{"count":1608389,"next":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=147607","previous":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=147605","results":[{"id":1494252,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1494252/?format=json","text_counter":689,"type":"other","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"Our fore fathers came together, did harambees and purchased land for the purpose of the community. Then, they decided to start a school through harambee. With the introduction of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Act of 2013 which did away with the trustees, those people who had in good faith come together, raised funds, started harambee schools, which later became TVETs and universities, were now required to surrender every bit of that land and every other material they were holding in trust for the public. Some of them, especially the second and third generations of such leaders, decided to be greedy. In the case of Kiambu where land is in excess of thousands of acres, they say they are donating a little bit of it to the institution. No! That land was bought by our fathers and grandfathers who came together in the interest of wanting their children to acquire education. Why do you want to take that land for commercial purposes? That is why we have been very critical on that and say you shall and must return the land that is belonging to the public. Our Committee went to Kiambu Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) and, in fact, ejected those people and said: “You are persona non grata on the public land of the Kiambu people! We will not allow you to continue interfering in its affairs.” We will be pleading with this House to honestly deal with such matters. I do not want to call them thieves because that is a heavy word. We will be pleading with this house to firmly deal with such people who want to take that which belongs to the public. We are also urging the accounting officers to move with speed, work with the National Lands Commission, the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning and the Ministry of Education, to ensure that they have secured land for those institutions. Many people are invading public land because of lack of title deeds. It is the same story at Kenyatta University and Maseno University. Some accounting officers have engaged in fraudulent activities of selling public land that is belonging to those institutions; which they are supposed to protect. The Committee recommends that the NLC, as entrenched in Article 67 of the Constitution, and the relevant ministries like the Ministry of Lands, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development, co-jointly with the county governments, as elucidated under Paragraph 8(b) and (c) of Part 2 of the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution, immediately ensure that all State corporations secure title deeds to all their parcels of land. Those institutions and the National Treasury must also prioritise the fencing off of all land holdings to forestall further encroachment. The Committee recommends that land encroachers face the full extent of the law, be evicted and charged in court. Another issue that we have encountered is outstanding construction works. We are in the process of coming up with a law that must safeguard those institutions. Look at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology where five buildings are undergoing construction that is involving big monies. You are told that a building will cost a few billion shillings. Monies in billions! Why start the construction of many new buildings instead of finishing one, and then going to another? Honestly, we do not know. Because of this, the institutions end up suffering. Mischievously, the heads of those institutions sign contracts that do not protect the institutions. They expose those institutions to fraudulent contractors. Because the institutions have to keep on extending the deadlines, those contractors have included very unimaginable fees in the contracts. If the institution extends the construction for a certain period of time, they must pay. We ask: Why? Why?"},{"id":1494253,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1494253/?format=json","text_counter":690,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. Peter Kaluma","speaker_title":"The Temporary Speaker","speaker":{"id":1565,"legal_name":"George Peter Opondo Kaluma","slug":"george-peter-opondo-kaluma"},"content":" Are you talking of Kenyatta University?"},{"id":1494254,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1494254/?format=json","text_counter":691,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Bumula, DAP-K","speaker_title":"Hon. Wanami Wamboka","speaker":null,"content":" No! I am talking about Rongo University. It has four on-going construction projects. The Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology has five stalled projects over a span of six years. They stand incomplete to date. That results in loss of Government funds and no value for money in the long run as a result of inflation. The Committee recommends that the National Treasury should The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."},{"id":1494255,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1494255/?format=json","text_counter":692,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Bumula, DAP-K","speaker_title":"Hon. Wanami Wamboka","speaker":null,"content":"only approve projects whose funding it can guarantee and whose completion is within the medium-term economic framework. The Committee further recommends that the said projects should only be approved after existing projects are completed to avoid the lumping of stalled projects in institutions. The policy should be: One project at a time. I want to report to this House that we are in the process of coming up with a law that will force both the National Treasury and the Ministry of Education to adhere to that policy together with the accounting officers. Fifth, is on expensive consultancies where accounting officers are syphoning public money. Notorious on the list is the State Department for Public Works. I do not understand why an engineer, architect or quantity surveyor who is employed and paid by the Government must use a Government car, fuel it, drive to a Government project and still be paid when they earn salaries. In fact, when they work for longer