National Assembly · Morning Sitting
Thursday, 22 June 2023
The House moved to reduce the publication period for the Supplementary Appropriation (No.2) Bill from seven days to one and proceeded to read the Bill a second time, highlighting a net reduction of Ksh24 billion in the FY 2022/23 budget. Members discussed shifting funds from development to recurrent expenditure, particularly to support junior secondary teachers, and raised concerns about chronic under‑estimation of Appropriations‑in‑Aid and low absorption of foreign‑funded projects, urging tighter fiscal discipline to curb borrowing. The debate was largely procedural and focused on fiscal prudence and budgetary adjustments. The session focused on procedural motions to report and approve several budget‑related bills, including the Equalisation Fund Appropriation Bill, County Allocation of Revenue Bill, Supplementary Appropriation (No.2) Bill and the main Appropriation Bill. Members moved, seconded and voted to read the bills a third time, with the Temporary Speaker overseeing the process and occasional light‑hearted remarks about bowing. The debates were largely procedural with minimal substantive disagreement. Members criticised the slow implementation of donor‑funded projects, citing procurement rules, land‑acquisition delays and excessive consultancy costs, and called for faster Treasury procedures. They supported the Supplementary Appropriation Bill to fund education, settle contractor payments and complete pending infrastructure, while urging that PAC findings on misappropriation be reflected in budget allocations. The debate also highlighted specific constituency projects, such as the Jomvu‑Madafuni road, and warned against corruption and misuse of funds.
Hon. Members, there is no quorum. Ring the Division Bell.
[(The Quorum Bell was rung)]
Hon. Members, we do not have quorum. I direct that the Quorum Bell be rung for ten minutes.
[(The Quorum Bell was rung)]
I direct that the bell be rung for another 10 minutes.
[(The Quorum Bell was rung)]
We now have quorum. You may proceed.
Mover.
Hon. Speaker, I beg to move the following Motion: THAT, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order 120, this House resolves to reduce the publication period of the Supplementary Appropriation (No.2) Bill (National Assembly Bill No.31 of 2023) from seven (7) days to one
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I want to second this Motion by the Chair of Budget and Appropriation Committee, Hon. Ndindi Nyoro. We have a number of constitutional Bills that have timelines. We have the County Allocation Bill, Equalisation Bill and Appropriation Bill, which are very important for this House and the country, so that we can have money disbursed to our counties and to this House. …
[(Question proposed)]
[(Question put and agreed to)]
Next Order.
Hon. Chairman.
Hon. Temporary Chairlady, I beg to report that the Committee of the whole House has considered the Supplementary Appropriation (No.2) Bill, (National Assembly Bill No.31 of 2023) and approved the same without amendments.
[(Question proposed)]
[(Question put and agreed to)]
The Temporary Chairlady (Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Hon. Members having completed that, we will now go to the Appropriation Bill, National Assembly Bill No.27 of
Thank you Hon. Temporary Chairlady. I rise to support this amendment. Yesterday, I do not know whether it was the Kisii County Member or another one... The Temporary Chairlady (Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai) : Let me propose the Question. Leader of the Majority Party, you may proceed.
[(Question of the amendment proposed)]
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Chairlady. Sorry I started contributing before you proposed the Question. I rise to support this amendment because yesterday, the Minority Whip drew reference to the Railway Development Levy (RDL) . He said some time in 2018 when it was created, it was sold as a way of helping settle the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) loans, but later, it was opened up. As I promised the H…
men and women get employed as construction equipment roars in Kisii County. In Kiambu County, people are very congested. I hope Hon. Donya, Women Representative for Kisii County, will be able to see the real benefits of what we did yesterday in the Finance Bill and support the implementation of those projects.
Hon. Members, if you wish to speak to this amendment, kindly hit the intervention button. I can see Hon. (Dr) Pukose.
