Oburu Odinga? What is your point of order?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, certainly I cannot attempt to introduce the BBI on the Floor of this House for the reason that the Supreme Court of Kenya made a serious pronouncement which guided the entire country. Amongst other things, the Supreme Court said that the BBI was a mongrel that was null and void. I would not want to be the mother who gives birth to a mongrel called BBI.

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

What is out of order, Sen. M. Kajwang’?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to bring the attention of the House and that of Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale to Standing Order No. 185, which that talks about general application of rules in Committee of the Whole. That Standing Order says the same rules of order and of debate for conduct of business shall be observed in Committee of the Whole as in the Senate.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, is Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale in order to mislead or misdirect the House that the Committee of the Whole is inferior simply because the Mace is lowered?

Furthermore, if you look at Article 255 of the Constitution on Amendment of the Constitution; a proposed amendment shall be by referendum if it touches on a few things, part of which is on the principle of separation of powers. That principle of separation of powers makes a distinction between the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary.

The point at which the Executive then wants to come to this House to perform roles that are legislative in nature, that will call for an amendment to the Constitution.

I am raising this point of order not to spur debate, but just to guide us in our thinking. I believe that this is a matter that we should not contest. However, it is a matter that we should think deeply about and see how we can achieve it under the current laws. If we want to go to the extreme, how we can achieve it through a constitutional amendment, which perhaps will not be BBI, which could be that constitutional amendment that we need to declare the Senate the upper House and to strengthen the Senate?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am rising on a point of order on the issue which is being introduced by my very good friend, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, whom I respect a lot. That is the issue of the CSs coming to address the House. Is he introducing the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) through the backdoor, which proposed amendments to the Constitution so that CSs can be coming to address this House directly? Was His Excellency the President agreeing with us that we should amend the Constitution so that the CSs can come and address us directly?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, certainly I cannot attempt to introduce the BBI on the Floor of this House for the reason that the Supreme Court of Kenya made a serious pronouncement which guided the entire country. Amongst other things, the Supreme Court said that the BBI was a mongrel that was null and void. I would not want to be the mother who gives birth to a mongrel called BBI.

What is out of order, Sen. M. Kajwang’?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to bring the attention of the House and that of Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale to Standing Order No. 185, which that talks about general application of rules in Committee of the Whole. That Standing Order says the same rules of order and of debate for conduct of business shall be observed in Committee of the Whole as in the Senate.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, is Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale in order to mislead or misdirect the House that the Committee of the Whole is inferior simply because the Mace is lowered?

Furthermore, if you look at Article 255 of the Constitution on Amendment of the Constitution; a proposed amendment shall be by referendum if it touches on a few things, part of which is on the principle of separation of powers. That principle of separation of powers makes a distinction between the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary.

The point at which the Executive then wants to come to this House to perform roles that are legislative in nature, that will call for an amendment to the Constitution.

I am raising this point of order not to spur debate, but just to guide us in our thinking. I believe that this is a matter that we should not contest. However, it is a matter that we should think deeply about and see how we can achieve it under the current laws. If we want to go to the extreme, how we can achieve it through a constitutional amendment, which perhaps will not be BBI, which could be that constitutional amendment that we need to declare the Senate the upper House and to strengthen the Senate?

What is out of order, Sen. Osotsi?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale is my neighbour and a good friend. I am concerned that he seems to be discussing a Senator whom he is not mentioning by name. There is no substantive Motion to discuss a Member. Is he in order?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the distinguished Senator for Vihiga County could be suffering from an ailment of daydreaming when his eyes are wide open.

I have not stated the name of any Member, neither of this House nor the other House. The word Senator could mean, I was referring to Sen. Cheruiyot, Sen. Osotsi or Sen. Olekina. It could be anyone of those people. Why are you forcing me?

I laud the President for the concern that he has about agriculture which is the single largest sector that employs our hustlers. Therefore, if indeed our bottom-up agenda is going to affect our people positively, then agriculture is the first line of intervention.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I thank the Deputy President for the proposals he made. However, I call upon this House, the Senate and also the National Assembly---

Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, I thought the Motion is about the Presidential speech, not the Deputy President.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. It is about the President. However, I was thinking of Hon. Gachagua, the Deputy President that is why I had a slip of the tongue.

I invite this Senate and the National Assembly to help President William Ruto’s Government, by doing more. We need to be courageous as legislators and speak to the land tenure policy in this country. For as long as we continue sub-divide ancestral land into tiny and tinier pieces so that every brother has got his own piece, we will not achieve food security. It is important to have a clear policy on land tenure so that we can encourage urbanization and possibly achieve land consolidation so that we can have large scale production of food.

This being the case, this is now the modern era, where science is guiding the whole world. Therefore, I appeal to colleagues that it is time for us to also encourage the farm introduction of genetically modified foodstuffs so that we can have food security in this country.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President raised the important issue of the shylocks and the need for us to strengthen our Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) . He chose to refer to the prohibitive lending fees that borrowers are exposed to and special reference in this case, using my own words, Safaricom Limited. Hon. Members of this Senate, we must fight hard. What is going on, on that monopoly called Safaricom is not acceptable. Safaricom declares obnoxious profits at the end of each financial year.

That my daughter can call her boyfriend and tell her, “Mirembe mno” then she will pay for greeting her boyfriend. It does not make sense. We need to make the cost of calling cheaper. We are now doing most of the learning in this country virtually.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale is my neighbour and a good friend. I am concerned that he seems to be discussing a Senator whom he is not mentioning by name. There is no substantive Motion to discuss a Member. Is he in order?

Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, you may respond.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the distinguished Senator for Vihiga County could be suffering from an ailment of daydreaming when his eyes are wide open.

I have not stated the name of any Member, neither of this House nor the other House. The word Senator could mean, I was referring to Sen. Cheruiyot, Sen. Osotsi or Sen. Olekina. It could be anyone of those people. Why are you forcing me?

I laud the President for the concern that he has about agriculture which is the single largest sector that employs our hustlers. Therefore, if indeed our bottom-up agenda is going to affect our people positively, then agriculture is the first line of intervention.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I thank the Deputy President for the proposals he made. However, I call upon this House, the Senate and also the National Assembly---

Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, I thought the Motion is about the Presidential speech, not the Deputy President.

them out of the lending system, he proposed the international based practice of a scoring system. Whereby, the defaulters are given the lowest score and the ones that are servicing their loans are given a higher score. The lenders can then classify their clients according to their profiles.

According to the Managing Director (MD) of Metropol which is one of the three CRB companies, 19 per cent which amounts to 4.6 per cent defaulters that are listed in CRB owe less than a Kshs1000. This is the bulk of the hustler nation so to speak that has been locked out of the lending system.

Another proposal the President came up with was the Hustlers’ Fund that he went round the country promising the same people who are engaged in small, micro and medium enterprise. He is committed to provide Kshs50 billion towards this end. This is going to open the trade space. The biggest challenge for these group of businesses is due to the informality whereby they do not qualify for formal financing.

As a self-imposed youth president, I would like to recommend that in this fund, we give a chunk of maybe 50 per cent to young people and a good percentage for innovation so that our young people are kept busy. With Kenya experiencing a youth bulge, we have great resource in our young people. That is just a proposal that this fund goes to help the youth and innovation.

