National Assembly · 13th Parliament (2022–2027)

National Assembly Hansard — 12 October 2022 Morning Sitting

Wednesday, 12 October 2022 — Morning Sitting

Summary

The sitting opened with the Deputy Speaker addressing maiden speeches and procedural matters. The House passed a motion limiting debate time on motions. It then considered and debated the appointment of 15 Members to the Committee on Appointments, with contributions from the Leaders of the Majority and Minority Parties, points of order on oversight roles, and several maiden speeches from new MPs focusing on constituency issues and expectations for the new administration. The sitting featured multiple maiden speeches from new MPs focusing on local challenges like floods, unemployment, healthcare, insecurity and drought, alongside procedural debates and motions on appointments to the Committee on Appointments and the Committee on Selection. The sitting featured multiple maiden speeches from MPs representing Tarbaj, Kiambu County, Luanda, Mosop, Nambale and Chepalungu, highlighting local challenges including drought, unemployment, infrastructure, education, health and security. The House also debated the Motion on appointment of Members to the Committee on Selection, culminating in a point of order, reply by the Mover and deferral of the Question due to lack of quorum before adjournment.

Speakers in this sitting (69)

• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• Hon. Anthony Ichungwah · Jump to speech
• Hon. Opiyo Wandayi · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• Hon. Anthony Ichungwah · Jump to speech
• Hon. Benson Mulu · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• Hon. Benson Mulu · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• Hon. Anthony Ichungwah · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• Hon. Opiyo Wandayi · Jump to speech
• Hon. Timothy Wetangula · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• Hon. Timothy Wetangula · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• Hon. Opiyo Wandayi · Jump to speech
• Hon. David Ochieng · Jump to speech
• Hon. Opiyo Wandayi · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• Hon. Amos Maina · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• Hon. Titus Lotee · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• Hon. Joshua Oyongor Oron · Jump to speech
• Member for Kisumu Central · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• Hon. Gabriel Kagombe · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• Hon. Mohamed Bidu · Jump to speech
• Hon. Jeremiah Milemba · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• Hon. Anthony Ichungwah · Jump to speech
• Hon. John Mbadi · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• Hon. Anthony Ichungwah · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• Hon. Anthony Ichungwah · Jump to speech
• Hon. John Mbadi · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• Hon. Jackson Kosgei · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• Hon. Yussuf Farah · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• Hon. Opiyo Wandayi · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• Hon. Hussein Barre · Jump to speech
• Unknown speaker · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• Hon. Anne Muratha · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• Hon. Dick Oyugi · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• Hon. Abraham Kirwa · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• Hon. Geoffrey Mulanya · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• Hon. Victor Koech · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• Hon. Wilberforce Oundo · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• Hon. Anthony Ichungwah · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech
• The Deputy Speaker — Gladys Gladys Boss · Jump to speech

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Debate (87 entries)

Select a member's name for their speaking record. Hon. Members: marks the chamber speaking together. Speaker / Temporary Speaker labels are fixed on each contribution (Chair can rotate mid-sitting). Use [Expand] for brief details; floor counts exclude moderating turns.

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The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

Hon. Members, for your information, I know that as many as 200 Members did not have an opportunity to make their maiden speeches. I want to inform you that a maiden speech is a maiden speech, whether you do it today, tomorrow or in two months’ time. And as it is the practice of Parliament, you are normally given some leeway, no matter what the debate is about, to make your maiden speech within that particular debate. So, there is no cause to worry. Personally, I made my maiden speech two months after I joined Parliament and I had more than 15 minutes to do it. We can move on. Leader of the Majority Party.

Hon. Hon. Anthony Ichungwah(UDA · Kikuyu Constituency)

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. It is, indeed, true that a number of Members were not able to make their maiden speeches. I am really thankful to see Hon. Zaheer and other new Members in the House this early. I want to encourage our new Members. These are the very rare opportunities you will get to make your maiden speeches, especially during debate on procedural motions. I really want to encourage them to use the opportunity this morning. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to move the following Motion: THAT, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order 97(1), this House orders that each speech in a debate on any Motion, including a Special Motion, be limited in the following manner: A maximum of three hours, with not more than twenty minutes for the Mover and ten minutes for each Member speaking, except the Leader of the Majority Party and the Leader of the Minority Party, who shall be limited to a maximum of fifteen minutes each, and that ten minutes before the expiry of the time, the Mover shall be called upon to reply; and that priority in speaking shall be accorded to the Leader of the Majority Party, the Leader of the Minority Party and the Chairperson of the relevant Departmental Committee, in that order. For the benefit of new Members, these procedural Motions on limitation of time are customary, to allow ourselves to have adequate time for movers and seconders and to use the last 10 minutes to reply. When I was replying on the Motion on the Presidential Speech last night, close to 20 Members were asking me to donate a minute to each. I had only 10 minutes to make my reply. Therefore, it is good for new Members to note that at the conclusion of a debate, it is, indeed, possible for the Mover to donate a minute or two to another Member. If you are alone and had not had a chance to contribute, I could donate nine out of the 10 minutes to you and just say: ‘I beg to reply’, if I have nothing to say in response. Hon. Members will have at least 10 minutes to have their take on any Motion. I know there is a lot of enthusiasm to speak at the beginning of any session of Parliament but, with time, this dissipates. I want to encourage Members to take their time. The time to make your mark in the House is not in the middle of a session. It is usually at the beginning of a session. In your maiden speech, you will speak uninterrupted for 10 minutes or so. Without saying much, let me ask the Leader of the Minority Party, Hon. Opiyo Wandayi, to second this Motion.

Hon. Hon. Opiyo Wandayi(ODM · Ugunja Constituency)

Hon. Deputy Speaker, this being a procedural Motion, I will not say much. Before I second it, I want to associate myself with the remarks that have been made on the enthusiasm and interest of Members to make their maiden speeches on the Floor of this House and, indeed, to contribute to Motions. Since Monday, I have received numerous complaints from a number of Members about logging in, pressing the button and queuing for eternity. Some of them have made very interesting accounts that their positions on the queue kept shifting, moving from 2 to 10 to 15 to 30 and back to 10 and so on and so forth. I know that this can be an issue of technology. Hon. Deputy Speaker, you know from tradition and practice right from the 11th Parliament that we have a situation where the Speaker develops a practice of following the order of requests for making contribution, even though from time to time, he has to balance other interests of the regions, including the opposite sides. I want to plead with you that for us to start on the right foot, we should have an opportunity to explain to Members the criterion which is used to give them a chance to speak on the Floor of the House, so that there is no feeling or perception that there is some unfairness. That is basically what I wanted to say because I have received a lot of complaints from across the political divide, more so from my side of the Coalition. I hope that this is something that can be addressed amicably and without much ado. Two, you know that these Members are anxious to be seen talking. That is why they are here. Their constituents want to see them on the screens. They want to hear their voices discussing issues of national importance and their interests in the constituencies. I wish to second the Motion as moved by Hon. Ichung’wah. It is basically a matter of limiting time for debate, which is a practice and tradition. So, without further ado, I second the Motion.

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

Thank you, Leader of the Minority Party. Before I propose the Question, I agree with you that it is important for Members to understand the standard criterion which is used. We follow the order in which one logged in. There is also a question on whether numbers move back and forth in the request list. The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) team will look into that. Some Members complained that they were in the list and then suddenly, they were not there and their machines went off. Others could not log in at all. However, those matters will be addressed by the ICT Department. Members follow the order. However, yesterday being one of the first few days of Parliament, it was also important that if three Members from one region followed each other, then the only correct thing to do was to balance by skipping to the nearest one from a different part of the country, political party, and make sure that there was a gender balance. You saw that Hon. Tim Wanyonyi was right at the bottom, but we jumped to him because he represents a certain class. However, as we go along, we will improve. Members, we will look into that. Thank you.

(Question proposed)

Hon. Members: Put the Question.

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

Is it the mood of the House that we put the Question?

Hon. Members: Yes.

(Question put and agreed to)

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Topic

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

Leader of the Majority Party.

Hon. Hon. Anthony Ichungwah(UDA · Kikuyu Constituency)

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. Before I move the second Motion, it is worth noting that having passed that Procedural Motion, I believe that this Motion which is Order 9 is now subject to those timelines. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to move the following Motion: THAT, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order 204, this House approves the appointment of the following Members to the Committee on Appointments, in addition to those specified under paragraph (1): 1. Hon. Nelson Koech, MP; 2. Hon. (Ms.) Rahab Wachira Mukami, MP; 3. Hon. Dido Ali Raso, MP; 4. Hon. George Gitonga Murugara, MP. 5. Hon. David Gikaria, MP; 6. Hon. Ferdinand Wanyonyi, MP; 7. Hon. (Ms.) Mary Emaase, MP; 8. Hon. Abdul Rahim Dawood, MP; 9. Hon. Junet Mohamed, MP, CBS; 10. Hon. Caleb Amisi; 11. Hon. Stephen Mule, MP; 12. Hon. Abdi Shurie, MP; 13. Hon. (Ms.) Naisula Lesuuda, MP; 14. Hon. David Pkosing, MP, CBS; and 15. Hon. (Ms.) Mishi Mboko, MP, CBS; Hon. Deputy Speaker, it is imperative to note that this House ought to have approved this Committee within seven days upon the assembly of a new House. You know the challenges we had. We were unable to do that. However, pursuant to the Speaker’s directives in his Message on 6th October 2022, you remember that he indicated that we need to set up this committee by, at least, 12th October, 2022, which I believe is today. We are at, least, within time to have it in place. Hon. Members are aware that His Excellency the President also conveyed a Message to the House nominating for appointment certain persons to the offices of the Attorney-General, Secretary to the Cabinet and those who will take office as Cabinet Secretaries. For that to happen, Members are also aware that they must go through vetting. This is the Committee that is charged with that responsibility to consider those nominees for appointment as Cabinet Secretaries. It is quite a very important Committee that is set out in our Constitution. Article 152 (2) of the Constitution says that the President shall nominate and, with approval of the National Assembly, appoint Cabinet Secretaries. That being a constitutional obligation that has been given to this House through this Committee, then none of those Cabinet Secretaries, the Attorney General or the Secretary to the Cabinet will take office and transact business on behalf of Kenyans and the Government of Kenya, unless they are considered by this Committee and approved by the House. I can see the Leader of the Minority Party emeritus, Hon. John Mbadi, in a very animated conversation with somebody behind me. Let me also take this opportunity to thank the leadership of the Minority Party in the House. You remember, in the 12th Parliament, we considered nominees to Cabinet on one side of the political divide, without the participation of the Minority. My hearty congratulations go to the leadership of the Minority in the 13th Parliament because they have been very magnanimous and have exhibited very good leadership. When we met at the House Business Committee yesterday, we were able to go through the list of proposed names, from both the Majority and Minority parties. We agreed unanimously on the names that are here before the House. You will bear me witness that the names are not just of seasoned Members of this House. They include Members who represent various interests. They are with a very good regional, ethnic and religious balance, and other interests in the country. This is to make sure that we afford the people of Kenya the opportunity to follow. We do these things in a very transparent and accountable manner as a House. The people of Kenya will be able to follow us live on television as we vet the Cabinet Secretaries. Hon. Deputy Speaker, for the benefit of the members of the public, it is worth noting that the Office of the Clerk of the National Assembly has notified the public of all the details of the said vetting. What remains, therefore, is for this Committee to commence the necessary approval by this House. I believe that if there are any Kenyans out there who have a memoranda or anything that they would like to submit to the House and the Committee to consider during the vetting process, they know they have until Thursday this week to do so. I assure the country that this Committee will consider all memoranda brought before the House. We will be fair and just to everybody. Those who will submit memoranda will have a fair opportunity to be heard or their memoranda to be considered. Those about whom memoranda have been submitted will have an opportunity to be heard and have their say before the Committee. I do not want to belabour this point. Having passed the Procedural Motion, I am sure Members are eager to contribute. I encourage all of us to support this Motion. As I said, it is a Committee that we have agreed upon between ourselves in the Majority Party and my colleagues in the Minority Party. Let me, once again, commend the leadership of the Minority. This time round, in the 13th Parliament, they will participate in this process. This is the spirit we want to see going forward. As His Excellency the President did beseech the House, a bipartisan approach to issues is good. None of the nominees for Cabinet Secretary is assured of their job until the House approves them. Even as we approve these nominees, it is important to note that we shall soon be changing our Standing Orders to have whoever is approved as a Cabinet Secretary to appear before this House to answer questions, statements and matters of concern to members of the public. As we wish all the nominees all the best as they prepare to appear before the Committee on Appointments, I alert them that I am certain all these Members in the 13th Assembly are very eager to hold them to account on their actions in public and in private. I also tell them early enough that His Excellency the President has made it clear, at least, to those of us in the leadership, that he will allow Parliament to exercise its mandate without hindrance, undue influence and interference. We should relax when we see His Excellency the President appear for lunch. We must always remember that with the Deputy President, they are former Members of Parliament. It is good for them to interact with Members of Parliament. Having the Executive coming for lunch in the Legislature is one of those few and rare opportunities. We continue to welcome them. However, we will do our work as Members of Parliament to oversee and offer meaningful oversight on the Government. I invite those of us in the Minority and even ourselves in the Majority Party to exercise that oversight and representation role in this House without fear. His Excellency the President has also been emphatic that the days when you had to be coerced to take a certain political position are way behind us now. Nobody will be coerced or intimidated to take whatever position even in the approval of these nominees as we consider their appointment at the Committee on Appointments. With those very many remarks, I beg to move. I appeal to all of us that, even as we debate the appointment of these names, we contribute to this Motion…

