National Assembly · Afternoon Sitting

Hon. Members, you recall that last week we honoured our hero, novelist Ngugi wa Thiong'o. I promised to give you time to eulogise him today. We will do so after Order No.11 because we will only put Questions in the other Orders. I will allow the Leader of the Majority Party to lead the House in the eulogy. It will be allocated 30 minutes. So, immediately after Order No.11, we will give 30 minutes …

Hon. Members, I wish to introduce to you a delegation comprising Members of an Ad-hoc Committee on Pension Scheme for Members of Parliament and the Parliamentary Select Committee on Employment, Labour Relations and Pensions from the Parliament of Ghana, who are seated in the Speaker's Row. They are:

[(Applause)]

and operations of the Pension Fund for Members of Parliament as well as the regulatory framework governing parliamentary pensions. Hon. Members, on my behalf and that of the National Assembly, I welcome them to Parliament and wish them fruitful engagements during their stay in the country. I thank you. As they say in Ghana, akwaaba. Next Order.

Hon. Members at the Bar, take the nearest seats. Hon. Tongoyo, where is your nearest seat? Hon. Members, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order No.41 (4) relating to Messages from the Senate, I wish to report to the House that I received a Message from the Senate, dated 29th May 2025 regarding the passage of the Division of Revenue Bill (National Assembly Bill No.10 of 2025) . The Message …

[(Hon. Gabriel Tongoyo stood in the gangway)]

Next Order.

Leader of the Majority Party.

Hon. Speaker, I beg to lay the following Papers on the Table:

Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, the Paper will be stayed because the Report has not yet been presented to the Speaker for approval. Chairman, Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs.

Hon. Speaker, I beg to lay the following Paper on the Table: Report of the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs on its consideration of the Report on Approval Hearings of Nominees for Appointment as Chairperson and Members of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) . Thank you very much, Hon. Speaker.

Thank you. Next Order. Hon. Murugara.

Hon. Speaker, I beg to give notice of the following Motion: THAT, taking into consideration the findings of the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs in its report on the Vetting of Nominees for Appointment as Chairperson and Members of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) , laid on the Table of the House on Tuesday, 3rd June 2025, and pursuant to the provision…

Thank you, Hon. Murugara. Hon. Members, allow me to acknowledge, seated in the Speaker's Gallery, students of Chebonei Girls High School from Bomet Central, Bomet County. In the Public Gallery, we have students from Oshwal Academy from Nyali, Mombasa; Kigumo Bendera from Kigumo, Murang’a; Sirua Aulo Junior School from Kilgoris, Narok; and Thua Secondary School from Kitui East, Kitui County. On my …

[(Several Hon. Members walked into the Chamber)]

Order, Mama Mombasa. Take your seat. Stop swaging. I did not know Hon. Zamzam could….

[(Laughter)]

Order Hon. Member for Naivasha. Take the nearest seat. Laikipia North, do the same.

Members on your feet, take the nearest seats.

We can also dispose of Order No.12. Clerk-at-the-Table, call it out. Is the Chairperson of the Budget and Appropriations Committee in the House? Leader of Majority Party.

Hon. Speaker, I beg to move the following Motion: THAT, the Senate amendments to the Division of Revenue Bill (National Assembly Bill No.10 of 2025) be now considered. Hon. Speaker, just a brief to Members. This Division of Revenue Bill, as approved by the House, had allocated approximately Ksh405 billion. However, the other House has since amended it and proposed an increase to about Ksh465 bill…

Therefore, having considered these factors, we believe it is only fair to reject the Amendments made by the Senate to allow us to proceed into early mediation. Therefore, I beg to move that the House rejects the Amendments by the Senate in totality. I request Hon. Wamboka to second.

Hon. Speaker, we want to reject these Amendments in totality.

Begin by saying, “I beg to second”.

[(Laughter)]

Hon. Speaker, I beg to second. Bearing in mind the fiscal space in which the country is currently operating, it is abnormal for anyone to propose an upward adjustment of these allocations. Therefore, I second Hon. Ichung’wah’s

Put the question. Put the Question.