In the culture of saving, I laud the President because he made that bold suggestion that we move away from saving Kshs200 a month. As I quote him, he said that “no return rate in the world can turn that into a meaningful retirement scheme.” It cannot amount to anything.

We need to support him through legislation. I know it has been attempted before, but was challenged in court. We need to support him in both Houses. These proposals need a bipartisan support from the Senate Majority and Senate Minority sides. I do not expect politics to come to play during these very crucial proposals that are going to change our country and our economy in a big way.

As I conclude, allow me to liken our President His Excellency (Dr.) William Samoei Ruto to the former Prime Minister of Singapore Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, a respected leader who changed the economy that country.

The Deputy speaker (

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving me an opportunity to also contribute to the speech that His Excellency the President made to Parliament.

First, we appreciate the fact that this was a closely contested election. As Azimio, we had more than seven million Kenyans behind us. We also appreciate abide by the Constitution and we said we do not agree with the decision of the Supreme Court, but we

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, by saying “Mirembe mno” I was merely saying that she is telling the boyfriend, “may peace be with you, my lover.” I did not find it necessary to expound because that language I am speaking is spoken by seven million people. Under the Constitution, a language that has got that number of people does not have to be explained. It is expected that people from communities with fewer people will learn to speak the language of the bigger communities. For instance, you have to hear them and you are supposed to do business with them. Most of us strain to hear certain languages because we need to do business with those people. It is not an offence or unconstitutional for somebody to speak mother tongue, but not in this House. We need to encourage the President to talk more with his people. These profits they make is not business. It is criminal and profiteering. The President talked about the issue of the hustlers’ fund. If we are not careful and roll out the National Hustlers’ Fund before doing the proper legislation, we will run the risk of the fund being either a failure or abused the way the Uwezo Fund, the Youth Fund and so on have failed. Members of the public will say it is Government money. They will collect it and would not want to meet their obligation. So, we need to support the President by expediting the proper legislation to convert groups into either Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOS) or whatever organized groups so that money goes to people who will know their obligation. Having said all the good words, I appeal to this House on the challenges we had with the other House. You will notice in my speeches I am not referring to the National Assembly as the lower House. I am deliberately calling it the other House. The problems we had with the National Assembly is a question of attitude. If our attitude would be that we respect the National assembly, automatically they will respect us. During that mutual respect we should demonstrate that we are custodians of bigger ideas and agenda. My time is up. I second. (Question Proposed) The Deputy speaker (

I can see we have a list of Senators who wish to make contributions to this Motion. I want to start with the nominated Sen. Nyamu. If you are not ready, then maybe I can give somebody else.

Thank you very much, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for this opportunity to make a few remarks on the President’s address during the opening of the 13th Parliament.

I will summarize the address as the hustlers’ reprieve. Given the proposals the President gave the target was the Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMES) . I will talk about the Credit Reference Bureau (CRB) . Instead of blacklisting people and getting

them out of the lending system, he proposed the international based practice of a scoring system. Whereby, the defaulters are given the lowest score and the ones that are servicing their loans are given a higher score. The lenders can then classify their clients according to their profiles.

According to the Managing Director (MD) of Metropol which is one of the three CRB companies, 19 per cent which amounts to 4.6 per cent defaulters that are listed in CRB owe less than a Kshs1000. This is the bulk of the hustler nation so to speak that has been locked out of the lending system.

Another proposal the President came up with was the Hustlers’ Fund that he went round the country promising the same people who are engaged in small, micro and medium enterprise. He is committed to provide Kshs50 billion towards this end. This is going to open the trade space. The biggest challenge for these group of businesses is due to the informality whereby they do not qualify for formal financing.

As a self-imposed youth president, I would like to recommend that in this fund, we give a chunk of maybe 50 per cent to young people and a good percentage for innovation so that our young people are kept busy. With Kenya experiencing a youth bulge, we have great resource in our young people. That is just a proposal that this fund goes to help the youth and innovation.

In the culture of saving, I laud the President because he made that bold suggestion that we move away from saving Kshs200 a month. As I quote him, he said that “no return rate in the world can turn that into a meaningful retirement scheme.” It cannot amount to anything.

We need to support him through legislation. I know it has been attempted before, but was challenged in court. We need to support him in both Houses. These proposals need a bipartisan support from the Senate Majority and Senate Minority sides. I do not expect politics to come to play during these very crucial proposals that are going to change our country and our economy in a big way.

As I conclude, allow me to liken our President His Excellency (Dr.) William Samoei Ruto to the former Prime Minister of Singapore Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, a respected leader who changed the economy that country.

Mr. Lee saw Singapore transformed, economically, in a big way. I call upon this House to leave politics aside and support the President in his proposals.

Sen. Omogeni, please, proceed.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving me an opportunity to also contribute to the speech that His Excellency the President made to Parliament.

First, we appreciate the fact that this was a closely contested election. As Azimio, we had more than seven million Kenyans behind us. We also appreciate abide by the Constitution and we said we do not agree with the decision of the Supreme Court, but we

Proceed, Sen. Omogeni.

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

that of the 22, at least one should have come from Tana River County. I support Sen. Mungatana that exclusion is not right.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir---

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am following what the Senator for Nyamira County has just presented before the House. Is he in order to preach tribalism and clannism at the altar of qualification?

May I bring to his attention that the Kikuyus that he is talking about, represent over 30 per cent of the population of this country. I also remind him that His Excellency the President could only appoint 23 CSs. We have 43 communities in Kenya. He has mentioned the Turkana community. In the outgoing Government, we had CS, Hon. Munyes, from Turkana County. Even if it was going to be done rotationally, then you cannot say that the Turkana have been excluded.

We had CS Matiang’i who comes from Kisii County, which neighbours Nyamira County. The Senator should not mislead this House. Everyone has seen that this Cabinet is the most evenly distributed in this country ever.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, we should not allow the Senator for Nyamira County to continue misleading this House that the distribution of Cabinet appointments was not done evenly.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, ---

Order! I am trying to get his point of order. Let us give him time.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, heckling is their profession. It is out of order to profile individuals and Kenyans that have been nominated. I am talking about minorities and majorities. It has been captured. The Cabinet is yet to be completed. The Principal Secretaries (PSs) and Chief Administrative Secretaries (CASs) are yet to be appointed. The Government is an entity and not just the Cabinet.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the national values and principles of good governance in the Constitution is the guiding principle for the President. He cannot be guided by comments of Senator for Nyamira County.

He should be grateful that one of his tribesmen, Hon. Machogu, is a Cabinet nominee for the Ministry of Education. He is out of order to try and profile Kenyans. If he has an issue, let him bring a substantive Motion to discuss those individuals as per the Standing Orders.

I thought I did a good handing over when he succeeded me as the Chairman of JLAHR. However, I can see him in camera and still guide him around. I know he is my senior in law, but he needs to be guided in other things.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

Kindly conclude, Sen. Omogeni.

that of the 22, at least one should have come from Tana River County. I support Sen. Mungatana that exclusion is not right.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir---

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, not to deliberate that point, let us build a country that values all the 42 ethnic groups. That is the only time we will be able to walk the talk, when we say we want to give equal opportunities to all Kenyans.

