Senate · Afternoon Sitting

Clerk, do we have quorum? We now have quorum. First Order.

[(Several Senators walked into the Chamber)]

Next Order.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I wish to give Notice of the following Motion - State of Food Security in Kenya. THAT, AWARE THAT Article 43 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, stipulates the rights of every person to be free from hunger, to have adequate food of acceptable quality, and to clean and safe water in adequate quantities; FURTHER AWARE THAT there is a prevailing food shortage in Kenya wh…

3) Coordinate with the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA), to do quarterly reports to the Senate on the drought situation in the country. 4) Subsidize agricultural production. 5) Establish abattoirs in ASAL Counties and further recommends that the National Treasury and Economic Planning increases funding to the National Drought Disaster Fund I hereby give Notice.

There is a Notice of Motion by Sen. Veronica Maina. However, pursuant to her request, that has been deferred to further Notice. Clerk, Next Order.

[(Notice of Motion Deferred)]

Sen. Cherarkey, proceed.

Mr. speaker, Sir, I rise, Pursuant to Standing Order No.52 (1) , to make a Statement on an issue of general topical concern and national importance, namely; Superb performance by Evans Chebet and Sharon Lokedi at the just concluded New York City Marathon. Mr. Speaker, Sir, Evans Chebet won the men’s title at the New York City Marathon held on 6th November, 2022, by clocking two hours eight minute…

validated the first grand slam in history for our nation on the world circuit. Our athletes have won all six events on the programme in 2022. Evans Chebet, who won in Boston, took two of them as Eliud Kipchoge, the renowned legend who comes from my county, won six in Tokyo and Berlin, on 25th September. Amos Kipruto, who also comes from my County, won in London on 2nd October and Benson Kipruto w…

Senator, are you debating your own Statement?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am concluding my remarks. I am not debating. It is unfair to ban the athletes only. The people involved in this doping issue such as the medical doctors and nurses, must have their licenses withdrawn. The hospitals and pharmacies that participate in doping must also be suspended or closed. The Director of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP…

Sen. Kinyua, proceed.

Asante Bw. Spika. Ninaunga mkono Taarifa hiyo. Ni vizuri hao wanariadha waliobobea watwikwe majukumu mengine. Wanaweza kuwa mabalozi ambao watapeperusha bendera yetu ughaibuni. Ni jambo la kuvunja moyo kwamba huwa tunawapongeza wakati huu lakini baadaye, utapata wanaishi maisha ya uchochole. Ni vizuri kwamba hata baada ya wao kufanya vizuri, wapewe mafunzo ya utumizi na uwekezaji wa hela zao. Wak…

Ni vizuri tumeweza kuwapongeza wakati huu, wala sio kuwakumbuka tu wakati wamekumbwa na shida. Ninaunga mkono alivyosema, Seneta wa Kaunti ya Nandi, Sen. Cherarkey. Amesema ya kwamba Serikali ichukue jukumu la kutumia hawa wanariadha kama mabalozi ili wawakilishe Kenya yetu katika sehemu wanazotembelea.

Sen. Mariam Omar, proceed.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I rise, pursuant to Standing Order 53 (1) , to seek a Statement from the Standing Committee on Health, regarding enrolment of residents of Mandera County to the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) and release of capitation to hospitals in the county. In the Statement, the Committee should-

Mr. Clerk, there is a technical hitch. I cannot see any of the Senators who would wish to contribute. How do I get to know? Proceed Sen. Cherarkey.

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

Thank you, Mr Speaker, Sir. I want to congratulate Sen. Mariam Omar, one of my committee Members, for this Statement. The issue of universal healthcare is very critical. As Kenya Kwanza, the Government has a plan on the same. NHIF should be available and accessible to every Kenyan. Everybody is aware that on the Fourth Schedule, one of the key functions is health. NHIF is trying to do its best i…

county governments and some busy bodies within the NHIF who want to take advantage of the problem. Mandera has more problems and they do not need the extra problem of somebody making sure that they cannot access the NHIF card. As you are aware, Mandera is one of the counties that is being ravaged by drought and famine. If it reaches this level where the county government does not do its job then …

Thank you Mr. Speaker, Sir. I rise to support Sen. Mariam Omar and support that the Statement be committed to the Committee on Health. Every time we hear issues to do with counties such as Mandera, Wajir or Tana River, we are always suffering from the same deficit of government service availability. I want to support my colleague in how she sought the Statement. I am asking the Committee on Heal…

Thank you Mr. Speaker, Sir. I wish to congratulate Sen. Mariam Omar for this Statement. I wish to state that health is a right. It is important that all Kenyans be provided with healthcare. There is a big problem with NHIF especially with the universal healthcare brought by the last government. A lot pf money went into it. If I remember well, universal healthcare was connected to NHIF. If you lo…

