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{
"id": 1403381,
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"content": "Hon. Senators, as far as Question Nos.37 and 40 are concerned, we had no indication whatsoever, when we sat as the SBC, whether the Hon. Prime Cabinet Secretary would not be present for purposes of responding to those two Questions. Therefore, we were expecting the Prime Cabinet Secretary to come to this House today for purposes of responding to those two Questions. However, yesterday at 4.00 p.m., a letter was received by the Clerk of the Senate, indicating that the Prime Cabinet Secretary will not be in a position to appear before the Senate for purposes of responding to those two Questions. Hon. Senators, I find the conduct of the Prime Cabinet Secretary unacceptable. Having gone through the letter, there is no emergency. The reason given there is one that the Prime Cabinet Secretary knew long before that he would be undertaking the assignment indicated in that letter. Courtesy demands that he ought to have indicated the same to the Senate long before the SBC sat to schedule these Questions. Hon. Senators, as far as Questions are concerned, we have no Cabinet Secretary today for purposes of responding to any of those Questions that had been slated. Therefore, we will proceed with other business indicated in the Order Paper, unless the Senate Majority Leader has something to share with the Senate. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1403382,
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"type": "other",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Kindly proceed."
},
{
"id": 1403383,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
"speaker": {
"id": 13165,
"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
"slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
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"content": " Mr. Speaker, Sir, this is a grave matter. The fact that the Cabinet Secretary called you is not sufficient. She might have called you on matters to do with Kilifi County, but not with the Senate. She has not been invited here to come and meet the Speaker. Much as you extended the courtesy of receiving her call, she needs to know that this House is terribly disappointed with her conduct. Hon. Aisha Jumwa, a long serving parliamentarian, who has been here for over 10 years, knows very well that if there is a conflict of diaries between the Executive and appearance in Parliament, the Legislature takes precedence. I know President William Ruto well. If any Cabinet Secretary tells him that they cannot make it to his meeting because they are scheduled to appear before Parliament, he can never recall that Cabinet Secretary to appear either in the Cabinet meeting or an official briefing at the expense of the representatives of the people. The behaviour by Hon. Aisha Jumwa is something that I find quite astounding. While other Cabinet Secretaries have been before this House three to five times, the Prime Cabinet Secretary and herself have never set foot in the Senate. Mr. Speaker, Sir, with your guidance, I am willing to be persuaded by colleagues who you may grant opportunity to say a thing or two about the conduct of these two Cabinet Secretaries. Let us be bound by the collective reasoning of the House because it is not proper. I have seen the letter from the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary. There is an officer by the name Joseph N. Busiega. These are people who do not need to be in public offices. I am not excusing the Prime Cabinet Secretary. By the time you write a letter at 3.57 p.m. for a meeting that is supposed to happen the following morning at 9.00 a.m., are you normal? Do you know what you are doing in that public office? That should not be entertained and I cannot allow Parliament to be treated like this. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we have to register our disappointment with both Cabinet Secretaries in the strongest terms possible, including the amendment we have just done to the Powers and Privileges Act. Unfortunately, the amendment is yet to become official law of the land because it still has to go through the National Assembly. If it were me, I would issue summonses to both Cabinet Secretaries. First of all, we need to establish whether they recognize that Parliament is bicameral. I am sure they have appeared before our colleagues in the National Assembly. Therefore, I do not get what the spite about the Senate is and what their motivation might be. There is nothing that Members are begging for. They are coming to respond to issues from the representatives of the people. These are Questions Kenyans are asking the Cabinet Secretary through their elected representatives in this House. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to be guided by colleagues in their consideration of this matter, so that we make a decision jointly as a House on what to do. We have to make a decision on the number of times a Cabinet Secretary can skip an appearance together with the maximum number they need to exhaust for postponement. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1403384,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
"speaker": {
"id": 13165,
"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
"slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
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"content": "The other day we issued directives on standards of a letter that one can write to Parliament. You should not just state that you cannot appear without a suggestion of when you are available next or even a credible reason you are not appearing. Mr. Speaker, Sir, without appearing to be lamenting, I humbly request that we take a decision as a House on what to do with these two Cabinet Secretaries. I thank you."
},
{
"id": 1403385,
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"text_counter": 32,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Kingi",
"speaker_title": "The Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Sen. Sifuna, proceed."
