Senate · Afternoon Sitting

Clerk, do we have quorum? Serjeant-at-Arms, kindly ring the Quorum Bell for 10 minutes. We do have quorum now. Clerk, you may proceed to call the First Order. The Chairperson Standing Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations, proceed.

[(The Clerk-at-the-Table consulted the Chair)]

[(The Quorum Bell was rung)]

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to lay the following Paper on behalf of the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on National Cohesion, Equal Opportunities and Regional Integration today, Tuesday, 3rd June, 2025- Report of the Standing Committee on National Cohesion, Equal Opportunity and Regional Integration on implementation of the Senate Resolution on the current State of the Nation made on Wednesday,…

Next Order. The Senate Majority Leader, you may as well give notice for both Motions.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise to give notice of the following Motion- THAT, the Senate adopts the Report of the Standing Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations on a Petition to the Senate by Mr. Laban Omusundi concerning the branding of public projects with images of Governors and Members of the County Assemblies (MCAs) and the branding of county vehicles, laid on the Table of the Sen…

Next Order. Statements pursuant to Standing Order No.53 (1) . Senator for Kitui County, the Hon. Enoch Wambua, proceed.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. With your permission, I will read the two Statements. I rise pursuant to Standing Order No.53 (1) to seek a Statement from the Standing Committee on National Security, Defence and Foreign Relations on a matter of countywide concern regarding the resurgence of banditry in Kitui County. In the Statement, the Committee should address the following-

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise pursuant to Standing Order No.53 (1) to seek a Statement from the Standing Committee on Roads, Transportation and Housing on a matter of national concern regarding the restriction of the number of passenger seats by Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines on their direct flights to Moi International Airport, Mombasa. The Government heeded the Coast Region Stakeholders' call fo…

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I rise pursuant to Standing Order No. 53 (1) , to seek a Statement from the Standing Committee on Labour and Social Welfare on a matter of national concern regarding the dignity, welfare and protection of the boy-child and the men in Kenya. Kenya faces a growing crisis of neglect and marginalisation of the boy child and the men, reflected in rising school dropout rate…

struggles. This has been worsened by the lack of support systems and the silence around sexual and gender-based violence against men. While the empowerment of the girl-child has progressed commendably, the boy- child has been left behind, creating a generation struggling with dignity, identity and hope. In the Statement, this Committee should address the following-

Hon. Senators, I will allow comments on the Statements as sought for a maximum of 15 minutes. If you have an opportunity to speak, kindly keep it under three minutes.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, thank you for this opportunity. I want to quickly comment on the Statement by the Senator for Kitui County, Sen. Wambua, on the issue of the Kibwezi Road. Particularly, I commend his courage to have brought a comprehensive Statement for the Senate to understand the issue of the Road Bond. This Road Bond that has been taken is Kshs175 billion. We loosely hear of the fact that abo…

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

Proceed, Sen. Joe Nyutu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I rise to comment on the Statement made by the Minority Leader, Sen. Enock Wambua of Kitui County, regarding banditry that has resurged in Kitui County. It is important that we call out the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration, who is responsible for internal security. We cannot afford to continue having security problems while we have the necessa…

Proceed, Sen. Beatrice Akinyi.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise to support two Statements by Sen. Enock Wambua and Sen. Mwenda Gataya. I will start by congratulating the great people of Homa Bay County. Last Sunday, Madaraka Day was celebrated in my county of Homa Bay. I thank our people for the show and demonstration of patriotism. They came in large numbers, Mr. Speaker, Sir. A number of them came on foot. They have been so happy. …

of people. I must join in mourning the loss of the priest that was murdered the other week as a result of banditry. I condemn the act and support this Statement. Lastly, I support that boys and men must be protected in this Republic. We support that both boys and girls must live in dignity. I support these two Statements. Thank you to the great people of Homa Bay County. Thank you.