[(Question put and negatived)]

Hon. Members, that vote invalidates the inclusion of Order No.13 on the Order Paper. Consequently, Order No.13 is hereby struck out from the Order Paper. It is now time for me to grant the House approximately 30 minutes to pay tribute to one of the greatest sons of this country in the literary world, the late Prof. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, whose books, I must say, I have personally read, each and every …

Hon. Deputy Speaker, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order No.44 (2) (c) , I rise to request for a Statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Agriculture and Livestock on implementation of Guaranteed Minimum Returns (GMR) to support coffee, tea, milk and macadamia farmers. Whereas agriculture remains the backbone of Kenya’s economy and a key driver of employment and ex…

It is against this background that I request for a Statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Agriculture and Livestock on the following:

Hon. Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Agriculture and Livestock, when will you give a response? Any Member of the Committee here? Okay, Hon. Deputy Leader of the Majority Party you can give an undertaking on behalf of the Committee.

I thought I saw Hon. Mutunga here.

Yes, he was here. He seems to have stepped out.

Alright. Probably we could do two weeks on the same. I will let them know.

Thank you. The next Statement is by Hon. Mary Maingi, Member for Mwea.

Thank you Hon. Deputy Speaker, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order 44 (2) (c) , I wish to request for a Statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Agriculture and Livestock regarding the status of rice importation into the country. Hon. Deputy Speaker on 26th May this year, it was reported that rice farmers in Mwea, Kirinyaga County are likely to suffer a loss of mor…

Hon. Deputy Speaker, it is against this background that I request for a Statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Agriculture and Livestock on the

Again, that is also for the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Agriculture and Livestock. He is still not here, so let us have the Deputy Leader of the Majority Party.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I will inform him to bring the Statement in the next two weeks. Much obliged.

Thank you. I think the next Statement is by Hon. Mishi Mboko, Member for Likoni.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order N.44 (2) (c) , I wish to request for a Statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Transport and Infrastructure regarding the status of upgrade of the Likoni Ferry Channel. Hon. Deputy Speaker, more than 300,000 people use the Likoni channel on a daily basis, which links Mombasa Island to Kwale County in the Sou…

The Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Transport and Infrastructure, is not present. Is there any Member of the Committee who can give an undertaking on behalf of the Committee? Alright, again this goes to the Deputy Leader of the Majority Party.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, I will inform Hon. GK, the Member for Ndia who is the Chairperson. So, that he can bring a response in two weeks’ time. Thank you.

Okay, before we go to your Statement Hon. Omboko. Allow me to recognise the presence of Lemek Namunyak Girls’ School from Narok West Constituency, Narok County. Also seated in the Public Gallery is Chepwostuiyet Secondary School from Chepalungu Constituency, Bomet County. I will call upon Hon. Mandazi the Member for Chepalungu to welcome the students on our behalf.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I take this opportunity to welcome all the schools visiting Parliament today, especially the school from my constituency, Chepwostuiyet Secondary School. I want to confirm that the students are very disciplined and hardworking. I welcome them to Parliament to witness what we normally do. That is legislation and representation of issues from various constituencies i…

Thank you. Hon. Omboko give your Statement, Sir.

Is the Chair of Departmental Committee on Education in?

No.

What about the Question? Hon. David Kiplagat, the Chair is not around, so what happens?

Hon. Temporary Speaker, I take it with a pinch of salt. Kindly, hear me out.

Yes.

When I requested for a response to this Statement, the prelude response from the Chair was a bit encouraging at that time. The Speaker ordered that the first day we come back from recess, he should be able to respond to this Statement. This is now the second week after recess. I have been sitting here purposely, waiting for that response but the reason I say I am taking it with a pinch of salt, is…

The On a point of information, Hon. Temporary Speaker. Temporary Speaker : What is your point of information, Hon. Keynan? Do you wish to be informed? In any case, he was on a point of order and therefore, you cannot inform a point of order.

[(Hon. Farah Maalim)]

Maybe I can finalise. I beseech you, Chair.

He wants to inform the House something.

I think he has given up.

No, he has not given up.

