Senate · Afternoon Sitting

Clerk, do we have quorum? Serjeant-at-Arms, kindly, ring the Quorum Bell for 10 minutes. Hon. Senators, kindly take your seats, Senator for Kilifi County and your colleagues. I have been informed that we now have quorum. We will proceed with the day's business. Clerk, kindly call the first Order. We are at request for Statements pursuant to Standing Order No.53 (1) . Senator for Mombasa County,…

[(The Clerk-at-the-Table consulted with the Speaker)]

[(The Quorum Bell was rung)]

[(Several hon. Senators remained standing in their places)]

The statement is dropped. Senator for Trans Nzoia County, the Hon. Allan Chesang.

The statement is deferred. Senator for Samburu County, the Hon. (Dr.) Lelegwe Ltumbesi.

That statement is dropped. Senator for Samburu County again, Dr. Lelegwe Ltumbesi.

Equally, that statement is dropped. Senator for Murang’a County, the Hon. John Nyutu.

That statement is dropped.

Next Order. Hon. Members, allow me, pursuant to Standing Order No.45 (2) , to rearrange today's Order Paper. We will move to Order No. Clerk, you may proceed to call that Order. (The Speaker consulted with the Clerks-at-the-Table) Hon. Members, we will start with Order No. 23. Clerk, proceed to call that Order.

The Co-Chair, Mediation Committee to move the Motion.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I beg to move the following Motion- THAT, the Senate adopts the Report of the Mediation Committee on the Food and Safety Control Coordination Bill (National Assembly Bills No.21 of 2023) laid on the table of the Senate on Tuesday, 28th April, 2026, and that pursuant to Article 113 (2) of the Constitution and Standing Order No.167 (3) of the Senate, approves the amended…

It is now a pleasant privilege and honour to commend this report to the House for approval on behalf of the Mediation Committee pursuant to Article 113(2) of the Constitution, Standing Order No.150(1) of the National Assembly Standing Orders and Standing Order No.161(1) of the Senate Standing Orders. As I have just taken Members through, this Bill has been a thorn in the flesh of this House and t…

Mr. Speaker, Sir, as I second the report of the Mediation Committee on the Bill that has been presented by none other than the Chairperson of the Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, I want to remind all of us that agriculture is key to this Republic. Through agriculture, we are able to be food secure. With food, we become not only a productive country, but also a healthy country. I…

[(Question proposed)]

Now the Floor is open for debate. Proceed, Senator for Nandi.

Thank you Mr. Speaker, Sir. As I support this mediated version of the Bill, I want to congratulate the Chairperson of the Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries and the Chief Whip of the House. I do not know why whenever we go for the mediated version of our Bill, Senators always become the Vice- Chairpersons. I saw it even in the Mediation Committee on the Division of Revenue Bill wher…

looking at the agreement or the proposal between the National Assembly and the Senate on these internationally acclaimed bodies is critical because they are internationally recognised. However, it should not be lost on us that agriculture is fully devolved. In fact, on the standards and policies of running of agriculture, just like health, the Senate or the county governments must have a bigger r…

that the role of the High Court or the Judiciary in this country is to only make recommendations and enrich the role of Parliament. As a House, it should not be lost to us that we are the law-making House and we have the powers to enact laws as they come. Members of the Senate should be very keen in any decision making whether it includes passing this mediated version of the Bill, a Statement or …

What is your point of order, Senator for Uasin Gishu County?

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I rise under Standing Order No.105, not to interrupt the Senator for Nandi County, but to ask if really he is in order to make sweeping statements that fish in Kempinski is kept in the fridge, that it is not fresh? Is the Senator for Nandi County not interfering with someone's business without proof that the fish in that hotel stays in the fridge and that it …

Senator for Nandi County, are you in a position to back those allegations? If not, then withdraw and proceed.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Senator for Uasin Gishu County should know the use of similes and English semantics. He must listen to those of us who went to a school that has produced two presidents. I said “like”, I did not say “as” and I did not even complete the sentence. Why is he imagining that I mentioned the hotel he is mentioning? He should listen carefully.

Just conclude your thoughts and abandon that line.

I have graciously and religiously abandoned that line. Let me finish. I was talking about public health in this very critical Bill. In Garissa, I saw patients suffering from the Dengue Fever sitting on the floor in a hospital. I am happy that Sen. Haji is in the House. I saw the governor throwing some Kshs1,000 to a patient saying that the Social Health Authority (SHA) was not working in the hospi…

counties will now get Kshs454 billion. We do not want to see people stealing from the Kshs454 billion going to counties. Recently, one of the members of staff of the Nairobi City County was found with Kshs65 million in his house while the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) is sleeping. I know other counties, including Nandi County, are in a worse state. The fact that we fight for resour…

Hon. Senators, before we proceed with the debate, allow me to make the following communication.

[(Interruption of debate on Motion)]

Hon. Senators, I would like to acknowledge the presence in the public gallery this afternoon of a visiting delegation of three teachers and 63 students from Consolata School in Nairobi County. The delegation is visiting the Senate for an academic exposition. On behalf of the Senate and on my own behalf, I extend a warm welcome to the delegation and wish them a fruitful visit.

Hon. Senators, I would like to acknowledge the presence in the public gallery this afternoon of a visiting delegation of 10 teachers and 77 students from Arnesens High School, Uasin Gishu County. The delegation is visiting the Senate for an academic exposition. On behalf of the Senate and on my behalf, I extend a warm welcome to the delegation and wish them a fruitful visit. Thank you. Sen. Mand…

Thank you very much for the opportunity. Madam Temporary Speaker, I wish to join you and take this opportunity, on behalf of my colleagues, to welcome the teachers and the students of Arnesens Secondary School in Ainabkoi Constituency. It is one of our old schools that has produced luminaries in our country. I wish them a fruitful and a successful trip in their study and quest to undertake benchm…

Thank you very much. I now invite Sen. Onyonka to take the mic.