Hon. Hon. Benson Mulu(WDM · Kitui Central Constituency)

On a point of order, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

Member for Kitui Central, what is your point of order?

Hon. Hon. Benson Mulu(WDM · Kitui Central Constituency)

Hon. Deputy Speaker, you know that our Standing Orders allow that a Member who says “point of order” should be given a chance to say what is wrong with what is being said. I am listening to my friend, the Leader of the Majority Party, Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah and he is saying that oversight belongs to the Minority. I think our Constitution is very clear. Oversight is the work of all Members of Parliament because we do not have the Government in the House. (Applause) I ask you, Hon. Deputy Speaker, to declare my friend out of order because he is misleading Kenyans. Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

The Leader of the Majority Party.

Hon. Hon. Anthony Ichungwah(UDA · Kikuyu Constituency)

Hon. Deputy Speaker, you know Dr. Makali Mulu is my friend as he says. But I think that from where he is sitting, he was not listening to me. If he was, he did not hear what I said. I said I encourage those of you in the Minority Party, as I also encourage those of us in the Majority Party. That we exercise our oversight role without fear or intimidation; without fear that anybody will coerce you or come to audit your NG-CDF on account of your position, or that anybody will take you to the Directorate of Criminal Investigation for the positions you take. Therefore, Hon. Makali, relax! You have nothing to fear. What he is saying is, indeed, true and it is as I had said. Maybe, it bypassed his ears that our role as Members of Parliament is to oversee Government. That is why I encouraged us that, even as we settle down and have the Procedures and House Rules Committee, we hasten to amend our Standing Orders. This is to ensure that these Cabinet Secretaries do not grow horns as soon as they are appointed. They must know that the people who have vetted and approved them reside in this House. They must be responsive to the needs and aspirations of the Kenyan people that are represented by their representatives in this House. In conclusion, I encourage all of us to support this bipartisan and well-balanced Committee. I also encourage the Members of this Committee to take time to consider the work that is ahead of them. Without pre-empting debate, from what I see on the business of this afternoon on the calendar of the House, we could consider taking a short break. The reason we will need a short break at the end of this week is for this Committee on Appointments and the Committee on Selection to take time to consider the work that is ahead of them. That is so that we also allow His Excellency the President to appoint those that will have been approved by the House. With that, I beg to move and request my good friend and the Leader of the Minority Party to second this Motion. Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

The Leader of the Minority Party.

Hon. Hon. Opiyo Wandayi(ODM · Ugunja Constituency)

Hon. Deputy Speaker, I rise to second this Motion. The appointment of this Committee is obviously a matter which is in line with Article 152(2) of the Constitution. This House has the power and mandate to approve the appointment of those who have been nominated by the President to serve as Cabinet Secretaries. This is, however, buttressed by our Standing Order No.45. The notion that sometimes gets peddled out there that this House is simply a rubber stamp is false. This House cannot be a rubber stamp. This House is exercising its constitutional duty under Article 152(2) of the Constitution by vetting nominees for appointment as Cabinet Secretaries. I was amazed last week to read an Article in one of the dailies by a notable columnist by the name Barrack Muluka. He was quoted having said that the President should be given freedom and leeway to appoint those whom he wants to work with, and that there should be no impediments placed on the path of the President in choosing those he wants to work with. The problem in this country is at times about intellectuals who when turned into apologists of the establishment, get their thinking wrong. Nothing can be far from the truth. We are a House comprising of Hon. Members of Parliament from both sides of the divide.

Hon. Hon. Timothy Wetangula(ODM · Westlands Constituency)

On a point of order, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

Member for Westlands, what is your point of order?

Hon. Hon. Timothy Wetangula(ODM · Westlands Constituency)

Hon. Deputy Speaker, it is not a call for a point of order. I am queuing to contribute to this Motion.

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

There are 50 requests of Members to speak to this Motion and five interventions of exactly the same people in that order. First, you may need to remove your intervention button, and queue because you are all there. I can name the Members who are already in the queue. They are Members for Tharaka, Mumias East, Kacheliba and Malava. Each of you is in the queue in that order, at the top of the page.

Hon. Hon. Opiyo Wandayi(ODM · Ugunja Constituency)

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I hope you will indulge the Member for Westlands when the time comes. This is one of the most critical duties of the National Assembly of the Republic of Kenya under the Constitution, 2010. The idea of vetting persons nominated to be appointed as State officers is a noble idea. If you want to know how serious this exercise is in some jurisdictions, take a visit to the United States of America (USA) Senate during their confirmation hearings. It is such a serious exercise that Capitol Hill comes to a standstill when the USA Senate is conducting confirmation hearings of nominees appointed by the President of USA. For us therefore, being a presidential system in line with the US system, we need to equally take this exercise seriously. Article 152 (2) of the Constitution and Standing Order No.45 say that this House in its entirety, is the organ that does the vetting. The Committee will, of course, do the nitty-gritties, but this House has got the ultimate power to reject or approve every single nominee. It is a duty that we must exercise judicially, with utmost decorum and seriousness. We have been told that the Constitution provides frameworks for those appointments. As we know, however, even as the Committee on Appointments starts its sitting once approved, I will ask them from the beginning, and this is very important, that even as we look at the suitability or otherwise, of individual persons who have been nominated by the President, you need to first look at the whole package in context. Does it meet the tenets of the Constitution? Article 10 of the Constitution clearly talks about values and principles of good governance and national values. We know there are issues of equity and regional balance. Do we have a sense of that in the entire package? Before you get to address the suitability of individual Members, does it meet the gender balance? Does it address issues of Persons Living with Disabilities (PWDs) and so forth? We must not lose sight of the requirements of the Constitution, dictates and requirements of the Leadership and Integrity Act, Public Officer Ethics Act and the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act. I will be pleading with the Members of this Committee and the whole House that we take it upon ourselves to interrogate fairly, but intensely, each and every individual. This country has a population of about 50 million people out of whom, more than or about 25 million are adults who, of course, merit or qualify to be given appointment to hold public offices. If the President, therefore, brings the names of persons who in the wisdom of this House do not pass the suitability test, we are not trying to dictate to the President on who to appoint. Far from it! We are simply telling him that if he has the time to go back and choose from those who can pass among the 25 million or so Kenyans, let him do so. I am not inciting anyone. I am simply preparing a ground for the Committee and the whole House that when embarking on this onerous task, we must be alive to the dictates of the Constitution and other statutes that govern matters of governance and good order. As I conclude, we have been told a number of times - and we agree - that the Constitution of Kenya guarantees that everyone is innocent until he or she is proven guilty or otherwise.

Hon. Hon. David Ochieng(MDG · Ugenya Constituency)

On a point of Order. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I have a lot of respect for my friend and neighbour who probably is my senior. Member for Ugunja, you could be my senior. Hon. Deputy Speaker, is he pre-empting the debate on the names that could come to this Floor? Is he pre-empting debate on what could happen on Committee on Appointments hearing? By the way, I fear that he has already made up his mind on the debate we are going to have when the names come to this Floor. Is he in Order?

Hon. Hon. Opiyo Wandayi(ODM · Ugunja Constituency)

Hon. Deputy Speaker, if you have been keenly following my comments, I have been very careful. I have not mentioned any names and I will not, for sure, at this point in time. I am just trying to lay the basis. It is my obligation to guide my Members and everybody else who may want to be guided, that this is a very serious exercise that we must approach with a lot of seriousness on our part. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I want to say that persons being appointed to State or public offices, just as the Constitution requires, must be persons whose conduct brings honour, dignity and everything that is positive to the offices. As I second this Motion, I just want to plead that this is one such exercise that this House, once it embarks on it, the country must be convinced that the House has done justice not only to the process itself, but to those persons whose names have been dropped before the Committee and the House for approval. Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker, I second.

(Question proposed)

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

I can see that there are those of you who want to contribute; you can do so by way of putting in the request. On top of my page, I have the Member for Starehe Constituency.