Hon. Temporary Speaker, if Hon. Kiplagat accepts, he is aware that today, there was a change of leadership at TSC. I am not in any way trying to advocate or talk about the absence or presence of Hon. Melly. The long-serving Commission Secretary, Ms Nancy Macharia, has exited today and passed the button to Eveleen Mitei. And because of the change, and considering the environment, I am sure Hon. Mel…

Order, Hon. Member. You made your point. Hon. DK, I direct that this matter be put on the Order Paper for tomorrow. I am sure Hon. Melly will understand the urgency, need and seriousness of the Chair on that matter. If he was told to have it on the first day Parliament resumed and this is the second week, I appreciate that he might be involved in something fairly significant in the teaching frater…

Is the Chair of the Departmental Committee on Health in?

Yes.

Where is he? Member for Seme, this is on challenges teachers and police officers face in accessing medical services under medical insurance. Is this under medical insurance? This Statement was sought by Hon. Muchangi Karemba, Member for Runyenjes. Is he around? Let us give Hon. Karemba the benefit of the doubt because he and I, along with the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Justice an…

[(Response to Request for Statement by Hon. Muchangi Karemba deferred)]

Hon. Temporary Speaker, I have the Response, but the Member is not around.

Most obliged. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

Is the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Lands in the House? Sorry, I meant the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Labour. Is he around? Hon. Mule, why not shout and say; “Yes”? You have a microphone in front of you. Is the Member for Nandi County, Hon. Cynthia Muge, in the House? I also direct that this Response to a Request for a Statement be deferred to Tuesday afternoon, n…

[(Response to Request for Statement by Hon. Cynthia Muge deferred)]

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

Let us just be fair to them. Is the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Lands in the House? Can you use the microphone next to you? Is that Hon. Machua Waithaka?

Hon Temporary Speaker, I am the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Lands.

What about Hon. Machua Waithaka, Member for Kiambu?

He is not around, but I confirm to the House that this Request for a Statement was answered on 5th December 2024. It is appearing on the Order Paper for the second time. I do not know how that came about.

Fair enough. It has to be expunged from the Order Paper because it has already been dealt with. Am I right? That matter has been addressed. (Response to Request for Statement by

Hon. Machua Waithaka was already answered) The last Response to a Request for a Statement is by Hon. Feisal Bader, Member for Msambweni. Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Lands, are you in possession of the Response to Hon. Feisal Bader’s Request for a Statement?

I request for seven more days. The Response to the Request for a Statement is not ready.

I direct that this Response to a Request for a Statement be put on the Order Paper for Tuesday afternoon, next week. Let us go back to Order 14.

[(Response to Request for Statement by Hon. Feisal Bader deferred)]

Hon. Members, this is resumption of debate. Hon. Bisau was on the Floor. He has a balance of eight minutes. If he is not in the House, we will open it up for debate. If you are interested to contribute you can press your button and if not, we can call the Mover to reply. Hon. Wamboka, is this your Motion? Are you ready to reply? There is no more interest. Kindly reply. Hon. Muthoni, I called twi…

[(A Member spoke off the record)]

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I will be very brief. I want to thank Hon. Wamboka and the entire Committee that came up with this Report. I listened to the debate on State corporations. If we are not careful, this country will go to the drain. I say so because the Report has revealed very worrying trends in our higher education institutions. One case in point is Kenyatta University. The Report…

Thank you. Member for Nyando Constituency, Hon. Jared Okello.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I also want to support this Report by the Public Investments Committee on Governance and Education. In line with what my colleagues have said, it is really a worrying situation that we compromise the quality of education through the report that has come on how the universities together with Technical Training Institutes (TTIs) are run. The best way to kill a soc…

Very well. Hon. Chairman, you can now reply.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, I beg to reply.

Firstly, let me sincerely thank the leadership of this institution, the National Assembly, starting from Hon. Speaker, the Clerk of the National Assembly, our Committee Clerk, Ms Christine Ndiritu, and my Committee Members starting with my able Deputy Chairman, Hon. Anthony Kibagendi, Hon. (Amb) Francis Sigei, Hon. James Wamacukuru, Hon. Maurice Bisau, Hon. Rebecca Tonkei, Hon. Alpha Miruka, Hon. …

Do you want to be informed?

Yes, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

It is purely because the line he is taking is like moving the Motion while this is supposed to be a reply. A reply is a response to what the

contributors have said and where you feel you need to clarify, otherwise, the line he has taken is like he is moving the Motion again.