[(Resumption of debate on the Motion)]

Madam Temporary Speaker, first of all, I thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. I would like to contribute to this very important discussion. I have listened carefully to the contributions, which have been made by my colleague Hon. Mungatana. I have also listened to Hon. M. Kajwang’ raise the same issue. To be honest with you, this is a very weighty matter. This issue has been plaguing…

be holding sugar that has come to the country without any inspection. Right now, we have several county governments that are processing milk and supplying this milk to our primary school children. We are told that some of this milk is coming in as powder, and that some of it is fake. Nobody responds to these things. We have issues about Kenya's involvement with the Genetically Modified Organism (…

Right now, I do not think there is any of us in this House who can stand up and say whether they know the meat they ate last night was from donkey, zebra or cow. These are things we, as leadership, have to be concerned about. I hope that my team members in this House are going to look at this issue seriously and come up with interventions and mitigations that are going to make sure that food cons…

Hon. Senators, before I allow further debate on this Motion, allow me to make the following Communication.

[(Interruption of debate on Motion)]

Hon. Senators, this is by the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Energy. Sen. Kisang, proceed to move the Motion.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I beg to move- THAT, the Senate adopts Report of the Standing Committee on Energy on inquiry into the shortage of smart energy meters in Kenya and the potential for their local manufacturing, laid on the Table of the Senate on Wednesday, 11th June, Mr Temporary Speaker Sir to interrogate the procurement process surrounding the award of the smart meter On the question of…

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I wish to second this Motion on the report of the Standing Committee on Energy on the inquiry into the shortage of smart energy meters. All of us in our communities deal with the issue of shortage of meters which has led to a number of harassment of members of the public. I frequently see a number of small businesses people running here and there because of shortage of…

issues of transparency, competitiveness and doing due diligence according to the procurement laws. I second this report as I also indicate that EPRA seems to have a very huge mandate in this country. Therefore, we must also find a way of enhancing EPRA which should also enhance itself by broadening its strategies so as to reach the whole nation. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I second.

Sen. Kisang, take your seat or the nearest seat next to you. Hon. Members, this Motion and report is therefore available for debate. I call upon Sen. Samson Cherargei to make his contributions to the Motion.

[(Question proposed)]

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I rise to make a comment. You have said rightly on this report on the inquiry into the shortage of smart energy meters and the possibility of local manufacturing. While I commend the Vice-Chairperson of the Committee on Energy and the membership, they have done well on the second question, but they have not given us headway on the first aspect. The issue was to give us …

Article 227(1) of the Constitution is clear that it must be transparent and cost effective. Looking at the committee proceedings, the award of the tender to Harley Berry Limited is not clear. It looks like a case of corruption. When you read the report that was generated after the Kenya Power appeared, they justified that it was because they wanted to open and decentralise the award of smart meter…

Kenya Power and even water companies had an aspect of doctoring or tampering with meters and that there would be illegal connections of electricity in some places. This has caused a lot of loss and non-performance at Kenya Power. While we say Kenya Power has a lot of challenges, perhaps Bomet County is a bit better. I went to a place in Kipsamoite where Kenya Power brought a transformer. However, …

So, by 1990s, we were doing Nyayo vehicles, and now we cannot even produce smart meters for use in our electricity. This will continue to hamper even the supply of rural electricity. The last mile connectivity that His Excellency the President--- I am happy that in Nandi, for example, we got more than Kshs1.3 billion for all Nandi County to supply the last mile connectivity electricity. Every hous…

As a nation, we want to thank the President because the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) programme, the Hustler Fund and Kazi Majuu have really gone a long way in supporting the youth. In fact, in Nandi County, we are proud, and I saw somebody chiding us that most of our communities, where Mr. Temporary Speaker Sir, you and I come from, are in Australia. We do not apologise…

Honourable Senators, from the dashboard here, I do not have any other Member keen on making contributions. I will call upon Sen. Kisang to reply.

Thank you, Honourable Temporary Speaker, Sir. I beg to reply and take this opportunity to thank the Members of the committee. That is a fairly old report, close to a year now. We went round to the local manufacturers and even those who basically do the import of raw materials and assemble. I agree with Sen. Cherarkey and Sen. Ogola. I thank them. In that particular report, we have given recommend…

generation of power will be done, there will be many opportunities, work and economic development. I beg to reply and request that under Standing Order No.66(3), putting of the question be deferred to the next sitting.

Hon. Senators, as requested, putting of the question to this Motion is hereby deferred to the next session. Hon. Senators, you note that we have got a number of business in the Order Paper. In the absence of the Members who are required to move, I defer order Nos.8 to

[(Putting of the question on the Motion deferred)]

(Bill deferred)

THAT, the Senate adopts the Reports of the Standing Committee on Health on the County Oversight and Networking Engagements in Kitui, Makueni and Machakos Counties, laid on the Table of the Senate on Thursday, 26th February, 2026; Kiambu County laid on the table of the Senate on Thursday, 19th March, 2026; Bungoma and Kakamega Counties, laid on the Table of the Senate on Tuesday, 21st April, 2026. …

(Bill Deferred)

(Bill Deferred)

(Bill Deferred)

I will equally defer Order Nos.24 to 29 to the next session of this House.

(Bill Deferred)

(Bill Deferred)

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(Bill Deferred)