hours, they have extra allowances like overtime allowances. This must come to a stop. We want to work in consultation with the Departmental Committee on Housing, Urban Planning and Public Works to come up with a policy that will safeguard and deter such officers from syphoning public funds. The Committee recommends that the Ministry responsible for Public Works revamps the Public Works Department and employs adequate and competent staff. In most cases, leaders of those institutions do not go for public consultancies but private ones. Yes, the State Department for Public Works has problems. Those officers choose to go for very expensive consultancies. You wonder why? When you go to an institution, you are told that a certain project was to cost Ksh600 million but to date, they have paid consultants Ksh400 million. Initially, they were to be paid Ksh50 million. Where are we headed to as a nation? Moreover, certain technical institutions like the Kenya Technical Teaching College (KTTC) train on technical skills and can deliver Government projects, undertake technical training in public works related skills and assist in the management of those projects. In fact, technical training is offered by most institutions if not all, like Technical and Vocational Education and Training Institutes (TVET) or universities. Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) and the University of Nairobi offer technical training. Why do they not use students who are almost completing their courses so that they can cut on the costs. The relevant Departmental Committee should consider amending the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act of 2015, so that the first priority is given to Government agencies that can provide certain services. I believe those services can be provided by them. We only need a framework on how they will operate. Sixth, is failure to adhere to gender, ethnicity, regional balance and other considerations. There is a lot of nepotism and tribalism in those institutions. You find an institution has an ethnicity ratio towards a dominant community in excess of 90 per cent. You wonder what the problem is. I was conversing with my brother who suffers wisdom because he has white hair. He told me that Meru University was collapsing. It had a Vice-Chancellor from Meru and after they appointed one from the Luo community, it is doing very well. Kenya Methodist University (KEMU) was doing very badly until they appointed a Vice-Chancellor from the Luhya community. There are many people who can be vice-chancellors, but we have to give the right people the job. We should stop nepotism and tribalism because it is killing this country. We appoint people who eat the profit, interest and capital. In my community we say: “Khulia nendechimawe” . You eat everything. Kula kuku na vifaranga . This is what we are experiencing. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."},{"id":1494256,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1494256/?format=json","text_counter":693,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Bumula, DAP-K","speaker_title":"Hon. Wanami Wamboka","speaker":null,"content":"Firstly, the Committee recommends that all public agencies must comply with the constitutional provision on equality and inclusiveness as buttressed by the National Cohesion and Integration Act No. 12 of 2008. The Committee also recommends amending the TVET Act, 2013 to grant those institutions the authority to engage with the Public Service Commission during the hiring process of the 50 per cent that is allocated to the board of governors."},{"id":1494257,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1494257/?format=json","text_counter":694,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Bumula, DAP-K","speaker_title":"Hon. Wanami Wamboka","speaker":null,"content":"Further, the Committee recommends that the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), together with the Inspectorate of State Corporation, conduct an annual examination of ethnic composition in those state-owned enterprises to confirm incremental address of the matter. All of us know that Moi University is suffering due to of lack of finances. They decided to do a Human Resource (HR) Audit. We have Public Service Commission which is rated highly across the Continent and the world, but they bypassed it and brought in a private auditor whose name I have forgotten. Those people are charging them very expensively. The Public Service Commission can do that work without charging them. We had to stop it and told Moi University that it is joking and to go to Public Service Commission and ensure they undertake that audit through the Government framework."},{"id":1494258,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1494258/?format=json","text_counter":695,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Bumula, DAP-K","speaker_title":"Hon. Wanami Wamboka","speaker":null,"content":"Another issue is under-staffing in the TVET institutions. Under this, and you will bear me witness, the Ministry of Education is not serious. It not addressing the challenges in the education sector the way they are supposed to be addressed. Start even from primary schools with the new Competency Based Curriculum (CBC). It is falling apart. Go to TVETs, they do not have teachers and yet, the Government is not taking any steps to address that. Talk about university education and funding. It is now in shambles. Hon. Temporary Speaker, Members of Parliament interact at the grassroots level with parents. They will bear me witness that parents are suffering more than any other time in the history of education in this country. Even when Kenya was going to the dogs; Kenya was in the red and when Kenya had crossed the Rubicon during President Moi’s time, we never experienced non-conformity with admission to universities like now. Students are at home. They introduced something called a module. Module Z, Y or whichever it is, is not understood by a poor guy from the village. He cannot. You tell him to raise Ksh500,000 and yet, that man has never seen Ksh1,000 in his life. My neighbour who is called Marima Pesa has children at home. He does not know what to do with his children. Every time I go home he tells me: “ Mheshimiwa nisaidie . Watoto ni wa university .” Five children with Ksh400,000 for each, that is Ksh2 million. That man has never seen that kind of money. We must come up and ensure that we help those institutions. Otherwise, they are going to collapse. The Committee observed that TVETs are facing an acute shortage of both teaching and non-teaching staff. The ideal trainer to trainee ratio as recommended by the World Bank is 1:25, while the Ministry of Education recommends a ratio of 1:30. Unfortunately, in certain instances, the ratio in some courses has reached as high as 1:130. That situation significantly impacts the quality of education and training that is offered to the students."