Thank you Mr. Speaker, Sir. I rise to support the Statement by Sen. Mariam Omar on this matter of NHIF. We have a serious issue with NHIF particularly on the reimbursements to public facilities. I say this having been the immediate former Governor for Uasin Gishu County, that there has been a trend that has been set by NHIF where public hospitals are not reimbursed regularly. The delay can take a…

The reimbursements from NHIF are the funds that sustain these facilities because those are the funds spent within those facilities. There is a serious problem looking at that trend because you will find that there is no inordinate delay in reimbursing private facilities. Therefore, my Committee is seized of this matter and we are going to look into it. I agree with the Senator for Nandi, Sen. Che…

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise to support Sen. Mariam Omar’s Statement. As said by Sen. Dullo, the right to health and access to that right is important that it actually supplements the basic right, which is the right to life. As a country, it is therefore important that we take the implementation of this right seriously. We have been talking about the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) . Election after e…

governor of Nairobi cannot go to Mbagathi Hospital but wants to go to the Nairobi Hospital, or if the governor of Nakuru needs to be flown to Nairobi in order to be taken care of but cannot go to the county facility that he is in charge of, then something is wrong. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (UK) and the President of India go to public hospitals. It is time we reorganized administra…

Let us now listen to Sen. Ali Roba.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise to support the Statement as shared by Sen. Mariam Omar and expounded on by Sen. Mumma, Sen. Mandago and Sen. Cherarkey. As counties are striving to improve service quality, over the past 10 years that we have had devolution, the health sector has tremendously improved. I am talking from experience in terms of where we were in Mandera County and where we are currently in t…

Statistical data indicates that in each of the 47 county governments, the highest budget allocation of the 10 ministries that county governments run, is the health sector. That is in terms of the allocations by county governments. So, there is no under investment under the circumstances with the limited resources that county governments get from the sharable revenue among county governments. We a…

Proceed, Sen. Veronica Maina.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the right to health is guaranteed under Article 43 of the Constitution. The fact that this right is guaranteed under the Constitution, means that it is an important right under the Bill of Rights where we have economic and social rights. I rise to support the Statement by Sen. Mariam Omar. It is sad that an institution like National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) can take public h…

I support the Statement and ask the Committee to put to task the NHIF on accounting for why they cannot improve their service to make healthcare an achievable right in Kenya.

This Statement stands referred to the relevant Committee for Consideration. Sen. James Kamau, you may proceed.

Mr. Speaker Sir, I seek your permission to go through the various Statements that I have consecutively.

Sen. Osotsi, you may proceed.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise pursuant to Standing Order No. 53 (1) ---

Sen. Osotsi, you had made a request. So, you are on your feet for the purposes of contributing to the just-delivered Statements. If you are not ready then, I will call the next statement.

Well guided Mr. Speaker Sir. Let me comment on one of the Statements by Sen. (Dr.) Murango on the issue of the distribution of food to people affected by the famine. I noted that he raised the issue of the system used in distributing this food. It looks like the system of identifying the beneficiaries is not efficient. That raises concerns because there was a recommendation from the International …

The Senator for Kirinyaga County has raise a critical issue. I ask the relevant Committee to move with speed and request sufficient information from the relevant Ministry so that we do not expose ourselves to corruption that is likely to arise as a result of this crisis disaster that we have. I commend the Senator for bringing this to the House. May I ask the Committee to quickly do a report to t…

Sen. Cherarkey, you may have the Floor.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving me this opportunity. Out of the many Statements that Sen. (Dr.) Murango has said, one that has struck me is on the Older Persons Cash Transfer (OPCT) . I commend because he is learning very fast and becoming very industrious. Secondly, it is very unfortunate because we all at some point shall get old. We will need the Government to take care of us except whe…

Our elderly people have served this Nation. Let us treat them with dignity they deserve by ensuring there is transparency and accountability. Finally, when this Committee sits, the Cabinet Secretary (CS) and the Permanent Secretary (PS) must tell us how much they have dispensed. They must state the number of elderly people dispensed to, who they are and their Identification Number (ID)in the last…

Sen. Ogola, you may have the Floor.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, allow me to just go straight to my point without deviating to the sentiments by the Senator of Nandi County. I rise to make a point on the Statement by the Senator for Kirinyaga, specifically about the OPCT. If there is anything the Government has done well and had good intention on, it was the OPCT. This initiative was started with the Grand Coalition Government to older perso…

Sen. Osotsi, you may have the Floor.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise pursuant to Order No.53 (1) to seek a Statement from the Standing Committee on Trade, Industrialization and Tourism, regarding the effects of Government austerity measures on the hotel industry. In the Statement, the Committee should-

Senate Minority Leader, proceed. The Senate Minority Leader (Sen. Madzayo) : Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. First, I congratulate my colleague for bringing this Statement. Secondly, it is not only in hotels as stated like the imminent closure of Hilton Hotel. As far as we are concerned, Hilton Hotel is an iconic hotel. It was among the first hotels we had in this country. It will be very unfortuna…

