Hon. Members, I have quite an important Communication to make. It has been the tradition of this House to conduct an induction workshop for hon. Members at the commencement of every Parliament. We have, therefore, scheduled an induction workshop to be held from Thursday, 27th March, 2008, at 8.30 a.m., going on up to Saturday, 29th, March, at 1.00 p.m., at the Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi. The programme and other logistical duties will be communicated to the Members directly by the Office of the Clerk. Consequently, all the hon. Members are requested to adjust their programmes accordingly, so that they may attend the induction workshop. We shall now proceed to the next Order!

I am told Dr. Otuoma was on the Floor and he has five more minutes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I want to continue from where I left. Just before the House was adjourned, I was saying that, as a nation, we need to respect each other. As a nation, we need to value our cultural diversity, so that we can hold our country together. I know that we have had hard words for each other. We have had bitter words and very unpleasant feelings towards each other, but let us sacrifice all these feelings and forgive each other. Let us stand with Kenya and support it. Let us, please, start the healing process and bring 266 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 19, 2008 peace and tranquillity in our homes. Mr. Speaker, Sir, in my conclusion, I want to say that, in my opinion, the weaknesses in the pillars of the foundation of this nation are basically corruption and dishonesty. It is corruption that makes the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) not to know who won the Kenyan election. It is corruption that has brought about long-standing injustices where people feel that the land of this country was not properly allocated. It is corruption that make us suspend judges and still use the very same laws to appoint other judges. It is corruption that has condemned our brothers and sisters into an economic slump of our major towns. It is corruption that mutilated our Constitution and has denied us an opportunity to come up with a new Constitution that will stand the test of time. I concur with the President's Speech when he says that this Parliament carries a big burden. It is a very big responsibility for us to legislate for the common good of all Kenyans. I echo the words of hon. Murungi when he said that we should not be very myopic when we hold positions to only think about ourselves and our positions. We must do our duties as patriots. Mr. Speaker, Sir, Albert Einstein once said that the significant problems that we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. We are faced with a lot of challenges as Kenyans, and we have to rise to this occasion. We need to have a leadership that is going to re-energise this country and mobilise the resources of this country for our common good, so that no Kenyan will feel that there are injustices and there is no equity in terms of the distribution of resources of this country. I want to quote one great historian who said that: "A successful community or society is one which is able to respond to the challenges that it faces". This has been exemplified by what we saw when we were faced with challenges when our two leaders came together to try and give this country some hope. I want to compare duplicitous or people who have been undermining our systems to HIV/AIDS. We all know very well that HIV/AIDS does not kill, but it undermines the immune system, so that the body is unable to overcome diseases that it normally overcomes. They attack the system. I can compare duplicitous, corrupt and dishonest people to HIV/AIDS because they are the ones who are undermining the unity and the prosperity of this country. With those few remarks, I beg to support the Motion.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this important Motion. I stand here to support the Motion on the Address by His Excellency the President from the Chair. Let me also, as it is the tradition, thank the people of Mwingi South for electing me for the third time. Certainly, this confirms that they have confidence in me and I will definitely do my best to serve them. Let me also, and I think it is not late, congratulate all my colleagues for having been elected to this august House. I am sure we will bond and work together for the betterment of our nation. Yesterday was a historic day for this House. We passed the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill and an Act of Parliament that will promote the reconciliation of our nation. Those are some of the points His Excellency the President mentioned in his Speech. Therefore, that is now behind us. But the challenging months lie ahead of us. I am sure we will take the challenge and take bold steps in ensuring that we reconcile our nation. One of the biggest shameful things that this country is going through is the presence of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in our country. No matter what we say or do as a nation, as long as we have IDPs in our midst, we will not be counted amongst the civilised nations of the world. Therefore, I am imploring the leadership and all the hon. Members to play their part and ensure that these IDPs are re-settled as quickly as possible, so that they contribute towards the building of our nation. I am sure it will be in the interest of all of us, as Kenyans, to see that this is done. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the President touched on many issues in his Speech, and I would like March 19, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 267 just to refer to three of them. First, he touched on the delivery of health services. There is no doubt that we have come a long way in improving the delivery of health services in our institutions. However, a lot remains to be done. As we speak, hon. Members, through the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF), have constructed thousands of dispensaries, which should serve members of the public. It is sad to say that these facilities, which have been constructed using public funds, lie idle while members of the public are not receiving the service which they deserve to receive from the Government. I am calling upon the Government to see to it that all the dispensaries that have been put up using the CDF funds are put into use through the provision of health workers and drugs. These facilities should be used to reduce the sufferings of our people. Mr. Speaker, Sir, this is my 11th year since I came to this House and every time I take the podium, I never sit down without talking about water. Water remains one of the biggest challenges that we face in my constituency, which is semi-arid. For how long are we going to continue lamenting about the shortage or lack of water 45 years after Independence? You will recall that sometimes back, the Government had said that by the year 2000, all households will have piped water in their homes. We are now in 2008 and our women are walking up to 20 kilometres to fetch water. I do not think this is acceptable. Therefore, I am calling upon the Government to put in place measures to ensure that even if we do not get water in our houses, families walk a maximum of two kilometres to access water. As long as we continue to allow our womenfolk in this country to spend all their time looking for water, we cannot claim to be amongst the civilised nations in the world. Therefore, it is incumbent upon the Government to take immediate measures and sink more boreholes and construct more water pans. The same goes for water for livestock. That is one of the challenges that the Government has to face. I hope that this time around, the issue of water shortage in some parts of this nation will be addressed. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to talk about education. Let me commend the Government for providing free primary education during the last five years. There is no doubt that, that was a major and bold step by the Government. But as you are aware, that programme has not gone on well without challenges. We have over-enrolment of pupils. We have classes with over 100 pupils. We also have classes without teachers. Therefore, that has negatively affected the quality of primary school education in this country. So, the appreciation of free primary education is lacking because the quality of education has been lowered tremendously. Therefore, unless the Government addresses the issue of providing additional teachers and ensuring that the teacher to pupil ratio is sufficient enough for the teacher to give the pupil the attention required to succeed in education, the free primary education will be meaningless. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to talk about free secondary education. I want to congratulate His Excellency the President for fulfilling one of the pledges that he made when he was campaigning; that he will provide free secondary education. I dare say that the three major Presidential contenders; namely, His Excellency the President, hon. Mwai Kibaki, His Excellency the Prime Minister-designate, hon. Raila Odinga and Vice-President and Minister for Home Affairs, hon. Kalonzo Musyoka had offered free secondary education in their manifestos. I think Kenyans were very lucky this time around because whichever way they voted, they were going to be winners. So, congratulations to the Government and the President for offering free secondary education. But, again, like in the case of primary education, unless we are careful and ensure that free secondary education is handled properly, we may end up even lowering the standards of secondary education badly. That is what is happening to primary education. If I were to talk about my constituency, I have quite a number of secondary schools which, up to now, have not seen the funds that were supposed to be given to those schools - the Kshs10,625 per pupil to enable schools to function. There is, of course, the excuse that the bank account numbers have not been provided by the schools. But my investigations have proved that, that has been done. There is some laxity at Jogoo House in releasing those funds. So, I call upon the Minister for Education to ensure that free secondary education takes off quickly and smoothly 268 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 19, 2008 by ensuring that funds are released to all secondary schools. But, again, the issue of teachers comes up again. As I speak now, in my constituency, we have secondary schools with four classes - Form I to Form IV - with only one teacher. One teacher handles four classes and yet, at the end of the year, the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination is done. Then you publish the top 100 schools. My schools miss in the top 100 schools. Then you say that education is not being done well in Mwingi South. How do you expect a school without teachers to compete with another one which is "loaded" with teachers? There must be equitable distribution of resources and teachers in this country. Unless we do that, we will continue talking about free secondary education, and it will not work. Mr. Speaker, Sir, finally, the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has messed up examinations in this country. It is time KNEC was probed deeply, particularly on the way they handled the examinations of last year. They have been reversing results every now and then. Something is wrong with KNEC! It is time that KNEC was disbanded! I beg to support.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. My names are Dr. James Gesami, the Member of Parliament for West Mugirango Constituency. I want to thank the people of West Mugirango for giving me an opportunity to come to this House and serve them. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to say that the President's Speech was quite exhaustive in terms of coverage. Basically, the President covered issues on security. I would like to say that, on the issue of security, Kenyans want security to be improved in this country. It is very bad! The police force needs to be re-trained and paid more money so that, it can stop arresting people in order to get money. Today, you see police officers outside there wearing torn clothes. I think it is a shame for a country like ours to have a police force officer with repaired shirts and shoes. I think the Government needs to improve on the remuneration of the police force. It should also be given a better uniform of high quality. We should not give them shirts that, once they are washed, they change colour. So, we want the Government to make sure that the police force is provided with better uniforms and laundry facilities. Mr. Speaker, Sir, politics is about equity. We have now created several districts. We know that we have 210 constituencies. Most Kenyans feel that we should change every constituency to be a district on its own, so that we can give constituencies resources directly. The constituencies should have district commissioners, district accountants and all the heads of departments managing their affairs. One teacher told me that politics is about equity. We need to look at that issue in this House and make sure that we very carefully re-look at the way we distribute both financial and human resources. It is because of the imbalance of distributing those resources that, actually, we had a lot of problems in the post-election era. The President also touched on education. I am happy that hon. Musila has touched on KNEC. In our view, it is very bad to have a child being given A- and later, being brought down to C-. It is very bad and demoralising. We need to look at KNEC and, if possible, disband it like the way we want to disband the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK). On the issue of health, I think we have done very well on primary health care and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. We need to look at the issue of drugs availability in some of our hospitals. I have noted that, in fact, a drug as essential as insulin - and most of us are beginning to develop diabetes--- We need that drug to be available in most of the hospitals to help the people. We also feel that provincial hospitals, really, should be well-equipped, so that we do not get referrals from Mombasa to Nairobi. All specialists in those hospitals should be actually available in those provincial hospitals. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on the issue of agriculture, I want to join my colleagues in talking about the tea industry. There is a lot of variation in payments between regions in this country. The Ministry of Agriculture needs to look at what should be done. Why should region "b", for example, March 19, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 269 earn more than region "d"? It is important that we look at this issue, so that we encourage farmers. The cost of farm inputs, especially fertilizer, has gone up. We need to look at how the Government can subsidize those inputs. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on the issue of the new Constitution, we want to make the presidency irrelevant in this House. We do not want to mind where the President comes from. What actually happened in December was because somebody wanted the President to come from their region, so that they could get a bigger share. We want to look at the Constitution and overhaul it. We should not really mind where the President comes from, whether from the Coast, Nyanza or Central Province. Therefore, we need that Constitution as soon as yesterday. We need to work harder, so that we finish working on it before the 12 months we were told about here. Mr. Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support the Motion on the Presidential Address.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, my names are Mr. Nelson Gaichuhie, the hon. Member for Subukia Constituency. First, I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to, at least, address the House. This is my first time and I am happy to be here. I also want to thank His Excellency the President and Mr. Raila, for giving us the opportunity to, at least, have a debate that is free, fair and in an atmosphere where we do not have to worry about our people at home. When we were being sworn- in, things back at home in Subukia Constituency were different. We could not speak the way we are doing today. But immediately the Accord was signed, Kenya became a peaceful country. People down there are happy apart from the few issues that they are still pondering about. I also want to thank the eminent persons and both parties, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and the Party of National Unity (PNU) and their representatives, who were able to sit down, talk and, at least, come up with a solution to the whole problem. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I also want to urge this House to, at least, be united, so that both political parties trust and respect each other's different views and accommodate each other, so that this process that has been started, can continue without hiccups along the way. I also want to urge the Government to quickly resettle the people who have been displaced, put up structures, provide procedures, ways and means, so that these people can be settled once and for all. I also want to ask the Government to see to it that we do not have a repeat of clashes like it happened in 1997, 2002 and the worst, in 2007. I also would like to see the people who planned and financed these acts taken to court. Some of us saw what happened. We know the pain that was experienced. Some of those people who were purportedly said to have financed the violence are still enjoying themselves. Some are in this House; they are very happy. I do not want to mention names. May be time will come when we shall mention names, after we have had the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission. But I would like to ask this House to see to it that those people are punished, so that we can have lasting peace. I also want to thank you for the way in which you have been conducting business in this House. When we came to elect you, we were divided. We thought you would be favouring some hon. Members. But I have seen that you have always been non-partisan. You have forgotten what was happening during your election. You have put that aside and you are very fair in the way you are conducting the affairs of this House. I also want to thank hon. Members because of the way they behaved yesterday. Actually, both sides were suspecting each other. But yesterday, I saw a very unified House. I wish that we continue being that way, so that we can pass more Bills. I do not want to be in this Tenth Parliament and we pass only 17 Bills, as it happened during the Ninth Parliament. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I come from an agricultural place, but we are having a big problem. The prices of fertilizers have really gone up. Farming in Subukia Constituency has now become a hobby. It is no longer a commercial thing. If we do not look into that, people may stop farming, and 270 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 19, 2008 we might have a big problem. This is a constituency in the Rift Valley Province, which is said to be the food basket of this country. The prices of fertilizers have doubled. The selling price of a bag of maize has gone down. I do not think people will be able to continue farming, if we do not look into that. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on the issue of infrastructure, we have only been looking into issues of highways. We have not been able to make good our feeder roads. We find that whatever is farmed, cannot even be taken to the marketplace, because the roads are terrible. I would urge the Government not to look into highways only, but also into the feeder roads. I wish to ask this Government to look into the matters of the youth. In Kenya the youth form the largest component of the population. Once the youth finish school, if they want to get employed, they must have experience. I do not know where experience will come from, because before you are employed, you will have "tarmacked" for five years, which is not taken into consideration as experience in "tarmacking". When the youth want loans they are told they must have a surety or guarantee. The only thing someone may be having is a bicycle, which does not even have a logbook. I urge this Government to increase the Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF), so that the youth are able to start their own businesses, so that they can do something. Employment has become something which is almost impossible to get. Finally, Mr. Speaker, Sir, there is a cry from the students at the university, who are pursuing a course in bio-medical technology. These students are not registered with the Kenya Medical Laboratory Technicians and Technologists Board (KMLTTB). When these students complete their university degrees, there is nowhere they can be employed. They are not even considered for anything. With those few remarks, I beg to support.

