James Orengo

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 1821 to 1830 of 4273.

• 4 Dec 2018 in Senate: Some of you may remember that there was someone who had offered to build the tallest building in the city of Nairobi at Uhuru Park, which Wangari Maathai and her colleagues made impossible. In fact, the President, at that time, had laid a foundation stone. If it had been built, it would have been built on funds which had been stolen from a pension fund belonging to the middle group in the United Kingdom (UK). This gentleman finally committed suicide in the high seas when the law caught up with him. He was called Robert Maxwell and he was described ... view
• 4 Dec 2018 in Senate: Yes, there is a story about it. It is said that when his body was found, he was naked. The mafias do not strip people, especially when it is Italian mafia but there is a whole story about it. It is in the same Mediterranean Sea where the late Princess Diana used to go sailing with a tycoon of Egyptian descent but that is another story. Our friend, the former Chief Justice talked about Kenya being a bandit economy and to some extent, pension funds always have bandits waiting to plunder those funds. I am not being abstract. It has ... view
• 4 Dec 2018 in Senate: Therefore, investments like this through savings are not only important for the national economy but also important for individual citizens who contribute to these funds. It is critical, especially in Kenya where we are borrowing, because we cannot raise enough revenue. We borrow locally. We are now going to borrow from China under some very strenuous circumstances; borrowing under the instruments of sovereign bonds which put the country and the economy through a lot of stress. The cheapest money that the Government could have made access to and it is competing for this money with the business sector is such ... view
• 4 Dec 2018 in Senate: South Africa, even under the old apartheid regime, inherited some strong institutions such as the power generating company, the Electricity Supply Commission (ESKOM), which is almost coming down. The South African Airways was one big giant and it is also going under. In Kenya, if you look at the way institutions that we have across the board are falling apart or experiencing problems, you will realise that it is a function of the economic bandits invading funds which are otherwise established under the law like the one we are trying to have or in the private sector. In the case ... view
• 4 Dec 2018 in Senate: Therefore, I urge that at the amendment stage, the appropriate procedure should be for the trustee to appoint the Chairperson from amongst themselves. Then, for purposes of executing that appointment, the CS would gazette the appointment. However, the appointment should not be made by the CS. He or she is an officer of the national Government while this Fund largely belongs to the employees of the county governments. To that extent, we have trustees that come from the national Government, that is, the Principal Secretary for Finance and Principal Secretary (PS) in charge of Devolution. All these put together with ... view
• 4 Dec 2018 in Senate: On the question of appointments, I would say that the convening of the meeting of the nominating body should be clearer. If it is said that it is just the Council of Governors (CoG), I think there should be an appropriate person and not just a body. Probably for this purpose, it would be better to say the serving Chairman of the CoG. Clause 7 is on qualifications. Our Constitution talks about meritocracy both in the public service and even we, as Senators, although there is no educational requirements. Parliament is required to make a law providing for educational requirements. ... view
• 4 Dec 2018 in Senate: four years. He or she should not be in a position to overstay, because then, with the kind of structure that I see in this board, quite easily the board will become the CEO. Every time a new board comes in, the CEO will know all the tricks in the system and may at the end of the day, make it very difficult for the institution to operate. The most important positions in this old structure are three; the Fund Manager, the Custodian of the Scheme and the Administrator. I like the idea because internally within the management, there are ... view
• 4 Dec 2018 in Senate: this Senate. I have stated my position with regards to certain provisions of this Bill that would require some re-consideration and amendment. After the year 2013, we really thought Kenya was going in the right direction because the current Constitution had created a new Republic. In fact, when the current Constitution was promulgated, the Grand Coalition Government of former President Kibaki was at that time being referred to as the „Third Republic‟. Many people felt that we had crossed the Rubicon. We were creating a new country and a new Kenya where we would live by new standards and where ... view
• 4 Dec 2018 in Senate: Let me paraphrase that. He has not stolen at all. If I say that he has not stolen enough, it shows that he has probably stolen and yet he has not stolen at all. However, The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate. view
• 4 Dec 2018 in Senate: sometimes even with the race to State House, if you look at all these countries in the Continent of Africa, those who can have a proper contest of power are those who have made money out of the State and from funds like this one. view