I agree with you.

Hon. Murugara was not here when these issues were raised by Members. It is on that basis that I am clarifying that two Committees in the last Parliament reached a decision about this and up to now it has not been implemented. We are asking the Committee on Implementation to be firmer and to ensure that the running of the KIST institution goes back to the TVET itself. That is what we are saying. Ho…

We shall defer putting of the Question on that Motion. Next Order.

[(Putting of the Question deferred)]

Leader of the Majority Party.

Hon. Temporary Speaker, I beg to move that the Political Parties (Amendment) (No.2) Bill (Senate Bill No. 26 of 2024) be now read a Second Time. By way of introduction, the Bill seeks to amend the Political Parties Act 2011. As I set off, the import of this amendment is to replace the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties with the Independent Political Parties Regulatory Commission. That i…

and recommend appropriate constitutional legal policy reforms on issues of concern to the people of Kenya. At that particular time, when the NADCO Committee sat in the bipartisan talks, the talks were narrowed down to the following thematic areas. One of them was electoral justice and related matters; outstanding constitutional matters; fidelity to political parties or coalition parties and the l…

[(Laughter)]

We fund these political parties; they receive a significant amount of money but, we often do not see any activities from these parties. Frequently, only the Chairman, the Secretary- General, and a few members hold a couple of meetings and utilise these funds. If we are going to fund political parties and if they must continue receiving money from the Exchequer, we expect accountability from them. …

On a point of order.

Hon. Speaker, you cannot allow a point of order because I am moving the Bill. We want those parties, even if it is a village party with only three Members of the County Assembly in that village, to account for every cent they receive. This new subsection ensures that accountability is prime. Clause 7 of the Bill repeals and replaces the whole Section 33 of the Principle Act. This clause provides …

It seems as though the prevailing view is that law is the only profession of significance in this country. This is commendable legislation. Clause 7 also emphasises that the tenure of the office will be a term of six years; this aligns with the structure of independent commissions. Members will serve for six years and will not be eligible for reappointment, and they shall operate on a full-time b…

in their party, but let us collaborate and develop Kenya. We must respect our parties and stay there. I beg to move, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I request the legal counsel, the Member for Tigania, Hon. Murungaru, to second this important Bill. Thank you very much.

Hon. Owen is confused today between Tigania and Tharaka, and also between Murungaru and Murugara. It is Hon. George Murugara, Member for Tharaka. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker. Allow me to second the Political Parties (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill (Senate Bill No. 26 of 2024) , from the Senate. It has been ably moved by the Deputy Leader of the Majority Party, and from his speech, Members have learnt what this Bill is all about. For those who may not have fully captured the speech, please note that we have the Report of the Departm…

What is this commission all about? This is clause 7 of the Bill which seeks to amend section 33 by repealing the entire old section 33 and introducing a new section 33, and more sections that will follow to establish this commission. As I have said, it is purely an independent commission established by a statute. When it is independent, it means that it cannot be interfered with by anybody, unless…

will think about political parties’ overreach. Since they have their own constitutions as societies, then they are bound by those constitutions to act when they feel there is a breach. Political parties funding is a very important element of our budget especially when we shall budget for this office. Huge sums of money are supposed to be paid to political parties and there are huge arrears. This …

Hon. Catherine Omanyo, do you want to contribute to this Bill? Hon. Caroli.

[(Hon. Catherine Omanyo shook her head in disagreement)]

Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this Bill. I will begin by observing that the proposed Political Parties (Amendment) (No.2) Bill (Senate Bill No.26 of 2024) can only be described as one of the most insensitive Bills to public interest that I have ever seen on the Floor of the House. The Bill seeks to elevate the interests of the political…

On a point of order, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

What is out of order, Hon. Wamboka?

I rise under Standing Order 35 to notify the House that we do not have quorum, yet we are dealing with very serious issues. I beg that we continue…

Point taken. Serjeant-at-Arms, ring

Hon. Caroli Omondi, you will have the balance of your time the next time this Motion is on the floor. The catch is that you will have to be in the House. If you are not, you will then forfeit it.

[(Loud consultations)]