I will now give this chance to Eng. M. Mohamed! I do not see interest from lady hon. Members, although they are here! Proceed, Eng. M. Mohamud!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, my name is Mohamed Mahamud Maalim, Member of Parliament for Mandera West. From the outset, I would like to congratulate the constituents of Mandera West for electing me to Parliament for the first time and giving me the opportunity to serve the nation in this capacity. I would also like to thank my other colleagues, both new and old, for having made it to Parliament. Since this is the first time for me to have the Floor, I would like to also congratulate you for being elected the Speaker of this Tenth Parliament. I would like to commend the President for the excellent Speech he delivered here during the opening of Parliament. I would also like to thank him and Mr. Raila, Prime Minister designate for their visionary leadership and signing the National Peace Accord which has brought peace to this country. We are all aware that this country has just emerged from one of the darkest periods in its history. The leadership that the two leaders showed by signing the National Peace Accord has done a lot to bring peace to this country. I would, therefore, like to thank them again. Mr. Speaker, Sir, this Parliament also did wonders yesterday by passing the Bills that were brought before it. By passing those Bills, we have set the agenda for the broad reforms that we need to initiate in this Tenth Parliament, especially having a new Constitution within 12 months as stated in the agreement. Having a new Constitution is a priority for this Parliament and the sooner it embarks on that agenda, the better. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I think we have learnt alot from all what happened in the last 18 years when we have been looking for a new Constitution. We can now avoid those pitfalls and move forward. As we go ahead to establish the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission, Kenya will be forced to face one of the harshest realities in its history. It is true that there have been a lot of March 19, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 271 injustices and inequalities in this country. When that Commission is formed, Kenyans should come forward and honestly face the truth and establish "when the rain began to beat us." This Parliament, of course, has the responsibility to guide that process properly so that whatever is brought forward can be enacted or corrected accordingly. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Speech by the President touched on many issues, but this time round, it did not touch on what is happening in the northern part of Kenya. Of course, in the Ninth Parliament, His Excellency the President talked a great deal about the plight of the people of northern Kenya. Understandably, because of the crisis we are in today, this time he did not touch on that. However, my speech will not be complete if I do not talk about the plight of the people of northern Kenya, that is, North Eastern Province, upper Eastern Province and parts of Rift Valley Province. The challenges that face that area cannot be understood by the rest of Kenyans. The region presents the greatest challenge to any Government in Kenya. I think it is time we took a step to see how we can deal with those challenges. The greatest challenge has been the apparent failure by successive Governments to understand the character and aspirations of that region. It is, therefore, time that this Tenth Parliament put in place policies that will address those challenges and deal with those problems. Members of Parliament from the region will come together and come up with draft policies which we will want to be supported by everybody. Lastly, I would like to mention the current drought that is also afflicting parts of North Eastern Province. The challenge is always there but, currently, there is a severe drought which is affecting my own constituency as you may have probably seen on television. Those problems are always recurring. They are vicious problems and this time round, because of the problems in the rest of the country, the place seems to have been forgotten. I would like to appeal to everybody to come forward and help. Mr. Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support.

Order, Members! Before we take the next Member, it has come to my notice and, indeed, this afternoon I have witnessed one hon. Member take a telephone call in the pathways. Please note that it is out of order for Members to take telephone calls within the Chamber let alone to allow your cell phones to ring. We will take appropriate action if this happens henceforth. Proceed, Mrs. Kilimo!

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to the President's Speech. Before I start, I would like to thank the people of Marakwet East Constituency for electing me for the second time and showing confidence that I am able to take care of their resources despite the great persuasion by the ODM luminaries and their supporters. I am grateful to my constituents. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the President talked about amending the Armed Forces Act so that people from the National Youth Service (NYS) can be recruited into the Kenya Armed Forces. However, people from Marakwet East, where we are pastoralists, are never recruited into the NYS. First of all, they recruit people from the streets and yet we do not have streets in my part of the world. All we have are paths and trees under which young men sit designing what to do when there is nothing good for them to do. I hope that as they amend the Armed Forces Act, they will ensure that the 272 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 19, 2008 youth who are recruited to join the NYS are taken from every part of this country. It is my appeal and wish that this Tenth Parliament will legislate that every youth, after finishing Form Four, should join the NYS. We should then increase the NYS training centres. We do not need to have Gilgil only as the training centre for the NYS. How many people can be trained in the NYS, Gilgil Training Centre? We should have training centres in every province so that all the children who leave Form Four can go there to be trained. Mr. Speaker, Sir, last year, the Government came up with something called the Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF). This Fund is meant to benefit people who have just completed Form Four. They worked hard to pass examinations and others have tarmacked for five years or so and the only business they know is "tarmacking" looking for jobs. They have been given money from the YEDF so that they can start business. What business do you start when you do not have the knowledge to run a business? My suggestion is that the NYS should link up with the Kenya Industrial Estates (KIE). They should go to the provinces and teach our children who have completed Form Four about business opportunities. We should have entrepreneurs going to train them on what kind of business they can do. The only brains they have when they complete school are those for Biology, English and other general subjects. They should be taught about business opportunities that are there for them because not everybody can get a white collar job. That is the time when the YEDF will really have a meaning. Mr. Speaker, Sir, still on the YEDF, they told children, who even do not know where banks are, to go to certain banks and ask for the money. They were then told to ask their fathers to give them title deeds. What happens to the children who come from the pastoralist communities and the vast areas of Rift Valley Province where demarcation of land has not been done? We do not have title deeds and yet we are required to take them to a bank whose location we do not know so that we can access money from the YEDF! It is a total failure on the part of the Ministry of Youth Affairs for them to come up with a Fund that up to now, very few people have accessed. The much I know is that the only people who have benefitted are those from urban areas who have gone for some training in business. The youth were told to come up with groups. How do the young men just come up with groups in order to go and borrow money? A group of jobless people under the table is required to borrow money! There should be one of them on top of the table to pull the rest up. We should review all these things as we think about the youth of this country. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on the issue of education, I really appreciate that the free primary education, so that we can have more children learning how to read and write, before we even think of them completing Form IV and going to universities. However, for the last five years, the Ministry of Education has been promising us something called "model schools". For five years, I have been giving the name of a school to be developed into a model school. However, five years have gone by and nothing has happened. What happened? The constituents think that you have taken that money together with the Ministry of Education. They have embarrassed us! They should keep their word and put up the model schools. Another thing about education is the computer selection to Form I. I think it is tribal! Whoever fed the computers gave them the wrong information. That is because, in my constituency, people are coming from Mwingi and the Mt. Kenya region and reporting to schools in my area. I have not seen any of my people being called to those sides. What is wrong with those computers? They are very selective! What was fed into them? I think they should be reviewed. Since we are setting a healing process, the Ministry of Education should "heal" the selection of schools, so that we can have some of our children even in the "big schools"! The development of educational institutions is better in some areas than in others. March 19, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 273 Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to talk about the forests. Indeed, the President talked about environmental conservation. There are people who, because of land pressure, have encroached on the forests. They were promised that they will be resettled. However, as I speak now, since 1933, forest re-alignment has never been done in my constituency. Every year, they burn houses in the forest. People come out of the forests and when those who burn the houses leave, they go back and build more houses. That is happening despite the fact that they were promised to be resettled. We were even promised that there would be a forest re-alignment because the then Minister for Environment and Natural Resources, who is now the Vice-President, came to my constituency and said: "Okay! We are going to review the re-alignment of the forest so that we can curve out some little land for you. That way, your houses will not be burnt in the forest". But what has happened? It is high time the Government went there and resettled those who are displaced. I also have some displaced people from the forest who should be considered for resettlement. Finally, I would like to speak about the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF). I appreciate the work that it has done. It has done a lot of reconstruction throughout Kenya and, more so, in my constituency. It is unfortunate that one hon. Member complained about children still learning under trees. How can that happen under the era of CDF? But it is not enough! We said it in the Ninth Parliament. The 2.5 per cent is not enough! We want it to be increased. However, even as we increase it, the wheel behind the development of our nation - the women - are never considered. All we get out of CDF is the money that we earn through preparing porridge for the men involved in construction. We want to be considered as the women of this country. Some part of CDF should be given to women.

