National Assembly · Morning Sitting

Hon. Members, there is no quorum in the House. Serjeant-at- Arms ring the Quorum Bell.

[(The Quorum Bell was rung)]

Hon. Members, let us proceed. I will give you a minute to take your seats. Hon. Siyoi break up that committee. First Order.

[(Hon. Lillian Siyoi and several Members stood in the isle)]

Hon. Naomi Waqo on behalf of the Leader of the Majority Party.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to lay the following Papers on the Table: Reports of the Auditor-General and Financial Statements for the year ended 30th June, 2024 and the certificates therein in respect of —

Next Order. Hon. Members, allow me to reorder the Order Paper. Yesterday, it was raised that there are some Bills which have been pending the entire year. I reorder as follows: We now move to Order No.13 and then come back to Order No.7 on Questions and Statements, then the rest will follow. Order No.13.

[(Hon. Deputy Speaker consulted with Clerks-at-the-Table)]

Next Order. Clerk, read out Order No. 13

Hon. Members, Hon. Speaker had said that we would come back to this Order after we are done with Order No.13 and Order No.9 but I would like to officially stand it down and defer it to the next Sitting. We will prosecute Questions and Statements in the next Sitting, as will be listed on the Order Paper. Next is the Member for Ainabkoi, Hon. Samwel Chepkonga.

[(Questions and Statements deferred)]

[(Debate on the Bill resumed)]

Hon. Temporary Speaker, I thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this very important Bill. At the outset, I thank Hon. Makali Mulu, my very good friend, for ensuring that this Bill neither died nor went away with the Governor for Taita-Taveta County, Hon. Mwadime, who took a very important step in ensuring that it was published in the last Parliament. Unfortunately, du…

Assembly. It does not refer to the Senate yet we know that we are a bicameral legislature. Hon. Makali Mulu seeks to align this Bill with the Constitution. I want to speak about two very important things with regard to this Bill. It sets out, in clear terms, what the pension scheme would entail. As we align it with the Constitution, we seek to remove those areas which cause discrimination and cont…

I will give you one minute because you are a former Commissioner. You have one minute.

The reason I am passionate about having the pension scheme established within the PSC is that when I was the CEO of the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK) , at that time CCK, we had our pension scheme despite being very few. We were only 130 members and we had our pension scheme and we would invest it in various earning securities. As I speak, this money is paid to the Consolidated Fund and …

Hon. Sirma.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker for giving me the opportunity to contribute. I was taken in circles when claiming my pension after I retired before I was re-elected. I want to pay tribute to Hon. Makali Mulu for doing a good job. I also want to remember the first person who brought independence to his Parliament. Many of us do not know how much a Member of Parliament was earning in those times.…

Parliament. We all joined hands and created the PSC. Despite being on the then Government side, I voted for it since it was affecting my life. It is time Members stood up and fought for what is ours no matter the party interests or individual fears that hold back bettering their lives. I was here for 15 years and was out for some time. I have seen it all. We can be happy when we are still here, b…

Thank you. Member for Makueni.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this very important Bill. I wish to thank the Member of Parliament for Kitui Central, Dr Makali, for bringing this. I feel privileged because this is my first term and this is being introduced. It is my first time to talk about our welfare and I am very happy. For the two years I have been here, I have never heard any…

services. The constituency money is held for a long time before being released until my constituents start giving me a headache. How do you expect me to have a good retirement? Those working on our welfare here should not just concentrate on welfare when we are out of Parliament. They should make sure our welfare is taken care of because it will determine at what state we will exit this House. As…

Hon. Member for Samburu East, Hon. Lekumontare.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I support this Bill. The retirement of Members of Parliament is not natural. In fact, when somebody leaves Parliament, it is not just because of age; one is forced to retire. It is important that our tomorrow is prepared today. It is good to have this plan so that when you are not in a position to do what you usually do, you have something to support yourself and…

Thank you. Hon. Dick Maungu.

Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker for giving me this opportunity to support and comment on this very progressive Bill. Let me start by appreciating Hon. (Dr) Makali Mulu for bringing this amendment Bill. Retirement is a must. At one point in time, we must exit. In public service, people exit at the age of 60 years. This is a unique House and Members exit early even when they are 20 or 30…

This Bill is important because it is taking care of the Members’ welfare. There is negative mentality that Members of Parliament are very rich, greedy and self-seeking. We cannot think of others and fail to think about ourselves. It is important to note that Members of Parliament are mortal just like other people. Therefore, what affects members of the public equally affects Members of Parliament.…

Thank you. Member for Matuga.