Hon. Hon. Amos Maina(JP · Starehe Constituency)

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to address the House. I am Hon. Amos Mwago, Member for Starehe Constituency in Nairobi City. First, I want to thank God for this opportunity to arrive at this House to contribute to the matters of national interest. I also want to thank the great people of Starehe Constituency for electing me as a Member of Parliament to represent them here. I will not miss out congratulating you and Hon. Wetangula for your election as Deputy Speaker and Speaker of this House respectively. I have been elected to this House to represent people who are mainly hustlers, as the government of the day came up with the narrative. Basically, my constituents are looking forward to having this 13th Parliament or the government of the day to help them. Based on the too many promises that the President promised us, my people are very optimistic that this is their time. The Government is on a wave of economic liberation. Most of the people in Nairobi City are hopeful that most of what has been promised to them will be achievable and that the environment will be conducive for them to do business. They also hope that new markets are going to be constructed in Nairobi to accommodate the many people who are unemployed. They are hopeful that job opportunities are going to be created for them by this Government. In general, my constituents are very hopeful that their livelihoods will improve. That is why, being one of them, I am here to represent and bring their grievances. I want to thank the President on the promises that he gave to the people, starting with what he calls the hustlers’ fund.” Many people in Nairobi came from up-country to look for job opportunities. They are optimistic that measures, structures and systems that will make sure that their businesses are safeguarded and thrive on a growth path are going to be put in place. About housing, I am an MP for a constituency that has a very huge population living in the slums. These people are optimistic that the affordable housing plan that the Government promised will help them redeem their livelihoods by providing decent housing. Their major concern is that maybe the structures that are going to be used in the schemes may not address the real issues facing the people. We have seen other housing plans being brought on board, where people who benefit are not slum dwellers. These houses have been brought up and sold out to other people who are not the residents of these areas. For us, it becomes a scheme to evacuate some people and develop these places to be sold to people who are not needy. That is a concern that my constituents have raised. We want participation and involvement by the locals. The real champions of these schemes should be the structure owners – the landladies and landlords in the slums – who should be at the forefront of implementation of the schemes. Yet most often than not, when we have these upgrades, these people are taken for granted and are vacated from their lands. When the houses are developed beautifully, they are sold to people with more money. That is one issue that people have raised, and we need to address it. We cannot displace people and bring in other people who are not our constituents. On the matter at hand about the Committee on Appointments, I urge that Committee to vet the nominees wisely. We are in a new economic dispensation. We have never tried this bottom-up model before. It is at its initial stages. We need people who understand it very well to be its drivers. These are the people who are able to articulate issues and meet the expectations that people on the ground have. They are so hopeful about this whole bottom-up model. But if we do not have the right drivers of this model, it might just turn out to be something else that will not work. In the Ministry of Trade, my constituents are also traders. The narrative has changed from focusing on big traders to mama mbogas, boda bodas and other people in the informal sector. My people expect that the Cabinet Secretary for Trade, Investment and Industry is going to address the issues from those simple setups. On matters of the cottage industries and the informal sector, how are they going to formalise the informal sector, which employs too many people in this city? How will he go around the issue of import duty, taxes, widening of the taxbase and reducing taxes on our people? We are also interested in knowing how he is going to expand opportunities to reach to other regions so that our people can trade with other regions. So, when it comes to vetting, issues on integrity, capability and experience should take centre stage. We, Nairobi residents, hope that whoever gets into the Ministry of Trade, Investment and Industry is going to liberalise trade in Nairobi. We expect more markets to be built so that they can accommodate our people. We expect so much that will change our economy. As we try to adopt this bottom-up economy, we expect people who run small businesses in Nairobi to be the key players on the table, making recommendations and participating in decision making on how they are going to have the economy of the day run in this Government. This is also a transformational period where politics may have changed. We expect the Cabinet that is going to be appointed by the President to show some difference in the way they are going to run their affairs. They need to ensure that their relationship with the local mwananchi is retained, just as they did during the campaigns, where they brought the local mwananchi to be their point of focus. I, therefore, expect that when they are running the Government, to consider the local mwananchi. Hon. Deputy Speaker, as we move forth, we also have our questions as the youth of Kenya about youth representation in the Cabinet. I know the Committee that is going to vet is going to look into regional balance and everything, but also our role as the youth should be a consideration. We look forward to seeing that we are represented in the Cabinet. We also have another question of incorporating ICT in all the operations of the Government. In this 21st Century, where technological advancements are happening so fast, we are reluctant to adopt new technology in all operations of our ministries. I thank you and donate my five minutes to Hon. Babu Owino.

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

Your time is up. I now call Hon. Member for Kacheliba.

Hon. Hon. Titus Lotee(KUP · Kacheliba Constituency)

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. In contributing to today’s Motion, I take this opportunity to recognise that this is my first time to speak in this august House. I beg to get some time to be able to give my maiden speech. Above all, I want to thank the Almighty God for having allowed me the opportunity to serve the people of Kacheliba. At the same time, I wish to congratulate you for having been elected as the Deputy Speaker of this House. I know the capacity that you have, as I have worked with you before. I am sure that you are able to perform above and beyond the expectations of this House based on our previous engagement. I also watched you when you worked in the Judiciary. You did us proud. I wish to thank the people of Kacheliba. These are the people that brought me into this august House. It was my first attempt to come here, and they were able to give me the opportunity, most particularly the women that wore the most adorable, magnanimous and unique trademark cloth called Lorwaa of Kacheliba. You actually need to see this clothing for you to appreciate the kind of women who voted for me. I wish to thank them most profusely for giving me the opportunity, and trusting in my capabilities to be able to represent their issues in this House. I thank particularly the Chairman of my party, the Kenya Union Party (KUP), that gave me the ticket to vie and be an honourable Member of this august House. Thank you very much the people of Kacheliba, the youth, those that believed in my capacity and those that will continue to believe in it. I thank my predecessor of Kacheliba Constituency. I want to promise that it was a political duel, and not enmity. The people had their trust, and I am able to continue with the work that you did. I wish you well in your endeavours. I wish you well, Mheshimiwa Mark Lomunokol, the one that I dethroned. Hon. Deputy Speaker, today, we are here to contribute to the Motion of the committees that are going to vet the CSs. I want to appreciate the fact that we are giving the task to discuss about these committees and also to give them what is on our minds. I strongly believe that the Constitution is clear, and the President has followed the Constitution when he appointed seven out of the 21 women. Personally, I know that vetting can throne and dethrone some of those women. I ask this House to consider more specifically the fact that when the women that are nominated by the President are brought in for vetting, those Committees need to be very humane in understanding them. The reason is that there are seven women out of 21 Cabinet Secretary nominees. If one of them is vetted out, it basically means that we are not going to get the one-third gender rule that we always looked for. I think the President never allowed us to get an extra one or two more nominees beyond the seven for women, which means that we need to have trust and faith in them. That is one of the requests. The other request is to ask the team that is going to vet the CSs to consider critically those nominees that are going to fall on the Standing Order that is going to be changed on the Floor of this House. The President asked that we need to change a particular Standing Order so that the CSs can directly come to Parliament to answer Questions. It is very easy for us to say that we are going to change the Standing Orders so that they can come here. I know that the practice is that immediately they sit, they grow horns and start sending their representatives, as the Leader of the Majority Party said. I want this House to not only consider the characters of the persons, but also to look at them and know the kind of people that they are going to vet into this House. I have sat in the Executive some time back, and I know that it is very easy for a CS to travel abroad and consequently send representatives. We want the Standing Orders to be followed to the letter, and at the vetting point, I want that question be set before each of the nominees. They should all be asked if they are willing to come personally to this House to answer Questions, or whether they are just going to send representatives, like many of them would want to, when they become the bosses and not the servants of the people. I also hope that the Committee that is going to vet these CSs will look at the issues that are affecting this country. Personally, I come from Kacheliba Constituency. Hon. Members, I am from a new constituency in this country. Kacheliba is a Constituency that was established in 1972, when most of you already had their constituencies formed in Kenya. I am also a new MP who was elected in a by-election within the main election, in that when you had your elections on 9th August, I did mine after 9th August; that is, on 29th August. That basically means that I am a product of a by-election within an election, something that is so unique in this country. Just to bring you to speed, by its name, Kacheliba is a place where the colonialists used to sit and detain people who could not pay. ‘Ka’ means ‘the home of,’ and ‘cheliba’ means hajalipa. So, it is the home of the person who was arresting people who had not paid. I want this to be considered. This constituency basically means that people living there did not have the means to pay the Europeans or the white man. As we vet the CSs, let us consider areas that are far-flung, those that have been oppressed by history, and where people have never known and tasted the dignities that every other Kenyan has tasted. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I come from an area that is bedevilled with insecurity. Every time people mention the Pokot community, they talk about them as people who are backwards. I want to state it clearly in this House that as we do our vetting, not every Pokot is a criminal. In fact, the criminals are very few, and they are in a very particular place that is not West Pokot. I want this to be considered. The person that will take the internal security docket needs to consider how to handle issues of insecurity differently. From Jomo Kenyatta’s Government, through Moi’s and Kibaki’s, to Kenyatta Junior’s Government, insecurity issues of the Kerio Valley have been treated with a lot of disdain. We have seen security persons going in after insecurity incidents, and what they have only done is to earn per diem that is in the millions of shillings. These moneys could have been used to improve the socio-economic situation of this place. When we are vetting the CSs that will deal with internal security, I want the team to look at a person that will come with innovative ways of dealing with the issues of insecurity. If we continue doing things the way we have done them before, we are not going to change the situation. We will be speaking about insecurity in these regions for a long time. Since I will not sit in this Committee, I ask every Member that will represent us to inform the CS nominee that situations need to be handled differently. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I repeat that your capacities and capabilities are beyond what I know. I know that you are going to surprise this House. I thank this House for listening to my first speech. I thank the people of Kacheliba so much for having faith in me and giving me the opportunity to speak on their behalf in this House. Thank you.

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

Thank you for your kind words, Member for Kacheliba. I now call upon the Member for Kisumu Central.

Hon. Hon. Joshua Oyongor Oron(ODM · Kisumu Central)

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. Let me first take this opportunity to congratulate you for having been elected as the Deputy Speaker of this House. Let me also take this opportunity to congratulate all Members of this august House for having been re-elected or elected, for those who are new like myself. Let me take a special opportunity to thank the people of Kisumu Central for having faith in me, and for electing me as their representative in this House. Kisumu Central is a business town and a business hub. Kisumu Central has a population of about 200,000 people and about 135,000 voters. The constituency has six wards; Kondele Barracks is in Kisumu Central. Kondele is an undocumented Barracks. Kisumu Central has Nyalenda B Ward. I thank the people of Nyalenda B. I also thank the people of Kondele, the people of Railway Ward, Kaloleni Shaurimoyo and the Central Business District (CBD), which form the Market Milimani Ward, for electing me to this august House. Hon. Deputy Speaker, in Kisumu Central, we have slums and urban specific wards. I am more concerned about Nyalenda B, because it is a ward which floods almost every single year. Let me talk to the Ministry of Public Service, Gender, Senior Citizens Affairs and Special Programmes. Nyalenda B, which is seen as a town, should be treated like any other area that experiences drought and floods. When the Ministry is considering areas which are drought stricken, it should also consider Nyalenda B. Kisumu Central is a cosmopolitan town. A constituency which is also a home of special talents. Some of the famous footballers who have played for Kenya come from Kisumu Central. I can mention Peter Dawo and Dennis Oliech, for those who are fans of football. It is also a very peaceful constituency. Kisumu Central has very important projects which have stalled. The projects have not been looked at over the years. I will just mention a few. The Kisumu Cotton Mills (KICOMI) is a big sleeping giant that could create employment opportunities to the youth. It could also create employment opportunities to the farmers, because it is a fabric industry which, if rehabilitated, will respond to some of our unemployment needs. Kenya Matches is another stalled project in Kisumu. There are also about three fish industries which have stalled. I will be talking to various State Departments and Ministries to ensure that these projects are brought back into action to create employment. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I want to thank and congratulate the outgoing administration, the regime of President Uhuru Kenyatta under the handshake. They did show the people of Kisumu Central that they are also part of Kenyans. As part of the handshake, we saw the rehabilitation of Kisumu Port, the railway line that is now moving up and down. We also saw the improvement of some of the road networks, the rehabilitation of the MV Uhuru Ship, which is now a major transportation mode to our neighbouring countries and the revival of the breweries, which is still ongoing. Hon. Deputy Speaker, some of our slums experience the worst floods in the region. This is a problem that causes havoc to the community in those specific wards, especially the residents of Nyalenda. It is worth noting that Kapuodhe in particular in Nyalenda B is also a very fertile area. If the floods can be controlled, it will be a food basket not only for Kisumu Central area, but also for the People of Kisumu County. In the very near future, I will be exploring other development partners, ministries and also the county government to see how best we can mitigate the floods to open up that area for farming, which will eventually create employment and supply the much-needed food to the area. I will be seeking special interventions from the Special Programmes Department and the relevant ministries. I will also look into short-term measures so that the people who have been displaced, and who are staying in churches and other social areas, can be supported when other areas with drought and floods

Member for Kisumu Central

are being supported. As we speak, I have residents who are still staying in churches because of floods. Our appeal to the State Department of Special Programmes has gone unheard. Kisumu Central is a business hub, a fast-growing constituency and city with a lot of opportunities. I welcome and invite other Members interested in business to come and invest in Kisumu Central business hub. There are opportunities for tourism, hotel and hospitality, healthcare and blue economy. I welcome and invite those who are interested in investing in Kisumu. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I am aware that we finished the discussion on…

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

Thank you, Member for Kisumu Central. I now call upon the Member for Gatundu South.