We can come up with proposals to use that money considering that any money that is in the purse of a woman goes to her home. It is not so for men because when they get that money, it has many other routes before it reaches the house in the evening. Mr. Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to speak in this august House for the first time. My names are David Kibet Koech, Member of Parliament for Mosop Constituency. Allow me, at the outset, to thank, very sincerely, the people of Mosop for having confidence in me. I promise them that I will not let them down. Mr. Speaker, Sir, allow me also to congratulate you on your election as the Speaker of this House. I want to sincerely commend and thank hon. Members who have spoken before me. I would like to say that I am happy to be part of this Tenth Parliament. We have come here so that we can build the nation together. Before I comment on the President's Speech, allow me to sincerely thank those who have made it possible for us to share in this very cordial atmosphere. We walked in with a lot of enthusiasm as new hon. Members, but because of the happenings in the country in the past two months, some of us had started seeing the country in the dark. At this juncture, allow me to sincerely thank the negotiators, our friends from outside Kenya and outside Africa for a job well done. Let me sincerely thank His Excellency the President and His Excellency the Prime Minister-designate, Mr. Raila, for rising above the many things and sacrifices that they made to ensure that our country lives again. Let me also sincerely thank the entire House. We have all come together so that we can share together and forge ahead in this very historic Tenth Parliament. I am happy to be part of this Parliament where we are going to make history. Yesterday, we started the making of history in this House. I am glad that I am part of it. Yesterday, we passed the two Bills. I want to say that I long for the time we shall deliver a new 274 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 19, 2008 Constitution to Kenya. I believe we shall be put in the history books of Kenya as having participated in ensuring that we have a just Kenya, a country for us, our children and a country for everybody where we can live and enjoy our stay. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we have come from a very dark corner of this country; a time when we are remembering all our dear brothers and sisters whom we lost in the past two months. Over 1,000 Kenyans lost their lives. We are here to remember them. We are here to remember the many Kenyans who were injured and found themselves in hospitals and the many Kenyans who lost their property. At this juncture, I would like to tell all our colleagues that it is high time we forge ahead as one team. I would like to join my colleague and friend, Mr. Kiunjuri, to request for one thing. At some stage in the talks in this House, it has come out almost clearly that some hon. Members may not have really felt what happened in Kenya in the past two months. Some of us who come from those areas were at a point of shedding tears when some of our colleagues spoke as if Kenya was still the same. I request that this House is facilitated; so that all hon. Members could move to the grassroots level, visit the peasant farmers, the people suffering in the villages and IDP camps. We should talk, listen to them andget the feel of their pain so that, when we are here, we share knowing exactly what type of a country we were, almost likely, leaving behind. I believe we are capable and able to facilitate that kind of movement. We are at the point of reconciliation. I would like to know the real thing behind what happened. If necessary, we should dig deep and find out. I am happy that we shall have the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In the process of healing that is going on in the country, I would like to say that there are so many Kenyans who are being arrested left, right and centre - very innocent Kenyans based on suspicions. It is good that the security personnel carry out proper investigations before they arrest people left, right and centre. We want to have proper and good reconciliation in our country. We would also like to request that, as leaders, we should stop populism. We should go for the real thing for this country. Let us stop being biased. Let us be committed to all that we pass in this House. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on the President's Speech, I would like to commend him for the comprehensive Address to this House. I am happy to note that the Government will be tabling Bills aimed at improving the agriculture sector which is the backbone of our economy. He also mentioned something to do with coffee, sugar and dairy sectors. However, in the process of improving these sub-sectors, there is need for us, as a country, to think of adding value to all our produce. It is not good enough for us to claim to be the major exporter of coffee and yet we import processed coffee. I come from an area where maize is the staple food. The peasant farmers rely entirely on maize. It pains me to note that after our farmers have delivered maize to the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB), it takes six to eight months for them to be paid. These peasant farmers depend on the same money to plough it back to their farms before they reap from the next harvest. There is need to look into the NCPB, so that they pay farmers on time. Mr. Speaker, Sir, many hon. Members have talked about the farm inputs. It is even scaring to talk about their prices. If I plough one acre with my layman's knowledge of farming, I will hardly get Kshs5,000 as profit at the end of the year. If you divide that by twelve months, we are almost saying farmers are only producing maize to be consumed by Kenyans and they get nothing. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on infrastructure, I would like to commend the Minister for Roads and Public Works for the action he took the other day over some contractors who are very lazy. It will be necessary for us to know why some contractors were not blacklisted. The road from Nakuru to Timboroa, for example, was tendered five years ago. My constituency is a high potential one in terms of agricultural output, but unfortunately, March 19, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 275 roads are in terrible states. However, not a single tarmac has been laid on them. We only have one "Class C" road in my constituency. It is the only road in Kenya today which is not tarmacked. We were told that it was tarmacked 20 years ago, but not a single tarmac was laid. This is the road from Chepterit, Kaiboi, all the way to Kipkaren. I request that the Ministry moves with speed to assist us to work on those roads. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have worked for 18 years in the Ministry of Education. I would like to commend the Government for the introduction of free primary and secondary education. However, the free secondary education has had some challenges which should be addressed with urgency. One of them is that it is not free to every child in Kenya. If the students are not more than 40 in a class, then they do not benefit from this free secondary education. Many children in the rural areas are day scholars and hardly are they 40 in a class. They are also suffering today because they cannot benefit from the free secondary education. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to support.

Bw. Spika, asante sana kwa kuangaza macho yako yenye adili na kunitambua nizungumze katika Bunge hili. Nakushukuru sana kwa kuchaguliwa kwako kuwa Spika wetu. Ningependa pia kuwashukuru watu wa Kaloleni kwa kunipiga kura kwa wingi. Bw. Spika, nataka kujiunga na waheshimiwa Wabunge kupongeza Hotuba ya Rais. Nataka kuwashukuru watu wote waliohusika na mazungumzo ya kuleta amani hapa nchini wakati nchi yetu ilikuwaimeshika moto. Waliacha kazi zao ili watusaidie kutokana na janga hilo. Ninawaombea maisha marefu. Bw. Spika, kwa wale ambao hawanijui, mimi ni Mbunge wa Kaloleni. Eneo hili la Kaloleni ndilo masikini zaidi hapa nchini. Kulinga na historia, elimu ilianza kule Kaloleni wakati wa mkoloni. Masikitiko makubwa ni kamba watu wa Kaloleni ni masikini sana na wengi wao hawajasoma. Bw. Spika, tuna shida nyingi katika nchi yetu. Tunamshukuru Mungu vile tulikuja pamoja na kutambua Kenya ni kubwa kushinda sisi wenyewe. Ningependa kuwashukuru wahusika wakuu; Rais Mwai Kibaki na mhe. Raila Odinga, ambaye ni Waziri Mkuu mtarajiwa. Walisikia kilio cha Wakenya na wakaona kweli ni lazima waje pamoja. Hakuna maendeleo yoyote yanayoweza kupatikana bila sisi kushikana pamoja. Waswahili husema hivi: "Hata ukiwa una nguvu namna gani lakini ukiwa pekee yako huwezi ukamchinja ng'ombe au mbuzi". Kwa hivyo, vile walivyofanya wahusika wakuu hawa ilikuwa ni kitendo ambacho hakijawahi kufanyika katika historia ya Kenya. Ninawapongeza na kuwasihi waendelee na moyo huo huo. Kenya itaendelea. Bw. Spika, Hotuba ya Rais iligusia mambo mengi. Jambo ambalo lilizungumzia zaidi ni kuhusu ukabila. Tusipojihadhari na ukabila utaangamiza nchi hii. Umekuwa ni kidonda sugu tangu tupate Uhuru. Wakati umefika sasa wa sisi kuupiga vita ukabila hapa nchini. Nchi hii inawezakupiga hatua za kimaendeleo ikiwa tutaupiga vita ukabila hapa nchi. Wakati umefika wa sisi kuwakaribisha watu wetu popote wanapozuru. Haifai kuwauliza watokako. Wakaribisheni kama ndugu. Haina haja kumuuliza ndugu yako anakotoka au wewe ni mtu wa wapi? Ningeomba tuuzike ukabila katika kaburi la sahau. Tunaweza kufanya hivyo kwa kuwasilisha miswada hapa Bungeni ya kuwalazimisha watu wetu kuoa kutoka kabila tofauti. Hii ndio njia mwafaka ya kuupiga vita ukabila. Ni aibu kuona ya kwamba nafazi za kazi hupatikana kwa misingi ya kikabila. Tukifanya hivyo, tutakuwa tumegawanyika kwa misingi ya kikabila. Bw. Spika, shida ambayo ilitokea juzi haikusababishwa na unganyifu wa kura, bali ni kwa sababu ya kutokuwa na usawa wa rasilmali zetu. Kuna makabila mengine ambayo hayajaendelea, kwa mfano, Wagiriama. Kwa hivyo, ningependa kuona usawa katika kila pembe na hasa hapa Bungeni. Ningependa kuona usawa wa raslimali, elimu, kilimo na mambo mengine mengi. Juzi tuliona ugavi wa mamlaka baina ya viongozi sugu wetu. Basi tugawanye mambo yote. Tuwe watu 276 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 19, 2008 adili na tutekeleze haki baina yetu. Bwana Spika, suala lingine ambalo linatatiza ni la uajiri. Tungeomba vile vile nafasi za kazi ziweze kugawanywa sawa sawa. Katika Hotuba yake, Rais aliongea juu ya utalii. Juzi, Dubai ilikuwa jangwa, lakini ukienda huko leo, utaona ya kuwa wanapokea watalii zaidi ya 30 milioni kwa mwaka. Hapa nchini hutajafikisha hata watalii moja milioni. Kwa hivyo, tunatakiwa kutunga Miswada ambayo itawavutia watalii wengi kuja humu nchini. Pia, tunatakiwa kuangalia mbinu zingine ambazo zitaimairisha uchumi wetu. Bw. Naibu Spika, watu wa Kaloleni wanakumbwa na ukosefu wa maji. Kuna mzungu mmoja ambaye alisema maji ni uhai, lakini utashangaa ukiona jinsi watu wa Kaloleni wanaishi bila maji safi. Watu wa Kaloleni wanatumia maji machafu ambayo hawezi kutumiwa hata na mifugo. Ningeomba Bunge hili na Wizara inayohusika kuhakikisha kwamba watu wa Kaloleni wanapatiwa maji. Ukiangalia nchi kama Israeli, utaona ya kuwa ilikuwa jangwa lakini wanakuza vyakula ambavyo wanauza katika nchi za nje. Mashamba yetu yana rotuba, kwa nini hatuwezi kujifunza kutoka kwa Israeli ili Kenya iweze kuendelea? Tuna rasilmali nyingi lakini hatujui kuzitumia. Ukiangalia ukulima wetu, utaona kwamba bei za mbolea imepandishwa mara kumi. Mkulima wa kawaida hawezi kununua mbolea. Ningeomba Serikali, haswa tukitarajia mvua kunyesha kwa msimu huu, ipunguze bei za mbolea ili wakulima waweze kupata mazao mazuri. Bwana Spika, sitakuwa nimefanya vizuri ikiwa nitamaliza kuzungumza bila kugusia swala la elimu. Elimu ndio msingi wa maisha. Tunashukuru tuna elimu ya bure, lakini bado haijaimarishwa sawa sawa. Tungeomba Bunge hili liweke sheria ambayo itawezesha elimu ya bure kutolewa katika kila sehemu ya nchi yetu. Sitaki nitembee Turkana na kuwaona Waturkana hawajaenda shule. Tunapenda kuwa na usawa katika elimu. Kwa kumalizia, tungeomba Serikali ihakikishe kwamba shida ambayo imetokea haitatokea tena. Hatukutarajia kuwa shida hii itatokea katika nchi yetu. Hata kama tulikuwa na shida mbali mbali tangu wakati wa ukoloni, hali hii ilitokea kwa sababu ya uchochezi. Kwa hivyo, ninaomba tusiishi na chuki. Tuishi kama ndugu na dada au baba na mama. Tusiishi tukisema huyu ni Mjaluo, Mkikuyu au Mgiriama. Tunaomba tuangamize ukabila. Ninakushukuru, Bwana Spika, kwa kuchaguliwa. Vile vile, ninawashukuru wenzangu kwa kuchaguliwa. Kampeni ilikuwa ngumu. Kwa hivyo, ninaomba tuungane mkono kwa sababu ni katika muungano wetu ambapo tutaendelea; haswa tuangalie swala la Mkoa wa Pwani. Asili mia sitini ya uchumi wa Kenya unatoka Pwani, lakini barabara katika Mkoa wa Pwani ni mbaya zaidi. Kwa hivyo, tunaomba Wizara inayohusika iangalie suala la mabaraza kule Pwani. Hii ni kwa sababu huko ndiko tuna Bandari ambayo inatumiwa na nchi jirani ambazo hazina Bandari. Kwa hivyo, barabara zikiwa mbaya, usafiri utakuwa ghali sana. Bwana Spika, ninakushukuru kuwa kunipa wakati huu. Mungu akubariki.

