National Assembly · Afternoon Sitting
Wednesday, 8 April 2026
Members overwhelmingly supported the motion to establish the Kenya Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, highlighting its potential to boost innovation, create jobs and enhance Kenya’s economy. Hon. Kimilu and Hon. Shakeel also condemned the recent attack on Senator Godfrey Osotsi, urging respect for democratic discourse. The Temporary Speaker intervened to keep the debate focused on the motion. The Deputy Speaker opened the afternoon sitting, welcomed a group of students from local schools, and oversaw the laying of several committee papers and a motion on access to cancer care. Members also raised a request for a statement from the Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committee concerning the unexplained burial of a Kenyan domestic worker in Saudi Arabia, with a two‑week response deadline. The session was largely procedural with a focus on health, broadcasting, and foreign affairs issues. Members debated the lack of transparency around the leasing of sugar mills, demanding lease agreements, investment plans and valuation of assets, while also addressing concerns over growing arrears highlighted in the supplementary budget and the need for an audit. The Deputy Speaker mediated procedural disputes between Hon. Caroli Omondi and Hon. Mutunga, allowing further discussion and directing requests for statements. A separate general statement celebrated the issuance of the first birth certificate in Lamu East.
Sergeants-at-Arms, I direct that you ring the Quorum Bell for 10 minutes. We now have a quorum. We may proceed to the first Order. Hon. Chepkonga, before you lay Papers, I would like to recognise a group of students from Starehe Boys Centre and School, Alliance High School, and Loreto Convent Valley Road School present in the Speaker's Gallery. I wish to introduce you to a group of 10 students fr…
[(The Quorum Bell was rung)]
[(Applause)]
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. Let me take this opportunity to welcome the students from Alliance High School, Starehe Boys Centre and School, and the other two institutions. As is known in this House, I also attended Alliance High School. I urge the young men and women to take this opportunity to gain as many skills as possible and understand how Parliament works. In the next few years, you wil…
Hon. Chepkonga, you may proceed.
Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to lay the following Papers on the Table:
Next is the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Health.
Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to lay the following Papers on the Table: Reports of the Departmental Committee on Health on its consideration of:
Next is the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Broadcasting and Library Committee.
Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to lay the following Paper on the Table: Report of the Parliamentary Broadcasting and Library Committee on its participation in the 9th World Telecommunications Development Conference (WTDC) meeting held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 17th to 21st November 2025.
Next Order.
Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to give notice of the following Motion: THAT, this House adopts the Report of the Departmental Committee on Health on its consideration of Public Petition No. 21 of 2025 regarding access to healthcare by cancer patients in the country, laid on the Table of the House on Wednesday, 8th April 2026.
Is that all on the departmental committees? Parliamentary Broadcasting and Library Committee, do you have a notice of Motion or were you just laying a Paper? It is okay. Let us move to the next Order.
[(Hon. Daniel Nanok spoke off the record)]
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. It is a Request for Statement.
Oh, it is a Request.
Hon. Deputy Speaker, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order 44 (2) (c) , I rise to request for a Statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations regarding the circumstances surrounding the death and burial of the late Jesca Kashutu Ziro, a Kenyan citizen who passed away in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The late Jesca Kashutu Ziro, a…
The Request is marked to the Departmental Committee on Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations. Hon. Raso. No, he is the Vice-Chair of the Departmental Committee on Administration and Internal Security. Who is in the Departmental Committee on Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations? If nobody is willing to volunteer, I will nominate. Hon. Yusuf. Please, give an undertaking on behalf of yo…
We need two weeks, Hon. Deputy Speaker.
Okay. Thank you. Next is a Statement Request by Hon. Gideon Ochanda. Is he here?
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. Pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order 44 (2) (c) , I rise to seek a Statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Tourism and Wildlife regarding the persistent and escalating crocodile menace along the Lower Yala River, particularly in Yimbo North and Yimbo East locations. It is a matter of grave concern that for over three years, residents…
Thank you. The Request is marked to the Departmental Committee on Tourism and Wildlife. Is there a Member of that Committee here? Yes, proceed.
Thank you so much, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I will give a comprehensive response within the next two weeks.