His Excellency the President still has time. Let him go back and reconsider the issues that have been raised by people like the Senator for Tana River County, Sen. Mungatana. He should have a Cabinet that represents all the 42 minorities of this country. That is the only time we will all have a sense of belonging and acceptance as Kenyans.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, respecting the independence of Judiciary should include the culture of respecting decisions emanating from our courts of law. The High Court has ruled not once or twice that the position of CAS is illegal, unconstitutional and it has no space in our Constitution.

If you read the Constitution from Article 152 all through to 155, you will know the positions that create the Cabinet. Article 152 has the President, Deputy President, Attorney General and appointed Cabinet Secretaries. Article 154 has the Secretary to the Cabinet. More importantly, Article 155 says that there would-be Principal Secretaries (PSs) who will be the administrators of these ministries.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Cabinet Administrative Secretary (CAS) has no space in our Constitution. In his speech, the President told us that he wants to respect the independence and decisions coming from the Judiciary. Therefore, he should exercise his powers as permitted within the confines of our Constitution.

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

Sen. Omogeni, do you wish to be informed by Sen. Cherarkey?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Sen. Omogeni is my good friend. My point of information is that it is in public domain that the Public Service Commission (PSC) has put out an advertisement to get the public opinion on creation of the position of Chief Administrative Secretary. I inform my learned senior that the process of regularizing within the law has started. The CAS will be processed through the PSC. Kenyans will have an opportunity. I urge my brother to relay any reservations to the PSC.

I assure him that the President of the Republic of Kenya, Hon. (Dr.) William Samoei Ruto is committed to the rule of law and the Constitution.

Okay, Sen. Omogeni.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I wanted to give Sen. Cherarkey an opportunity because as I said, he keeps on learning.

I want to take Sen. Cherarkey to the provisions of Article 234 of the Constitution. I read the Constitution before I rise to say something. I read the advertisement that was placed on the newspapers by the PSC.

The issue is that offices are being created in the public service and not officers who can serve in the Cabinet. So, you must draw a distinction. They can create positions for directors and all that. However, you cannot create positions for Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS). If you read Articles 152, 153 and 154, there is no room for that.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the idea of going out of the way trying to re-write our Constitution to reward political failures is a bad culture. If you vie for a political office and you are rejected, you should wait for another five years.

If the President wants to respect our Judiciary, let him accept the reality that there is no space for appointment of CAS. We have a Constitution which we should all respect.

The other thing I want to talk about is agriculture. Let us not be in a hurry and kill Kenyans in the process. In 2012, a scientific report stated that Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) can cause cancer. We now want to allow entrepreneurs in the name of ensuring food security. That is not promoting hustlers as they told us. They now want to allow entrepreneurs from outside the borders of this country to come and poison our people with GMOs which cause cancer. Why is our President in a hurry? If the Cabinet halted that idea in 2012, when did we have another study?

Sen. Omogeni, you might be entering into dangerous grounds and you know that because you are a legal professional. This is Parliament. Therefore, we must be careful about the message that we pass to Kenyans.

You must substantiate how GMOs cause cancer. You should prove scientifically to “Wanjiku” out there who does not know what a GMO is. Maybe you should give a definition of GMO, so that we pass the right information to Kenyans.

Let us not digress from the Presidential address to the Houses.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I respect the rules of this House. I never rise before reading a document fully---

Do you have some literature on GMOs and how they can cause cancer?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Sen. Omogeni is my good friend. My point of information is that it is in public domain that the Public Service Commission (PSC) has put out an advertisement to get the public opinion on creation of the position of Chief Administrative Secretary. I inform my learned senior that the process of regularizing within the law has started. The CAS will be processed through the PSC. Kenyans will have an opportunity. I urge my brother to relay any reservations to the PSC.

I assure him that the President of the Republic of Kenya, Hon. (Dr.) William Samoei Ruto is committed to the rule of law and the Constitution.

Okay, Sen. Omogeni.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I wanted to give Sen. Cherarkey an opportunity because as I said, he keeps on learning.

I want to take Sen. Cherarkey to the provisions of Article 234 of the Constitution. I read the Constitution before I rise to say something. I read the advertisement that was placed on the newspapers by the PSC.

The issue is that offices are being created in the public service and not officers who can serve in the Cabinet. So, you must draw a distinction. They can create positions for directors and all that. However, you cannot create positions for Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS). If you read Articles 152, 153 and 154, there is no room for that.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the idea of going out of the way trying to re-write our Constitution to reward political failures is a bad culture. If you vie for a political office and you are rejected, you should wait for another five years.

If the President wants to respect our Judiciary, let him accept the reality that there is no space for appointment of CAS. We have a Constitution which we should all respect.

The other thing I want to talk about is agriculture. Let us not be in a hurry and kill Kenyans in the process. In 2012, a scientific report stated that Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) can cause cancer. We now want to allow entrepreneurs in the name of ensuring food security. That is not promoting hustlers as they told us. They now want to allow entrepreneurs from outside the borders of this country to come and poison our people with GMOs which cause cancer. Why is our President in a hurry? If the Cabinet halted that idea in 2012, when did we have another study?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I will reserve my comments on that matter until I bring a substantive Motion on that issue.

Okay, proceed.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I conclude---

I do not know why the Senator for Nandi County, Sen. Cherarkey is not a good listener.

Sen. Omogeni, has said he will not talk about the issue of GMOs until he brings evidence to this House on how GMOs can cause cancer. So, let us not go back there.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I conclude, His Excellency the President made pledges to small-scale traders, hawkers, mama mboga and the makanga. We were told that the hustler nation will be a government formed by hawkers, hecklers and the mama mbogas. They also said that BBI was about sharing positions. However, I have not seen any mama mboga or hawker in the Cabinet. What I have seen instead is sharing of positions.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, the President has left behind the hawkers; the people who put him into office. Instead of asking people who have already been elected to be in the Cabinet, those are the people the President should have brought on board.

The issue of food prices is still a problem. He told us that he will lower the price of unga from Kshs200 to Kshs100. When I went to Ikonge Market in Nyamira County, I found that unga is costing---

Senator, your time is up.

Sen. Omogeni, your time is up. Let us give time to other Members to also contribute. Next time when I sit here, I will be magnanimous to allow you some more time.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I take this opportunity to thank His Excellency the President for his exposition of public policy, where he needed us, as a House, to support him in his plans to make reality of the pledges that he made to the people of Kenya.

The President talked about the drought situation and I would like to begin from there. Drought is ravaging counties in the north and those on the far side of the Coast like Tana River, which is my county. He talked about 3.5 million Kenyans who are affected

Okay, proceed.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I conclude---

I do not know why the Senator for Nandi County, Sen. Cherarkey is not a good listener.

not have the resources to pay for each and every individual to send them back to school where they belong.

We risk creation of a generation of people who are going to stay at home and then become despondent. They will go back to doing all the things we told them not to do. They will start engaging in activities that we as parents do not wish them to engage in.

I pray that on the Floor of this House as I plead with the Government, that temporary measures should be made between the National Treasury and the Ministry of Education, so that funds are transferred to these schools. Mr. Ukur Yattani the Cabinet Secretary for Treasury told us that he has not released those funds because he is waiting for an interpretation through the Attorney General of the opinion of the Supreme Court.