Hon. Hon. Gabriel Kagombe(UDA · Gatundu South Constituency)

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker, for the opportunity to address this House. This is my first substantive address. In fact, it is my maiden speech. Therefore, I take this opportunity to thank the people of Gatundu South for having found it fit to elect me to represent them in this House. I also take this opportunity to congratulate you, Hon. Gladys Boss and Hon. Moses Wetangula, for having been elected as Deputy Speaker and Speaker respectively. The same also goes to the President and Deputy President, mutatis mutandis. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I come to this House with a background of a lot of unemployment. Hence, as we discuss the business of the day and the Committee on Appointments, it is no loss for me, because this Committee has to shoulder the responsibility of ensuring that we have people who will drive the Government’s agenda. Without the Cabinet, then it will be very hard to push the business of the Government ahead. Therefore, they have a huge responsibility on their shoulders. Hon. Deputy Speaker, in as much as we finished discussing the President’s Speech, it was very pregnant with a lot of information and issues that we need to address as a country. As we talk about employment, it cannot be achieved without looking at manufacturing and industrialisation in this country. However, our industrialisation is hampered by taxation, our existing tax regime and tax infrastructure. Looking at our tax regime, we now have a Value Added Tax (VAT) that is very punitive to the business people. I am looking at a proposal that was brought to this House suggesting we should have a VAT regime that stops a business person from filing returns if they have filed nil return for one month. We must look at changes that must be instituted to enable our people to have a proper working tax regime so they can invest in this country. We have this tendency of taxing our people on trade. As a manufacturer, we are paying electricity to a tune of Kshs21 to produce one kilogramme of tea. This is because we have tax on fuel and electricity that hampers our trade and production. Therefore, we cannot issue or give employment to our young people if we continue like this. I ask the Committee that is going to determine who will be the CSs in charge of industrialisation, agriculture and finance to look at our tax system so it can enable businesses to thrive in this country. Hon. Deputy Speaker, the people of Gatundu South are a worried lot because they are one hospital bill away from abject poverty. I look at a situation where we must fix our health sector so we can achieve universal healthcare. For us to achieve this, we must address two issues. First, we must address NHIF, which has been paying 80 per cent of its pay-out to less than 25 per cent of the hospitals. These are hospitals in urban centres which are accessed by very few people, yet our people in the villages are left without access to NHIF and its services. I want to ask the committee that will be formed here and this House at large to look into laws that will enable the NHIF to create a proper working policy so that we are able to give services to the people in the villages. The availability of medical care, medicines and medical supplies is pegged on the availability and order fulfilment rate of Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA). This institution has been crippled by the unavailability of funds, and their turnaround time right now is very low. All this is because KEMSA is supposed to have a budget, which it fills through its own operations. This House had seen it fit before to allocate KEMSA some money so that procurement of basic but very essential medical supplies are available to our people. I urge that we capitate this organisation so that our people have medical supplies available to them when needed. They should not die of very common illnesses and lack of proper healthcare. I also want to talk a bit on importation. Looking in this House, everything here has come from another country. We have a robust textile industry, if given proper support. This is what will create employment to our people, because we cannot talk of development when we have a deficit payment which grew to US$2.5 billion last year. For us to stop this, we must create a tax regime that hampers importation of essential goods that can be manufactured here and that encourages the manufacture of the same, so that we create employment and improve on our balance of payment. We also need to add value to our produce. Where I come from, we produce tea, coffee, avocadoes and other agricultural produce but this produce goes to the market at a very low value. As a country, we are number one tea exporters; we control the world trade on tea. The tea we export is probably worth about US$15 billion per year but we only benefit from 10 per cent of it, which is US$1.5 billion per year. We must enable our people to add value to our produce. Without value addition, we lose out on a lot of money as a country; money which is repatriated to other countries. That cannot be done if we do not reduce the bureaucracies around packaging materials. The greatest impediment to value addition in the country is tax on value addition produce and packaging materials for such produce and other produce. Again, we have a tax regime that hampers production because what should be taxed at consumption is taxed as trade. Hon. Deputy Speaker, once again, I want to thank the people of Gatundu South for having found me fit to represent them in this House and also to assure them…

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

Thank you. I now call upon the Member for Isiolo South.

Hon. Hon. Mohamed Bidu(JP · Isiolo South Constituency)

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity. My name is Mohamed Tubi Bidu from Isiolo South Constituency. First and foremost, I thank the Almighty God for giving me the opportunity to be here today in this august House. Secondly, I thank the people of Isiolo South for giving me this opportunity to serve them. I vied last time and thought that I won but this time they elected me and here I am. For the benefit of doubt, Isiolo South is located in Isiolo County and Isiolo Town is geographically the centre of this country. It is the border and gateway into the harsh environmental conditions of northern Kenya. Isiolo is located on the other side of Mount Kenya. When we hear about Mount Kenya, we talk about the south, east and west of it and we do not talk of the north. That harsh environment of the northern Kenya starts from Isiolo. The people of Isiolo South asked me to pose a question to this House. My predecessors in the 11th and 12th Parliaments have been on record as the worst performers in this National Assembly in the sense that it is on record that they have never participated in debates in this House. On their part, they placed the blame on the emeritus Speaker, Hon. Justin Muturi. I do not know if that is true but that is what they said. Because of that, I have to give a clear picture of what Isiolo South is all about. Isiolo South borders Garissa, Wajir and Meru counties. Meru County which is our neighbour is well developed while Isiolo is known as the start of the many problems like insecurity, livestock deaths and drought. Education-wise, it is amongst the constituencies which have been lagging behind. We have a good Constitution which talks about opportunities for everyone. Kenya belongs to all of us and we are all supposed to get equal opportunities of whatever is given out. That is what we are lacking in Isiolo South and the entire north. The worst part of the drought that is now ravaging the country starts from Isiolo County. In Kenya, we have four kinds of people: the agriculturalists, who are farmers; the fishermen around the lakes; the urban settlers and the pastoralists. The people who are most affected by the drought are the pastoralist communities who have received very minimal support from the successive government regimes. We hope that the new regime is going to focus on Isiolo South to the North because development is lacking in these areas. All the infrastructure we see in our neighbouring counties is not in Isiolo and beyond. On the insecurity issue, Isiolo might be the gateway to northern Kenya but one may think it is the Kenyan boundary. This is because we have all the military installations in Isiolo instead of them being on the Kenyan border. This stretches over to Garissa and Turkana. Why should we have military installations in Isiolo, which are supposed to be at the country’s border? This is why I attribute the insecurity in northern Kenya to some of the plans that were made at Independence, where military installations were placed at the centre instead of the border. Isiolo is always faced with insecurity. Porous borders have been a big issue there. Isiolo and the northern Kenya region should be changed by this regime. We have been marginalised since Independence. We expect that with the Constitution something has to change. However, with the way things are going, unless this is stopped, it is going to get worse. I am saying this because in the last Parliament, there was the issue of one man-one shilling-one vote and we were being blamed for low population. You cannot blame us when we live in an environment where it is a problem for women and men to reproduce compared to other areas because of the harsh environmental conditions. The Leader of the Majority Party has been the advocate of the one-man one-shilling one-vote. We have to discard that and help one another to develop. Counties which have been underdeveloped since Independence should be brought up to the level of those counties that are developed so that the development is visible. I am praying about this. We have land matters in Isiolo. The Northern Kenya rangelands are still under community land, which is supposed to belong to the communities of that county. The communities of that county are pastoralists and sometimes nomadic pastoralists. That does not mean that there are no people in those rangelands. They are there. As I said earlier, the insecurity that has been happening all through has something to do with resources and development. We have to think about it. The current Government should at least change the face of northern Kenya, starting with Isiolo South and Isiolo North. That is the gateway to the vast northern Kenya. Hon. Deputy Speaker, developments have come up. The Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (LAPSSET) Project is coming up, amongst other big projects earmarked for those areas but are we getting the right thing? If the Chinese who have been given the contracts bring their thousands of vehicles and casual labourers from outside to do the work, are we getting our share? That is the question we need to ask. With those few remarks, I thank the members of the public from Isiolo South who voted me in. I assure them that I will be there for them.

Hon. Hon. Jeremiah Milemba(ANC · Emuhaya Constituency)

On a point of order, Hon. Deputy Speaker. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I rise on a point of order under Standing Order No.95. When you check the Order Paper, the next Motion deals with the appointment of Members to the Selection Committee. Honestly, if you look at the progress of contributions, Members are digressing and using the opportunity to make their maiden speeches. They can still proceed to do that even in the next Order. I ask that the Mover be now called upon to reply. Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

What is your point of order, Member for Emuhaya? Is that the mood of the House? There were several Members who were next in line. We had the Members for South Mugirango, Makueni and Nambale. We can move to the next Motion, and they will continue to contribute since it is similar to this one. I agree with the Member for Emuhaya on that. I now call upon the Mover to reply.

(Question put and agreed to)

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

Let us have the Leader of the Majority Party. Members, you cannot have a point of order over nothing. Nothing has happened at the moment. Leader of the Majority Party, please proceed.

Hon. Hon. Anthony Ichungwah(UDA · Kikuyu Constituency)

Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to move the following Motion: THAT, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order No.172…

Hon. Hon. John Mbadi(ODM · Nominated)

On a point of order, Hon. Deputy Speaker. Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. With all due respect, there is a procedure that we did not follow. There is a procedure we missed as a House. Hon. Omboko Milemba requested for the Mover to be called upon to reply. The House should have first agreed with that. We thought that when you rose to put the Question, you were doing so for the House to give authority to shorten the debate for the Mover to reply. That did not happen, and the Mover did not reply to the Motion. We could not proceed to vote on the Motion before the Mover replied. Even before we go to the next Order, let us go back and correct the procedure on the previous Motion.

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

Hold on, Member. The Clerk-at-the-Table has not called Order No.10. What is your point of order? You have not even pressed the intervention button. Oh yes! I have seen you. Let us have Nominated Member, Hon. John Mbadi. I will then call upon the Mover to reply on the original Order and then we shall come back to the next Motion.

