National Assembly · Afternoon Sitting

Hon. Members, I wish to introduce to you a delegation from the Senate of the Kingdom of Lesotho, who are seated in the Speaker’s Row. They are -

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. On behalf of Parliament, I welcome all the schools present in the Public Gallery. I encourage all of you to aspire to be future leaders and Members of Parliament.

Thank you. Next.

Leader of the Majority Party.

Hon. Speaker, I beg to lay the following Papers on the Table:

Thank you. Next!

Speaker: Hon. (Dr) Namoit Ariko, Turkana South.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. Pursuant to Standing Order 33 (1) , I seek leave for the adjournment of the House to discuss a definite matter of urgent national importance regarding the security situation in Turkana County. On 22nd February 2025, more than 20 fishermen lost their lives and a significant number were reported missing, following an ambush by suspected Ethiopian militia popularly known as …

It is against this background that I seek leave for the adjournment of the House to discuss this matter of great national concern to explore possible lasting solutions.

Do you have the necessary support? The support is overwhelming. Thank you. You may take your seats. Hon. (Dr) Ariko, you will be called upon to move your Motion at 600 p.m. this afternoon. So, at 6.00 p.m., you be ready to move your Motion.

[(Several Members stood in their places)]

Hon. Joseph Gitari, Member for Kirinyaga Central.

Hon. Gitari, your Statement is limited to what the Speaker approved and you have read it as I approved it. Any additional information you want to put on record,

you wait until you receive the response, and then you can bring it in your supplementary requests.

I stand guided. Thank you.

Hon. (Amb) Francis Sigei, Member for Sotik. Sorry, before you stand, Ambassador, Chairman of the Departmental Committee on Administration and Internal Affairs, Tongoyo. Give him the microphone.

Hon. Speaker, we can respond to the Statement in two weeks.

Hon. Tongoyo, I expect beyond that. You will assure the House that you will step out and communicate with the Inspector-General to tell his people on the ground to engage in some remedial conduct as you bring the Statement next week.

I will do that, Hon. Speaker. You instructed us to call the Inspector-General on Monday over the Sakaja issue…

You can combine this.

I know we will have an opportunity to pass the same and if the Member wishes, he can as well maybe attend so that we are able to have some intervention undertaken.

Hon. Gitari, the Inspector-General will be before the Committee on Monday. You can go there and prosecute your Statement. Hon. Karemba.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. As you put the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Administration and Internal Security to task to invite the Inspector-General of Police, I am concerned because I sought for a Statement in the past, which has not been responded to.

On security?

Not on security, but on agriculture regarding the escalating prices of animal feeds. I raised that matter before we went on recess, but I have not been...

Was that before the long recess?

Yes.

It died there. You better resurrect it.

[(Laughter)]

Alright. I will go back to the drawing board.

Okay. Hon. Sigei.

Hon. Speaker, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order 44 (2) (c) , I rise to request for a Statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Trade, Industry and Cooperatives regarding the status of upgrading the New Kenya Cooperative Creameries milk processing plant in Sotik Constituency. Between 2018 and 2022, the Government spent approximately Ksh2 billion to modernise some o…

plant, was modernised as it serves dairy farmers from Bomet, Narok, Kericho, Nyamira and Kuresoi. The upgrading of the plant was projected to increase earnings of the dairy farmers from Ksh850,000 to Ksh1.5 billion a year, and increase the processing capacity of the plant from 60,000 litres to 100,000 litres of raw milk per day. However, since its upgrading by the Government, those projections are…

Thank you, Amb. Sigei. Is the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Trade, Industry and Cooperatives present? Member for Chepalungu.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. As I rise to support the request for a Statement by Hon. Sigei, it is important for this House...

I thought you were raising your hand as a Member of the Departmental Committee on Trade, Industry and Cooperatives. Are you a joyrider?

I have risen as the Member for Chepalungu.

You can joyride.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. All the milk we produce in Chepalungu Constituency goes to the Sotik Milk Processing Plant. As I rise to support him, this House has always allocated money to buy milk from the ordinary mwananchi. It is sad that for the second year running, the amount of money between Ksh30 and Ksh40 that was used to buy milk in the past years is still the amount that the Sotik Milk Proces…

Is there any Member of the Departmental Committee on Trade, Industry and Cooperatives in the House? Hon. Yegon, I do not want debate on a Statement. Hon. Adagala, are you a Member of the Departmental Committee on Trade, Industry and Cooperatives?

[(Hon. Richard Yegon raised his hand)]

Yes.

Can you bring a response in two weeks?

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. We are guided.

Thank you. Next is the Member for West Mugirango, Hon. Stephen Mogaka.

Hon. Speaker, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order 44 (2) (c) , I rise to request for a Statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Transport and Infrastructure regarding construction of bitumen roads in Nyamira County.

If you want your constituents to know what you are saying, why not just say tarmac roads? Do you think villagers know what bitumen roads are?

Thank you. I will call them black roads if the word “tarmac” is not audible. Thank you for that guidance because the constituents need to know that we are talking about tarmac roads. Hon. Speaker, road infrastructure development is vital in the economic development of a country. Unfortunately, there has been a disparity in the construction of tarmac roads in various counties, Nyamira County includ…

Chairman, Departmental Committee on Transport and Infrastructure.

Thank you, Honourable Speaker. We will respond in about two weeks.

Two weeks?

Yes.

Hon. Milemba Omboko.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I rise to request for a Statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Education regarding the delay in payment of allowances to teachers contracted to oversee 2024 national examinations and assessments. The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) contracted teachers to oversee the 2024 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) , the Kenya Primary …

Yes, Hon. Pukose. Is it on the same issue?

Hon. Speaker, I stand to support this request for a Statement by Hon. Omboko Milemba, who is a former teacher, trade unionist, and a Member of Parliament for Emuhaya. It is very unfortunate that this is not the first time this issue is happening. Normally, even before students sit for their exams, they pay examination fees. This means that the money is available, and there should be no reason for…

Hon. Dorothy, you want to join right on this?

Hon. Speaker, I stand in support of this important request for Statement. Teachers are the backbone of education in this country. It is extremely frustrating for teachers to invigilate, supervise, and serve as centre managers with

the hope and expectation that their dues will be paid immediately after they complete their duties, only to face prolonged delays in receiving their rightful payments. The Kenya National Examinations Council is hiding behind flimsy excuses. It is high time we called upon KNEC to step up and ensure teachers are paid in a timely manner to facilitate a smooth flow of examination marking and supervis…

Chairman, Departmental Committee on Education. Leader of the Majority Party, that is a matter that you should in effect take up. The money is paid by students. It is ring-fenced. It is for printing exams, transporting exams, paying invigilators, paying markers. It is not money from a budget from this House. It is not money from the exchequer. It is ring-fenced money. Why do they delay paying the t…

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. Most obliged. I will make sure we get a Statement from the Kenya National Examinations Council and the Ministry of Education because as you rightly say, students have already paid for the exams. Most of those in private schools, as you remember during the 2017 campaigns, the then President, Uhuru Kenyatta, committed that all students in public schools would have their exam…

Point of order, Hon. Speaker.

Yes, Hon. Ruku.