As that process is taking place, intervening measures can be made so that our children will not miss school. I know that it is possible because this is a ‘hustlers Government’ and they know what our people are going through. Something needs to be done as an interim measure. It is possible for Government to work together so that children go back to school even as the issues of CDF are being resolved.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to speak on the issue of our democracy. The President spoke about the fact that our democracy was maturing. He said that there was so much freedom even the Deputy President who is in Government becomes a candidate of the opposition and then goes to win and a sitting President becomes a leader of the other side. He said in a positive way that this was what we were talking about democracy in Kenya.

I want to mention something connected with democracy in this country. We must legislate to increase the space for participation rather than reduce the space for participation.

In this occasion, there was a judgement that has gone into the minds of everybody in this country about the qualifications that are requisite for somebody to run for governor. In my opinion, we should continue to legislate in such a way that we increase the space and do not reduce it.

People who have become governors were once in this House. Senators who were in this House have become governors. In this House you do not need to have a degree. We are not in any way belittling education but let us increase the space. On that same note, let us increase the space for political parties to participate.

It is wrong for big political parties to continue to reap from the National Treasury through the office of the Registrar of Political Parties. We are paying a lot of money and yet the formula excludes all the small political parties. We must legislate to increase the space. If political parties present presidential candidates they must be facilitated, whether they win or not. If we are not going to get people being given facilitation because they are small, then let all of us not have facilitation.

Let the playing field be levelled. It is wrong for certain political parties to have billions while others which are coming up having nothing. When do we grow political parties and space? Let us legislate to increase the space rather than to decrease space for democracy to flourish in this country.

I beg to support.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I conclude, His Excellency the President made pledges to small-scale traders, hawkers, mama mboga and the makanga. We were told that the hustler nation will be a government formed by hawkers, hecklers and the mama mbogas. They also said that BBI was about sharing positions. However, I have not seen any mama mboga or hawker in the Cabinet. What I have seen instead is sharing of positions.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, the President has left behind the hawkers; the people who put him into office. Instead of asking people who have already been elected to be in the Cabinet, those are the people the President should have brought on board.

The issue of food prices is still a problem. He told us that he will lower the price of unga from Kshs200 to Kshs100. When I went to Ikonge Market in Nyamira County, I found that unga is costing---

Senator, your time is up.

Sen. Omogeni, your time is up. Let us give time to other Members to also contribute. Next time when I sit here, I will be magnanimous to allow you some more time.

I support.

Thank you, Proceed, Sen Ali Roba.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I stand to contribute to the Address by the President in the joint sitting of Parliament. I would like to reflect on a few paragraphs among the other issues that have already been reflected on.

First is the issue on paragraph 16 where the President discussed and invited this House of Parliament as a whole and challenged them to create facilitative amendments in the Standing Orders where necessary, provisions of the Constitution notwithstanding.

As Senate, I would like us to consider that point. Rather than reflecting on what did not go right in the past, we should try and make right this opportunity provided by his Excellency President William Samoei Ruto.

The other issue is on Paragraph 41 where the President discussed the issue of managing the blowing expenditure. In paragraph 39 he discussed, the issue of public debt to the tune of Kshs900 billion.

In Paragraph 41, he also discussed his direction to The National Treasury and various Ministries on the reduction by combing through the numbers and getting Kshs300 billion in this year's Budget in order to reduce our borrowing burden

This is the opportune time to revisit the report on the presidential task-force on parastatal reforms which was carried out in 2013 but was never implemented. The report gives us the opportunity to reduce on parastatals that are doing functions that are already devolved or duplication of functions in various parastatals. The President will be able to streamline and make sure that there is no duplication of responsibilities within various parastatals.

Secondly, I would like to reflect on paragraph 45 where the President discussed the issue of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) . The reality is exactly what the President discussed.

We have an opportunity because as a country, we should be able to have a retirement fund that is able to support those that retire substantively. A contribution of Kshs200 is not going to support anyone that is retiring. This requires a bipartisan view in order for us to propel the country forward.

I would like to reflect on the issue, my brother Sen. Mungatana discussed, as a former governor, as well as the Chairperson of Frontier Counties Development Council (FCDC) that has brought together 10 counties and the Council of Governors (CoGs) of Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) Committee.

The drought we are faced with right now is of great concern to the country. The National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) has issued an alarm phase for ten counties namely: Isiolo, Mandera, Samburu, Kajiado, Tharaka Nithi, Turkana, Wajir, Laikipia, Tana River and Marsabit.

It went further to issue alert stage of drought phase for the counties of Embu, Garissa, Kitui, Makueni, Meru, Narok, Nyeri, Taita Taveta, Kwale and Kilifi. We engaged non-state actors who used to come in to help Government efforts in the past. Now that Kenya is a middle-income country, that help is not forthcoming anymore. As a middle-income country, it is believed that this country will be able to support itself by getting itself out of such emergencies.

Drought emergency is an issue now that these counties that I have mentioned have lost more than half of their livestock. We are in that phase where threat to human life is a clear and present danger in our counties. Counties that I have mentioned are ill- equipped and ill-resourced for purposes of dealing with disasters of this magnitude. I thus welcome the President’s speech.

I hope and pray that whatever that the President has promised is going to be forthcoming as an intervention in the short term because we are already in an alarm stage of drought within 10 counties out of the 20 that are severely affected.

We should not only do short term intervention to get to bail out human life and livestock out of this catastrophic but as also my brother Senator Mungatana mentioned, put long term preventive measures with the support of county governments in terms of dealing with this issue.

This requires deliberate resource allocation and marshal plan in order to deal with ending drought emergency in these areas.

I support.

not have the resources to pay for each and every individual to send them back to school where they belong.

We risk creation of a generation of people who are going to stay at home and then become despondent. They will go back to doing all the things we told them not to do. They will start engaging in activities that we as parents do not wish them to engage in.

I pray that on the Floor of this House as I plead with the Government, that temporary measures should be made between the National Treasury and the Ministry of Education, so that funds are transferred to these schools. Mr. Ukur Yattani the Cabinet Secretary for Treasury told us that he has not released those funds because he is waiting for an interpretation through the Attorney General of the opinion of the Supreme Court.

As that process is taking place, intervening measures can be made so that our children will not miss school. I know that it is possible because this is a ‘hustlers Government’ and they know what our people are going through. Something needs to be done as an interim measure. It is possible for Government to work together so that children go back to school even as the issues of CDF are being resolved.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to speak on the issue of our democracy. The President spoke about the fact that our democracy was maturing. He said that there was so much freedom even the Deputy President who is in Government becomes a candidate of the opposition and then goes to win and a sitting President becomes a leader of the other side. He said in a positive way that this was what we were talking about democracy in Kenya.

I want to mention something connected with democracy in this country. We must legislate to increase the space for participation rather than reduce the space for participation.

In this occasion, there was a judgement that has gone into the minds of everybody in this country about the qualifications that are requisite for somebody to run for governor. In my opinion, we should continue to legislate in such a way that we increase the space and do not reduce it.