Order! Mheshimiwa Mbunge wa Kaloleni nimearifiwa na wanaonasa sauti ya kwamba umetambua sehemu unayowakilisha lakini hukusema jina lako.

Samahani, Bwana Spika. Ninaitwa mhe. Samuel Kazungu Kambi.

Yes, Mr. Mohamud!

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to add my voice to the Presidential Speech. For those who do not know me, my names are Mohamud Mohamed Ali, the Member for Moyale. Whenever I introduce myself as the Member for Moyale, quite a number of people ask: Is it Moyale Central, North or East? For your information, Moyale is one district and one constituency. So, there is no Moyale North or Central. That is just for the record. Mr. Speaker, Sir, allow me from the outset to congratulate you for being elected to the March 19, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 277 honourable position of being the Speaker of this Tenth Parliament. Indeed, it was a very acrimonious exercise but I think, you have displayed the leadership that some of us knew you will display. I wish to congratulate you for that. Coming to the Presidential Address, I want to commend His Excellency the President for giving us a wonderful Speech during the Official Opening of this Parliament. When we were busy campaigning in the field, we looked at each other as people from the other side. We also viewed His Excellency the President as somebody who has taken away our victory. But when he gave us that encouraging speech that evening, I found myself clapping for him the whole night. His Speech was very reconciliatory. It was a Speech from a leader of his stature. I commend him for all the things he touched on. Coming to the particular component of his Speech, he mentioned various Bills which will be tabled before this House. Notably, he mentioned the amendment to the Sugar Act, Coffee Act and Tobacco Act. While those are very important aspects of our economy, I want to bring it your attention that livestock sector, which is the backbone of income for most of the arid and semi-arid areas in this country, has not being given the due attention by the previous regimes and the current one. I wonder why the livestock sector from which we get meat, milk, skin and other products was given such a raw deal. I will in future bring a Motion to this House--- I hope it will get support from across the board. I feel we are being marginalised when such integral part of our economy is not highlighted in the Presidential Address. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I listened very carefully to some of my colleagues from Central Kenya who talked about marginalisation this morning, I was really touched. It is either they are ignorant about marginalisation or they are not aware what the rest of the country is going through. I think for them to understand properly what marginalisation is all about, I urge them to visit northern Kenya. When I say northern Kenya, I mean areas which are arid and semi arid. I particularly want to underline the problems we are going through in Moyale. As we speak today, the people who are talking about marginalisation because of minor issues have tapped water in all their houses. Mr. Speaker, Sir, animals in Moyale Constituency are dying today because of lack of water. Where there is a borehole, it is over-used, because every other location population migrates there. After that is exhausted, they move to another place. Now, the situation is out of control. Where there is water, there is no pasture. These animals have started dying one by one. Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is not only lack of water which is killing our animals, or even people. Starvation is the other problem. I noted in the Presidential Address that Kshs1 billion has been set aside for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). That is, indeed, a commendable effort and we urge the authority concerned to distribute that money fairly, so that all Kenyans, regardless of where they come from, benefit. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am wondering why the Government has not been prepared when disasters are always impending. For example, northern Kenya has always been--- When I talk of northern Kenya, I also mean upper Eastern Province, where I come from, including Moyale, Marsabit and Isiolo. This time of the year every year, we go through this severe drought, which takes lives of animals and even human beings. I do not understand why we always respond to emergencies and do not plan ahead. If we planned ahead, we would not be putting people in danger like we are doing now. For example, if the Ministry of Planning and National Development had planned enough, the problem we are talking about, would have been contained. Mr. Speaker, Sir, having said that, when we talk about marginalisation, I want to go back to the colonial times when that area was left alone. The colonial masters did not care what kind of people lived there. This was because they were thinking about their interests. They wanted to concentrate on the highlands because they knew they would have time to think about their 278 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 19, 2008 ranches, children going to school and where they would play golf. They did not care about where the Somalis, Boranas, Gabras, Rendilles and Turkanas lived. They did not care about what would happen to them. For that reason, the roads in northern Kenya were left unattended to. It is a shame that to date, from 1963 when we attained our Independence, these roads are not what can be called roads. Mr. Speaker, Sir, if you leave Moyale for Nairobi people in Moyale will tell you, "when you reach Kenya, say hello to our people who live there". This is simply because you would take about three days to reach Nairobi, because there are no roads. We see tarmac when we reach Isiolo. I think this should be a thing of the past with the spirit we are seeing and the Grand Coalition in place. I am very optimistic that these roads will be tarmacked and will promote the economy of this country. Mr. Speaker, Sir, some of the Bills that His Excellency the President mentioned have to do with the registration of engineers, architects and quantity surveyors. As I come from that background, I want to highlight a few things since I agree with the President. The laws of this country that govern these bodies are scattered all over. The scales of fees are not clear. As such people will charge according to what the clients are able to offer. This gives an opportunity to some people, who are not registered and are not able to offer quality services. That is why we have many houses which are not properly designed and are, therefore, a risk to this nation, as we have noticed in very many areas. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I urge this House that we pass the necessary Bills. We must revisit the Acts which are already in place, so that people are properly paid when they offer the services that they should offer, and so that there is no short- cut and risk to the nation. You will wonder why whenever contractors raise claims--- I have never seen any claim from contractors which the Government successfully resisted. Every other time, it is the contractors who win. This is simply because people are not properly paid, and they collude with contractors, and, in the process, the Government loses a lot of money. Once the relevant Acts are properly streamlined, we will be able to get value for our money. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to bring to your attention the fact that in the upper Eastern Province region, we have one of the districts---