},
{
"id": 1403386,
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"text_counter": 33,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Sifuna",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13599,
"legal_name": "Sifuna Edwin Watenya",
"slug": "sifuna-edwin-watenya"
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"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, you caught me confirming the law on whether this House can impose the same sort of sanctions that we have seen imposed by committees on witnesses who fail to appear. I have said enough about Hon. Aisha Jumwa and I have no more to say. As a legislator, you have advised us on more than one occasion that this cannot be a House of lamentations. We need to proceed and impose a fine in accordance with the law for non-appearance of the Cabinet Secretary, Hon. Aisha Jumwa. As for my brother, the Prime Cabinet Secretary in charge of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, Hon. Musalia Mudavadi, whom I have never seen in this House since these rules were promulgated, I am looking at the number of times he has been invited here. In fact, I have the privilege of sitting in the SBC. I remember one time he wrote a letter to this House saying that you cannot summon a Cabinet Secretary if there is only one Question to answer. He added that we should wait until there is enough material for him to appear before this House. I remember the direction we took as the SBC. We said it could be the most critical Question in the country at the moment. I thank some of the Cabinet Secretaries who have appeared here. Last week, the Cabinet Secretary for Defence, Hon. Aden Duale, appeared to answer one Question on the reopening of Uhuru Park and he left everybody here satisfied. The people of Nairobi City County are happy because the park is now open. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we should not be told such stories. Since you have directed that we should not be a House of lamentations, I want the fate that befalls Hon. Aisha Jumwa to befall the Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, so that he feels the pinch. I request that we expedite the changes that we made to the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act. The enhanced fine might dissuade some people from failing to appear before the Senate. Mr. Speaker, Sir, it has been a very difficult night here in Nairobi City County. We were trying to coordinate responses to incidents of flooding across the City. I am sure this is a matter that all are aware of. Even though we did not get much sleep, we woke up in time to get here this morning because we have critical Questions to answer. If you look at the range of Questions and the discussion we were to have here, especially on arrests, detention and deportation of Kenyans in diaspora, these are critical matters. I have a critical case that has been going on even before the elections. One of our key supporters from Western Kenya, Prof. Ruth Oniang’os son, was arrested in the United States of America (USA) during the crackdown on the opioid epidemic. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1403387,
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"text_counter": 34,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Sifuna",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13599,
"legal_name": "Sifuna Edwin Watenya",
"slug": "sifuna-edwin-watenya"
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"content": "He is a qualified pharmacist. That young man has languished in jail at an un- disclosed location. We are unable to get any information on his whereabouts and whether he is okay. It would have been a nice opportunity for the Cabinet Secretary, who comes from that very same county where that young man comes from, to give answers to the family of that young boy. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I express my disappointment. However, I want us to proceed in line with the law; impose those fines and issues summonses. If they fail to appear, other consequences can follow. I thank you."
},
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"id": 1403388,
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"text_counter": 35,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Kingi",
"speaker_title": "The Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Sen. Mungatana, you may have the Floor."
},
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"id": 1403389,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Mungatana, MGH",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise in defence of the Cabinet Secretary in charge of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs. The hon. Musalia Mudavadi was before our Sessional Committee on Delegated Legislation two days ago. He came on time and waited. We had to wait for quorum and thus, he went back to his office. He later came back, appeared before us and tackled every question that we put before him. I am very surprised that today his behaviour is totally different from what he displayed at the committee. I know that we were able to find a way forward for the very heavy issue that we were tackling there. Mr. Speaker, Sir, having said all that, the issue I was trying to drive at is that there are some Cabinet Secretaries who have defied this House, but there are those who have been very cooperative. The question is, are we speaking with records and facts? Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have a recollection of your ruling guiding that we should not be people to lament on issues. Instead, we should act, the way Sen. Sifuna has proposed. However, the way you actually guided is not what the hon. Senator is proposing. You said that a proper Motion should be brought for us to censure the offenders. My take is that nothing stops the Senate Majority Leader from originating a letter when he is giving his weekly statements. Instead of just talking of how many questions and statements we have done and what the committees have done, he should also state the Cabinet Secretaries who never turned up so that we have a proper record. Then when we move as a House, we are all in agreement that this particular Cabinet Secretary did not turn up, so that we can have a track and then pass a unanimous vote. Mr. Speaker, Sir, talking without really putting the facts on the table will not be helpful. So, I urge action from the side of the Senate Majority Leader. He should be mentioning these things when he is doing that weekly report and show the Cabinet Secretaries who failed to turn up. We can then note, and at the appropriate time, either him or the Senate Minority Leader can bring a proper unanimous Motion, where we will be referring to a record of absenteeism and failure to exercise duty. As I sit down, I urge the Cabinet Secretary in charge of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs to note that the Question Sen. (Dr) Khalwale is asking about deaths of people working in the Gulf States is very relevant, especially for those of us who come from the Coast. There are many people who go to the Gulf States to work from all the six counties, including Tana River. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
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"text_counter": 37,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Mungatana, MGH",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "We have people who have suffered there. I have particular cases I would have wanted to interrogate. I ask the Cabinet Secretary that when it comes to matters of life and death, he should prioritise and come here as soon as possible to answer to this Question. I thank you."
}
]
}