},{"id":1494259,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1494259/?format=json","text_counter":696,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Bumula, DAP-K","speaker_title":"Hon. Wanami Wamboka","speaker":null,"content":"The Committee also noted unequitable allocation of resources to TVETs, with some regions having well equipped institutions while others have dire situations with limited and deteriorating facilities. Hon. Temporary Speaker, we are urging fairness even from the Budget and Appropriations Committee of this House. We are urging fairness. We have young institutions that have not even started walking. A case in mind is my own institution called Cardinal Maurice Otunga Technical and Vocational College that is located at Tulumba, and which has been in existence for two years. Normally, they are supposed to receive infrastructure money. But they have not and yet, they have admitted students. How are they going to do that? The Government will continue pumping money to an institution that has equipment, is well financed and well-resourced. We The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."},{"id":1494260,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1494260/?format=json","text_counter":697,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Bumula, DAP-K","speaker_title":"Hon. Wanami Wamboka","speaker":null,"content":"are asking for fairness. Incidentally, those that have resources are given more. I do not know if they are applying the biblical wisdom that whoever has more will be given more, and they will live in abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. That is because if you look at the poverty index of some of the communities in this country, they are so poor that they have not even started any development. However, you do not allocate them the money. Instead, you give to the most developed. Just like we were arguing here earlier on, money that is allocated to roads is given to more developed regions while those that do not even have a murram roads, receive nothing. That is unfair even before God. The Committee, therefore, recommends that the Government halts the establishment of new TVETs until the existing ones are adequately equipped and upscaled to address the disparities in resource allocation. The Committee further recommends that the sector-working group targets marginalised regions in order to close the resource distribution gap. It also recommends that the sector-working group gives priority to the TVET sectors during resource allocation. They propose an increased allocation of resources to address the long-standing issue of under-funding that has hindered the growth and development of those institutions. Adequate funding would not only enable the enhancement of infrastructure, but will also attract and retain high qualified instructors, further elevating the quality of the education that is provided. Hon. Temporary Speaker, the Committee wishes that the House adopts this Report with amendments to recommendations regarding Kisumu National Polytechnic that irregular cash payments appearing on Page 41, Paragraph 2.12, that was made for cash or works done amounting to Ksh2,308,996, be surcharged to the governing Council and the long-standing interest of Ksh37,800, appearing on Page 41, Paragraph 2.16, be written off from their books of account since no money was lost. It was as a result of demise of an employee. Hon. Temporary Speaker, the Committee further acknowledges that penalties be rendered to various institutions, including Kisumu National Polytechnic where the governing Council was disbanded and surcharged for irregular excess expenditure of Ksh14 million without approval. Further, the Council of the same institution had an un-authorised expenditure totalling to Ksh1,150,000, which the Committee surcharged the Council Members for the monies that were misappropriated. We are taking those punitive measures so that even the councils of those institutions become serious. They go to those institutions just to fleece the money. Councils take money without approval in the name of allowances. They approve things that do not exist. In some instances – like in Moi University - the Council collected money from the bank and gave to it one individual to pay people as and when they feel like it. Like in Kisumu National Polytechnic, we have recommended harshly that the Council be disbanded, and action taken. We are inviting EACC and DCI to move with speed so that those culprits can start to respect public finances. You are taken to an institution to help it and not to collapse it. This must be approved so that it serves as an example and a deterrent to those crooked council members and officers who have been called to serve and yet, they take advantage of the public."},{"id":1494261,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1494261/?format=json","text_counter":698,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Bumula, DAP-K","speaker_title":"Hon. Wanami Wamboka","speaker":null,"content":"Further, there are cases of delayed completion of projects of some TVETs by their mentor institutions like Rongo University, which failed to complete workshop classrooms and offices for Kakrao Technical and Vocational College. I commend our Leader of the Minority Party, Hon. Junet Mohammed. We called him to say we needed his help when we realised that there was a problem. He agreed. The college is to be completed by the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) of Suna East Constituency. The Committee has banned Rongo University from undertaking any projects within the institution. It should fully hand over to institutions such as Kakrao Technical and Vocational College to initiate their own projects. We are doing this to put an embargo on the university not to start any new project until they complete the existing projects. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."}]}