Your time is up! Mr. Munyes, please, proceed!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to first thank the people of Turkana North Constituency for electing me to this House for the third term. I would also like to thank the whole FORD(K) fraternity for the support I have received from it since I joined Parliament. Mr. Speaker, Sir, secondly, I would like to thank you for being elected as the Speaker of the National Assembly during this challenging time. You have proved that you can control the House and run its affairs the right way at a time when we really need reconciliation and working in unity. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise to support this Presidential Address. Debate on it resumed after we passed the two Bills yesterday, the National Accord and Reconciliation Bill and the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2008. These have given us the much awaited spirit of change that Kenyans wanted. I think change has now come to this country. For the first time, the people of Kenya will talk as brothers and sisters, and try to co-exist and support each other. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we look forward to a time when we will get the Grand Coalition. For the first time we want to see resources getting decentralised to all the regions of this country. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I thank the President for his good Address that I know all hon. Members are waiting to contribute to. One of the highlights I want to dwell on is the Bill the President requested. It is a very important Bill that touches on my Ministry. It is the Bill that seeks to March 19, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 279 improve water harvesting and storage in this country. Mr. Speaker, Sir, Kenya is treated as one of the most water-scarce countries, with a small threshold of 647 cubic metres compared to the benchmark of 1,000 cubic metres globally. This country experiences two incidences, where during the dry season, we suffer from shortage of water - we know that our pastoralists out there, as we speak, are now experiencing drought - to situations where we have rains and the people of Budalang'i suffer as a result of floods. I think, as the Minister, this is a very important Bill which should come to this House. We want to ensure that this country has enough water storage capacity. The next Bill that will follow that one, will address the issue of shared boundary waters. We need the shared waters of this region. These include the shared waters that touch the Nzoia region, the Nile waters and the waters of the Omo River that drain into Lake Turkana. A policy must be put in place to ensure that shared resources like those, can benefit Kenyans. Recently, when I took over the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, I started putting in efforts to address one particular programme, that I need support from hon. Members. This is on the issue of sanitation. This is the International Year of Sanitation. I have so far attended two conferences on sanitation. The slides we watch in every conference show Kibera, Kangemi and other slums in this country. The Ministry of Water and Irrigation should put emphasis to ensure that we have proper hygiene and our lives in the slums are dignified. Instead of having "flying toilets", we should see Kenyans in the slums enjoying the services of toilets and bathrooms. I recently saw an example of a good block which had about five toilets and five bathrooms. This can only cost this Ministry Kshs1.5 million while we waste a lot of money in doing other things. From the President's Speech, this is one area that we will try and put emphasis on. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to talk about trade and commerce in this country. In the Vision 2030 policy, we want to see some shift in decentralisation. Every region in this country should put effort in contributing to trade and commerce. I know of situations we do not get our priorities right. In order to improve and gain more resources for this country, we need to improve infrastructure. However, if you look at our infrastructure, you will find that we have not prioritised correctly, and this does not help some regions. Let me give you a good example. The road that takes the Sudanese from here to Juba is either through Lokichoggio or Uganda. It takes about 2,500 kilometres to go through Kampala and 1,500 kilometres through Lokichoggio. The Sudanese Government has challenged this Government to fix the Turkana Road, the road that takes them to Lokichoggio, and yet nobody is putting in, that effort. That means that our trade has been taken over by Uganda and Egypt because we cannot repair our infrastructure. We need to fix the road that leads to Moyale so as to open up those areas. We know that they are conflict areas but there are solutions to conflict. To minimise the migration of persons who cause conflict, we have always suggested that we establish water sources in this area. That, again falls under my Ministry. So, I will try to do something about it. Mr. Speaker, Sir, drought has now affected many of the constituencies that fall under the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL). We need to cushion the loss of livelihood in these areas. In countries like Ethiopia, we have what we call the Safety Net Programme where they give funds directly to those who are affected. We want to see that happening here. This must be tried in order to improve the lives of our people. We all need to contribute to the tourism sector. We need to open up new areas. Tourists are getting tired of the Maasai Mara and the coast of this country. There is the North Rift and Lake Turkana which should be opened up. We need to improve security in those areas and open up roads. Mr. Speaker, Sir, one hon. Member said that the ASAL areas have been neglected. I know 280 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 19, 2008 that this Government has tried to help the ASAL areas. In the last financial year, we got Kshs1.5 billion for water. This year, we will try and push for Kshs2 billion if funds are available. However, what we really need to push for, in this House, for the sake of our brothers in the ASAL areas is the ASAL policy. The ASAL policy is what analyses all issues in the ASAL areas. The budget for this is approximately Kshs300 billion. I have just come from a meeting with the Minister of State for Special Programmes and we finalised the formation of that policy. It will cost us Kshs300 billion to turn around the ASAL areas. If that policy paper is brought here, I beg hon. Members to support the pastoralists of this country. We should reconcile this country and it is hon. Members who should do that. Everybody talks about ethnicity with pride and we cannot run away from it. I come from Turkana, and although in terms of population we are few, we are ranked tenth in the country. We also want to be proud of that. However, we want to change all that. I want, if I live in Malindi, for instance, to say that I come from Malindi and not talk of my tribe. Finally, to say the least, we need to give Kenyans a new Constitution. Kenyans do not have to deliver this Constitution. The President was not joking when he said that even Mr. Orengo could deliver it within three weeks. We need to get out of boardrooms and give a new Constitution to Kenyans. With those few remarks, I beg to support.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me this chance to give my maiden speech in this House. This is my first time to be elected to Parliament. I want to thank the people of Migori for electing me to join other Kenyans in the Tenth Parliament for the purpose of developing both Migori and Kenya as a united nation. I also want to join other Members in thanking you for your election sometime back. I want to register that most of us who are here have really appreciated the way you have guided this House so far. We wish you all the best in future. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I also want to congratulate all the Members of the Tenth Parliament for having been elected in their various constituencies. As it has emerged this afternoon, last year's General Elections were very difficult to go through. For one to come here, he or she must have struggled. I also want to thank the two great Kenyans, His Excellency, the President, Mr. Mwai Kibaki, and hon. Raila Odinga for making Kenyans proud by sitting in this House together as hon. Members with one purpose. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the elections were done last year and Kenyans came out in large numbers to vote. Up to the time I was elected, there were some celebrations in Migori. But, unfortunately, when the results for the presidential elections were announced, they were received with various emotions in all the parts of this country. We are here trying to start and continue with the idea of healing in Kenya. We must be open and tell the truth. That is not to incite anybody. If I recall, around 3rd January, 2008, when I was in Migori--- We are talking about Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). I do not know what you would have called me. I could not even move in my own constituency. That is because my people had decided to behave in a manner that I had not seen in that constituency for the last 60 years that I have lived there! That brings me to say that people received the results with, at least, various conclusions. Some felt that they had been denied their rights. Others felt that the results were good. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we, as Kenyans, have lived as a united people despite, of course, a few problems here and there. In Migori, if you came there last year before the results of the presidential elections were announced, we never thought of what you call "tribes". Every tribe in Kenya, up to that time, was living in Migori. We lived as brothers and sisters. I, therefore, want to request this House that when we start talking about the healing process, let us go to the root cause of the problem that has really embarrassed this country since the results were announced last year. March 19, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 281 Mr. Speaker, Sir, I did not mention my name. For record purposes, I am John Dache. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to continue by thanking His Excellency the President for his very sensitive and focused Speech that we are now discussing and supporting this afternoon. The President talked about very many areas that he intends, through this Parliament, to bring improvements upon, in order to create development in Kenya from now onwards. Indeed, we want to develop Kenya so that the youths that we are talking about can actually feel that they are our children. Surely, who are those youths? Those youths are our children. If we live very comfortably and our youth cannot get employment or food, I think we must have learnt from what we saw since late December, last year. We have to bring development to this country. That can only be done if we understand that all of us must contribute, at our own levels and in our respective potentialities that we have, to the Kenyan nation. Mr. Speaker, Sir, during his Address, His Excellency the President promised us a lot about improvements in the education sector. I want to join other hon. Members in thanking our successive Governments for the expansion of education at the university level. They have also given us free primary and secondary education that many of our children are enjoying currently. Some of them, definitely, may not have joined the schools that they are in today. That is quite good and we want it to continue. But, Mr. Speaker, Sir, there are areas that our planners should actually understand and safeguard. There is every likelihood that professions will increase and, therefore, we must improve and expand our universities. But the way it has been done in the past, where some of our very noble middle level colleges have been taken over by universities, is not a very good idea. Mr. Speaker, Sir, if you look at Kenya Science Teachers College (KSTC) - the college that I proudly want to say that made me what I am today before I joined the University of Nairobi--- That college had a purpose. At the moment, it is no longer what it used to be. What KSTC has contributed to the education sector and to this nation is quite enormous! I would have wished that we left KSTC to remain and serve Kenya in the capacity for which it was intended, when it was founded. We had Laikipia, Kenyatta and the like. We have polytechnics! I think we have learned in this country. So, if there is any expansion that should be done by our universities--- Why do we not get land, buy it and develop our universities to whatever level we want. That way, we will preserve some of our very important and excellent institutions that have made many Kenyans what they are today. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Minister for Water and Irrigation has talked quite eloquently about his intention to develop water resources in this country. I would want to add that water is very important. Many Kenyans today do not have food. That is a fact. If somebody does not have food and he has no water to drink, can you imagine what that person feels? There are areas in this country where water is not easy to come by. I happen to come from Migori. Some people may think that Migori is a very good place where we have plenty of water. If you go to the lower parts of Migori, our people are living communal type of lives, like the Legio Maria Sect. They are really suffering because there is no water. In fact, for the last six or so years, the only thing that has come up in Migori is what has come up under the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF. But I doubt whether the Ministry of Water and Irrigation has really done anything there to assist the people of Migori. Maybe, when this issue comes up, we shall have more time to talk about it. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to say quietly that we are not very happy--- Some of us are not very happy as hon. Members of this House. The way the implementation of policies has been done in our country has not been very good. Take, for example, when we come here, we are told that we will get our security. About three months after joining Parliament, some of us are yet to get our security. I do not know whether that cannot be done by somebody somewhere! 282 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 19, 2008

Is it me who should leave this House and go and hunt for the security man, so that I may feel secure? I think that is something that this House and this Government--- If you are going to talk about carrying out our duties as Kenyans, let us be mindful of others. Maybe, a few Members have got their security. But I think that many of the new Members are complaining. I am sorry to use that word. They have not been given their security detail. Mr. Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, my names are David Ngugi. I represent a constituency called Kinangop, which is about 120 kilometres from here, just up on the Naivasha Road, and it borders the Aberdares Mountains. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to thank you for noticing me. I have stood up more than sixty times hoping to catch your eye but, luckily, you have noticed me now. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I also want to thank you because you are a progressive man. You have said that you want our debates televised. I look forward to the time when debates will be televised so that my people in Kinangop can see that the Member of Parliament they elected really represents them and talks in Parliament. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I also look forward to the day when our sisters will not leave their handbags outside there. That is because I have always known ladies to carry their handbags. It is part of their "ribs". I also want to thank the people of Kinangop for electing me despite millions of shillings having been poured in the constituency, and the fact that the Provincial Administration was forced to back a certain candidate. My constituents stood by me. It is for that reason that I am here today. Mr. Speaker, Sir, above all, I want to thank the Almighty God because it is His will that all of us are in this House. It is also His will that we are all in the Tenth Parliament to carry out the heavy responsibility of shaping the destiny of this country. I do not take my responsibility lightly. I look forward to the day I will speak when the Benches on both sides of the House will be fully packed. I want to thank Dr. Kofi Annan and his team for assisting Kenyans to have a Grand Coalition Government. I also want to thank the eight Members of Parliament who managed to successfully negotiate the deal on behalf of both sides of the House. More so, I want to thank His Excellency the President and the Prime Minister-designate. When time came for them to show statesmanship, they rose to the occasion. They reminded me of a chapter in the autography of Nelson Mandela - Long Walk to Freedom - where he says: "A time comes when a leader must step forward and make decisions for his people because it is right for that leader to do so." I congratulate the President and the Prime Minister-designate for stepping forward and making decisions which are right for this country. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we, as a country, are sitting on a gold mine. For almost two months, the European Union, the United States of America (USA), the African Union and the rest of the world focused on this country. We are important, but we do not realise it. During that strife, Uganda, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Somalia suffered. Since we are that valuable, we should bargain with the world because we are an important country in the world. Whenever we bargain, we should be able to flex our muscle. The National Peace Accord that was agreed upon was the best thing for this country. To have one united Parliament with leaders sharing responsibilities, powers and whatever goes with it, to me is a good thing. If there could be a way of moving away from the system of winner-take-all, it would be good for this country. Our people should stop looking forward to see a President or a March 19, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 283 Minister from their areas, so that they benefit. We need a system which will benefit all of us. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to commend the President for his Address to this House. There were issues he brought out in it. One of the issues he talked about is water. He said that there will be equitable sharing of resources such as water. Sasumua Dam is located in Kinangop Constituency. It feeds Nairobi with water. It is a pity that people in that region do not have water. I urge the Minister for Water and Irrigation, Mr. Munyes, and Nairobi City Council to make sure that my people benefit from this dam. I come from an agricultural area. We grow potatoes, cabbages and carrots. We feed this city. It is sad that my people are poor. They will remain poor forever unless we encourage them realise that raw agricultural produce cannot develop a region or country. We need to process those cabbages, have them dehydrated, so that we export them to the Middle East, Europe and elsewhere. We need to do value-addition to potatoes by having them processed. By so doing, our people will benefit. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have 10,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in my area. Out of this, 6,800 are primary school children and 480 secondary school students. Those people have stretched our resources. Even for the educational standards that we want to improve it is not possible to do so, because of the many children in classes. My prayer is that all of us will take seriously what happened to this country. Even if some of us came to Parliament by playing the tribal card, let us forget about it. We are already in this House. Let us look forward to a Kenya where everybody is equal to any other Kenyan. Before I came to this House, it pained me to see people suffering in the North Eastern Province and Turkana District. It also pained me to see children dying in Nyanza Province. As a top executive, I felt that it was not fair for me to have three meals a day when other Kenyans suffered. That was one of the things that motivated me to join politics. I look forward to the day when all of us will support Motions and Bills aimed at improving living standards of people in the North Eastern, Nyanza and Coast provinces. We must support all Kenyans. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the President talked about roads. Roads are being built to very poor standards. When I studied economics, I learnt of something called economic waste. We build a road to very poor standards and pay millions of shillings, but within a few years, it is dilapidated. Time has come when we must be serious about standards and quality of our roads. Time has come when people must be held accountable for whatever they do. Unless this country minimises or eliminates corruption, we are headed nowhere. Corruption is the root cause of 90 per cent of our problems. Unless we enact laws which will squarely address corruption, we will not succeed. Lastly, I would like to support the hon. Members who suggested that councillors be paid from the Consolidated Fund. They should be paid reasonable salaries and allowances---

