Senate · Afternoon Sitting

Clerk, establish if we have a quorum. Kindly ring the Quorum Bell for five minutes. Senator, you know we are properly constituted. Yes, I am in charge but I can only hear you outside the purview of the proceedings. Proceed as we wait for quorum.

[(The Quorum Bell was rung)]

[(Sen. Cheruiyot spoke off record)]

[(Sen. Cheruiyot spoke off record)]

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I know the provision of the Standing Order very well. However, I request you to exercise Standing Order No.1 in the following order. You are aware that more than three-quarters of the Members of this House are in Juba for a Parliamentary event. This is a situation where there are two sittings of Parliament going on concurrently. It will be wrong for us to calculate the quorum of…

[(Laughter)]

few days; today and the whole of next week, when there will be two concurrent sessions of Parliament going on as long as there are satisfactory number of Members of Parliament as it is right now? Otherwise, it will be difficult to have the 15 Members here in Nairobi given the popularity of the Juba sittings. Thank you.

The Senate Majority Leader, I wish you can raise that issue when we have quorum for me to make a determination, going forward. Absolutely. Kindly ring the Bell for another 10 minutes.

[(Sen. Cheruiyot spoke off record)]

[(The Quorum Bell was rung)]

Kindly ring the Bell for a further 10 minutes. Hon. Senators, we now have quorum. We shall proceed with the business of the day. First Order.

[(The Quorum Bell was rung)]

Thank you, Mr. Speaker Sir. I was starting to get worried that you would not get to acknowledge our visitors from Emerald International School. I join you in welcoming them to the Senate. We had an interesting conversation with them this afternoon. I assure the House that they have enjoyed their time here. The school is situated in Dagoreti South. These children have very serious clarity of mind …

their school which is just near Lenana School. If you have been there, you know that the road is in a very serious state of disrepair. There are concerns about what we are doing as a House to conserve the environment. Many of them have had an opportunity to visit the Nairobi National Park and they have told me that they would like to see that Park protected and sustained for future generations. …

[(Laughter)]

The hon. Sen. Wahome Wamatinga, kindly give notice of the Motion.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to give notice of the following Motion- THAT, AWARE THAT the majority of highway users, most of whom are long distance travellers and some of whom are children, elderly and sick, face a myriad of challenges including traffic delays and breakdown of their vehicles that cause them to spend long hours on the road exposing them to starvation, insecurity threats and to the need …

parking spaces, restaurants, telephone booths, minor repair shops, medical facilities and toilets enhances total travel experience and the lack of these points make it impractical for drivers to stop as often as they would wish to resulting into driving- related fatigue, a significant contributor to accidents on the highways. COGNIZANT THAT the current road-side amenities operated and maintained b…

Next Order.

Sen. Kibwana, please proceed.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for this opportunity. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise, pursuant to Standing Order 52 (1) to make a Statement on a matter of national concern regarding the prevalence inequity in the registration and issuance of National Identity Cards. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Constitution of Kenya under Article 12, guarantees every citizen access to any document of registration or identificati…

Those who fail to get their IDs on time, lose on accessing next level opportunities for their tertiary education. We have many needy students who would not go to any tertiary institution unless they have capitation or Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) that we currently provide. When they cannot access these funds, they fall out of school. You may know that to access HELB or capitation, one of …

This Statement is referred to the relevant Committee. The Statement by Sen. Murgor, Sen. Mwaruma and Sen. Faki are deferred to another date.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I rise pursuant to Standing Order No. 53 (1) to seek a Statement from the Standing Committee on Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights, of which I am also a Member, on access to justice for Ms. Ebbie Noelle Samuels who died under unclear circumstances at St. Anuarite Gatanga Girl’s School formerly known as Gatanga CCM Secondary School in 2019. In the Statement, the C…

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise, pursuant to Standing Order 53 (1) , to seek a Statement from the Standing Committee on Energy regarding the operationalization of the Lake Turkana Wind Power Project in Samburu County. In the Statement, the Committee should-