(Question, that the Mover be now called upon to reply, put and agreed to)

Hon. Hon. Anthony Ichungwah(UDA · Kikuyu Constituency)

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. The Clerks-at-the-Table need to be more diligent in guiding you because when Hon. Nyikal was trying to raise the point of order, it is that particular aspect that he was trying to bring up. I had also tried to raise it here, Hon. Deputy Speaker, but the officers did not guide you accordingly. It is only good that we correct that. I now beg to reply on the debate on the Motion for Appointment of Members to the Committee on Appointments. I thank Members who have contributed and all of you for the support to this Committee. I assure you that this Committee, as we have said, will be diligent in ensuring that we exercise our mandate in line with the Constitution, our own Standing Orders and in exercise of our constitutional role as the House that oversees the Cabinet. I am sure members of the Committee are aware that there will be no recess for you. It is a short and busy working recess. We should be able to table a report for approval by 27th October 2022. We call upon the House to be at hand to consider the report when the time comes. With those remarks, Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to reply.

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

Before I rise to put the Question, I stand guided. I want to politely ask senior Members who have been in the House longer than me like Hon. Mbadi and Hon. Nyikal not to try to bully me. I will figure this out. I am a very fast learner. So, do not bully me. Member for Seme, I take great exception if you shout from your chair. You cannot do that. You can raise your point of order. I will give you an opportunity to raise the point of order properly. I do stand guided. You cannot speak without me giving you permission to speak. Let me proceed.

(Question put and agreed to)

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

Leader of the Majority Party.

Hon. Hon. Anthony Ichungwah(UDA · Kikuyu Constituency)

Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to move the following Motion in an amended form in terms of the names from the Majority Party: THAT, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order 172, this House approves the appointment of the following Members to the Committee on Selection in addition to those specified under paragraphs (a) and (b) — 1. Hon. Eric Karemba Muchangi Njiru; 2. Hon. John Kiarie Waweru; 3. Hon. Beatrice Kahai Adagala; 4. Hon. Japhet Miriti Kareke Mbiuki; 5. Hon. Julius Kibiwot Melly; 6. Hon. Sylvanus Osoro; 7. Hon. Martha Wangari Wanjira; 8. Hon. (Dr.) Robert Pukose; 9. Hon. Leah Sopiato Sankaire; 10. Hon. Anne Muratha Wanjiku Mugo; 11. Hon. Caroline Jeptoo Ng’elechei; 12. Hon. Joseph Majimbo Kalasinga; 13. Hon. Junet Mohamed; 14. Hon. Joshua Kimilu; 15. Hon. Jessica Mbalu; 16. Hon. Julius Sunkuli; 17. Hon. Samuel Arama; 18. Hon. Ken Chonga; 19. Hon. Nabii Nabwera; 20. Hon. Umulkher Harun; and 21. Hon. Ali Wario Guyo; Other than what is published on the Order Paper, the amendment from the Majority side is to include the Whip of the Majority Party in place of Hon. Joash Nyamoko. We have done that to try to achieve regional balance. Hon. Joash Nyamoko hails from the same region as Hon. Sylvanus Osoro. It is, indeed, important that the Whip be a member of the Committee on Selection. The Majority and Minority leadership have had a lot of engagements with Members seeking to be placed on certain committees. I have seen people queuing outside the Office of the Leader of the Minority Party, the same way people are queuing outside my office and the offices of the Whip and the Deputy Leader of the Majority Party. It is good for Members to appreciate that, under the Standing Orders, this is the Committee charged with the responsibility of placing Members on Committees. It is not the responsibility of the Leader of the Minority Party or the Leader of the Majority Party. Members of this Committee are the ones that you need to engage to place you on the committees of your choice. On the Majority side, we gave our Members the opportunity to list committees of their choice. I encourage my colleagues on the Minority side to organise themselves and have their Members’ list showing the committees they desire, so that when we get an opportunity to sit, once this Committee is approved by the House, we make our work easier in making a decision on a list that is agreed to by the Minority and Majority parties. It is a very tedious exercise and one that will take a lot of time. It will require us to balance various interests to be able to place Members on committees they are best suited for. I am sure all Members submitted their biodata during induction. We have copies of your curriculum vitae. So, we will be able to place you on committees of your choice. We will endeavour to make sure that you are placed on committees of your choice and those that are in line with your skills and competencies. I want to appeal to Members. The Majority side, for instance, has eight or so slots on the Departmental Committee on Transport and Infrastructure yet as at last night we had received requests from 79 Members who desire to be appointed to the Committee as their first choice. I know it is because of the challenges that Members have with roads and infrastructure in their constituencies. I want to assure Members that as much as 79 Members of the Majority Party cannot fit on that one Committee. We will endeavour to find the eight Members, considering regional, ethnic and party balance and interest of Independent Members. All 79 Members in the Majority Party cannot fit in that one Committee. We will endeavour to list the eight who will be lucky. These are the ones whom the Committee on Selection will find suitable to sit in that Committee. They will consider what we have done in this Committee. There will be regional, ethnic and party balance, including representation of our Independent Members. We see this in the Committee on Selection where Hon. Caroline Jeptoo Ng’elechei represents the Independent Members. Our small parties are also represented in this Committee. Therefore, we will take care of the interests of all Members. I want Members to trust that this Committee will be diligent, fair and just to each and every one of us, to make sure that we serve in committees where we will give our best to the service of our nation. Hon. Members, as I have indicated, it may not be possible to place everybody in their first-choice committees. However, we will endeavour to place you either in your first, second or third choice. I encourage you to engage with Members of this Committee with time and also be very understanding. As I said, I also encourage the Leader of the Minority Party, together with his leadership, to hasten to get the list of Members who will be nominated to certain committees, so that by the time we meet most of the ground work will have been done, and the Committee will just sit to ensure that there is proper balance—that we have placed the right people in the right committees. Lastly, I want to indicate to all Members that every committee of this House is as important as any other. Being a Member of Parliament, you have the opportunity to attend any committee that you want to. Nobody can stop you. For instance, if you are a Member of the Departmental Committee on Transport and Infrastructure, nobody will stop you from attending the meeting of another committee. In line with our Standing Orders, you just need to notify the Chair in advance. If you want to attend meetings of the Budget and Appropriations Committee or the Departmental Committee on Energy, nobody will stop you. If you have an interest, for instance, in water and irrigation… I have seen that most of the Members have requested to be in the Departmental Committee on Transport and Infrastructure, Budget and Appropriations Committee, Departmental Committee on Blue Economy and Irrigation, Departmental Committee on Health, Departmental Committee on Energy and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). Nothing precludes you from attending those committees. When Hon. Opiyo Wandayi was the Chair of the PAC, when many of us had a matter that we were interested in, we declared that interest and notified him. If a Cabinet Secretary will appear before the Departmental Committee on Transport and Infrastructure and you want to articulate issues that relate to your constituency, under our Standing Orders, you are allowed to appear before it with just a simple notice to the Chair. Therefore, let us not have very intransigent positions that you must be in this or that committee. We should appreciate that with the reduced numbers of committee membership after the changes in our Standing Orders, the Minority Party side in most committees will get only seven Members. Within those Members, they must accommodate all the political parties within the coalition and the Independent Members. Therefore, the numbers that we expect may not necessarily meet all our expectations. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg Members to quickly expedite this business of putting in place the Committee on Selection, so that by the time we come back from the short recess, without anticipating the afternoon business, we will have completed it. These Committee will have a lot of work. I hope by that time His Excellency the President will have nominated persons to serve as Principal Secretaries. This Committee will have its work cut out in the vetting of the Principal Secretaries. When we say that we want to balance the membership of the Committee, it is with the understanding that we also need both ranking and seasoned Members and new Members in those committees to learn what goes on. With those very many remarks, Hon. Deputy Speaker, and again with the indulgence of the Leader of Minority Party, I want to request the emeritus Leader of the Minority Party, Hon. John Mbadi, to second this Motion on behalf of the Leader of the Minority Party. I beg to move the Motion.

Hon. Hon. John Mbadi(ODM · Nominated)

The Leader of the Majority Party has just ambushed me. I least expected this. Let me take this opportunity to second the Motion. I know that it is not an easy job. I have been here before. I served as the Leader of the Minority Party in the last Parliament. I know how difficult it is to really balance-off the interests of Members. The Committee on Selection has a tough job. However, it will be helped by the Whip of the Majority Party, Whip of the Minority Party, the Leader of the Majority Party and the Leader of the Minority Party. So, their work may not be so difficult because the leadership of both sides will have sat down and balanced-off the interests of Members. I am sure that both sides will constitute a small committee to look into this matter. I want to just urge for fairness. For whatever reason, some committees are considered to be “very important’. In my first term in this Parliament, all committees were almost the same. There was none that had more weight than the others. However, over time, it has grown that there are some committees which are more attractive, like the Budget and Appropriations Committee, the Departmental Committee on Transport and Infrastructure, the Departmental Committee on Energy and the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning. My advice to this Committee is to ensure that no Member sits in more than one of these committees. If you are in the PAC, forego the Budget and Appropriations Budget, the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning, the Departmental Committee on Transport and Infrastructure and the Departmental Committee on Energy. Do not select a Member to be a member of both PAC and the Budget and Appropriations. No one can give you that. Honestly, if that list comes to this House, Members will have a problem with it. I am sure that the leadership of both sides will look into this matter. As I sit down, I just want to appreciate that the House has recognised that I am a ranking Member. It has designated a special seat for me. I do not take it for granted. I want to thank the House. I also encourage the leadership from my side to recognise the same. Thank you.

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

You are duly recognised. I will propose the Question. Hon. Members, I can see there are 53 requests from Members who have shown interest. As I said earlier in the morning, a maiden speech is a maiden speech whether you do it now or next year for the first time. The practice of the House is to allow Members a little extra leeway in between debate to make their maiden speeches. Therefore, I will be asking Members to try not to make too many interventions in order to allow Members to use this opportunity to make their maiden speeches. I now call upon the Nominated Member, Hon. Bishop Jackson Kosgei.

Hon. Hon. Jackson Kosgei(UDA · Nominated)

Thank you so much, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I begin by congratulating you for being elected the Deputy Speaker of this august House. I also extend the same to our Speaker, Hon. Wetangula, for being elected the Speaker of the 13th Parliament. I also take this opportunity to congratulate all Members for going through rigorous election exercises and finally, by the grace of God, having an opportunity to be in this august House. Above all and on behalf of members of our society living with disabilities in one way or another, I recognise them. I express my greatest and deepest gratitude to constituencies that elected Members with disabilities in this country. They are great. I congratulate them for not seeing the physical, but the person and character of the individuals they elected. I also thank and appreciate, most sincerely, my party, the United Democratic Alliance, under the leadership of His Excellency the President of our Republic, William Samoei Ruto. He considered me among others to represent special interest groups and persons with disabilities. I am deeply grateful to be given that opportunity. I look forward to my life in Parliament in the next five years. I will contribute towards improving legislation and representing the needs of persons with disabilities amongst others in this country. As I listened to the inaugural speech of our Speaker, he mentioned several Bills that need to be revived in the House. We looked at them. Some of the Bills we thought should have been there include those that touch on persons with disabilities, one of which progressed from the last Parliament to the Senate and it is still there. We would like to have it looked at afresh. Soon, we will approach your office. We had a meeting with the Kenya Disability Parliamentary Association (KEDIPA), which is caucus group, and we want to bring to the attention of the House that we need a re-look at the instruments that help persons with disabilities, their families, guardians and people who are related to them in one way or another in making them enjoy the benefits of constitutional provisions. Thanks to our Constitution. We intend to bring to the attention of the House the need to have a re-look at our disability Acts, the national policy on persons with disabilities and the regulations, some of which are ambiguous in operation, and have hampered the capacity to administrate and implement the Acts. We will be drawing the attention of the House to the same. Today, as I make my maiden speech, I join colleagues who have contributed over the last four days on security. Security matters are one of the contributing factors to disability. Where there is war and insecurity, people are injured and we create more disabled persons in the country. I appeal that maybe, it will be necessary to re-look at the causes and issues underlying in areas that have been unstable in our country. In the northern part, eastern, coastal area and the northern parts of the Rift Valley belt, there has to be concerted effort by all the leaders to look at the issue of cattle rustling as a menace that can be controlled. Having lived, worked and participated in faith-based services in this country for over 40 years, I have concluded that cattle rustling requires more political goodwill than any other method. The others are secondary. There has never been political goodwill at national and local levels. Perhaps, this House will consider at one point to re-introduce a Motion that will establish a taskforce of this Parliament to study and let people participate in contributing on the causes and remedies towards insecurity, especially in areas that are affected in the communities. With this, Hon. Deputy Speaker, I thank you for giving me the opportunity. I have been trying since we started, but I think I was a bit analogue because there is a button I did not press. I thought I could not see it. Thank you very much. May God bless you.