People who have become governors were once in this House. Senators who were in this House have become governors. In this House you do not need to have a degree. We are not in any way belittling education but let us increase the space. On that same note, let us increase the space for political parties to participate.

It is wrong for big political parties to continue to reap from the National Treasury through the office of the Registrar of Political Parties. We are paying a lot of money and yet the formula excludes all the small political parties. We must legislate to increase the space. If political parties present presidential candidates they must be facilitated, whether they win or not. If we are not going to get people being given facilitation because they are small, then let all of us not have facilitation.

Let the playing field be levelled. It is wrong for certain political parties to have billions while others which are coming up having nothing. When do we grow political parties and space? Let us legislate to increase the space rather than to decrease space for democracy to flourish in this country.

I beg to support.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would also want to add my voice to the speech made by His Excellency the President. I want to start by saying that His Excellency the President made notice of the growing confidence in the contribution of women leadership in decision making in our governance and political institutions.

He not only made reference to the growing number of women that were elected into Parliament but he also gave numbers, although the numbers are still insignificant.

My contribution is to the fact that in leading this country and having taken cognizant of that fact, I would like the President to demonstrate that contribution of women in the coming appointments that he will be making.

I am happy that a number have made it to the nomination list of the Cabinet Secretaries (CS) . I state that the Kenyan women are looking forward to getting more names of fellow women in the forthcoming appointments that he will be making as he firms up his Government.

Secondly, the President laid his mission to dramatically scale up productivity in agriculture, fisheries and pastoralist for sustainable economic growth for food security and for economic income.

The mention of fisheries excites me because I come from the Lake Victoria Region. According to the Executive Order No.1 of 2022, fisheries is listed under the State Department for Blue Economy, in the Ministry of Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs. I state that there are all the reasons for retaining fisheries as a department rather than have it domiciled in other sectors.

It is worth noting that fish from Lake Victoria accounts for such a high percentage in the total quantities and value of the national fish catches respectively. I emphasize on some of the reasons why there is need even if not from Lake Victoria region but for the country as a whole to maintain fisheries as a department on its own.

Fishing has a significant role in the provision of food security in this country, an area which His Excellency the President also mentioned. Therefore, to remove fisheries as a distinct department will severely demean the participation of the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO) , which is a regional organization. The fisheries department has been linked to other sister fisheries departments at the LVFO which is a regional fishery management organization.

I emphasize once more that fishing is a key contributor to the blue economy. Therefore, singling it out gives it the strength it deserves to attract investment and collaboration by people who view the blue economy to be much of maritime and fishing. To make it clearer, fisheries is the common name for ‘hustlers’ who understand what fish entails. It sinks more with the masses in this country.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the legislative agenda, the President emphasized that his administration will rely on oversight to ensure that the public gets value for money. It is on the same note that His Excellency talked about the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) .

There was more emphasis on the setting up of the Senate Oversight Fund to be used to provide oversight on county funds. I support the setting up of the Senate Oversight Fund. Whoever may be uncomfortable with this is somebody who is not keen on the growth of counties.

On a point of order.

No, you will have your chance to defend.

Just a minute Senator. What is your point of order Senator?

Drought emergency is an issue now that these counties that I have mentioned have lost more than half of their livestock. We are in that phase where threat to human life is a clear and present danger in our counties. Counties that I have mentioned are ill- equipped and ill-resourced for purposes of dealing with disasters of this magnitude. I thus welcome the President’s speech.

I hope and pray that whatever that the President has promised is going to be forthcoming as an intervention in the short term because we are already in an alarm stage of drought within 10 counties out of the 20 that are severely affected.

We should not only do short term intervention to get to bail out human life and livestock out of this catastrophic but as also my brother Senator Mungatana mentioned, put long term preventive measures with the support of county governments in terms of dealing with this issue.

This requires deliberate resource allocation and marshal plan in order to deal with ending drought emergency in these areas.

I support.

I will encourage us maybe we finish today’s session if Members can take less time such as what the last two Members have done. We can then have several of us contributing to the Motion.

Senator Osotsi, you may proceed.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for this opportunity to also raise my voice on the President’s address which is guided by Article 132 of the Constitution which says that the President will address the newly elected Parliament.

My colleagues have talked many things about this. I will seek not to repeat what they have said. Generally, the President’s speech sounded very progressive. However, there are rough edges which I will be addressing in my contribution.

Mr. President alluded to the fact - from where I have come from - I mean the National Assembly; this was a real challenge. He said that we would like to have Cabinet Secretaries (CS) coming to the House to address Members’ concerns, questions, statements et cetera, because the current arrangement is not very productive. In the end, it is weakening Parliament as a key institution of running a government.

I disagree with the President’s route of doing it. He is proposing that we look at the Standing Orders and ways of having CSs responding to issues on the Floor of the Parliament. I beg to differ because that contracts Article 97 of the Constitution on National Assembly Composition and Article 98 of the Composition of the Senate. Article 98 provides, for example, in case of Senators, we have elected and Nominated Senators and the Speaker who is an ex-officio Member of the Senate. For that to happen, we would need a constitutional amendment. In my speech, I will allude to constitutional amendment. So, even as we think through it, we must be alive to the fact that the Standing Orders are derived from the Constitution and cannot be superior to the Constitution.

So, if you want to tinker with the composition of the House, you have to amend Article 98 for the Senate so that you tinker with the composition and allow the CSs to address the Senate. Otherwise, we can allow them to come but they will sit in the

Mr. Speaker Sir, I do not want his point of information.

Which point of order are you referring to? Order, Hon. Senators. I guided the House that when Members are contributing, you will get your chance to correct whatever you feel is not okay.

Proceed Sen. Osotsi.

Mr. Speaker Sir, just for guidance, you know you and I are coming from the other House where, every Member who rises on a point of order must point out the Standing Order on which he is rising. Otherwise, we are going to have frivolous points of orders in this House and we will not proceed.

Proceed, Hon. Senator.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President talked about an open and transparent Government. We want him to live to the word. An open and transparent Government means---

Then he must accept it.

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

He must accept your point of information.

Mr. Speaker Sir, I do not want his point of information.

Which point of order are you referring to? Order, Hon. Senators. I guided the House that when Members are contributing, you will get your chance to correct whatever you feel is not okay.

Proceed Sen. Osotsi.

Mr. Speaker Sir, just for guidance, you know you and I are coming from the other House where, every Member who rises on a point of order must point out the Standing Order on which he is rising. Otherwise, we are going to have frivolous points of orders in this House and we will not proceed.

We cannot say we want to put more money in NSSF, without restructuring it, removing corruption and misplaced investments that happen in it. Mr. President, it is good to increase the deduction to NSSF but make sure NSSF is restructured so that Kenyans have confidence to put their money in it.