Time up, Mr. Ngugi!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving me this opportunity to stand in this House to give my maiden speech. My names are Joseph Oyugi Magwanga, Member of Parliament for Kasipul-Kabondo. Kasipul- Kabondo is in Rachuonyo District in Nyanza Province. This is one of the biggest constituencies in the country which has not been sub-divided since Independence. I hope my honourable colleagues will help me so that it may be sub-divided during this 10th Parliament. I want to take this opportunity to thank my constituents for electing me to be in this august House. I also take this opportunity to thank my party which nominated me to vie for the election to Parliament. I also want to thank the members of the church who actually prayed for peace in this country to prevail at the time of need when there were problems here and there. People could not even move and do whatever they wanted to do. There is some peace right now and we are all enjoying it after the signing of the agreement. 284 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 19, 2008 I also want to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your election as the Speaker of the Tenth Parliament. You really deserve the seat that we gave you and we hope that you will continue to give excellent service to this House and make a landmark. Allow me to also thank or congratulate hon. Members who were elected in this Parliament to represent their various constituencies. I hope that if we network and collaborate with the constituents, then we will make a difference in this country. You will also allow me to congratulate the mediation team which did a wonderful job to bring back normalcy in this country. The mediation team which was led by Dr. Kofi Annan took time in this country and they reconciled and harmonised the people of Kenya. People realised that they had erred and had to come back, sit and agree. That saw the two Principals, that is, His Excellency the President, Mr. Kibaki and Prime Minister-designate, Mr. Raila signing the National Accord to bring peace in this country. I have to congratulate them for all that they did to bring peace in this country. I want to say that their action has given this country a big name that can be celebrated in the world. Mr. Speaker, Sir, in the Presidential Speech the President talked about the infrastructure in Kenya. I concur with my fellow hon. Members that the infrastructure in this country is horrible. What can be done? The various Ministries which are in charge should be streamlined to make the infrastructure usable to our people. People should enjoy travelling in this country. When you look at our airports for example Kisumu, there are potholes. Even the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) has potholes. That is one of the infrastructures which provide means of communication to our people. Let the Ministry do something about the infrastructure. Roads are also in a pathetic state. Between Nakuru, Kisumu and Busia, you will take almost six to seven hours. I am also requesting the Ministry of Transport to revive the steamships which used to ply between Kisumu and Homa Bay. That will actually reduce the costs of moving around the lake from Homa Bay through Kisii, Sondu and then to Kisumu. That will actually reduce the time and distance. Also the removal of hyacinth in Lake Victoria which has hampered the steamship transport should be done.

In the Presidential Speech, the President talked about empowering the youth. When looking at youth issues there is the issue of unemployment. This has become a big problem in this country. Youth in this country are marginalised and are hard-hit. They are not employed. That is why most of them are involved in drug abuse and alcoholism. If employment opportunities could be provided to them, then they will be very good and responsible people in this country. I would like to encourage the Government to come up with some industries so that employment opportunities could be provided for our youth. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, lack of capital for business starters is supposed to be allocated to the youth. The Youth Enterprise Fund has failed because if you ask the number of youth who got those funds in this country, you may find that only about 1 per cent of the total number of youth got them. So, it is not serving the youth effectively. I feel that something is supposed to be done. When we talk about the youth, there are a number of them who do not have identity cards. They are being frustrated and are not being given the identity cards. So, for them to get even casual work is impossible. So, the issuance of identity cards should be streamlined for them to be getting them as soon as they attain 18 years of age. I feel that the retirement age, which is 55 years, should be mandatory. The extension of contracts for retirees should be stopped in order March 19, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 285 for our youth to be absorbed. That will allow our talented and qualified and efficient youth employment opportunities. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, regarding agriculture which is the backbone of this country and on a number of occasions, the Meteorological Department has misled this country several times by telling people that the rains are just about to begin--- So, you go and plant but the rains do not come even after one month. So, the farmers are incurring numerous losses due to lack of proper information. I feel that the management of the Meteorological Department should be streamlined and provided with modern equipment so that they could get rid of the outdated equipment which they use and which give them the impression that the rains are just about when they are not there. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President talked about the Coffee Act, 2001----

Time is up, Mheshimiwa!

Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to contribute towards the Presidential Speech during the State Opening of Parliament a week ago. Let me take this opportunity to, first of all, thank the people of Gatanga for electing me for a second time, with twice the number of votes that I had in the first term. It was a resounding majority that must rank as one of the highest in the country.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I think the Presidential Speech was very key and crucial. Considering that the President has served all the ten terms of this House, it was important that he left a befitting legacy as he finishes his second term as the President of the Republic of Kenya. It was also important that in his reflection of what had transpired, he had an opportunity to look back at all those years he had done service to the people of Kenya, to see what was important as a way-forward for the betterment of this country. Therefore, in his agenda, first of all, in telling us that we needed to look at the National Accord and Reconciliation Bill - which was unanimously passed yesterday - it was important for us to realise that we had fitted in this country before, and we could fit in this country again. It was important to realise that everybody in this country is an equal stakeholder just like the other. It was also important to realise that we did not need war. Everybody in this country was craving for peace. Therefore, in passing the National Accord and Reconciliation Bill, we were appreciating that we all needed to fit in this country, as we had fitted before. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in so doing, and as we move forward, it is also important that as we pass these laws and other laws that will come here, to realise that we need to observe the rule of law. That is because we saw a very serious breakdown of that rule of law. We keep on coming here and going to public rallies and saying that nobody is above the law. But I got a feeling that there are those people who are below the law and, therefore, they are not captured by the law! That is because they are below it! Therefore, it is important that, as we move forward and build on principles that will take this country forward, we are able to observe the law. I think everybody appreciated that, if the law is not observed, we are all in danger and the crowds out there could easily out-manoeuvre the leaders. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President said that this House will discuss an ethnic Bill. Probably, it is high time that we stopped looking at each other from the communities that we come from, especially when we meet in a place like this. I was a little taken aback when the Minister for Water and Irrigation was trying to justify why he is a Turkana. I would have been very happy if he had justified why he is a Kenyan. That must be the way forward. Probably, one of the best ways is to look at Section 42 of the Constitution. When we divide our constituencies, we 286 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 19, 2008 ensure first that there is no constituency that has a tribal name. Secondly, when we will do the registration of the new identification cards, you just mention that you are a Kenyan and not the tribe you come from. I am saying that because when you look at all the elements that arose, there was a lot of tribal chauvinism. We forgot the "baby" called Kenya. That is why Kenya was being displayed all over the world as the "baby" that was suffering. But I am sure that, as leaders, if we embraced the spirit of being Kenyans, behaved like patriotic Kenyans and discarded the tribal effects--- We can do it on cultural basis, when we have our cultural nights. But when it comes to the point of leadership where we are able to articulate our views, we must avoid the tribal divisions that have so much eaten the social fabric of this country. Therefore, when the Bill comes, we will be recommending that, in future, all our national identification cards should not have the tribal tags that we give to somebody who has attained the age of 18. Everybody should be identified as a Kenyan and whoever is not a Kenyan is not issued with an identity card. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to take this opportunity to thank all those teams that came to Kenya's---

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have only spoken for five minutes and the red light is on!