Asante sana, Mhe. Spika wa Muda kwa kunipatia hii fursa. Langu kwanza ni kumpongeza Mhe. Mwadime, aliyekuwa Mbunge wa Mwatate, kwa kuanzisha Mswada huu. Wajua sasa hivi anaitwa His Excellency Governor wa Taita Taveta. Kwa hivyo, nampatia pongezi. Pili, nampongeza Mhe. Daktari Makali Mulu kwa kuuregesha Mswada huu muhimu. Nahuzunika na wale ambao walitoa nguvu na maarifa yao, na uaminifu wao kwa hi…

Jambo ambalo pia ni muhimu katika huu Mswada ni suala la kuwa kwa mara ya kwanza, itatambulika kwamba kuna uwezekano wa mwanamke kuwa Mbunge. Akiwa hai, ni wazi kuwa mama huyo ataishi raha mustarehe na anajua anavyofanya. Endapo mama huyo atatuacha – na hilo ni jambo la kawaida kwa sababu kama kuna uhakika wowote maishani ni kuuacha ulimwengu huu – basi yule bwana aliyekuwa anaishi naye pia anufai…

Hon. Engineer Muriuki.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I have been here since 9.00 a.m. I want to thank Hon. (Dr) Makali Mulu for bringing this very important Bill about the welfare of parliamentarians. As has been mentioned by my other colleagues, this Bill was long overdue. It has taken 10 years for it to be brought to the House to align our pension scheme with the Constitution of Kenya, 2010. Apart from the Bill …

Hon. Moses Kirima, Member for Central Imenti.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I take this opportunity to thank you for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this important Bill.

This is a very important Bill and especially to the Members of Parliament, considering that it is not a money Bill. There is no extra coin which would be deducted from the taxpayers' money to cater for the Bill we are discussing today. It is just about streamlining the pension scheme so that it can match with the Kenyan Constitution, 2010. What exists now was there before the introduction of the C…

Thank you. Member for Narok North, Hon. Pareyio.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to join other Members who have spoken in support of the debate on the Bill brought by Hon. Makali. This is about Members of Parliament. I do not think it has to do with anybody because we are not asking for additional money. We are using our money to ensure we lead a comfortable life after our stay in Parliament. I do not see where we are going wrong. I als…

respect. It is like we are asking for more money for ourselves. Everybody talks dirty about us. We do not care because we will fight out the way we fought when we came in. I support the Bill by saying it is important. It is time we agreed to look at and care for ourselves. We will have a hard time if we do not do that before we leave this House. Thank you.

Member for Wajir North, Hon. Saney.

Thank you. It is as if this entire Bill is speaking to me. I was in the 11th Parliament, voted out, and returned in the 13th Parliament. Indeed, I served with Dr Makali on the same Committee during the 11th Parliament. I appreciate the thinking he has put into this Bill. You are seen to be wealthy as a serving Member of Parliament. You are called all manner of derogatory names—Mpig and many other…

Hon. Saney, we are pressed for time. I will give the Member for Nakuru County, Hon. Chelule, the next chance.

Asante sana, Mhe. Spika wa Muda, kwa kunipatia nafasi pia nichangie Mswada ulioletwa Bunge la Taifa na Mhe. Makali Mulu. Nampongeza. Mswada huu unaongea kuhusu masuala ya Wabunge. Naunga mkono Mswada huu kwa sababu unashughulikia masuala ya Wabunge. Tunaelewa tunapochaguliwa kufika hapa Bunge, tunatekeleza kazi ya wananchi. Tunatunga sheria kwa niaba ya wananchi wa Kenya. Kwa hivyo, mara nyingi, …

On a point of order, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

Hon. Dorothy.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I support this Bill. I stand under Standing Order No.95.

Hon. Dorothy, you cannot do that. If you say you support, you contribute. If you call Standing Order 95, you do not support or oppose the Bill.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I stand guided. I stand under Standing Order No.95. I wish to say we have canvassed this enough. I ask that the Mover be now called to reply. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

Hon. Members, I will put it to a vote, that the Mover be called to reply. Mover.

[(Question, the Mover be now called to reply, put and agreed to)]

Thank you so much, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I do not know whether I am allowed by the Standing Orders to donate a minute.

[(Several Hon. Members raised their hands)]

[(Hon. Robert Mbui spoke off the record)]

You are not allowed to donate.

Because this is under Standing Order No. 95, I cannot donate a minute. So, I am sorry, colleagues. First of all, I appreciate the interest shown in this Bill. I appreciate the serious input in terms of thoughts towards it. I have picked four critical things that I will be taking forward in terms of amendments. One of them is the issue of the age of a child, 18 years. It has come out clearly that…

Thank you. Hon. Members, we will defer putting of the Question to this Bill under Order No. 13. As guided by the Deputy Speaker, we reordered the Order Paper to go to Order No. 13, then Order No. 9. Hon. Tandaza to move.

[(Putting of the Question deferred)]

Order, Members. The time being