Proceed, the Senate Majority Leader.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to comment on the Statement by Sen. Wambua on the resurgence of banditry in Kitui. This is not an isolated incident. There has been an increase in banditry activities. Of course, the more famous ones are the ones happening in the Kerio Valley and the battle that is ongoing there. Now, we hear these reports of what happened in Kitui. Last weekend on the border between Ken…

Proceed, Sen. Essy Okenyuri.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I wish to support the Statement by Sen. Wambua. The current issue he is actually highlighting is not appearing for the first time. The Ministry now needs to take stern actions to ensure they stop whatever is happening within that area. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I also wish to support the Statement by Sen. Mwenda Gataya Mo Fire on neglect of the boychild. I would use the forme…

words on not being successful when playing half a team. This Statement calls on us to refocus on looking at the kind of families we are bringing up because the future of this country is at stake. I personally come from a conservative community, which for a very long time celebrated the boychild for purposes of having continuity of our generation. However, whatever we are seeing directly has a rela…

Next Order.

Debate on this Motion had concluded. What remained was for the Chair to put the question, which I will proceed to do. Clerk, do we have the requisite quorum? I will, therefore, proceed to put the question. Next Order.

[(The Clerk-at-the-Table consulted the Speaker)]

[(Question put and agreed to)]

The Chairperson, Standing Committee on Finance and Budget, you may proceed to move the Motion. Sen. Osotsi, what is your point of order all about? You are out of order, Sen. Osotsi. You can only rise on a point of order to point out a disorderly conduct of a Senator who is on their feet. It certainly cannot be a point of order. You may proceed.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have a very important matter to raise. Standing Order No.38 allows us to temporarily suspend a sitting. The practice has been that when we have a matter of serious importance like the one we are about to discuss, so that we can give us some time to discuss and get a consensus. I have noted that the Motion before us as written--- I am sure we have consulted including the meetin…

[(The Clerk-at-the-Table consulted the Speaker)]

[(Loud consultations)]

Order, hon. Senators. Yes, Senator for Kitui.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I have listened to what our colleague, Sen. Osotsi, has said. Sen. Eddy, you may want to listen to this. Mr. Speaker, Sir, maybe what Sen. Osotsi has said makes sense, but there is one thing that we, as leaders, must also get serious about. We agreed through a Communication from the Chair that we will have a Kamukunji this morning, where we were supposed to sit and ca…

[(Sen. Oketch Gicheru consulted loudly)]

Mr. Speaker, Sir, this is an important matter, but it is as important as the attention that we give to it. If we honestly wanted to deal with this matter, all of us should have been here at 7.00 a.m., to address this issue. There is business that is pending in the Order Paper for so long. If we keep adjourning debate to deal with issues that people are not very keen on dealing with, then I do not …

The Majority Leader.

If I can probably provide a way out and for the comfort of Sen. Osotsi, Sen. Kinyua and the rest of the Members that I know have a position they are trying to canvass. First of all, I associate myself with the comments of Sen. Wambua. It would have been important that you be here today in the morning as a sign of commitment to your constituents because we had a lengthy discussion. However, that i…

We will lastly hear from the Senator for Nairobi City County.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I do not understand the anxiety from some of our colleagues. I do not know what we have said or done to make them believe that we cannot be persuaded. I am personally here to be persuaded by the arguments that are advanced on this Floor. If you remember, the first time this matter was supposed to be on the Order Paper, you gave a communication and said that you wanted an opportun…

To the credit of the Committee on Finance and Budget, they have organized forums for us to have this conversation twice, including this morning. I did not see my Deputy Party Leader in that meeting. The way forward that has been given by the Senate Majority Leader will solve the problem for us. Let us hear from the Committee and everybody. Let us try to persuade each other. Personally, I do not l…

Hon. Senators, let us make progress on this matter. Sen. Osotsi, you had the opportunity to speak, allow the Chair to give the way forward. Hon. Senators, if you remember, when this matter came up, I listened to the concerns of hon. Senators and we agreed that it was important for us to engage more substantively before this particular Motion was moved. It is over one month since I made that comm…

[(Sen. Osotsi consulted loudly)]

Senator for Murang’a? I thought he was in the House. The Senator for Kirinyaga, would you be so kind as to welcome the students?

Senator for Murang’a? I thought he was in the House. The Senator for Kirinyaga, would you be so kind as to welcome the students?

