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{
"id": 1501852,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
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"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
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"content": " Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to move the following Motion- THAT, pursuant to Standing Order No.27(6), the Senate- (a) Records its thanks for the exposition of public policy contained in the Address of His Excellency the President, delivered on Thursday, 21st November, 2024, and laid on the Table of the Senate on Tuesday, 26th November, 2024. (b) Notes the following Reports submitted by His Excellency the President in fulfilment of Articles 132(1)(c)(i) and 240(7) of the Constitution, laid on the Table of the Senate on Tuesday, 26th November, 2024. (i) The 11th Annual Report 2023/2024 on the Measures Taken and Progress Achieved in the Realization of National Values and Principles of Governance. (ii) The Annual Report on the State of National Security for the period 1st September, 2023 to 31st August, 2024. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise to fulfill this extremely important duty. I have seen that the Senators have been provided with a copy of the State of the Nation Address delivered by the President last week in the Chamber of the National Assembly, where both the 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": 1501853,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1501853/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
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"id": 13165,
"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
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"content": "Senate and the National Assembly Members were gathered in fulfillment of Articles 132(1)(c)(1) and 240(7) of the Constitution. It is extremely important that His Excellency the President gives an account of what the State of our Nation is to the representatives of the people that were gathered in the Chamber of the National Assembly. I appreciate that the wording in the Motion I am moving is a recording of the appreciation of the House. In furtherance of our responsibilities as representatives of the people, we will debate and interrogate this speech and if there are points of convergence or divergence, we will see what can we do about it. This is the account of the State of the Nation as the President sees it. He has backed his statement with facts and figures of what he feels are the indicators of where Kenya stands today according to him. As representatives of the people, we are duty-bound to take time to read through all the 81 paragraphs and interrogate this statement. I will beg not to go through each of the paragraphs because I understand how difficult at times we find ourselves in. It is at this point that I wish that the House takes note of the fact that today at the Senate Business Committee (SBC), we agreed that in respect of extremely urgent business that is before us, though by our Standing Orders we have three days to debate this speech, we want to push as hard as possible to grant an opportunity to every Senator that wants to speak to this speech and conclude it by tomorrow late afternoon. This is because we want to leave the remainder of the evening tomorrow as well as Thursday and next week for consideration of the mediated version of the Division of Revenue Act (DORA), which has just been tabled this afternoon, and the County Government Additional Allocation Bill, an extremely important Bill that is presently before the Mediation Committee. Those Bills are yet to be concluded. I do not see Sen. Tabitha in the House. She is the Chairperson of that Committee. I do not know if there is any Member who sits in that committee. This is a Bill that will unlock close to Kshs60 billion on additional allocation to our county governments. Immediately after the passage of the DORA, we have to do the County Allocation of Revenue Bill, which is the county-specific fund allocation to all the 47 county governments, and eventually do the Cash Disbursement Schedule. All that has to be done between this week and the rise of the House on Thursday, next week. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I deviated a little bit to appraise the House to appreciate how much little time we have in the next six days of sitting and how much business we have to transact and the extremely important nature of the business that is before us. I do not know how you will face your constituents in Lodwar over the long recess period from December all the way to February, Sen. Lomenen, without having passed the DORA and CARA. We will have extremely failed as a House. It is my humble plea that we manage time prudently in the next remaining few days so that we conclude on that responsibility. I made that point to excuse myself from going through each of the thematic areas that the President covered. As the Mover of the Motion, I want to set the pace, so that I cover the areas that I found extremely important in the speech and leave the rest to my colleagues to give their perspective and views on what they found to be important in the speech by His Excellency the President. 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": 1501854,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1501854/?format=api",
"text_counter": 56,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
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"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
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"content": "I appreciate the fact that on the day of the State of the Nation, His Excellency the President reminded all of us, as leaders, that in this day and age, listening is actually a full-time occupation of leadership. There are many things that you can abrogate as a leadership, but listening is not one of them. We have to listen full-time from morning to evening, awake or asleep, because citizens continue to engage us. I appreciate the fact that in his speech he says that, “As Kenyans continue to ask difficult questions of us as a leadership, they deserve a meaningful engagement. That you understand and are thoughtful in your response to the issues that continue to be raised. They may not necessarily agree with what you are saying, but it is important that as you engage, you are thoughtful and thorough to cover all the concerns that citizens continue to have.” I like the fact that further down the speech, many of the issues of great concern to the Republic were tackled. He gave his reasoning as a leader of the nation on why certain things are the way they are and what it will take to make them better. However, we were reminded that we must listen. We have also been reminded that the response has to be thoughtful. It is not a retort of acknowledging that there is a problem and saying that something is being done. Mr. Speaker, Sir, you must carry the citizens with you to appreciate your perspective of the issues of concern to them. Explain to them whether there is cause for alarm or they should take it easy and appreciate that though we may not be where we ought to be, we are certainly not where we were. There is progress being made and at the right time and pace, we will eventually get to the destination in each of the sectors that have been spoken to. Education features as a first topic and that cannot be gainsaid about our society. Our society minds deeply about our education system. It is no wonder that on each of the budgets that we have done over the years, as long as I can remember, education has the biggest charge. It is a matter of great national concern and no president or leader can afford to take their eye off the education standards of our country. The reason Kenya produces professionals that compete with the best on the globe and continues to be competitive globally is courtesy of the fact that we have a sound education system. It has transitioned over the years from education systems that I cannot even recall and we have continued to improve on it and make it better. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I do not know whether you did the Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) at class seven and I do not intend to ask you this. However, gazing by your age, I know what you may have participated in. I know for a fact without having to ask him that my Whip, Sen. Boni Khalwale, does not know what KCPE at class eight is."
