Sifuna Edwin Watenya

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 121 to 130 of 1820.

• 26 Feb 2025 in Senate: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, as you rightly put it, Daystar University has two campuses, one in Nairobi and the main campus in Athi River in Machakos County. It is widely acknowledged that Machakos County is Nairobi’s bedroom. That is what they call it. So, it is in order that I welcome the delegation from Daystar University to the Senate. I have a history with the university. The Nairobi Campus has fantastic facilities. I remember the first time I ran for Senator for Nairobi, Daystar University organised a debate for senatorial candidates. That was the only debate for all the Senate ... view
• 26 Feb 2025 in Senate: Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. Allow me to make brief comments on Sen. Hamida's and Sen. Mundigi's Statements regarding the challenges facing the rollout of the new Social Health Insurance Fund. Despite the fact that the Cabinet Secretary for Health was here in the morning, questions continue to abound. While she was here, after I had made my comments - you know the rules of this House do not allow us to speak twice on the same issue - my phone was inundated by messages from UHC workers. As you know, after the Gen-Z movement, my number is now ... view
• 26 Feb 2025 in Senate: Number two, it emerged that UHC nurses have been on strike for three weeks, demanding to be put on similar terms to their colleagues working in these national institutions. They are saying that the ones who are not put on permanent and pensionable terms, although they do the same work and face the same workload, are being paid up to a quarter of what their colleagues are earning because of their status. They also told me that they had not been paid gratuity since the days of COVID- 19 in 2020. These are the messages that I received on my ... view
• 26 Feb 2025 in Senate: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is not every day I stand up and say that the Senate Majority Leader has spoken for me. However, this is one of those days. I have always suspected that the Senate Majority Leader is a good man. Whenever we come to critical junctures where we have to cross ranks and say if something is working, it is working, if it is not working, it is not working, he has always done so. That is the conversation we have been praying for in this country. Hon. Cabinet Secretary you are present here. Yesterday I heard ... view
• 26 Feb 2025 in Senate: You voted to defeat that amendment but I want to cut through the noise. Here in Nairobi they say, “ hatutaki mambo ya kizungu mingi.” The President told us that if we remove that capping and if all of us pay according to our abilities, we will end the spectre of harambees to raise money for health care in this country. Therefore, can the Cabinet Secretary standing here before the Senate today, confirm to us that there is no family in this country that has planned a harambee for this weekend, to get payment for a loved one to obtain ... view
• 26 Feb 2025 in Senate: Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I want to take this opportunity on behalf of the people of Nairobi City County as well to convey our heartfelt condolences and commiserations with the people of Turkana through their Senator; Sen. hon. Lomenen, who has caused this Adjournment Motion for us to discuss the situation in Turkana. As you know, I am a very proud Secretary General of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), a party that has a very strong presence in Turkana. In Turkana North, we are represented in the National Assembly by hon. Ekwem Nabuin, who was elected on an ... view
• 26 Feb 2025 in Senate: Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, according to these two MPs, the foreign office in Kenya is failing the people of Turkana. There has been no involvement at all in terms of support by the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs. This is very troubling. According to them, the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration, Hon. Murkomen, is present. The Cabinet Secretary for East African Community (EAC), Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) and Regional DevelopmentArsal areas, Hon. Beatrice Askul, has been with them together with the county commissioner. However, there has been no presence whatsoever of the Ministry of Foreign and ... view
• 26 Feb 2025 in Senate: Our MPs have also told us that on the night of the attack, there was no network coverage; that somehow the network by Safaricom experienced an outage on the night of the attack, making it impossible for them to save lives. The argument by these two MPs is that if they were able to communicate the attack early, many lives would have been saved. Sen. Lomenen can also confirm this. The two MPs and the Senator are currently there trying to calm our people down because there is growing frustration on the ground. Some people are calling for retaliatory attacks. ... view
• 25 Feb 2025 in Senate: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Allow me to welcome you back. Since the delegation from Lesotho is still here, I want them to pass my regards to the former Prime Minister, Moeketsi Majoro, who is my personal friend. He was the head of delegation for the Observer Mission for the Somaliland election. Tell him his friend from Nairobi says, hi. 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. view
• 25 Feb 2025 in Senate: I want to comment on the statement that has been brought by the Senator for Narok County, Hon. Ledama Olekina, regarding the status of the farmers in Narok who are currently staring at very serious losses. As a country, we have at least pretended to take care of our farmers. When we do something on one side, we seem to take with equal measure on the other side. As sugarcane farmers, we have complained for a very long time. The newly minted Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, the Senator for Bungoma County, will tell you ... view