Asante, Bw. Spika wa Muda, kwa kunipa hii nafasi. Kwanza, ninawakaribisha wanafunzi kutoka Kigumo Bendera kwa niaba ya Seneta wa Murang’a ambaye ametoka nje kidogo. Murang’a ni mojawapo ya kaunti iliyotoa watu mashuhuri ambao wamewakilisha na kufanyia Kenya hii kazi nzuri sana. Kwa hivyo, wanapoendelea na masomo, wajue kesho yao, wanaweza kuwa Seneta katika Seneti hii ama hata Rais wa nchi hii. …

[(Resumption of debate on Motion)]

Thank you, Senator. Sen. William Kisang’.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I also rise to make my comments on this Motion. I confess that I was present in the first kamukunji. Today, I was here by 7.30. a.m. because of this important Motion and the kamukunji we had in the morning. In fact, I had to leave the burial of the priest who was killed, which is taking place today in Nandi. However, I attended the requiem mass yesterday in E…

Sen. Edwin Sifuna.

demonstrating my point that people think these counties exist to serve the dominant communities in those regions. The last question I want our colleagues from these counties to answer is if we are indeed amenable to meeting your request, so that we avoid those instances we have given. Where every single resource that goes to the county is still going to end up in personnel emoluments and governor…

demonstrating my point that people think these counties exist to serve the dominant communities in those regions. The last question I want our colleagues from these counties to answer is if we are indeed amenable to meeting your request, so that we avoid those instances we have given. Where every single resource that goes to the county is still going to end up in personnel emoluments and governor…

Thank you, Senator. Sen. Mungatana, please proceed.

that they can add one more per cent landmass which we then changed and called geographical area so that it covers water. I also said that the poverty index should go from 12 to at least 13 per cent to add another 1 per cent. Nonetheless, when we sat with colleagues here and discussed, most of the colleagues were showing that 11 counties were going to lose money. We must speak as Senators of the R…

to the logical conclusion. Let us not look at this matter in terms of what is my county getting. We agreed in the morning that we are going to speak as Kenyans and not according to our counties such as Tana River and other counties. We said that we will carry all of us and because of that spirit, we conceded. We agreed that whatever amount will be allocated, we should set aside Kshs2 billion to c…

to the logical conclusion. Let us not look at this matter in terms of what is my county getting. We agreed in the morning that we are going to speak as Kenyans and not according to our counties such as Tana River and other counties. We said that we will carry all of us and because of that spirit, we conceded. We agreed that whatever amount will be allocated, we should set aside Kshs2 billion to c…

Sen. Mungatana, do you want to be informed by Sen. (Dr.) Murango?

Yes, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I want to be informed.

Mstahiki Spika wa muda, katika falsafa yangu, nilisema ya kwamba katika siku mbaya, siku ya aibu ya kuku, upepo ambao unafungua kuku manyoya na kuiacha uchi huwa unatoka nyuma. Nilipeana mfano wa wale ambao watakuja nyuma na kuongea mambo mengi kwa sababu hawakuwa kwenye mkutano. Asante sana.

improve on the formulation that we agreed on in the morning. If it was there, we would have seen it on the Order Paper, something would have been circulated or the Chair would have told us. I do not know. I can see a paper. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, unless there is a tremendous improvement on what we did, I think the morning formula was the best. We took care to make sure no county has lost. We…

improve on the formulation that we agreed on in the morning. If it was there, we would have seen it on the Order Paper, something would have been circulated or the Chair would have told us. I do not know. I can see a paper. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, unless there is a tremendous improvement on what we did, I think the morning formula was the best. We took care to make sure no county has lost. We…

Proceed, Sen. Osotsi.

Madam Temporary Speaker, when you talk about the Employment Act, the amendment to this is basically trying to define the keywords like who is an employee, who is an employer and other terms like business process outsourcing. It also sets out the obligation of business process outsourcing companies. These are companies which are established here to offer services, mostly customer-related services t…

Madam Temporary Speaker, when you talk about the Employment Act, the amendment to this is basically trying to define the keywords like who is an employee, who is an employer and other terms like business process outsourcing. It also sets out the obligation of business process outsourcing companies. These are companies which are established here to offer services, mostly customer-related services t…

Hon. Senators, there is no other speaker. I would like to thank Sen. Osotsi for your contribution to this Bill. This debate can continue tomorrow.