I am only fighting for my democratic right as per the Standing Orders. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to take this opportunity to thank all the people who came together to discuss about Kenya. Whether they came from outside led by the team of Eminent Persons or inside--- We had Members of Parliament and Kenyans who prayed for a peaceful Kenya. There are Kenyans out there who wished Kenya well. As I said, this is our country and we have no other country to go to. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, issues have been raised about equity. Perhaps, one of the best ways to identify and see that such equity is really achieved through the review of the Constitution; that Constitutional office holders are appointed and vetted by this very House. That way, certain cases of bias, as has been alleged in the past, are then concluded and finished here. That will ensure that Parliament has some authority over the constitutional office holders and other appointments that are made. As such, Parliament will have no excuse or reason to say that they were done purely from ethnic considerations. I think it is important that the supremacy of this House, especially as we review the Constitution in one year's time, is looked into, so that there is some supremacy. We can have a safety measure here and Parliament, as an institution, can have that authority. Secondly, as a way of ensuring equitable distribution of resources, I would like to appeal to my colleagues that, probably, it is time we thought and looked at the provision that establishes the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF), and increase it from 2.5 per cent to 10 per cent, so that we can have all that money going to the grassroots. We have seen what has happened with the 2.5 per cent. I think if we amended the CDF Act and really made it be owned by the constituencies--- If we increased it from 2.5 per cent to 10 per cent, it will have a lot of impact in the local constituencies. We can even then try to close-up and say: "We want to grow this country together and, therefore, we want to look at security issues, water and health provision, infrastructure and education for every constituency from a CDF aspect." If the CDF was 10 per cent of the gross March 19, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 287 revenues and was tied to five basic problems of this country, we can grow the country together. The people in the grassroots will see that there are state resources coming back. Today, the problem is that sometimes that 2.5 per cent is too tiny. When you spread it too thin, although there are effects, they are not enough to be felt at the grassroots. Therefore, it is time we thought of growing the CDF. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the issue of economic growth, I know we have the Vision 2030. This Vision is anchored on agriculture, manufacturing and tourism. But we saw what happened with the issue of tourism, which gets easily affected. Agriculture also gets easily affected. We must move towards manufacturing, in whichever way that we should think it is fit. We must encourage industries to come to this country and support the existing industries. We must give incentives to the industries in this country, so that they can expand and create employment opportunities for our youth. If we gave the industries at the Industrial Area the incentives of security, water, electricity and infrastructure, and ask them to operate 24 hours, with the current employment levels of 500,000, they would employ another 500,000 people at night. Therefore, we would have reduced the rate of unemployment. As we move forward, as a House, we must look at these things. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this Motion on the Presidential Address. This being my first time in Parliament, I know I am very new to many hon. Members. I am Mr. Raphael Letimalo, the hon. Member for Samburu East Constituency. From the outset, I would like to thank the constituents of Samburu East for showing confidence in me and electing me to represent them in this august House. I promise that I will be able to provide the services they deserve. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to join hon. Members in thanking His Excellency the President and the Prime Minister-designate for taking a lead in signing the National Peace and Reconciliation Accord. I also want to thank hon. Members for passing the two Bills without amendments, to facilitate the enactment of the Constitutional amendments, the Peace Accord and to ensure that reconciliation takes place in Kenya. I am particularly happy to be associated with the passage of the two Bills. Even though we never witnessed clashes related to the post-election violence in Samburu East Constituency, but we were equally affected. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, Samburu East Constituency is known for hosting many game reserves, tourist hotels and community-based conservancies that draw their revenue through tourism. As a result of the post-election violence, many tourists cancelled their hotel bookings, which necessitated the closure of many hotels and, therefore, rendered many workers jobless. It is, therefore, important that all leaders, from different political parties, support the Peace Accord to avoid the further suffering of Kenyans, particularly in the form of loss of lives, jobs and property. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the Presidential Address, His Excellency the President mentioned about free primary education. Free primary education is offered by the Government. This is something commendable considering that many children who come from poor family backgrounds, who could otherwise not have continued with their education, now have the opportunity to continue with their education without any interruption. However, there is still a lot of concern on this issue in my constituency. There are a number of children, who have attained the age of going to school, but they have not benefited and made use of this programme. It is my appeal that the Ministry concerned, and more specifically the Provincial Administration, that is the chiefs and assistant chiefs, sensitise and mobilise people, so that they are 288 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 19, 2008 able to send all those children who have attained the right age, to school. It is important to note that the free primary school education programme is free and compulsory. Therefore, cultural and nomadic lifestyles notwithstanding, we have a duty as a political leadership, and even those who are entrusted with administrative duties, to mobilise communities and educate them particularly on the importance of education, so that they do not lose this benefit. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, even though we say that we have attained a lot in the area of education, areas like Samburu District and particularly my constituency, still encounter a lot of problems, particularly due to insecurity and nomadic lifestyles that make many children not to go to school. The shortage of teachers is also discouraging many children from going to school. When you visit a primary school with eight classes, you will find only three teachers. In the process, many students get discouraged because they miss lessons, probably twice in a week. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, infrastructure is key to development of any area. There are areas in Samburu East Constituency that are inaccessible particularly during the rainy season. I would like to appeal to the Government to improve the road network, particularly to facilitate security and enhance economic development. There is a sub-location in my constituency that does not have a school. It becomes difficult for officers from the Ministry of Education to visit some schools because when it rains the areas become inaccessible due to swollen rivers. Some areas literally get cut off. It is important that the Ministry of Roads and Public Works gives particular attention to the ASAL areas like Samburu East Constituency. I appreciate the action taken by the Minister for Roads and Public Works to visit projects that have been constructed, particularly the roads that are under construction. But it is equally important, that the Minister visits the marginalised areas, so that when we talk about marginalised areas, the Government functionaries are able to see the kind of problems that we are experiencing. If an area gets cut off during the rainy season, that for an hon. Member or even Government officers to visit that area, they have got to go through another district or wait until the rains subside, then you can understand the element of marginalisation that we are talking about. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am aware that the Government is working on the Isiolo-Marsabit Road with a view to tarmacking it. I would like to appeal, that since that road passes through part of my constituency, I would like the Government to consider tarmacking a small route of 18 kilometres, this is the Nyarasa-Wamba Road. This leads to the headquarters of the new Samburu East Constituency. This will give an opportunity to the children of Samburu East Constituency to see a tarmacked road for the first time. It is my prayer that this will be included in the process of constructing that road. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, Samburu East Constituency could be the only area where the locals do not have electricity. I am particularly concerned about the services that are offered by catholic missionaries who have really contributed towards the development of the ASAL areas. We have a big hospital in the name of Rwambwa Mission Hospital which is managed by the Catholic missionaries. It is a hospital with a wide catchment in the entire larger Samburu District which, of course, has been split into three. The whole of Marsabit District, Isiolo District and parts of Laikipia and Meru districts. That hospital serves as a referral hospital in critical cases. If you talk of in-patient capacity, the hospital has 200 beds. It also runs a nursing training school. This hospital spends about Kshs1 million on diesel per month for power supply. By all standards, that is really a huge amount of money. There is, therefore, need to provide electricity to that hospital and other institutions, particularly now that Samburu East is a district. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, community-based conservancies are taking root in Samburu East Constituency and I appreciate the investors who are behind the creation of conservancies in my constituency. This has created employment and has reinforced security through employment of game rangers. They are now able to carry out security patrols alongside the March 19, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 289 regular security personnel. However, I am concerned that--- Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for recognising me on the hundredth attempt. My names are Mr. Nderitu Muriithi and I am the Member of Parliament for Laikipia West. I sympathise with my colleague from Kasipul Kabondo because Laikipia West, like his constituency, covers two districts and has 106,000 registered voters. So, as you can well see, it is due for sub-division. I thank you for the opportunity you have given me to address this august House and contribute to the debate on the Presidential Address. Let me congratulate my colleagues - being my first time to (address the House -for being elected to this House. Let me also express gratitude to voters of Laikipia West for according me the privilege to serve them in this House and to serve Kenya at large. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, many people have been thanked for the role that they played in the last one and a half months in bringing Kenya back to normalcy. We should also thank the many Kenyans who, in fact, spend many hours persuading and working with political leaders to achieve the resolution. For example, the Citizen Pathway, the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) and the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM), just to mention a few. We owe them a great deal of thanks. I also want to recognise the excellent work that the House did yesterday in passing the two Bills that will allow this country to move forward. I believe that yesterday was, perhaps, the easy part. The real work is about whether we are up to the task of delivering a new Constitution to this country. The real question is whether we as political leaders who use ethnicity as the card that brings us voters and the thing that champions or propels our political cause, are, in fact, up to the challenge of bringing and delivering a new Constitution to this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is crucial and paramount that we do this. It is my view that the very notion of a nation-State, Kenya, is under serious and constant attack. The idea that certain parts of Kenya belong to certain people and not others and that the right to property is only available to you as a citizen if you are in a certain part of the country are not ideas that can work in the modern State. They are not ideas that can build a modern State called Kenya. We all know that when most of us Kenyans go to an institution to seek service, the first question we ask ourselves is: Who do I know in that institution? The reason is that, as citizens, we have lost faith in institutions and the ability of institutions to both provide services and to arbitrate issues with impartiality. Nobody in this country seems to really care about the rule of law. It is, in fact, a concept that learned friends talk about. So, we must, of necessity and urgency, bring and deliver a new Constitution to this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, reflecting on the Presidential Address, I want to join my colleagues who have stressed the importance of livestock and the fact that we need the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development to move with haste to restore Kenya's status as a livestock disease-free country. This will create market for Kenya in countries outside our borders. I urge that the Ministry looks at restoring the holding grounds because, as you well know, when livestock moves to markets further south---

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to bring to your attention the fact that there is no quorum in this House.

Yes, indeed, we have no quorum. Ring the Division Bell! 290 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 19, 2008

Order, hon. Members, we have a quorum now! Mr. Muriithi, please proceed!

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I was saying, the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development must move with haste to restore holding grounds, so that we can re-attain, as a nation, the disease-free status that allowed us to export our livestock. On the matter of youth and employment, I want to say that, in fact, when economists and people writing manifestos promised 300,000 jobs, they were not suggesting that we shall open up the doors of public sector employment. What they are saying is that we shall encourage the private sector to provide those jobs. It is for those reasons that we must embrace promoting investments at the local level. Without a doubt, every town and village in this great country has something to offer in terms of resources to be utilised by way of investments and, therefore, providing jobs. It is critical that, as we move to re-build Kenya, we restore the fundamental administrative systems upon which a modern economy can lie. For example, it is impossible in this day and age to find a physical place in Nairobi. I challenge any hon. Member to go and look for business in the Industrial Area or any residential place. It is impossible to describe where things happen physically and yet, in most countries, and even in this country, the whole idea of street addresses is something that we have lived through. Imagine, whenever you live in this City of Nairobi, trying to ring the emergency services to get to your house! Heavens forbid! You have to describe: "You have to pass the kiosk near the big tree", and so on--- As a modern state, we must restore street addresses. The Presidential Address spoke about infrastructure. I hope it is time that we moved with speed to open up a second transport corridor. The Ministry of Transport and others have been working on a plan to open up a second transport corridor linking Lamu to Isiolo, Marlalal, Turkana and Southern Sudan, as well as northern Ethiopia. It is my belief that, that very worthy project will open up great new frontiers for the economy of this country. So, I urge that we move with haste to open up the second transport corridor. With those many remarks, interrupted though they were, I beg to support.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for setting your eyes on me because--- I will dwell on that later on. I take this opportunity to thank God for loving this country and putting us together after everybody was so worried that we will not have a country after a few days. Having done that, and having listened to many hon. Members thank their constituents, I thought it would be a bit mean to confine my thanks to the residents of Bura Constituency. I will, therefore, take this opportunity to thank Kenyans for electing hon. Members and, on behalf of all of them, I want to assure Kenyans that, for a start, we will not let them down. We will keep the spirit and these five years will be the best for Kenya. On the Presidential Speech, I would like to thank His Excellency the President for dwelling so much on the excellent masterpiece. I want to be a bit fair to all hon. Members and just give a few points where I think I should contribute, so that I can donate some of my time to other hon. Members who did not have a chance to speak.

Order! Please, state your full name.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am Dr. Nuh Nassir Abdi, Member for Bura Constituency. I am a bit at a loss to know where the youthful age starts and where it ends. One thing I know for sure is that I happen to be the smallest in this House.

March 19, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 291 But I am not sure whether I am the youngest! This small body of mine has been a big disadvantage because I have been standing up for the last so many days and I get lost within hon. Members. I thank the Temporary Deputy Speaker for having seen me. The Speech of the President dwelt so much on providing opportunities to the youth and women. He congratulated the women for their numbers in this House. He asked us to pass laws that are friendly to women and the youth. I would say, for once, that opportunities for the youth and women should not always be guided by legislation. There should be goodwill on the part of leaders who appoint members of the public to some of those positions. That is because if we tie the opportunities that are supposed to be provided to the youth and women to some bit of law or the Constitution, I think we will have to get to every bit of appointment and say it is for the youth or women. For example, the House Business Committee (HBC) falls short of the expectations of the youth and women. I think these are some of the things that should not be allowed to pass. They set a precedence that some of the people who are already marginalised are marginalised even more, when it comes to big positions. This honourable House should provide a very good example and inspire some hope to the womenfolk and youth out there. But because of some disadvantages, whether cultural or economical back at home, they were not able to make it to positions where they could make decisions for Kenyans. So much has been said about education. Free primary education has seen the rise of enrolment of pupils in schools. But we should ask: Do we need pupils to stay in schools and that is all!? I heard an hon. Member complain that some of the pupils are studying under trees. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would bring to the attention of this House that it is not only infrastructure in the form of buildings or classrooms, that will provide excellence for education. I never saw the door of a classroom until I went to my class four. Maybe the hon. Minister for Water and Irrigation might not have seen a classroom until he went to class five.