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

The Member for Makueni County is not there. Member for Wajir West.

Hon. Hon. Yussuf Farah(ODM · Wajir West Constituency)

Bismillahi. Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to make my maiden speech in this House. Allow me to start by thanking the Almighty Allah who has given me this opportunity to represent the people of Wajir West in this august House. I also congratulate you for being elected the Deputy Speaker of this honourable House. I thank the people of Wajir West, from Wagalla-Ganyure Ward, Ademasajide Ward, Hadado-Athibohol Ward and Griftu-Arbajahan Ward for finding me fit to represent them in this august House. It is with humility and a deep sense of appreciation to the electorate who sent me here that I will represent them in this 13th Parliament. Hon. Deputy Speaker, Wajir West has its unique and specific challenges that no other constituency is facing in this country. Among them is the Wagalla Massacre, which is a historical injustice that happened on 10th February 1984. This is where several innocent people were rounded up and put in an airstrip by security agencies then. Children born on that particular day are around 40 years old today, and have gone through serious challenges in life. They grew up without fathers and probably their mothers were raped in the same massacre. This massacre has been documented very well in many reports, including the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) Report which gave a draft of recommendations to this country. The only thing that was done was a blanket apology by the then President of the Republic of Kenya, His Excellency Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta in 2015. The rest of the recommendations have been shelved in the archives. I appeal to the Government to kindly look into it, get the recommendations and act on them. Hon. Deputy Speaker, Wajir West also faces insecurity on a daily basis. In as much as security agencies are trying their best, they are overwhelmed in many occasions by cattle rustlers and other thugs who have commercialised livestock theft. In the last five years, 50 people have been killed in Wajir West. These were innocent people who had committed no crime and were going on with their daily activities of looking after their animals. They were butchered, killed, maimed and their animals forcefully taken. No inquiries, arrests or investigations have been made concerning the said murders. The Government has so far not returned back the livestock and neither have they investigated or arrested anyone on all the atrocities that happened during that time. Recently, cattle and camel were being stolen on a daily basis. Last night, 60 herds of camel were stolen and the man who was looking after them was injured. He is currently in hospital and at the moment, we do not know his situation. I appeal to the Government to facilitate security agencies who have not been facilitated in terms of movement and personnel to carry out their mandate. Security issues are depriving lives and livelihoods of the people of Wajir West. The people of Wajir West also face similar problems like other people from other parts of the country. These include poverty, drought and unemployment, but they have an extra burden of insecurity on their shoulders. They have a right to be protected. Their livestock and property too should be protected as enshrined in the Constitution of Kenya. Security agencies are trying their best, but have been handicapped in terms of movement and personnel. I, therefore, appeal to the Government of Kenya and specifically to the Cabinet Secretary who will be appointed after successfully undergoing vetting, to act upon my request as soon as he or she resumes office. Hon. Deputy Speaker, Wajir West also faces serious drought challenge. The drought that this country is facing is very serious and we are about to lose lives. I do not know whether our Standing Orders allow us to play some videos to demonstrate the seriousness of that issue in this House. I appeal to the President to kindly declare the issue of drought a national disaster so that other agencies and international communities can chip in to assist the affected people especially in ASAL areas. In conclusion, I want to thank the people of Wajir West for having faith in me, and for sending me to represent them in this august House. Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

Hon. Members, I now call upon Hon. Hussein Barre, the Member for Tarbaj. Hon. Members, my apologies to the Member for Tarbaj. I actually have the Leader of the Minority Party who is before you and you are the next. Hon. Leader of the Minority Party, before you get your turn, l have just been notified about the students of Uthiru who are behind me and so, I cannot actually see them. Therefore, I wish to recognise, in the Public Gallery, the presence of teachers and pupils from Uthiru Genesis School from Kikuyu Constituency, Kiambu County. On behalf of the House, I welcome them as they follow the proceedings of the National Assembly. Thank you. Let us have the Leader of the Minority Party.

Hon. Hon. Opiyo Wandayi(ODM · Ugunja Constituency)

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I actually did not want to say much on this matter. I would like to welcome the Uthiru Genesis School from the great Kikuyu Constituency. It is a constituency that I have fond memories of because it is home to the great Alliance High School. Allow me to say one or two things just to echo what had been said earlier by my colleague, Hon. Ichung’wah. This is perhaps one of the most difficult times for leadership in the House. I have been blessed to be here since 2013 and I can tell you, for the times that I have witnessed the happenings during and around the time of placement of Members into committees, I can confirm that this is one of the most difficult times. Why do I say so? You will find a familiar pattern more or less on both sides of the aisle by Members essentially narrowing down to not more than 10 particular committees. You will find that these are the committees of choice to nearly three quarters of membership. For instance, on the side of Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya Coalition Party, we find that we have well over 100 Members who have expressed interest to be placed in the Budget and Appropriations Committee against placement opportunities of not more than 12. This obviously goes a long way to indicate or to show how difficult the task is to decide who to place there and who to leave out. All Members should understand that even if your committee of choice is X, Y or Z and you end up not getting placement, you should take the disappointment in stride knowing well that being left out is not on account of lack of experience or skills. You are not any less qualified to belong to that particular committee than those who have been placed there. That should be the guiding principle. Eventually, the most important thing is that in line with what the Standing Orders dictate, every single Member of this House will be selected to, at least, one committee. In some cases, Members will be selected to two committees. As you also know, following the amendment to the Standing Orders at the tail end of the last Parliament, the number of committees have increased even though the number of Members in these committees has decreased. Every single Member will have a chance to belong to a committee or two. I would like to reiterate the fact that each and every committee of this House is as important as the other. It all depends on what use you put the committees into including how well you oversee the respective departments, engage with the Executive and engage with the people who are the ultimate consumers of our work. Ultimately, each committee should satisfy the needs and interests of all of us. Without belaboring the point, my plea to all Members is that even as we navigate through this process, let us try to be as cooperative and understanding as possible, so that we can get over it as quickly and smoothly. This will allow committees to get down to work and deliver for the people of Kenya. With those many remarks I support. I thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

Thank you. We will now have the Member for Tarbaj. But just a brief announcement before he starts, I have realised that the names of the Nominated Members do not appear here and when I go to your seat, it has a question mark. I think it is better if you present your names to the Clerk. Proceed, Member for Tarbaj

Hon. Hon. Hussein Barre(UDA · Tarbaj Constituency)

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to address this House. I come from Tarbaj Constituency, which is within Wajir County that boarders Mandera and Somalia on the eastern side. I would like to congratulate the Speaker and yourself for being elected to preside over the business of this House. I thank the people of Tarbaj Constituency and all who supported me. They sent me here to represent them and present their issues to the nation. I do not want to forget those who were supporting the other contestants as now I represent them all.

Unknown speaker(Tarbaj)

Hon. Deputy Speaker, Tarbaj Constituency has a lot of challenges, but the greatest challenge currently is drought. My constituents are losing their livestock and some are on the verge of losing their lives because of lack of water. Our people cannot do their work. They are suffering due to the vagaries of nature. They do not have water. They call me to supply them with water, which I cannot. Currently, Tarbaj Constituency is suffering bad drought. I know efforts are being done by the Government headed by our President, Dr. William Ruto, and his deputy. They are putting in some effort, but that is not enough. I expect that allocation of money for rigs and a number of dams will be done in the coming budget so that, for once, we can address the issue of water in my constituency. This is one thing that has always been coming back. I hope in this term, we will find a solution for this. I wish to engage Members of the specific committees who are going to deal with sectoral areas that are concerned with water. We will give a lot of preference to this issue this time, so that such challenges can be addressed. Another thing that is a result of that situation is unemployment. There is unemployment in my constituency because people depend on livestock which is now decimated due to drought. We are not connected to the national grid, which have enhanced start-ups of factories and industries. We are also experiencing the least connectivity index in terms of roads. This situation has created an environment where jobs are not being created and quite a number of my people are not employed. During this term, I expect that the road from Modogashe to Mandera will be tarmacked so that business can be enhanced, and the national grid is connected from Garissa to Mandera, so that industries can be set up by private citizens and jobs creation rejuvenated. This is a bother to my people and I hope it will be addressed. Another thing that my constituency experiences is environmental problems. This is an era where climate change is a debate in the whole world. My constituency, being a dry constituency that does not have electricity connectivity, and people depend largely on the few shrubs that exist for fire and energy, are forced to collect firewood from wherever they find. That exacerbates the drought situation in my area. I hope with the focus in electricity connectivity, special consideration will be given to certain companies to introduce the usage of gas. In my constituency, I want to allocate some little money to some people who will provide gas energy and teach my people how to use it so that they can lessen the use of firewood. I hope the Ministry concerned will also join me in encouraging the people and extend that service to my constituency so that pressure on firewood is lessened. I also want the Ministry of Environment and other ministries concerned, especially the Ministry of Energy, to help me recruit a number of young men as environmental guards so that they can be diverted from collecting firewood or cutting the few trees that we have to being meaningfully engaged. These are some of the issues. Another issue that is of concern to my constituency is the education sector. As they say, if you want to interfere with the progress of a society, play around with education. You will find schools with close to 700 students with only one or two teachers in my constituency. That is widespread in the northern area. I know in the last term, a number of Members of Parliament had a number of initiatives to improve that by taking up a proposal with the Teachers’ Service Commission (TSC), but that has been quashed and kept aside. Quite a number of teachers are recruited from across the country, but when they get there, and are accepted as teachers, they give excuses of the place being inhospitable because of insecurity and such things. Those are just excuses. Sadly, that is accepted by the TSC. I hope this does not happen. The TSC should recruit teachers from that area and the qualifications pegged on teachers should not apply to a certain extent in those areas, so that local teachers can be employed. Another issue is access to citizenship documents by my constituents, namely, identity cards and passports. A week ago, I was pursuing a case where a young man from my constituency, who is qualified in every way, was following me for almost two weeks so that I could facilitate him to be issued with a passport. When I took up the matter, I was told it is the intelligence officers who verify whether he is a Kenyan or not. I had to follow up and intelligence people had no problem and have given him a go-ahead. But it took a lot of time for that information to be given even with the advanced technology. I know with the Integrated Population Registration System (IPRS) in place and the Huduma Namba that we have registered, this verification from the ground should not take place anymore. This information should be at the fingertips of immigration officers. I consulted the Director and he said he is doing something about it. I hope that is going to work. I do not want any more of my constituencies running after me for basic rights like identity cards. Another challenge that I have is security because I border Somalia. My constituency gets a lot of incursion from an illegal group that operates in Somalia. I want some facilities like sub-counties established so that I can get enough security personnel to beef up security in my area. I know I will have more time to speak and that is what I wish to say for now. Thank you.

