Kenneth Odhiambo Okoth

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 311 to 320 of 979.

• 2 Feb 2017 in National Assembly: The Division of Revenue Bill is important. As it has been said in our new constitutional system, devolution is a crown jewel. I have listened carefully the whole afternoon and I heard some conservatives in this House wanting to claw back on the gains of devolution. Actually, that helped me to guide my thoughts. As you look at this Budget and the Division of Revenue Bill to share the revenues, you will notice that allegedly, 32 per cent of the money is going to the county governments, and therefore, about 68 per cent remains with the national Government. That requires ... view
• 2 Feb 2017 in National Assembly: To me, this Division of Revenue Bill with 68 per cent of the money remaining with the national Government when the majority of our people rely on county governments which are starting to take off and impacting on people’s lives so that they are building roads, Early Childhood Education Centres (ECDCs), markets, responding to emergencies at the local level, devolution is the right thing. This country was not wrong to go for devolution. Let us make sure we devolve money adequate to the functions that have been devolved. My wish is to see that, at least, 40 or 45 per ... view
• 1 Feb 2017 in National Assembly: Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I rise to contribute to the discussion on the Statute Laws (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill. I will begin with the point that Hon. Muhia has just mentioned. We need to be very careful in this country about our attitude towards refugees. The fact of the matter is that Kenya is a signatory to the Geneva Convention on Refugees and we have obligations to protect refugees and treat them appropriately. We have just finished the Second Reading during the last Session of a new and comprehensive Refugees Bill brought by Hon. Agostinho Neto. I would urge Hon. ... view
• 1 Feb 2017 in National Assembly: of the camp, get integrated and contribute as taxpayers, as employers and as good citizens of our country. Hon. Daniel Maanzo brought up the issue of the purported amendment to the Sexual Offences Act to reduce the age of consent from 18 to 16. This is a very sensitive issue. I have listened carefully to the feedback from many people in this country who are very concerned and they think 16-year-olds are too young. I agree that 16-year-old is still a child. No boy can decide that at 16 they are ready to be a father with those responsibilities. They ... view
• 1 Feb 2017 in National Assembly: participation of Parliament. The Executive will then appoint board members without consulting. Parliament and the board that will be appointed without consulting Parliament will then make decisions and recommendations on what companies to be privatised. Chemelil and Muhoroni sugar companies and Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), could all be sold off without any reference to Parliament. At the end of the debate, everybody was against it. I remember Hon. Dalmas Otieno, a senior Member of this House, making it very clear. The Question was put to vote yesterday afternoon and it was carried unanimously. That is a little bit of an ... view
• 1 Feb 2017 in National Assembly: Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I thank the Leader of the Majority Party for moving this Bill which is very timely. I thank you for the kind words in asking me to second it. I rise to second and support this Bill. This Bill is very important, first, for context. The Attorney-General and Kenyan Government officials are called every couple of years to report on the status and conditions of our human rights. This is according to the treaties that we have signed and other obligations. In fact, the President, during the state of the nation address brings one ... view
• 1 Feb 2017 in National Assembly: reliable coroner service that is well funded to do its work on time and credibly, as Hon. Duale mentioned. This concerns timelines in death investigations. We want to make sure that even if the coroner service has to retain samples and tissues from bodies, the bodies are released to the families in good time for burial. Only necessary samples will be retained to aid the investigation. The NCS will help us to establish a professional class of forensic pathologists, crime scene investigators and other people who will have to improve this practice in Kenya. As of now, most of the ... view
• 1 Feb 2017 in National Assembly: Government, Justice and Legal Affairs, Health and the National Treasury as members. It also has a representative of the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board. However, what is missing is a representative of the civil society. In this case, I propose that we include the Law Society of Kenya as a key practitioner, consumer and provider of justice in this country. I want to make sure that they are also involved because this is not a health issue but a major issue of access to justice and enforcement of the rule of law. We need these people in the Council. ... view
• 1 Feb 2017 in National Assembly: The National Coroner’s office is interesting. It is like the Auditor-General’s office when it comes to human rights where deaths have been involved and the right to life has been taken in a questionable manner. So, their annual reporting requirement should be clear. They should somehow link with the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in a major way but I know when this House passes the Bill, we will have made a requirement that we have constantly been told. We need to catch up in promoting the rule of law and widening that space in Kenya even ... view
• 1 Feb 2017 in National Assembly: Apart from generalities of the Act let me mention specific bits. I have been studying this law for the last three years. I brought it to the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs and I am happy that Hon. Duale through the Attorney General also came up with the same law which is 95 per cent the same. So, great minds speak alike and as I am seconding I would say, we must ensure it is independent enough. Section 3 of the Bill is about providing complementary roles of forensic medical science services to the police in handling investigations. ... view