Kilifi and generally the whole Coast. It was a tourist destination. However, it has been neglected. I call upon the Ministry of Tourism to wake up. There is so much corruption in that Ministry. If the Government can concentrate on how we can rescue or bring back tourism in this country, then it will go a long way in creating job opportunities and having infrastructure in certain areas, as well as…

Kilifi and generally the whole Coast. It was a tourist destination. However, it has been neglected. I call upon the Ministry of Tourism to wake up. There is so much corruption in that Ministry. If the Government can concentrate on how we can rescue or bring back tourism in this country, then it will go a long way in creating job opportunities and having infrastructure in certain areas, as well as…

Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, proceed.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I congratulate Hon. Osotsi, the Senator for Vihiga County, for this important Statement. For a long time, agriculture was the main forex exchange earner for this country. Considering not too much thought has been put into it, this iconic status now been lost to unpredictable products like inflow of funds from Kenyans living in the diaspora. We need to take it more aggressively, …

Sen. Oketch Gicheru, proceed.

Tax collection in this country is what is putting us into serious problems. People are paying a lot of taxes in this country and those taxes can actually finance Government budget. However, there is a lot of leakages in our taxes such that they do not end up getting to the Government. Today, you want to take away Kshs300 billion from the hotel industry when actually tax collectors invest almost t…

Tax collection in this country is what is putting us into serious problems. People are paying a lot of taxes in this country and those taxes can actually finance Government budget. However, there is a lot of leakages in our taxes such that they do not end up getting to the Government. Today, you want to take away Kshs300 billion from the hotel industry when actually tax collectors invest almost t…

Proceed, Sen. Faki.

sababu ya wasiwasi. Sasa hivi, Serikali imepiga marufuku mikutano kufanyika katika mahoteli kama hayo. Bw. Spika, iwapo agizo hili litatekelezwa, itaamaanisha ya kwamba wale wawekezaji wa biashara za hoteli, watakosa kupata faida yoyote, mwaka huu wa 2022. Agizo hili litaadhiri uchumi kwa sababu mapato yanayotokana na utalii yataweza kupungua na hata yale malengo ya Serikali ya kukusanya pesa wal…

sababu ya wasiwasi. Sasa hivi, Serikali imepiga marufuku mikutano kufanyika katika mahoteli kama hayo. Bw. Spika, iwapo agizo hili litatekelezwa, itaamaanisha ya kwamba wale wawekezaji wa biashara za hoteli, watakosa kupata faida yoyote, mwaka huu wa 2022. Agizo hili litaadhiri uchumi kwa sababu mapato yanayotokana na utalii yataweza kupungua na hata yale malengo ya Serikali ya kukusanya pesa wal…

Proceed, Sen. Githuku.

Bw. Spika, asante kwa kunipa nafasi hii. Nachukua nafasi hii pia kumshukuru Sen. Osotsi, kwa kuleta Taarifa hii. Utalii ni kitega uchumi kikubwa cha Jamhuri ya Kenya. Mimi natoka katika Kaunti ya Lamu iliyopo katika Jumuiya ya Pwani. Sisi watu wa Lamu tunategemea sana utalii. Utalii ni jambo ambalo Lamu imejivunia kwa muda mrefu sana na sekta hiyo imeweza kuajiri vijana wengi katika Kaunti ya Lam…

Pursuant to that request, I direct that those Statements be deferred to tomorrow, 17th November, 2022.

Let us go to the next Order. The Senate Minority Leader (Sen. Madzayo) : Point of Order, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

Let us go to the next Order. The Senate Minority Leader (

Hon. Senators, I will allow the Senator for Kilifi to make his Statement. Kindly proceed. The Senate Minority Leader (Sen. Madzayo) :

Proceed, Sen. Mungatana, MGH.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I stand to support the request by Sen. Madzayo. The issue of demolitions that affect most people who do not earn a lot is a serious one. I can relate to that. In that particular case, there was no following of state laid down procedures. We know that every time an order for demolition comes from the court, the steps of implementation are very clear. That order should not to be e…

Senator for Kilifi, kindly approach the Chair.

[(Sen. Madzayo consulted with the Speaker)]

Asante, Bw. Spika, kwa kunipa hii fursa kuchangi Taarifa iliyosomwa na Seneta wa Kilifi Sen. Madzayo kuhusu shida iliyowakuba watu wa Kijiji cha Pindukiani, Kilifi Kaunti. Kisa kilichowapata watu wa Pindukiani kinaadhiri Wakenya nchi nzima. Watu tofauti wamepatwa na madhila haya kwa sababu wa mizozano ya mashamba. Migogoro ya ardhi hapa nchini imeongezeka. Kwa sababu ya mabwenyenye ambao wanatumia…

Sen. Abass, proceed.