On a point of order, Hon. Deputy Speaker.
Hon. Didmus Barasa, what is your point of order?
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I just want to inform Hon. Ochanda that, first, I am sorry that the crocodiles are wreaking havoc along Lower River Yala. Can he consider taking a group of fishermen from that area to go and benchmark with Tana River County, where people eat crocodiles, so that they know how to trap them? Crocodiles are food. They just need to know how to fish crocodiles as well. Th…
Thank you for the advice. I am sure Hon. Ochanda has noted your advice.
Hon. Deputy Speaker, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order 43, I rise to make a general Statement regarding the first birth certificate issued in Lamu East Constituency. On Wednesday, 8th April 2026, Lamu East Constituency recorded a significant milestone with the issuance of its first birth certificate within the Constituency. The achievement is particularly noteworthy given that, previou…
Give him the microphone.
Thank you, Mhe. Twalib. Mhe. Zamzam. Hon. Zamzam Mohammed : Asante sana, Mheshimiwa Naibu Spika. Nami pia nampongeza dadangu, Mheshimiwa Ruweida. Lakini kwanza kabisa, nampongeza Mheshimiwa Rais kwa kuwaona Wapwani kama Wakenya. Tumetengwa kwa miaka mingi sana. Hata kupata vitambulisho imekuwa ni shida. Mtu anaweza kuwa ameolewa, amezaa watoto, na hata ana vijukuu, lakini hana kitambulisho kwa sa…
[(Mombasa County, ODM)]
Mheshimiwa Raso.
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I wish to thank Hon. Ruweida for her Statement. For those of us who are minorities, come from distant places, and do not belong to the mainstream communities in Kenya, this is the time to identify ourselves properly as true Kenyans.
[(Applause)]
As the patron of the Pastoralists Parliamentary Group, I can affirm that this is the only Government that has declared that all Kenyans, irrespective of where they come from, must obtain identification cards and birth certificates. One cannot transact in Kenya without a birth certificate. Opening a bank account and attending college require these certificates; without them, one is essentially a s…
Next is the Member for Dagoretti, Hon. KJ. Mhe. John Kiarie : Asante sana, Mheshimiwa Naibu Spika. Ningependa kumpongeza Mbunge wa Lamu East, Mheshimiwa Ruweida, kwa sababu jambo aliloliangazia linawahusu Wakenya wote. Kwamba kuna maeneo ya nchi hii ambayo yamefanikiwa kupata rais wa kwanza, wa tatu, na wa nne. Lakini kelele hiyo ambayo Mheshimiwa anasema ni kelele ya chura tu, ambayo haiwezi kum…
[(Dagoretti South, UDA)]
Member for Dagoretti North, Hon. Beatrice Elachi.
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. Allow me to thank Hon. Ruweida of Lamu East for bringing this issue to our attention. This matter of identification cards is one in which the women of this country have suffered the most. A young girl who married at 16 struggles to obtain an identification card. She struggles to get birth certificates for their children, especially if she marries and later decides …
was not the right decision and leaves. Consequently, one finds women in the slums today still grappling to convince the officers to understand why, at the age of 20, 21, or 25, they do not possess a national identification card. Therefore, as we reflect on the Statement by Hon. Ruweida, we must urge the Government to ensure that any woman who married underage and is without a national identificat…
The last person I will give a chance to ride on this is Hon. Maungu.
Thank you very much, Hon. Deputy Speaker, for the opportunity to also ride on this statement. What Hon. (Capt.) Ruweida has articulated issues that are quite common in this country. There are sections of this country that were forgotten and designed not to belong to it. To get good reports, as we have heard today, is something to be applauded. She has talked about a birth registration centre. I kn…
through in trying to acquire a basic requirement like a birth certificate. The fact that the great people of Lamu can access a birth certificate in a nearby area is something that we should all applaud. On the same note, Luanda Constituency is one such constituency that never had a birth registration centre. My people would travel all the way from Luanda Town, known as Ochore village or Munungo vi…
I must commend Hon. Ruweida because oversight is not just criticising. It is also acknowledging when something good has been done. Next Order. Hon. Chepkonga.
Hon. Members, the time being
Published by Clerk of the National Assembly