National Assembly · Afternoon Sitting

The Chairperson, Departmental Committee on Environment, Forestry and Mining.

Hon. Speaker, I beg to give notice of the following Motion: THAT, taking into consideration the findings of the Joint Committee of the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Environment, Forestry and Mining and the Senate Standing Committee on Land, Environment and Natural Resources in its Report on the Vetting of Nominees for the Appointment as Members of the National Climate Change Council…

Thank you, Hon. Kamuren. Next is Hon. Duncan Mathenge.

Hon. Speaker, I beg to move notice of the following Motion…

It is to give notice.

Hon. Speaker, I beg to give notice of the following Motion: THAT, aware that the Betting, Lotteries and Gaming Act Cap.131 Laws of Kenya provides for the regulation of the gaming industry, including the control of betting, lotteries and gaming in the country; further aware that there is an emerging trend of media houses offering their audiences platforms to participate in betting through lottery-…

Thank you, Hon. Mathenge. Hon. Brighton Yegon.

Hon. Speaker, I beg to give notice of the following Motion: THAT, aware that Article 53 of the Constitution provides for the rights of children, including the rights to free and compulsory basic education; further aware that Section 22 of the Persons Deprived of Liberty Act and the Childcare Policy provide for a care of a child whose mother is deprived of liberty until the child attains the age o…

Thank you, Hon. Brighton. Hon. Members before I go to the next Order, allow me to acknowledge the presence, in the Public Gallery, of Mwiki Primary School, Ruiru Constituency, Kiambu County and St. Joseph School, Makadara Constituency, Nairobi County. On my behalf and on your behalf, I welcome the two schools to the House of Parliament. Next Order.

Hon. Jackson Lekumontare has approached the Chair and said he wanted to defer his Question. We cannot do it when the Member is present in the House. So, it is dropped. Question No.003/2023

Question No. 032/2023

Hon. Speaker is looking at the Government side. I am still a Member of the Minority side.

[(Laughter)]

Thank you, Hon. Kaluma. Question to be replied before the Departmental Committee on Education. Question No. 036/2023

The next Question 036 is by Hon. Hon. Opiyo Wandayi. I received a letter from Hon. Wandayi requesting that Hon. Robert Robert Mbui may ask this Question on his behalf.

Hon. Speaker, I beg to ask the Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury and Economic Planning, on behalf of the Member for Ugunja Hon. Opiyo Wandayi, the following Question: Could the Cabinet Secretary –

Hon. Speaker, I beg to ask the Cabinet Secretary for Lands, Public Works Housing and Development the following Question:

Question to be replied before the Departmental Committee on Lands. Thank you, Hon. Robert. Next Question 038 is by the Hon. David Kiplagat, Member for Soy. Does anybody know where the Member is? Question No.038/2023

Statement by Hon. John Machua, Member of Parliament for Kiambu.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I rise pursuant to Standing Order 259D to pay tribute to the late Hon. Grace Onyango, a distinguished Member of this House who passed away on 8th March 2023 at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital while undergoing treatment…

Hon. Members, the Statement being made by Hon. Machua is a very important one. The late Hon. Grace Onyango has the distinction of being the first woman ever to be elected to the House of Parliament.

[(Applause)]

Hon. Speaker, the late Hon. Grace Onyango was born on 26th June 1924 in the then Nyanza Province. She attended Ngi’ya Girls High School and later joined Vihiga Teachers Training College where she studied to be a teacher. After completing her studies, the late Hon. Grace Onyango returned to her alma mater, first to Ng’iya Girls High School where she worked as a teacher and later to Vihiga Teachers …

[(Daughter of the Bush)]

[(the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Parliaments)]

Order, Hon. Members. Will you, please, stand up?

(Hon. Members stood in their places and observed a minute of silence)

May her soul rest in eternal peace. I thank you, Hon. Speaker.

Thank you, Hon. Machua. Before I open the Floor for comments, allow me to welcome and recognise a delegation of staff from the Human Resource Department of the Parliament of Uganda, seated in the Speaker’s Gallery. They are welcome to observe the proceedings of the House. Those who want to comment on this, please, press the intervention button. Hon. Martha Wangari, Gilgil Constituency. I will giv…

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I want to thank Hon. Machua for being a leader and for seeing the late Hon. Grace Onyango not just as a regional leader and teacher, but also as a national icon. I support that Statement that she should get a State funeral because she opened many doors not only for women but also for teachers. She was a great balancer of life. She was the first Mayor with six children. No…

Hon. Speaker, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order 44 (2) (d) , I rise to make a Statement as the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Housing, Urban Planning and Public Works regarding construction of 100 affordable housing units at the constituency level. Article 43 (1) (b) of the Constitution provides that every person has the right to accessible and adequate housing, and to re…

Land in Kenya and urban areas has become extremely expensive to the rural poor to acquire causing sprouting slums. A very big percentage of city dwellers, especially in Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa, Nakuru, and Eldoret are living in slums. That means that they cannot afford to live in modern houses as specified in the Constitution. Nairobi has the biggest slum in East and Central Africa called Kibera.…

Hon. Johana Ng’eno, when you are given an opportunity to give a Statement to the House, read the Statement and do no more.

Exactly, Hon. Speaker. That is what I am doing.

You are berating your Statement.

Thank you for the guidance. I am not finished.

[(Laughter)]

Yes, Hon. Omboko Milemba. Give Hon. Milemba the Floor.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I thought we had a similar challenge last week. All this is coming under the Statements by the Chairman, which is provided for in the Standing Orders. Somewhat, it is as if the Statements were not approved by you, because they end up debating them. Thank you because you have directed accordingly that the Statement should be read as approved by the Hon. Speaker.

Well guided, Hon. Speaker.

Hon. Johana, the Hon. Speaker approved your Statement. My expectation and that of the Standing Orders is that you read the Statement as it is. You are spent when you finish. You are in no capacity to debate your Statement.

Well-guided, Hon. Speaker. I have not finished. I have not even debated. I am just reading.

Okay.

Hon. Johana Ng’eno, I give you two minutes to wind up.

Well guided. You approved this Statement. I have to finish it. Through the Budget and Appropriations Committee, my committee requested for a budget of Ksh6 billion in the Supplementary Budget of 2022/2023 to catalyse housing construction and achieve quick wins during the first phase of the programme. Through the Budget and Appropriations Committee’s Report on the Supplementary Estimates I, the Ho…

Disability (PWDs) and other affirmative action groups in readiness to take up and grab the opportunities in the upcoming housing projects. Last but not the least, labour for the projects will be ring-fenced so that workers will be recruited from local areas where the projects are located. The programme will adopt the affordable housing programme approach to utilise the Jua Kali sector and MSMEs i…

Thank you, Hon. Johana Ng’eno, Chairman. Well-done. The next Order is by the Chairman to the Public Debt and Privatisation Committee, Hon. Shurie.

Hon. Speaker, I beg to move the following Motion: THAT, this House adopts the Report of the Public Debt and Privatisation