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

Member for Kiambu County.

Hon. Hon. Anne Muratha(UDA · Kiambu County Woman Representative)

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity to make my maiden speech. My name is Ann Muratha, the Woman Representative for Kiambu County. I first want to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your election as Deputy Speaker of this House and also congratulate Hon. Speaker for his election too. I also want to congratulate our President for giving us leadership during the campaigns and allowing us to get the opportunity to be elected by the people. I personally want to thank the people of Kiambu for believing in me and giving me thousands of their votes to come and represent them in this august House. I am, indeed, very grateful for the 12 constituencies in Kiambu County and the 60 wards that believed in me and gave me their thousands of votes. I want to assure them that I am going to represent them in this House, and that God giving me his grace, I will serve all of them as is the wish I had when I requested them to give me their votes. There is an issue that I have been thinking about in this House now that we have just come from an election. There are people who still do not believe they lost elections. I want our people to know and understand that the situation the country is in after the election season is not good. People are suffering out there. People are tired of politics and nonsensical dramas. All that people want are leaders to now work for them, regardless of their political parties. We have to understand that we have to come together for the sake of our country. I get irritated when I see some people who believe being in the Opposition means fighting everything that the Government is doing. My prayer is that we work together. I would like us to work together. I want to raise the issue of illicit brew in Kiambu, which has destroyed young people. I want us to look into such issues as a House. Let us see how we can help the counties that are going through such problems. I also want us to talk about mental wellness. Our people are killing one another every day. Members of families are dying every day: husbands killing wives and children thus destroying their families. We need to be sitting together as Kenyan leaders to speak on behalf of our people. We must come up with ways of developing centres that will take care of mental health. We should be able to help officers serving in the forces, say, Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and the National Police Service (NPS), who are killing one another. We need to address issues affecting them and ultimately be of help to them. I would also like to thank the people of Azimio La Umoja-One Kenya Coalition Party. Yesterday Baba decided to go to the people as the people’s leader. He visited their ‘parliament’. I think that is the right way to go and that is where the Azimio La Umoja-One Kenya Coalition Party belongs to. Let him understand what people want out there and then tell us what we need to do for our people instead of fighting us. We do not have another country. All of us need to stand for what is right in this country regardless of which party we belong to. I would want to request all of us to move on. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I thank our President so much for addressing the issue of removing people from CRBs. There are some people who are unable to pay off their debts because of the economic situation in the country. Those who were unable to pay were blacklisted together with those who do not pay their debts at all. They are, therefore, referred to as defaulters. I thank the President for giving these people a second chance to enable them access loans. Where I come from, people believe in working for themselves and earning their own money. That can only be done through access to small loans. I have seen the boy-child resorting to suicidal tendencies whenever they lack money. I would also like to request the Government to avoid borrowing locally so that it can also give our people the opportunity to get loans from the banks. Finally, Hon. Deputy Speaker, I would like to make one humble request and pray that we work as a team. I want to make a humble prayer as a mother, wife and a citizen of this country to our people in Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya Coalition Party to accept that the country has to move on. They should accept that our President is none other than William Samoei Ruto. They need to believe and live with that. They also need to give the President time to work. He is not a robot. It is only a month now since he took office. They need to give the President time to organise the country. They need to move on. I would also like to request that, as a House, we accept the appointed Cabinet Secretaries, particularly Moses Kuria. I pray that we get into the momentum of working together and the likes of Moses Kuria get appointed. He will be in charge of industries and manufacturing. I am sure he will enable the youth to get opportunities. We have many youths languishing in poverty and they need to hear from us. As we support the President, let us support the Cabinet that he is bringing in, so that our people can move on. Above all, let us think about the youth who are jobless so that they can get opportunities to earn a living. Thank you. May God bless you and may God bless Kenya.

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

Member for Luanda.

Hon. Hon. Dick Oyugi(DAP-K · Luanda Constituency)

Thank you so much, Hon. Deputy Speaker. This is my very first time to speak in this august House and, probably, it would be right to declare my presence. My name is Dickson Maungu, newly elected Member of Parliament for Luanda. I take this opportunity to thank the people of Luanda for trusting me and having found it fit that I represent them in this prestigious House. I have been on the queue for the last four or so days waiting to speak, but I think I was meant to speak today. Allow me to congratulate you on your election as the Deputy Speaker. I would also like to congratulate our good Hon. Speaker in absentia. I take this opportunity to sincerely thank the people of Luanda for having trusted me as their Member of Parliament in this prestigious House. It was my first attempt and out of great respect, they found it fit that I represent them. I thank the great women and men of Luanda who woke up very early in the morning to cast their votes, and more so, in my favour as their Member of Parliament. Luanda Constituency faces a number of challenges. I ran my campaign on a platform of change and transformation. I believe that during my reign as the Member of Parliament for Luanda Constituency, I will be able to champion my people’s interests and represent them in a befitting manner. Luanda experiences a huge challenge in terms of youth unemployment. We have many young people who are unemployed and this remains an issue of concern just like it is for the rest of the country. We also have issues to do with infrastructure. During my campaign, I had an ISC Agenda. I championed infrastructure, which is a very important component for any kind of development to happen in any given place in this country. We have two important roads in Luanda which I desire that in due course they should be completed. We have MasenoKombewa Road which began more than eight years ago but is incomplete. I believe I will be able to champion the same and ensure that it is completed so that it becomes of great use to the people. This road cuts across three counties and three sub-counties, that is, Luanda, Rarieda and Seme. The road began from Seme but for some reason stopped when it reached Luanda. It is my prayer that we find out the reasons behind the stalling of construction of the road and ensure that it is completed. We equally have a very important infrastructure, which is the road that connects Luanda to Mbale. I will seek to ensure that in partnership with the national Government, this road is completed in record time. I also have an agenda on security, which is a matter of concern across the country. Insecurity has very much affected the business community in Luanda Constituency, which has five gazetted police stations. Out of the five, only one was constructed many years ago. It is my prayer that during my reign, we will improve security in the constituency. We will strive to put up a modern police station and fully deploy an Officer Commanding Station (OCS) there. He or she will ensure security in the area is improved more so for the business community and the general population in Luanda Constituency. I had an agenda on education, which is dear to me. Luanda Constituency covers a small area of land. I believe the only way we can empower our people is by ensuring they have access to bursaries and are well supported in matters education. This will improve their welfare and enable them to be self-employed or even create employment. Therefore, I will seek to ensure that the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institute, which we desired to have many years ago, is brought to fruition. I intend to pursue this with relevant Government authorities. I have one more important issue which I need to bring to your attention and it is about empowerment. You find with the high unemployment rate in our country, the only way we can bridge the gap between the rich and poor people is by ensuring people are well empowered. The current administration has a fund referred to as the hustlers’ fund. This country has many other funds like Uwezo Fund, Women Enterprise Development Fund, Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF) and here comes the hustlers’ fund. It is my prayer that this fund will go a long way in empowering the mama mbogas, and boda boda people so they can feed and take care of their families. Hon. Deputy Speaker, going to the Order of the day, which is the Motion on the Committee on Selection, I have a few things to say. It is true, as rightly put by Members who spoke before me, that there are very many Members who have chosen specific committees. The notion out here is that committees have got weight in the sense there are those which are more important than others. I believe that as Members of this prestigious House, we should ensure there is fairness, equity and representation. For example, looking at names of Members brought forward in this committee of five people, I fail to see a Member who will articulate issues under the Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya Coalition Party umbrella. How will they stand out and represent a small party in the name of DAP-K? Therefore, it is my prayer that the Committee which sits down to decide, distribute and allocate committee membership should have fairness, put experience to practice and exercise professionalism. It may not make much sense, for example, for a Member to be in a committee where he will have little to contribute. One would rather put his experience or expertise to great use in an appropriate committee. That way, we will all contribute to the development of this nation. My prayer is that as this Committee sits down, it should gel the more experienced people referred to as the ranking Members with the newly elected Members. The ranking Members will bring in their wealth of experience and the new Members will bring in new ideas and philosophies. This way, I believe we shall have committees with good representation to provide oversight. In the current system of Government, only this House can provide oversight. It can only do so if we have men and women of integrity and of unquestionable character to champion the rights of the people and their interests. This can only happen by having in place committees which are ably represented in this House. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I therefore wish to conclude by saying that I support the names as indicated. I pray that the committees will provide a fair way for everybody for they represent the people who sent them here. Thank you very much. Asante sana.

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

Member for Mosop Constituency.

Hon. Hon. Abraham Kirwa(UDA · Mosop Constituency)

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. First of all, allow me to thank you for the opportunity you have given me. I also want to thank God for this opportunity because I realise it was by His grace that I made it to this House. I ran against all odds, for example, having to come from diaspora to run for office. It was not easy. Hon. Gladys Boss, allow me to congratulate you as well for being elected Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly. I also congratulate Hon. Wetangula for being elected Speaker of the National Assembly. Allow me to thank the people of Mosop for giving me this opportunity to represent them. We had nine aspirants but God gave me an opportunity to lead. I assure them that we will accomplish much together. There were several promises we made to the people of Mosop. I want to assure them that we will continue working together in order to achieve much. Mosop is an agricultural constituency and 80 per cent of its people depend on agriculture. I want to believe that in the next five years we will focus on sugarcane, maize, tea and coffee farming. This is because Mosop Constituency purely depends on agriculture. I thank the President for the fertiliser subsidy he introduced a few weeks ago. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I want to touch on an issue the President mentioned in his Speech about Kenyan citizens living in the diaspora. For a very long time, Kenyans in diaspora have been neglected. They contribute over Kshs285 billion to the economy of this country, but they are not represented. For sure, their rights have been neglected. I want to believe in the next five years, I will represent their interests in this House. We can consider having diaspora as a county or constituency so that they elect a person or be given a nomination slot. It is so that their interests can get represented here. There is an issue which has continuously been raised in the diaspora that they only send money but when it comes to embassies representing their interests, they do not. We have an embassy in Washington DC, but there are Kenyans living in different places who are unable to go to this embassy. For example, Kenyans living in Dallas and Georgia have to go all the way to Washington DC to, say, renew their passports and address their issues. It is very expensive for them to do that. We want to ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to consider opening several consulates in various parts of foreign countries like in United States of America (USA), Australia, United Kingdom (UK) or any other country where Kenyans are living. I hope the Ministry will consider doing that. I thank the President because he came up with the Ministry of Diaspora even though it is not a Ministry by itself, but a docket. Probably, they might appoint a Principal Secretary (PS) to address issues of Kenyan citizens living in diaspora. There are many Kenyans struggling like those in Saudi Arabia or the Middle East. This issue has been brought to this House many times. What can we do to make sure the interests of these Kenyans, when they go out of this country, are protected? The Government has been reluctant in monitoring and supervising agencies which send people outside the country. I know there are laws that monitor agencies but they are reluctant to make sure Kenyans in the diaspora are protected. So, I hope we will have a Bill in this House which will protect the rights of Kenyans. We have seen abuse of people on audios and videos. Several concerns have been raised but nobody has taken the matter very seriously. I believe that in the next few years, we will be able to address the issues of Kenyans who live abroad. I assure them that for the time I will be here, I will represent their issues. We will raise these issues and come up with Bills that will protect them. It is because we want our sisters and brothers who go out of the country to be given the opportunity to do the best they can. We, therefore, must ensure that they are protected as well. For the people of Mosop, we have had insecurity issues along the Nandi Escarpment border with the Western and Nandi regions. I assure them that in the next few days, we will hold a meeting so that we can address the issue of the border. I had a chance to discuss with a neighbouring Member of Parliament why we should continue having insecurity along the Nandi Escarpment. We all know where the border lies. Why has the Government not effected it so that we do away with neighbours fighting along the Nandi Escarpment border? The other issue that I want to address is that of low income housing that the President mentioned. He said that in the next few months or years, he will make sure that almost every Kenyan has an opportunity to own a home. In Mosop, we do not have major shopping centres or towns, but we want to make sure that our people also benefit and own homes. So, I believe that the Ministry will sit down and figure that out. Other than the cities, which are Nairobi, Eldoret and others, how will the people in rural areas benefit from this programme? If we are saying that we will try to make sure that everybody owns a home, there has to be a programme that will help my people in Mosop to own homes at a cheaper price. I believe that we will sit down and discuss these issues. Thirdly, is the issue of digital currency. For a very long time, the rest of the world has moved to legalise digital currency. The United States of America (USA), Nigeria and several other countries have done the same. I intend to bring a Bill to the Floor of this House to help us legalise digital currency. This is something that we really need to discuss and get into because if the world is moving and becoming digital, the issue of digital money should be addressed. We should legalise it through the Central Bank of Kenya. With that, I thank you again for the opportunity. I have really tried to get an opportunity to contribute for the last four days. I am always the first one to come in and the last to leave, yet I do not get a chance to address issues. I thank you for this opportunity. I thank the people of Mosop. Have a wonderful day.