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Chairlady. I want to support the amendment by the Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Chairlady. I support this amendment by Hon. Ndindi Nyoro who is the Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee. For sure, they have done a good job. Housing is one of the key development factors for Kenya Kwanza. I support this amendment because they have decided to ring-fence this money that is going to the housing project. This will go a long way in giving jobs…
[(Applause)]
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Chairlady. I support this amendment. I know every Kenyan would wish to have a house and I support. I am in Nairobi and I have seen those houses. All I am saying is when we are building those houses, Parliament should ensure that the State Department for Public Works should not bring in shoddy specifications where you wonder whether it is a house or a kiosk that is being b…
I told the President I support… I want to see dignity for Kenyans as they live in those houses so that we do not have a housing project that again will become a white elephant for our people. I support the amendments of the Chairperson and appreciate him. We should also speak about the county governments. Let us see the county governors coming up with good memoranda of understanding with the nati…
Thank you Hon. Temporary Chairlady. I also rise to support this amendment and concur with the many Members who have spoken to it that we are going to make a difference using this Levy. More importantly, this will be a shared function between the national Government and the county governments. After this, what we shall be dealing with is the implementation. The cooperation with the counties must a…
[(Question, that the words to be left out be left out, put and agreed to)]
[(Question, that the words to be inserted in place thereof be inserted, put and agreed to)]
[(Schedule as amended agreed to)]
[(Clause 1 agreed to)]
Hon. Members this brings us to the end of this particular Bill. I now call upon the Mover, the Chairperson of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, to move reporting.
Hon. Temporary Chairlady, I beg to move that the Committee do report to the House its consideration of the Appropriation Bill (National Assembly Bill No.27 of 2023) and its approval thereof with amendments.
I have a proposed amendment, which is not yet ready. I request if this Equalisation…
[(Loud consultations)]
Hon. Temporary Chairman, I beg to move that the Committee do report to the House its consideration of the Equalisation Fund Appropriation Bill (Senate Bill No.3 of 2023) and its approval thereof without amendments. The Temporary Chairman : Thank you.
[(Hon. Omboko Milemba)]
Hon. Temporary Speaker, I beg to move that the Committee do report to the House its consideration of the County Allocation of Revenue Bill (Senate Bill No.16 of 2023) and its approval thereof without amendments.
[(Question proposed)]
[(Question put and agreed to)]
[(The House resumed)]
Hon. Temporary Speaker, I beg to report that the Committee of the whole House has considered the Supplementary Appropriation (No.2) Bill (National Assembly Bill No.31 of 2023) and approved the same without amendment.
Mover.
Hon. Temporary Speaker, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Committee in the said report.
I request Hon. John Njuguna Kawanjiku to second the Motion for agreement with the
Proceed, Hon. Kawanjiku.
[(Hon. Njuguna Kawanjiku bowed)]
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker.
[(Laughter)]
Order. You can bow to demonstrate that you are seconding. They are bullying you. Proceed.
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I was misguided by my seniors in the House. I beg to second the Motion.
[(Loud consultations)]
Hon. Members, bowing is sufficient to demonstrate that you have seconded the Motion. You can have it both ways. Do not worry.
[(Question proposed)]
[(Question put and agreed to)]
Hon. Temporary Speaker, I beg to move that the Supplementary Appropriation (No.2) Bill (National Assembly Bill No.31 of 2023) be now read a Third Time. I also request Hon. Jayne Kihara of Naivasha to second.
Proceed, Hon. Jayne Kihara. You can say a bit more. I know you wanted to say much more. Proceed and second the Motion.
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I beg to second. I also want to congratulate the Chairperson of the Budget and Appropriations Committee for the great work that he has done. This being the first budget of the Kenya Kwanza Government, the Committee has done a marvellous job.
[(Question proposed)]
Put the Question!
I have confirmed that we have the requisite quorum. I will proceed to put the Question.
Hon. Temporary Speaker, I beg to move that the Supplementary Appropriation (No.2) Bill (National Assembly Bill No.31 of 2023) be now read a Third Time. I also request Hon. Jayne Kihara to second.
I second.
[(Question proposed)]
[(Question put and agreed to)]
[(The Bill was accordingly read a Third Time and passed)]
Hon. Temporary Speaker, I beg to report that the Committee of the whole House has considered the Appropriation Bill (National Assembly Bill No. 27 of 2023) and approved the same with amendments.
Mover.
Hon. Temporary Speaker, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Committee in the said Report. I also request Hon. Rindikiri Murwithania to second the Motion for agreement with the
Hon. Temporary Speaker, I second.
[(Question proposed)]
Put the Question!
[(Question put and agreed to)]
Hon. Temporary Speaker, I beg to move that the Appropriation Bill (National Assembly Bill No.27 of 2023) be now read a Third Time.
I also request Hon. Janet Sitienei of Turbo Constituency to second.
Proceed, Hon. Janet Sitienei.
Hon. Temporary Speaker, I thank the Budget and Appropriations Committee for the well thought out Report. I second.
[(Question proposed)]
Put the Question.
[(Question put and agreed to)]
[(The Bill was accordingly read a Third Time and passed)]
Hon. Chairperson, proceed.
