National Assembly · Afternoon Sitting

Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to move the following Procedural Motion: THAT, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order 120, this House resolves to reduce the publication period of the following Bills:

Proceed, Hon. Wangwe.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I rise to second the Procedural Motion. As Hon. Baya has clearly indicated, it is important at times for us, as Parliament, to look at where we are. The situation we are in today calls for us

one day, respectively. This will give room for flexibility, as indicated by the Deputy Leader of the Majority Party. I second.

Put the Question!

I can see that it is the mood of the House that I should put the question.

[(Question put and agreed to)]

On a point of order, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

What is your point of order, Hon. Ruku?

Hon. Deputy Speaker, the centrality of the Constitution is public participation. Public participation is extremely important, as provided for in the Constitution. My opinion is that this House is negating this key principle of public participation by approving the reduction of publication period for the Bills. Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

Hon. Ruku, you have jumped the gun. After this, the Bills will be subjected to public participation. The Committees will have about two months to consider the Bills. I think your fears are unwarranted. I think he is satisfied now. Thank you. Let us move to the next Order.

[(A Member spoke off the record)]

Member for Jomvu, Hon. Bady Bady. Your name reads like that on the screen.

Naibu Kiongozi wa walio Wengi, endelea.

Asante sana, Mhe. Naibu Spika. Nimefurahi na kwa heshima ningependa kuwasilisha haya makaratasi kwa Meza ya Bunge: Hon. Temporary Speaker, I have to switch to English.

Order! The Standing Orders are very clear that when you start your presentation in Swahili, you have to continue in Swahili and the same applies to English.

Asante sana, Mhe. Naibu Spika. Ningependa kuwasilisha haya makaratasi kwa Meze ya Bunge:

La! Shule ya Upili ya Mombasa.

Asante Mhe. Spika wa Muda. Ninafurahi na kwa heshima ningependa kuwasilisha makaratasi haya kwa Meza ya Bunge.

Order. The rules are very clear that if you start in Kiswahili you will have to speak Kiswahili throughout. If you start in English, you end in the same language.

Ninawasilisha:

Endelea.

Mhe. Spika wa Muda, hii Ripoti ni ndefu na imeandikwa kwa lugha ya Kiingereza. Ningekuomba, kufikia pale 19 kwa ruhusa yako maalum, niendelee kwa lugha ya Kiingereza ili tufanye haraka.

Asante sana.

Before I move to the next order, I want to recognise the presence in the Public Gallery of pupils from Soin Primary School in Moiben. The boys and girls who are here have come to see how the legislative leadership of this country is transacting business. For sure, they are going to be the leaders of tomorrow and it is a good thing that they are here. I am going to give this opportunity to the Memb…

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for allowing me to welcome students from Soin Primary School in my constituency. They are students who just finished their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examinations and passed exemplarily well. I thought it was important to give them an opportunity to come to Parliament to see where laws are made. It will help them improve their decisions on what…

Next Order.

Hon. Temporary Speaker, the Member I was consulting with is the one who requested for the Statement. I am happy to report that one body has already been retrieved. The search for the other one is ongoing. The Ministry has reached out to the county government to help with divers to continue helping the families to retrieve the body of their loved one. It has been established that 20 lives have bee…

Hon. Members, the Chairman of the Departmental Committee on Administration and Internal Affairs will be heard in silence. Order, Hon. Members.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. We are glad to report that one body has already been retrieved and the search for the other one is ongoing. The County Commissioner and the office of the National Government Administration Officers (NGAO) are in collaboration with the county government to help look for divers to continue looking for the other body. An ideal lasting solution is to provide a footb…

Hon. Kemei.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I thank Hon. Chairman for that response. I had three concerns but the third concern has not been addressed. What plans are in place to address compensation for the families of the victims? He has mentioned one of the comprehensive measures; to have the footbridge or footbridges because it is not one place. We need them from Sigowet/Soin to Bureti Sub-county cross…

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I am guided. I believe this will be done. I will give an opportunity to Hon. (Dr) Makali Mulu. He will be followed by Hon. Justice Kemei, Member for Sigowet/Soin.

Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I have listened to the response of the Statement. We thank God because one body was found. Communities and parents are going through a very hard and traumatising time as a result of what is happening in the country. Too many people have been washed away by floods because most rivers do not have bridges. The proposal to construct these bridges is importa…

Hon. Temporary Speaker, this is a national issue. The issues we are raising here are just a fraction of the whole. The responses we are getting are also in small bits. If we leave alone this case in Kericho, the issue of floods and unpassable bridges affects the entire country. For example, people are carried away by floods in River Enziu every single time we have floods. Before the long rains thi…

Hon. Tongoyo, just take a minute to respond so that we move to the next Statement.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. We all know that this did not happen only in Kericho. There are many more cases, especially as a result of the ongoing El Nino rains. The National Emergency Response Team deals with such problems globally. This is an issue that the Government has to speedily take action to see that there will be concerted efforts between both levels of government. The county gove…

On a point of order. What is your point of order, Hon. David Kiplagat?

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I requested a Statement from the Departmental Committee on Administration and Internal Affairs more than two weeks ago. The Speaker ordered the Chairperson to… Unfortunately, that is a different matter.

No. It is a pertinent issue because a business lady lost her life. As we speak, robbers also clobbered one of the businessmen in that area and he is currently fighting for his life in hospital. The Chairperson has not responded to the first request yet the same wave of crime is still ongoing in my constituency. This raises pertinent issues as to the management of the security situation in Soy Cons…

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I am well guided. It is true that indeed we wrote to the Ministry seeking a response. We did a follow-up yesterday and they told us that they were still putting pieces together in collaboration with the responsible security agents and the NGAO. When will you have that response so that it is noted and scheduled on the Order Paper?

We are breaking for recess, but we will follow the laid down procedures to relay it once we get it. Okay, I take note of that and I am sure you will do the needful. The next response is by the Chairperson for Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations, Hon. Nelson Koech. This is a response to a Statement sought by Hon. Janet Sitienei, the Member for Turbo.

Hon. Temporary Speaker, I seek your indulgence on the same. The Speaker directed that I respond to it before 6th December 2023. Unfortunately, I think there was a misstep in the communication between my committee clerk and the Office of the Speaker. It took my call to find out where the problem was. Fortunately, it was still at the Table Office and was handed over to my committee clerk yesterday, …

did not want a rushed response. I requested the Ministry of Defence to give a substantive response. We had not received any communication yet. Using your wisdom on when you will want the information made available, I am ready and willing to provide the information as soon as possible. It appears that it will only be possible after we come back from recess. I direct that it be given at the earlies…

Well guided, Hon. Temporary Speaker. We will skip Order No.11 and go straight to Order No.12. I understand that Order No.12 is time-bound and we have to dispose it of immediately.