The President also talked about the hustler’s fund. I join my colleague and friend, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, that unless we have proper legislation and structures in place, this will be another avenue for corruption. I beseech Parliament, both National Assembly and this Senate, let us not appropriate any money to this Fund without a proper legislation and structures in place. We are no longer in the campaign environment; we are now working for Kenyans. Therefore, we must ensure that there is value for money and proper accountability of the funds of Kenyans.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am so disappointed with this Speech because he did not talk about corruption. This has been the tendency of the other side. In their rallies and meetings, they do not talk about corruption because they are beneficiaries of corruption.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President talked about an open and transparent Government. We want him to live to the word. An open and transparent Government means---

Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, what is out of order? Also, quote the Standing Order that you are standing on.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Hon. Member---

Which Standing Order?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I look at Standing Order No.98. With all due respect, it does not ask any Senator to state any Standing Order but to explain---

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Sir, I continue with my contribution. The President alluded to the fact that he will have an open and transparent Government. He also said that he will be a firm believer in democracy and the rule of law.

Those of us on this side want the President to live to his word. Some of the actions that he has started do not live to this spirit. When you talk about belief in democracy, you say it, but we have seen the President himself poaching members from this other side. We have seen him engaging in illegal post-election agreements when the law is very clear that you can only have one coalition agreement at a time.

We had a very serious debate here yesterday on the same. It touched on the rule of law and non-belief in democracy. That is a good thing but we will hold the President accountable for his own speech that is tabled in this House; that he is going to be a firm believer in democracy.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President also talked about the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) as part of a saving strategy. The NSSF belongs to the workers and cannot be part of a National Government saving strategy. That is money for our workers. We saw how money was stolen from NSSF during the Kenya African National Union (KANU) Government.

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

Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, what is out of order? Also, quote the Standing Order that you are standing on.

Let him finish. That will mislead us further.

I know how to speak English. It says, at the pleasure of this Plenary, you can be challenged when you are looking to be irrelevant. A Member of Parliament can rise on a point of order and refer to a point of order which is somewhere. You cannot expect every Member to remember all the standing orders when they stand up however brilliant they are though they must remain within the Standing Orders.

The Deputy speaker (Sen. Kathuri) : Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, with due respect, that is why we have the rules of the House. Every Member is supposed to acquaint themselves with the rules of the House for us to be orderly.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I stand guided. However, I would want the country and my colleagues to understand my reading of this Standing Order---

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this is a House of record. It is a bit ludicrous for a seasoned politician and legislator, to stand here and mislead this House. Standing Order 98 (1) is very explicit.

It says: “Any Senator may raise a point of order at any time during the speech of another Senator stating that the Senator raises a point of order and that Senator shall be required to indicate the Standing Order upon which the point of order is based.”

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, when the Majority Whip misleads this House that there is no such Standing Order and we leave that on record, we will be setting a very bad precedence. I request the Majority Whip, to withdraw his statement and apologise. These Standing Orders are here to guide us and not just for the sake of it. It is pure English and this a man who speaks English better than people in Butere or Narok County. Please, just read Standing Order No.98 (1) clearly and then correct it and withdraw.

Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, I confirm that what Sen. Olekina has said about Standing Order No.98 (1) , is true and correct.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am lucky that I was one of the people who crafted this Standing Orders. The intention of Standing Order No.98 (1) , does not require that when you stand, you must say; “Standing Order No.105---

Let him finish. That will mislead us further.

Sen. Osotsi, you made a statement about the Kshs2 billion.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, just a reminder and you can confirm, that statement was made by Sen. Osotsi. This is a House of integrity and he was the first one to refer to it.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, do I have your ear? The Deputy speaker (Sen. Kathuri) : If we are not sure, we will consult the HANSARD in a few minutes.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I stand guided. However, I would want the country and my colleagues to understand my reading of this Standing Order---

The Deputy speaker (

Maybe, the Member who does not know the Standing Orders can consult the veterans to know the Standing Order that he or she should apply. By that, the House will be orderly and we will transact business.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I think this is just a strategy to eat into my time.

The Deputy speaker (Sen. Kathuri) : I have already ruled on that matter.

Sen. Khalwale, kindly, let us use a parliamentary language.

On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. The Deputy speaker (

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do require your protection. The Deputy speaker (Sen. Kathuri) : I think I have made the right ruling on the matter of consulting the HANSARD.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, then let me proceed.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I need your protection from Members on the other side.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, just a reminder and you can confirm, that statement was made by Sen. Osotsi. This is a House of integrity and he was the first one to refer to it. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, do I have your ear? The Deputy speaker (

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

Sen. Methu, what is out of order again? Please quote the Standing Orders.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we are trying to do what we are supposed to do. I would like to quote Standing Order No.117 (1) (e) which states that a Senator commits an act of gross disorderly conduct if the Senator deliberately gives false information to the Senate.

Sen. Osotsi, a respectable Senator for Vihiga, has given false information. He said that in the President’s Address---

Sen. Osotsi, before we consult the HANSARD, confirm or deny that you are not the one who made the allegations. I will ask the Clerks to confirm that and you know the consequences will follow you. Sen. Osotsi, you either confirm or deny that you did not make such allegation before we consult the HANSARD.

Sen. Sifuna, kindly give him time to put his point.

In my opinion, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Senator for Vihiga is completely out of order to mislead the House that the President, in his address, did not touch on corruption.

Sen. Osotsi, kindly conclude. You have 30 seconds to finish.

The Deputy speaker (

I want to make a quick ruling. I will consult the HANSARD and we will give direction of what should happen by tomorrow afternoon.

Sen. Cherargei, I have been here for the past three and a half hours and now we are almost approaching four hours. Members here will agree with me that I have done well this being my first time on this Chair.

I have already ruled on that matter.

Nevertheless, I will continue. (Several Senators consulted loudly) The Deputy speaker (

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President mentioned and also emphasized on affordable housing, and this has been elaborated in the presidential speech. All Kenyans, according to the Constitution, deserve and have the right to live in affordable and decent houses. That is why the President appealed to both Houses to embrace and enhance Government policy on affordable housing so that every Kenyan can afford a house, live in good condition and in homes that have running water and electricity. It is well elaborated in his Speech.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in the Presidential Speech, there was the issue of the Hustler Fund. It is really one of the main things of the bottom-up economy that we were talking about during the campaigns. The President confirmed and affirmed that he will allocate Kshs50 billion every year to the Hustler Fund in order to help mama mboga, boda boda guys and small enterprises.

I think everything the President said in his Speech was underscoring the bottom- up economy. He expounded what the Kenya Kwanza manifesto had on affordable credit.

The President, in his Speech, alluded to the fact that he had spoken to the operators of Fuliza and M-Shwari the previous day and they gave the President their word that they were going to lower the cost of credit by 40 per cent. I think we are on the right track. The President has really preached the bottom-up economy like a bible.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President began by appreciating Kenyans, Members who got elected and the steps which we have made as a country, particularly in having women in leadership. The single constituency holders have increased to 29 from the initial 23. The retention in both Houses is much better than it was before.

I, however, have something to say about women in elective positions. Political parties in this country still have a long way to go. I am sure that all the women who got elected, be it governors, constituency holders or women representatives have a story to tell of the hurdles that political parties are still putting to women across this country. There would have been a better percentage of women representation. One third can be achieved because Kenyans are now ready to elect women.

However, the mindset of political parties is yet to change because women in this country are still relegated to nomination slots whereas women have got into competitive politics. Kenyans have proved that if given a chance, they trust women leadership much more.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, going forward as a country, we would want to see a fair playing ground in political parties, so that we have elected women Senators, like, Sen. Kavindu Muthama, whom I can see coming in, and the others who have come through the elective position.