Hon. Chairman, proceed. Report to the House.
Hon. Temporary Chairman, I beg to report that the Committee of the whole House has considered the Equalisation Fund Appropriation Bill (Senate Bill No.3 of 2023) and approved the same without amendment.
Mover.
Hon. Temporary Speaker, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Committee in the said report. I request Hon. John Kiarie to second the Motion for agreement with the report of the Committee of the whole House.
Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker. As I second this Motion, I want to put it on record that this House has done its bit on the most important business of the Legislature, which is working on the Budget and appropriating monies to the various Government ministries and other entities. This House has further work to do on oversight. Even us who are on the Government side, after the appropri…
[(Hon. Ruku GK spoke off record)]
Are you on a point of order?
[(Loud consultations)]
On a point of order, Hon. Temporary Speaker.
What is out of order?
Hon. Temporary Speaker, the Commission on Revenue Allocation of the Republic of Kenya is completely out of order.
You are out of order. This is not the place to deliberate on that one.
[(Laughter) (Loud consultations)]
Mover.
Hon. Temporary Speaker, I beg to move that the Equalisation Fund Appropriation Bill (Senate Bill No.3 of 2023) be now read a Third Time. I request Hon. Major Sheikh Bashir to second.
Proceed.
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I take this opportunity to thank the Chairman and Committee for a thorough job. As I second this very important Bill, I urge the counties to ensure that monies that will be appropriated are utilised properly for the services of the people who need them. I support and second.
[(Question proposed)]
Put the Question.
Hon. Members, I have confirmed that we have quorum.
[(Question put and agreed to)]
[(The Bill was accordingly read a Third Time and passed)]
(Senate Bill No.16 of 2023)
The Chairperson to report to the House on the County Allocation of Revenue Bill (Senate Bill No.16 of 2023) .
Hon. Speaker, I beg to report that the Committee of the whole House has considered the County Allocation of Revenue Bill (Senate Bill No.16 of 2023) and has approved the same without amendments.
Mover, Hon. Ndindi.
Hon. Temporary Speaker, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Committee in the said report. I also request Hon. Duncan Maina Mathenge, the Member for Nyeri Town, to second the Motion for agreement with the report of the Committee of the whole House. Hon. Duncan Mathenge Hon. Temporary Speaker, I second the report of the Committee and agree with the Committee of the whole House on the a…
[(Nyeri Town, UDA)]
[(Question proposed)]
[(Question put and agreed to)]
Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I beg to move that the County Allocation of Revenue Bill (Senate Bill No.16 of 2023) be now read at a Third Time. I also request the Vice-Chair of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, Hon. Mary Emaase to second.
Hon. Mary Emaase. Kindly, give her the microphone.
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. As I second, I also wish to reiterate that county governments must make sure that the monies that this Bill is seeking to be released from the Consolidated Fund is utilised for the intended purposes. The pending bills should be given first charge so that we do not have our contractors being auctioned, loosing businesses and committing suicide. The county governm…
[(Question proposed)]
Put the Question!
The tradition is that between the proposal and the putting of the Question, I should resume my seat and look at both sides. I do not know whether that tradition has changed in the last ten years I have been out of this House. Hon. Members, I want to recognise the presence of students from a very good and well- known national school. They are students from Mang’u High School, who are seated in the…
[(Question put and agreed to)]
[(The Bill was accordingly read a Third Time and passed)]
[(Applause)]
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I feel indebted to thank Members. What we have done today is a culmination of a very long journey we started last year in terms of the Budget-making process. This House considered the entire process, which included the Budget Policy Statement (BPS) and the Budget Estimates, and we have now approved the Appropriation Bill. I want to thank Members for their invalua…
Hon. Ruku, are you on a point of order or you want me to give you an opportunity to say something? Proceed and say something. However, it must have nothing to do with the business that we have already transacted.
[(Hon. Ruku spoke off the record)]
Hon. Temporary Speaker, this is a House of records. I want to go on record as having said that a community known as Mbeere has been discriminated against in the Equalisation Fund …
Order, Hon. Ruku! You were supposed to do that during the general debate. Order, Hon. Members! Hon. Members, freeze.
I also want to thank Hon. Members on behalf of the Chairperson's Panel for a very interesting debate that was clearly full of content. I have seen many debates in this country’s Parliament for a very long time but I have never seen one as engaging and brilliant in many senses as the one we have had. I am encouraged and I can see the future of our country and of young budding leaders who are here n…
[(Applause)]
Hon. Members, the time being 1.23