Ababu Namwamba

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 241 to 250 of 1948.

• 21 Apr 2016 in National Assembly: Hon. Speaker, I support this Petition. I want to invite the Departmental Committee on Education, Science and Technology to focus on three issues as they look into this serious matter. Closure of universities has now become so casual that it is like common practice. I would encourage the Committee to look at these three factors. Number one is the quality of the management that we have in our universities. That is because at the slightest wave of crisis, we see the management of most of those universities rushing to close the universities, which should be a measure of last resort. ... view
• 21 Apr 2016 in National Assembly: Finally, there is the recommendation that has been made by the Leader of the Majority Party. I do not normally agree with the Leader of the Majority Party on many things in this House but, on this particular matter, I want to agree with him. Many students live under unbearable stress. The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) releases money in a manner that is not reliable. All of us in this House can attest to this because, at the end of the day, the stress and burden creeps back to us. Therefore, this House, through the Departmental Committee on Education, ... view
• 21 Apr 2016 in National Assembly: Thank you, Hon. Speaker. This is not a trivial matter but a very crucial one. I want to thank the Leader of the Majority Party for bringing it to the attention of the House. These are public funds. The system that we are trying to implement is still pretty much noble in our jurisdiction. We have not had political parties receiving funds from the public purse previously. It is a matter we have been grappling with for maybe five to six years now. These are teething problems and challenges. Being a House that is now seized of the responsibility of ... view
• 21 Apr 2016 in National Assembly: My submission is just on two points: one is on procedure. If we proceed in accordance with the current Standing Orders, because we are a House of rules, then without a shadow of doubt, we should look at Standing Order No.205. These accounts should be committed to the PAC and there should be no doubt on which committees of this House should have responsibility over this. Standing Order No.205(2) reads, and for avoidance of doubt allow me to put it on record:- “(2) The Public Accounts Commitee shall be responsible for the examination of the accounts showing the appropriations of ... view
• 21 Apr 2016 in National Assembly: My second and final point is one of propriety. When accounts such as these come to the House, we know that there is a process through which they are interrogated. The committee that is responsible in this case as I have submitted is the PAC. It will interrogate those audit queries and give opportunity to accounting officers to respond to them. Therefore, I would wish to submit that it would certainly not be in order for us to bandy around any figures before they have gone through that process of interrogation by the PAC, which also gives opportunity to the ... view
• 21 Apr 2016 in National Assembly: If the Leader of the Majority Party, for instance, says that the ODM has not explained or accounted for Kshs.19 million in revenue, that is a very presumptuous and an unfortunate statement. It sends an erroneous impression out there that this is fact and it has been confirmed after having gone through the process of interrogation. As a person who has chaired the PAC, I know that an audit query is just that and must be subjected to interrogation. My submission therefore, on the basis on Standing Order No.205 is let this report proceed immediately to the PAC for interrogation. ... view
• 21 Apr 2016 in National Assembly: Thank you, Hon. Speaker. Indeed, you are right. As you spoke, I was flipping through the Fifth Schedule. It is true that this Bill had a timeframe of two years. It is one of those serious errors of both the 10th and 11th Parliaments. Let us commend the 11th Parliament for correcting this alteration. Indeed, we had occasion to discuss this matter in the 10th Parliament and it was admitted that this was one of those little things that could easily have sent the 10th Parliament packing. Let me start by commending the 11th Parliament because we have done extremely ... view
• 21 Apr 2016 in National Assembly: This is a Fund that will be controlled or administered by the Chief Registrar of the Judiciary as the Accounting Officer. It will facilitate the administrative expenses of the Judiciary. It will basically give the Judiciary administrative wherewithal. Today, we are in the midst of drastic and far-reaching reforms in the Judiciary. Indeed, one of the key intentions of our new constitutional dispensation is to have a Judiciary that is independent, responsive to the challenges of our nation, a defender and protector of justice and the rule of law. All those good and lofty objectives and vision will be very ... view
• 21 Apr 2016 in National Assembly: We have had a scenario where many Kenyans express doubt as to just how independent the Judiciary is. Previously, the argument has always been that the Judiciary cannot fulfil some of these high expectations because of not being truly liberated in terms of financing. I am happy today that six or so years after we enacted the Constitution, and four years late from the date when this piece of legislation should have been enacted, we are finally seized of this Bill. We are finally setting the Judiciary free. The Judiciary can conduct its affairs freely and meet its expenses without ... view
• 21 Apr 2016 in National Assembly: On a point of order, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. view