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

Thank you, Member for Mosop. Before I call upon the Member for Nambale, followed by the Member for Chepalungu, I have an announcement. Hon. Members, I wish to recognise the presence of staff and students of the Nairobi Leadership Academy from South C, Lang’ata Constituency of Nairobi County in the Public Gallery. (Applause) On behalf of the House, I welcome them as they follow the proceedings of the National Assembly. Thank you. Let us have the Member for Nambale Constituency.

Hon. Hon. Geoffrey Mulanya(Independent · Nambale Constituency)

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to make my maiden speech. For the benefit of my fellow Members, my name is Geoffrey Mulanya, the Independent Member of Parliament for Nambale Constituency. First, I thank you and congratulate you on your election as the Deputy Speaker of this House. Secondly, I thank the great people of Nambale for electing me as their Member of Parliament despite the difficult circumstances prevailing at the time. It was not easy to make it in Nambale as an Independent Member. I do not take this for granted. There are reasons the people of Nambale saw it fit to elect me to this House. Those are issues I advanced to them that touch on their livelihoods, particularly the issue of electricity, road network, agriculture, education and water supply. Let me first address the issue of electricity supply. We have a serious problem whereby electricity supply is not stable. This has greatly affected our people, especially the youth who depend on it for their livelihoods. I implore the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum to look into the issue because we have prolonged power blackouts that last for as long as 12 hours in Nambale Constituency. We do not understand this common occurrence that has prevailed for more than four years now. We really hope that the matter will be addressed with the urgency that it deserves. On health, I am aware that the health function is a devolved one. However, I implore my fellow Members to look into it. Letting health to remain a devolved function has led to the suffering of our people. You will find that the allocation given to counties is not adequate to address health issues. For instance, in Nambale, we have one of the oldest health centres that has been elevated to a Level 3 hospital. It is supposed to be a Level 4 hospital given the population of the people of Nambale. Besides that, we need to address the issue of the health policy. Since 2013 when we introduced the devolved functions, I have observed and noted that the health department has stagnated in growth. There is no progression in terms of health services being offered to our people. You will find that health facilities are still at the same level they were in even before devolution was introduced in the country. I will be urging fellow Members to really look into the health issue and properly analyse it, so that we determine whether it should be fully left to the devolved units or not. On agriculture, the people of Nambale depend on agriculture at the rate of 80 per cent as it is the backbone of their economy. I am happy that in his Speech, the President emphasised on supporting farmers, so that they contribute to the growth of the economy. On that note, he promised to follow up on the issue of subsidised fertilisers. The difficulty the people of Nambale are facing is that one of accessing subsidised fertilisers. You will note that the fertilisers are channelled through the NCPB. The people of Nambale do not have the benefit of having an NCPB branch near them. The nearest ones are in Bungoma and Malaba. Now, Bungoma is 80 kilometres away and farmers are really hampered in accessing the commodity. The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries should deem it fit to ensure that subsidised fertilisers are distributed through the constituencies or sub-counties so that, as representatives, we can help farmers access them. We could also register them for distribution. The road network is another challenge really affecting the growth of our great constituency. We have one tarmacked road only from Mumias to Busia Town. We have two other key roads that connect the constituency, that is, the Butula-Malaba Road and the MumiasMianga-Kimaeti Road. These roads are very key in supporting the businesses of the people of Nambale so that they can access the market to sell their produce. From 1990, we have never had expansion of road network in the constituency. I believe that the current Government will look at the issue and ensure that Nambale also benefits from the national cake. On the issue of education, I note with great concern that we have a serious shortage of teachers. I implore the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to ensure that it employs more teachers and deploys them in schools in Nambale. I was in the constituency last weekend and one of the schools—Majimbo Primary School, with a population of 800 students—only has nine teachers. That number is quite low. We believe that the Ministry will look at the issue so that we can have enough teachers deployed in the constituency. There is great concern about Ebola. Nambale Constituency is close to the Busia border. Last week the Ministry of Health discovered two suspected cases which turned out to be negative, but we cannot take the disease for granted. I call upon the Ministry of Health to work closely with Busia County Government so that they can deploy enough qualified personnel to do proper screening of the people entering the country through the Busia border. The people are greatly apprehensive that if this issue is not addressed, we may end up having another pandemic in the constituency. On the issue of farming, I am happy that when the President paid a visit to the great county of Homa Bay, he talked about cotton farming. Nambale is one of the constituencies that have been farming cotton in this country. It even has a defunct cotton ginnery. If the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock revives cotton farming, Nambale should be one of the areas to be considered. This is because it is an area that was previously doing very well in cotton farming. We believe that this particular cash crop will help the people improve their economy. With those few remarks, Hon. Deputy Speaker, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to make my maiden speech in this House.

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

Member for Chepalungu Constituency.

Hon. Hon. Victor Koech(CCM · Chepalungu Constituency)

Thank you so much, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I am a new Member. You remember I have been to your desk several times. I came here with the knowledge that any time I want to speak I will speak on the Floor of the House, but I have since learnt that resilience pays. That is why I am here. First, I want to congratulate you, like my colleagues who spoke earlier, on your election as the Deputy Speaker. We believe and trust in you and that you will serve us equally. I want to say many things. Congratulations to the Kenya Kwanza team and to the President. I congratulate and appreciate the great people of Chepalungu for having faith and trust in me. It has been a journey that started a long time ago. For them to have one of their own, a child born and bred in the same constituency being a Member of Parliament is a great achievement. I thank my party that sponsored me to this House. Against all odds, I am a Member of Parliament through CCM Party. You all know that there was a wave in the country. Nonetheless, the people of my constituency saw it fit to elect me as their Member. Our main aim to be here is to debate issues and to make progress. It is not about winning. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I want to make a few comments. I will try my best to be brief and stick to the point. I want to speak about the poor road network in my constituency. Before 2013, I want to report to this House, we had zero kilometres of tarmac road. Nonetheless, we benefited from a project that was launched in 2015. We were connected to a tarmac road that was poorly done. I want to believe that it was not up to the standard that the people of Chepalungu expected. I recommend that in future this House should ensure proper consideration in terms of the standards of roads that we give to the various constituencies. We come from different geographical areas, therefore, there are different types of soils for different areas. I thank the Government for giving us the second road that serves Kyogong-Sigor all the way to Chebunyo and Kaboson. We were about to celebrate, but along the way the contractor left the site and up to now we are yet to see him. I have made several attempts to visit the relevant offices but in vain. We believe that the new Chairperson of the Budget and Appropriations Committee will consider this and put it in the Budget line, so that the contractor can come back to the site and complete the already started work of tarmacking the same road. As we all know, the Last Mile Connectivity Project was initiated and done by the previous Government. I want to report that it was not done to our expectation in my constituency. As I speak, it is only 31 per cent of all the areas in my constituency that benefited from the same programme. On this, I urge the Kenya Kwanza Government to still re-consider budgeting for the same, so that our constituents can benefit from the same programme. I want to weigh in on the issue of NG-CDF. I am a product of the same. I benefited so many times during my schooling days. A lot of our students are at home due to lack of school fees. It is causing mayhem. Parents are calling left, right and centre asking about bursaries. I urge all concerned bodies that it is for the benefit of our country to have the NG-CDF back. I know it is a matter that is being handled by different entities. I believe it is godly and timely. Were it not for the NG-CDF, as a Member of Parliament, I do not know where I would be. There are projects that I have seen with my naked eyes being undertaken by the NG-CDF to prosperity. For instance, there is a new institution within my constituency. At this moment, I congratulate my predecessor, Mheshimiwa Gideon Kosgey, who initiated the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) – Siongiroi Campus. It is located at Siongiroi. I promise my constituents that one of my priorities is to complete this institution. If NG-CDF is not there, I will face the wrath of wananchi. They will not understand that I am no longer able to access NG-CDF as was the case initially. There are many pending projects in my constituency that I would wish to oversee to completion, that is, if the constituency continues to benefit from the same kitty. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I want to speak in particular about a technical training institute that is in Chebunyo Ward, within my constituency. It was a project that was initiated but it is not in good shape as we speak today. One of the reasons is that it lacks the necessary equipment to make it functional. As I report today, I have roughly less than 400 students whereas a similar institution that started at the same time has more than 2,000 students. I would really want to follow up the matter with this TVET.

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

Member for Funyula, what is your point of order?

Hon. Hon. Wilberforce Oundo(ODM · Funyula Constituency)

Hon. Deputy Speaker, thank you for this opportunity. We are debating a Motion moved under Standing Order 172, which is the Appointment of Members to the Committee on Selection. It is an extremely important Committee that will set this House into motion to work. In view of the fact that time is almost lapsing, I stand on Standing Order 95 to ask that the Mover be now called upon to reply. Thank you.

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

Is that the mood of the House, that the Mover should proceed to reply?

Hon. Members:

Yes.

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

I now call upon the Mover to reply.

Hon. Hon. Anthony Ichungwah(UDA · Kikuyu Constituency)

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. Let me thank the Member who has raised that matter. At this time, the interest of Members had dissipated a little bit on this Motion. I thank the Members who have contributed to this Motion and supported the appointment of this very important Committee on Selection. It will now get down to work and place all our Members into their respective Committees. As I reply, I request that you consider putting the Question as the first order of business this afternoon because of the obvious reason. If you look around the Chamber, you can see. With those few remarks, I thank all Members and we look forward to putting the Question in the afternoon and transacting the other business lined up in the afternoon. Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I beg to reply.

(Question proposed)

The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

Hon. Members, I can see that we do not have the requisite numbers. I, therefore, defer putting of the Question to the Afternoon Sitting.

(Putting of the Question deferred)

Section

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The Deputy Speaker(Gladys Gladys Boss)

The time being 12.59 p.m., this House stands adjourned until Wednesday, 12th October 2022, in the afternoon.

The House rose at 12.59 p.m.

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