},
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"id": 1501855,
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"speaker": null,
"content": "(Sen. Cherarkey spoke off record)"
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"id": 1501856,
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"text_counter": 58,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
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"id": 13165,
"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
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"content": "You can hear those that did the Cambridge exam are part and parcel of this House. The point is that over the years, Kenya has continued to improve on its education system. We must never lose sight of the fact that the more we fine-tune it and make it better, we produce professionals that are able to take the task of leadership in any corner of the world and shine and become better at whatever they are doing. 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": 1501857,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1501857/?format=api",
"text_counter": 59,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
"speaker": {
"id": 13165,
"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
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"content": "I appreciate the fact that this formed the very first thematic area that the President chose to address. There have been concerns about the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC). It was rolled out in 2017, but continues to struggle. Seven years down the line, it has never settled in the minds of ordinary parents. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I remember that during the 2022 campaigns, this topic featured prominently and many parents were actually concerned that we were rolling out a curriculum for which we were ill-prepared, especially in the public sector and for which parents actually did not understand. There is something also that needs to be mentioned that despite their genuine concerns about CBC and what needs to be done about it, I also know that there are parents who have issues with it on the basis that it is so involving. So long as your child is a CBC pupil, as a parent you cannot afford to take your eye off their education programme because most of the time they come back home with assignments which they cannot tackle on their own. They need the help of the parent and that is a big issue to many parents. Therefore, it begs the question as to whether this curriculum is working for or against the citizens of our Republic. Mr. Speaker, Sir, important questions have also been raised in this particular speech about the standards of democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms as well as the rule of law and transparency for which, later on in the speech, the President took time to expound and lay distinction. To me, if there is a topic that was so elaborately covered, distinction drawn and a way forward proposed, it is on this issue of the status of human rights. Mr. Speaker, Sir, regarding the whole conversation about fundamental rights and freedoms that many feel are under threat and what needs to be done about it, the President dedicated significant time in addressing that particular topic. If you read through the speech, you must appreciate the distinction that was drawn. This House unfortunately passed a Motion, which up to now we are yet to see the benefit of it. We asked our committees, including the Committee on Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights to guide the country on how we can exercise the rights of Article 37. That continues to feature in the President's speech, but the President is not a lawmaker. It is our duty. Many times, protests have ended up causing loss of life, property and so many other disruptions. As a legislature specifically, this is our responsibility, but we have not provided a roadmap for our country to enjoy these rights and freedoms without the normal debates that we have on how one can enjoy their rights without necessarily disrupting the lives of other citizens who may not share or partake in the issues that are of concern to me."
},
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"text_counter": 60,
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"speaker": null,
"content": "[The Speaker (Hon. Kingi) left the Chair]"
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"id": 1501859,
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"text_counter": 61,
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"speaker": null,
"content": "[The Temporary Speaker (Sen. Abdul Haji) in the Chair]"
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"text_counter": 62,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
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"id": 13165,
"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I like the fact that he pointed out the issue of infiltration that occurs during protests times. You may find certain gangs, which have been mobilized by people who have ulterior motives; they end up being used to 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": 1501861,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1501861/?format=api",
"text_counter": 63,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
"speaker": {
"id": 13165,
"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
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"content": "undermine the very reason for which citizens may want to protest. The assurance that has been given on the topic of how the police handled this particular matter is that the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) continues to carry out this investigation. The only question that we must ask is how much more time do they need before we can eventually get a report. In the Motion of the Senate that we passed here in June, we had proposed specific things that need to be done in this country, including a review of the standing orders of the police on how to guide citizens in terms of protest. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I move on to an extremely important topic; the issue of debt. Debt continues to be an extremely difficult subject for any administration. Remember what our debt exposure is to date and the kind of debates that we have had on the floor of this House on what we need to do. I appreciate that members of the Standing Committee on Finance and Budget continue to remind us each year when we do the Budget Policy Statement (BPS) of the need to reduce our fiscal deficit. Unless we learn to live within our means, we shall continue to be a country that is riddled in debt and our economy will never stabilize. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we must appreciate and learn to be factual about the challenges that we continue to face, especially in the debt space. In the legislation that we passed here in 2023, we demanded of the National Treasury, as Parliament, that each year we are furnished with a report of our debt exposure showing how much has been repaid and how much more debt has been incurred over the years. I want to believe that if that report had been properly filed, you would not have Senators sometimes speaking ignorantly. I saw Sen. Onyonka over the weekend saying that the debt accumulated in the last two years is over Kshs7 trillion. That is not accurate. I sympathize with him because he was speaking on the topic of integrity and the need to be truthful while lying at the same time. If such reports had been provided to the House, Senators would not have spoken out of turn like that. Therefore, I challenge colleagues who sit in the Committee on Finance and Budget to make sure that the reporting mechanisms that we provide in the laws that we pass are actually adhered to. Each afternoon before we even get to the Notices of Motion, I usually table reports from various State departments in this House. I expect that Senators will take time to read and react to those particular issues. It was calm and reassuring and we appreciate the fact that we are not yet out of the woods, but we are certainly not at the place where we were two years ago. Repayment of some of the very critical debt that was pressing hard against us has helped us to stabilize on inflation. It has been boosted by the very presence of a strong foreign exchange reserve that we presently enjoy. It was stated actually that the figure of the foreign exchange reserve has surged from US$2.4 billion to US$9.4 billion; the highest in quite a number of years. That has helped us. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, unfortunately, these numbers and figures do not mean much to the ordinary citizen until the day and time that we are able to translate the good figures on Harambee Avenue and here in Parliament into figures in the pockets of ordinary citizens. 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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}