As a country, having the President who was supported by more than 50 per cent of the women electorate of this country, I am sure will enhance that space and help Kenyan women achieve the one-third representation in both Houses.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President had talked about effective oversight in both Houses. He even proposed that there should be an oversight fund to help the Senate undertake its duty of effective oversight over the counties. This should be a welcome gesture by this House and the National Assembly on the issue of National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF).

Who was on the Floor?

I represented a constituency - Kajiado East Constituency - for two terms in the National Assembly. Therefore, I know the importance of the CDF at the constituency level. I can for sure vouch for the Members of the National Assembly that the NG-CDF should be retained.

There must be a way for the Judiciary to understand. This is because laws are meant to help human beings and not cartel the benefits for our communities. The children depend on the bursaries on NG-CDF.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, because you also represented the constituencies, you therefore know that we used NG-CDF to build many schools, police stations and roads. This fund should not be lost.

I do not know whether I have taken more time than I have been allocated. I just want to convince Sen. Osotsi and the others who are casting aspersions and doubts on the Presidential speech, that he has internalized the bottom-up tenets. They are well expounded in the presidential speech. So, we urge you to support it.

Thank you.

You have just used the time that was allocated for you precisely.

Sen. Orwoba, proceed.

Kindly, finish up very fast. (Several Senators consulted loudly)

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do require your protection. The Deputy speaker (

“My administration will allocate Kshs50 billion every year to the Hustlers’ Fund from the micro small and medium enterprises so that they can access affordable credit to start and expand their businesses.”

For Uwezo Fund, we were being encouraged to apply for it as groups and money was distributed. However, there was no business being started. At one point, politicians, some of them in this House, started using it as a sort of token to give to the electorate. They did not understand that at the end of the day when the fund ceases to be a revolving fund the same electorate will blame them for impoverishing their lives.

The Hustlers Fund is a good direction. I hope my fellow Senators will assist when the Bill comes to the House. We have Public Private Partnerships with Community- Based Organization (CBOs) and the Non -Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that are already offering free business skills training. It is a prerequisite before you receive the fund that you undergo a one-month business training course.

In his Speech our President stated that digital technologies have become a critical player in economic growth. It is time we capitalize on them. I speak from a point of information. Before I was a Senator I worked as a manager of the data center of Facebook in Denmark.

I hope we will practice political maturity when that Bill comes to this Floor. When we hold this big organization such as Facebook, Google and Amazon accountable in terms of them remitting taxes to this country, we will vote as a House in the interest of the electorate and our people.

It is known that these organizations are currently not operating locally but are based in a cloud abroad. The jobs we have for the youth have been exported to these other places from where they are operating.

I was happy to hear that the digital economy will be prioritized. It is time that this House brings legislation that will hold these companies accountable and localize our data and where we store it.

Facebook, for instance, is operating as a proxy where they have outsourced their employees. You cannot sue Facebook when they are mistreating their employees. Their employees do not have benefits in terms of housing and medical covers since they are operating as contractors.

It is a good time to serve in the Senate because I am passionate about these things. I have already tabled a Bill on localizing our data to hold these companies accountable. I hope my fellow Senators will support the President into turning the digital economy into one that is impactful to this country.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for this opportunity. This is just a by the way, I do not know which route to follow.

It is very unfair for Senators to walk in at 6.00 p.m. and shine, so that they can be recorded in the HANSARD. They then walk out with that as a contribution. Some of us have come here to work; to sit through the motions and listen. It is very unfair and something should be done.

Thank you, Sen. Orwoba.

Sen. Methu, I made a ruling. If you have any intervention, just press the button and wait until I allow you to speak.

Hon. Senators, it is now 6.30 p.m. There being no other business, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow, Thursday, 6th October, 2022, at 2.30 p.m.

The Senate rose at 6.30 p.m.

Sen. Osotsi, I told you to proceed. What is the problem?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, to wind up my contribution, we had a lot of expectations when we went to listen to the President but some of us were disappointed.

One of the expectations I had as a Senator representing the people of Vihiga was for the President to tell us more about the bottom-up economic model that they were talking about during the campaigns. How are we going to legislate and allocate money on the same? The President did not tell us anything about it.

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

Sen. Methu, what is out of order again? Please quote the Standing Orders.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we are trying to do what we are supposed to do. I would like to quote Standing Order No.117 (1) (e) which states that a Senator commits an act of gross disorderly conduct if the Senator deliberately gives false information to the Senate.

Sen. Osotsi, a respectable Senator for Vihiga, has given false information. He said that in the President’s Address---

Sen. Sifuna, kindly give him time to put his point.

In my opinion, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Senator for Vihiga is completely out of order to mislead the House that the President, in his address, did not touch on corruption.

Sen. Osotsi, kindly conclude. You have 30 seconds to finish.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, to wind up, my last point is that the President, in his Speech, recommended that Ministries should adjust their budgets to save Kshs300 billion in order to support the savings programme.

We would like to know more about that. I am sure that the Budget will come to Parliament. We would like to know where he is going to get the money. Is he going to reduce peoples’ salaries and allowances?

He was also contradictory because he talked about reducing the expenditure in Government, yet he gazetted additional State Departments.

Your time is up. Sen. Korir, did you have a point of order? If not, Sen. Cherargei, please proceed.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is an issue that was raised on the Floor of the House. Looking at Standing Order Nos.121 and 122, I am sure that you will make a ruling on this matter tomorrow in the afternoon.

It is not wise and fair for Members, even with points of relevance under the Standing Orders, to raise issues that are outside the purview of the Presidential Address.

Regarding the bottom-up approach, in his speech, he talked about the “Hustlers” Fund. Therefore, Senators who comment on the Address of the President must acquaint themselves with the provisions of Standing Order Nos.121 and 122.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, you should not to be merciful. The only mercy is by Jesus Christ. Any other mercy is imported. So, if a Member makes unsubstantiated allegations on the Floor of the House, deal with them firmly and ruthlessly. We are not somewhere in Vihiga County.

In fact, instead of fighting the Government, Sen. Osotsi should be grateful that one of his constituents is the Prime Cabinet Secretary in the Kenya Kwanza Government. How can you bite the hand that feeds you?

Sen. Cherargei, I have been here for the past three and a half hours and now we are almost approaching four hours. Members here will agree with me that I have done well this being my first time on this Chair.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to support the Motion on the Presidential Address to both Houses of Parliament.

I heard Sen. Osotsi say that the President did not expound on the bottom-up economic model that the ‘Hustler Movement’ has been talking about to mwananchi.

I thought it is good to inform Sen. Osotsi, now the Senator for Vihiga whom we also served together in the National Assembly, that the Presidents’ Speech was full of bottom-up tenets that we sold to all Kenyans who bought the ideas and elected Dr. William Samoei Ruto as the President of the Republic of Kenya.

I am going to talk about a few of what the ‘Hustler leadership’ promised Kenyans because I do not want to go through the entire Speech. We have some low-hanging fruits that have already been implemented and Kenyans are already benefiting.