Hon. Senators, once Sen. Wakili Sigei makes his Statement, I will allow 10-minutes interrogations on the Statements made by Sen. Mumma and Sen. Wakili Sigei. We will combine that because the Statement Hour is already spent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I rise pursuant to Standing Order 53 (1) to seek a Statement from the Standing Committee on Labour and Social Welfare regarding claims of discrimination against locals in job opportunities by Bomet University in Bomet County. In the Statement, the Committee should-

Mr. Speaker Sir, as the Vice Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Roads, Transport and Housing, I represent the Chairperson. I am here to give this Statement pursuant to Standing Order No. (56) (1) . The Statement is on the collapse of buildings in the country, specifically in Kiambu County. Standing Order No. (56) (1) (a) provides that a Chairperson of a Committee may make a Statement relati…

What is your point of order, Majority Whip?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise under Standing Order No. 56

Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, was that a request or a point of order? You did not read my intention or what I was to do after she finishes. There are several requests and I was to start with Sen. Cherarkey. After that, you can make your request. There is actually no request from Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale. However, now I can see your request. Sen. Cherarkey, please proceed.

Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale is one of the ranking Members in this Parliament. He is our leader; maybe he is busy with national duties. However, I know he wanted to say something about this. Besides that, I thank the Vice Chairperson for the Committee of Road, Transport and Housing, Sen. Tobiko for that. I have been waiting and wondering why the Committee of Road, Transport and Housing does not do it suo …

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the danger is with the NCA. They must put their house in order. By the time a building is approved, it looks like corruption is walking, sleeping and sleep walking at City Hall here in Nairobi just like in Kiambu County. It behoves that our former colleague, Governor Sakaja must fire people in the planning department. By the time the building is approved to be constructed…

Hon. Senators, I have two or three requests and I want to give each Member two minutes. Please bear with me on this. Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, please, proceed.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is the law of undesired consequences. If you permit me, let it be on record that these are the consequences of us not fighting corruption; period! It cannot be by chance that for the last there, four, five years, this phenomenal is only seen in Kiambu and Nairobi. This is the time for the President, the Cabinet Secretary and the Governors of the two counties to move…

This fat, greedy tom cats that own these buildings should die again and again for the kind of murder that they have committed in the midst of poor families who pay a meager Khs5,000 to Kshs10,000 a month and they have nowhere to go. Majority of these people come from Kakamega County.

Senator, you have made your point on corruption. Proceed, Sen. Mumma.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I would like to thank Sen. Tobiko, the Vice Chairperson of the concerned Committee for raising this issue. When I spoke earlier on different matters, I spoke about national Government taking its role as the one that sets standards seriously. Just in one afternoon, you can tell that the national Government has gone to sleep as quacks and other unqualified practi…

Thank you, Sen. Mumma Sen. Wamatinga, you have the Floor. You are the last to debate.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I rise to support. It is common knowledge that sometimes back, we formed the National Construction Authority (NCA) which was mandated to oversight, not only the engineers, but also the contractors and regulate what they do. The purpose of having NCA was to oversight the private enterprises that engage in construction industry and ensure that they adhere to the …

Okay, thank you. Now, let us get the Statement from the Senate Majority Leader.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. Pursuant to Standing Order No. 57 (1) , I hereby present the business of the Senate for the week commencing Tuesday the 29th November, 2022. Before I proceed with the Statement, allow me to thank Hon. Senators for the consideration and passage of the County Governments Additional Allocation Bill (Senate Bill No. 4 of 2022) . I also applaud the Standing Commit…

today’s Order Paper will be prioritized for Tuesday the 29th November, 2022 and other business scheduled by the SBC. The Order Paper for Wednesday 30th November, 2022 and that one of Thursday, 1st December, 2022 will contain business that will not have been concluded on the Tuesday, 29th and Wednesday 30th November, 2022 respectively. Petitions, Motions, Statements and any other business schedul…

Thank you, Majority Leader. Next Order.

Let us move to the next Motion.

NOW THEREFORE the Senate urges the Ministries of Agriculture and Livestock Development; Water, Sanitation, and Irrigation; Education, and the Ministry of East African Community (EAC), the ASALs and Regional Development through the National Drought Management Authority, to come up with a policy framework to address the perennial drought in the County and to come up with policy programs addressing t…

The Mover is not here. Next Order.