We have cheap fertiliser that the President talked about. The first thing he did when he got into office was to lower the prices of fertiliser. By the time we were campaigning, a 50-kilogramme bag was around Kshs6,500. Now, a sack is going for Kshs3,500. That is one of the many components of the bottom-up economic model because we want productivity.

The President also emphasised on agricultural productivity. That includes livestock and fishing farming in this country instead of just having subsidies on foodstuffs. I believe we are moving in the right direction now that the President started acting immediately, he got into office.

Hopefully, when we get into the rainy season, productivity will improve in this country, in all sectors, whether it is in fishing, farming or the pastoralist communities.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President mentioned and also emphasized on affordable housing, and this has been elaborated in the presidential speech. All Kenyans, according to the Constitution, deserve and have the right to live in affordable and decent houses. That is why the President appealed to both Houses to embrace and enhance Government policy on affordable housing so that every Kenyan can afford a house, live in good condition and in homes that have running water and electricity. It is well elaborated in his Speech.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in the Presidential Speech, there was the issue of the Hustler Fund. It is really one of the main things of the bottom-up economy that we were talking about during the campaigns. The President confirmed and affirmed that he will allocate Kshs50 billion every year to the Hustler Fund in order to help mama mboga, boda boda guys and small enterprises.

I think everything the President said in his Speech was underscoring the bottom- up economy. He expounded what the Kenya Kwanza manifesto had on affordable credit.

The President, in his Speech, alluded to the fact that he had spoken to the operators of Fuliza and M-Shwari the previous day and they gave the President their word that they were going to lower the cost of credit by 40 per cent. I think we are on the right track. The President has really preached the bottom-up economy like a bible.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President began by appreciating Kenyans, Members who got elected and the steps which we have made as a country, particularly in having women in leadership. The single constituency holders have increased to 29 from the initial 23. The retention in both Houses is much better than it was before.

I, however, have something to say about women in elective positions. Political parties in this country still have a long way to go. I am sure that all the women who got elected, be it governors, constituency holders or women representatives have a story to tell of the hurdles that political parties are still putting to women across this country. There would have been a better percentage of women representation. One third can be achieved because Kenyans are now ready to elect women.

However, the mindset of political parties is yet to change because women in this country are still relegated to nomination slots whereas women have got into competitive politics. Kenyans have proved that if given a chance, they trust women leadership much more.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, going forward as a country, we would want to see a fair playing ground in political parties, so that we have elected women Senators, like, Sen. Kavindu Muthama, whom I can see coming in, and the others who have come through the elective position.

As a country, having the President who was supported by more than 50 per cent of the women electorate of this country, I am sure will enhance that space and help Kenyan women achieve the one-third representation in both Houses.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President had talked about effective oversight in both Houses. He even proposed that there should be an oversight fund to help the Senate undertake its duty of effective oversight over the counties. This should be a welcome gesture by this House and the National Assembly on the issue of National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF).

I represented a constituency - Kajiado East Constituency - for two terms in the National Assembly. Therefore, I know the importance of the CDF at the constituency level. I can for sure vouch for the Members of the National Assembly that the NG-CDF should be retained.

There must be a way for the Judiciary to understand. This is because laws are meant to help human beings and not cartel the benefits for our communities. The children depend on the bursaries on NG-CDF.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, because you also represented the constituencies, you therefore know that we used NG-CDF to build many schools, police stations and roads. This fund should not be lost.

I do not know whether I have taken more time than I have been allocated. I just want to convince Sen. Osotsi and the others who are casting aspersions and doubts on the Presidential speech, that he has internalized the bottom-up tenets. They are well expounded in the presidential speech. So, we urge you to support it.

Thank you.

You have just used the time that was allocated for you precisely.

Sen. Orwoba, proceed.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for this opportunity. I want to mention a few things about the President’s Speech, particularly, about the Kshs50 billion Hustler’s Fund.

One of the observations that have previously been made in this House on the funds that have been there, is that they are not sustainable. Uwezo Fund that was supposed to be a revolving fund was misused and politicized. It is refreshing to know that we have a Government that is willing to cure the problems of the existing funds.

I take this opportunity to urge that when that piece of legislation comes to the Floor of the House, we push and ensure that we cure the problems that the likes of Uwezo Fund, Youth Fund and Women Fund have.

You will note that I am a nominated Senator under the gender top-up. However, I am a youth advocate and has been pushing for the empowerment of youth. One of the things that have been a big problem with the empowerment of youth in terms of funds is that there is no sustainability of the same.

Speaking to the President His Excellency William Ruto, we discussed issues on how this fund is going to be dispatched. I am glad that in his speech he articulated that one of the things they are going to push for is the use of technology to manage and distribute the fund.

When I bring legislation on this Fund, I hope I will be supported. It is time that Uwezo, Women, Youth Funds and any other existing funds that have not been impactful, will be collapsed and replaced with the Hustlers Fund. The intention will be that any beneficiary of that fund would at least at the bare minimum undergo a basic business training.

The Speech says –

“My administration will allocate Kshs50 billion every year to the Hustlers’ Fund from the micro small and medium enterprises so that they can access affordable credit to start and expand their businesses.”

For Uwezo Fund, we were being encouraged to apply for it as groups and money was distributed. However, there was no business being started. At one point, politicians, some of them in this House, started using it as a sort of token to give to the electorate. They did not understand that at the end of the day when the fund ceases to be a revolving fund the same electorate will blame them for impoverishing their lives.

The Hustlers Fund is a good direction. I hope my fellow Senators will assist when the Bill comes to the House. We have Public Private Partnerships with Community- Based Organization (CBOs) and the Non -Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that are already offering free business skills training. It is a prerequisite before you receive the fund that you undergo a one-month business training course.

In his Speech our President stated that digital technologies have become a critical player in economic growth. It is time we capitalize on them. I speak from a point of information. Before I was a Senator I worked as a manager of the data center of Facebook in Denmark.

I hope we will practice political maturity when that Bill comes to this Floor. When we hold this big organization such as Facebook, Google and Amazon accountable in terms of them remitting taxes to this country, we will vote as a House in the interest of the electorate and our people.

It is known that these organizations are currently not operating locally but are based in a cloud abroad. The jobs we have for the youth have been exported to these other places from where they are operating.

I was happy to hear that the digital economy will be prioritized. It is time that this House brings legislation that will hold these companies accountable and localize our data and where we store it.

Facebook, for instance, is operating as a proxy where they have outsourced their employees. You cannot sue Facebook when they are mistreating their employees. Their employees do not have benefits in terms of housing and medical covers since they are operating as contractors.

It is a good time to serve in the Senate because I am passionate about these things. I have already tabled a Bill on localizing our data to hold these companies accountable. I hope my fellow Senators will support the President into turning the digital economy into one that is impactful to this country.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for this opportunity. This is just a by the way, I do not know which route to follow.

It is very unfair for Senators to walk in at 6.00 p.m. and shine, so that they can be recorded in the HANSARD. They then walk out with that as a contribution. Some of us have come here to work; to sit through the motions and listen. It is very unfair and something should be done.

Thank you, Sen. Orwoba.

Hon. Senators, it is now 6.30 p.m. There being no other business, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow, Thursday, 6th October, 2022, at 2.30 p.m.

The Senate rose at 6.30 p.m.