However, because we had teachers then who were able to provide their services under those very trees, we were able to perform, if not excellent, but better than poor. I think the biggest problem that lies with our education system currently is about staffing. I currently have a shortage of around 242 teachers in my constituency. You would get to a school with classes from one to eight with three teachers. How do you expect those students to perform? At any one given lesson, if the teachers work like devils, five or six classrooms will have to stay with students playing in there. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) has done much of infrastructural development. I have so many classrooms down there in Bura Constituency with so many students in them, but no teachers. I think even the CDF Act as it is, is not empowered to provide for the shortfalls of the education system. It is not that we lack teachers around, but it is lack of employing those teachers that is really bringing the staffing problem in schools. So, the CDF Act needs to be amended to cater for the remuneration of teachers if the Government cannot employ more teachers. What is the need of building so many classrooms - some look like mansions - with students playing in there for good hours without a teacher? I do not think we will move in the right direction. There is a certain clause that captured my attention about regulating private schools. When people here talk of "regulation" some chills are sent down because this means gagging and so many other issues. The private schools will be self-regulatory if we provide the best systems in our public 292 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 19, 2008 schools. However, that is lacking. That now gives an avenue for private schools to crop up and then take advantage of students and parents. Something great should be done about staffing. If that issue is dealt with, maybe later on some students from Bura Constituency might become presidents of Kenya. About slum upgrading and markets, I do not doubt the capacity of the Government to upgrade slums and build some markets to defuse or to take hawkers off the streets. However, when these slums are built or upgraded, my worry is who ends up there. Will the rightful people, those who are in the slums and who the upgrading system was meant be the ones to benefit or it is the kith of wealthier people that will end up there? Even the same applies for the markets, so to say. We will end up building markets saying that we want hawkers off the streets. If we do not ensure that those who are benefitting from those markets are the same hawkers, they will be still be on those streets and the markets we built will be full. You will wonder where they came from. About the HIV/AIDS scourge, the President's Speech contained a part that says: "We should give support to about 30,000 orphans who are orphaned by HIV parents". I wanted to capture the aspect of control and maybe prevention. We cannot keep on supporting HIV orphans without talking so much about prevention. If we want to bring the problems to an end, we have to cut the source. We will continue providing support to orphans. People will still contract the AIDS/HIV virus we talk about. For how long are we going to support those orphans? So, something has to be done and we have to concentrate our efforts more on control or prevention of HIV/ AIDS spread rather than support systems. I would finish my contribution by summing up with security because I see my time is up. I beg and plead that this Bill in the name of Organised Crime is not the Anti-Terrorism Bill that has been housed in a very good name. I beg to support.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to join my colleagues in supporting the Presidential Speech. My names are Mr. Thomas Mwadeghu from Wundanyi Constituency. I wish to take this opportunity to thank most sincerely my constituents for having given me an opportunity to serve them for the next five years. I believe and trust I will not let them down. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, through Members of Parliament, a lot has been said, especially on marginalisation. Our biggest problem from my point of view is the management and distribution of our resources. This country is endowed with massive natural resources. However, one of our biggest problems has been harnessing those resources and distributing the factors of production across the country for the benefit of our citizens. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in his Speech, His Excellency the President did mention that we will have the second Mzima Water Project. I would call upon the Ministry of Water and Irrigation to take note that it will be very unfair for water to flow from Mzima Springs all the way to Mombasa and ignore the residents of Taita who desperately need the water. Not only the residents of Taita, but also the residents of Mazeras and Kaloleni. As you have seen, it was a practice that was there on Mzima I where water flowed from Mzima Springs all the way to Mombasa, but all communities living within the vicinity of that pipeline were ignored. We hope, believe and trust that those mistakes will not be repeated. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in as much as we would wish to see that our resources are distributed evenly across the country, there are certain areas which have been blessed with massive natural resources. I have in mind the Tsavo East and Tsavo West national parks. Two- thirds of both Taita and Taveta districts are swallowed by Tsavo East and Tsavo West national parks. Each consecutive government that has come in power, especially during elections has gone to the communities and promised them ten per cent of the proceeds of the national parks. March 19, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 293 I am sorry to state that those promises have never been fulfilled. We have wondered and questioned whether the elephants in Maasai Mara and the elephants in Tsavo East and West are any different. We have Maasai Mara Game Reserve as a game reserve. For that matter, the communities within that game reserve benefit a lot from the gate collections. The communities in Taita do not benefit anything from both Tsavo East and Tsavo West just because it is a national park. Time has come to address some of these inequalities. As much as we talk of equity, I beg to differ on the definition of the equitable distribution of our resources for the benefit of our communities. The communities in Taita-Taveta District have preserved the wildlife and their natural resources. Yet, when it comes to benefiting from those natural resources, they have been left out. It is the high time that the Ministries concerned did everything possible to ensure that those benefits which are accruing to communities whose land has been converted into game reserves also go to those communities whose land has remained national parks. Otherwise, all game parks should be converted into game reserves for the benefit of our communities. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, allow me to bring to the attention of this august House the fact that 70 per cent of the natural resources of this country are found in Taita-Taveta District. We have documents to prove that. Yet, it is disappointing to note that the iron ore deposits in Taita- Taveta District have remained unexploited. We are wondering what we are waiting for. We are lamenting about unemployment when the Government lacks enough resources to feed its people and do the infrastructure yet, our mining industry is unexploited. The mineral deposits in Taita- Taveta District are massive. Todate, we do not have any authority to exploit those mineral deposits. Time has come for those mineral deposits to be extracted in order to benefit the country at large. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Presidential Speech touched on infrastructure. Yes, we need the infrastructure but even the roads which are being constructed now are not durable, like the Mombasa-Nairobi road, which is receiving a second phase. Even before the contractor has handed over the road, where heavy trucks have been moving along, it has developed some cracks. Either the road had been done without following the set standards or the trucks are overloaded. If the trucks are overloaded, who is responsible for that? Time has come for the Ministries concerned to ensure that there is no overloading on our roads. On the same note, we have the Taveta-Mwatate Road which links Kenya and Tanzania. This Road has remained an eyesore. Each Government had said they will do that road but nothing has been done. I wish to implore the Ministry concerned to ensure that the road between Mwatate and Taveta linking the high productive areas of Arusha, Moshi and Kilimanjaro is opened up for the benefit of this country. This is because there will be diversion of goods instead of using the Port of Dar-es-Salam, they will use the Port of Mombasa. But as it is right now, all those goods go to Dar-es- Salam. This is not because the Port of Dar-es-Salam is shorter or is more efficient but just because of a hundred kilometres of road, which is in bad state. Finally, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I wish to request the Ministry of Local Government to take note of the communities sharing common boundaries. More often than not, they have created animosities which are uncalled for. We have provincial boundaries which were recognised all along. But of late, we have seen communities fighting over boundaries because somebody has amassed power and decided to change the boundaries without involving the communities. As a result of that, we have had differences and people are fighting. This is uncalled for. My humble request is that some of these issues be addressed to avoid unnecessary conflict. With those few remarks, I beg to support the Motion.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for, finally, granting me this opportunity. I have been standing up in my position from yesterday to this afternoon. 294 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 19, 2008

You are not alone.

I know, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker Sir. I wish I do not have to be alone. I want to thank God for the opportunity to serve in this Parliament for the third term. I also want to thank the good people of Turkana Central for deeming it fit that I was the most eligible candidate to continue representing them in this august House. It is my hope and prayer that I will not fail them. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, yesterday was an important day for us. As the President said, this country needs a spirit of national reconciliation. This reconciliation should go beyond the passage of Bills. My CRE teacher, in "O" Level used to say that Jeremiah 31 says:"The day will come when the law shall no longer be written in books but in the hearts of men" and perhaps "women". I am using the words "perhaps women" because I am quoting the Bible. He did not say women then but I am trying to make it modern; "men and women". The spirit of reconciliation that we have found is not just that we are united because we are going to get more opportunities for the political animals in the Kenyan context, but in the words of hon. Raila, it is a means to an end, an end where Kenyans will no longer see poverty, a means where Kenya shall be defined by its prosperity across the region. Just because I define the boundaries of this nation, that does not leave me to be marginalised and oppressed. We are looking for a Kenya where, even if you come from which part, I like referring to Mandera Border Point One, Isebania and Vanga at the Coast; we can all feel truly Kenyan. But that Kenya must be realised. I was really wishing to see that a framework for the realisation of that Kenya is part and parcel of the Bills we passed. That way, as much we entrench it in the Constitution, we should make a deliberate constitutional arrangement to ensure that at least a framework containing a commitment to poverty alleviation is put in place. A programme should be drawn out to that affect. Our youth should be meaningfully and productively engaged so that they have no opportunities to engage in incidents of violence when the politicians are suffering. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, yesterday, my good friend, Prof. Anyang'-Nyong'o, said that when elephants fight the grass suffers. When the elephants make love, the grass still suffers, but he said the music from the latter is sweeter. He forgot to realise it is sweeter between the PNU and ODM Members of Parliament. It is not for those ones who are not participating in that exercise. It is still terrible to them. We hope the future of this country is neither blue nor orange. The future of this country, in my view, is ASAL. Land as a means of production is an important factor. If you look at any simple reading of economic productivity, you will realise land is an important factor. This was captured in the mid-1980s. The only way we can do more production is to intensify and bring ASAL areas into production. I am afraid that the President's Speech did not capture the ASAL areas in spite of the fact that in the Ninth Parliament, this country was excited by the fact that the President himself, in the opening of Parliament, made it absolutely clear that for further development and improvement of this country, ASAL areas will be given a priority in his Government. I really wish to see that, that prioritisation will take place. I want to believe that because of the crowded agenda of this Parliament, the President somehow just forget that issue but it will be part of the agenda of his Government. There is an ASAL policy before the Cabinet, that requires only Kshs300 billion to implement. It needs to come before the Floor of this House. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for the third time that Turkana people have brought me to this House, and in the name of the pastoralist communities, it is my personal and singular duty to ensure that such a Bill will be passed with the same speed that we saw yesterday. A speed that threatens even the debating ability of this House. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also want us to move with speed in the enactment of March 19, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 295 a new Constitution. What we did yesterday can be in vain if we do not complete a new Constitution. In my view, this should be done in less than 12 months. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President was right on spot saying that even Mr. Orengo alone, any hon. Member--- Has he not borrowed from the Accord? If the coalition members can appoint the so called eminent personalities--- It is a matter of collating information. The information is there. We have the Bomas Draft, the Kilifi Draft and the Naivasha Draft. We can, at least, come and agree on this and pass it in this House, while we are in this honeymoon, without bringing many other issues that might just distract us from it. It would be much better if we got a new Constitution that properly talks about all this power sharing. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, some of us really wanted to contribute yesterday. The Prime Minister will be appointed on the basis of the party with majority Members of Parliament. Chances are that we could actually have a President from a party with the majority Members of Parliament and a Prime Minister from the same party. Then what happens to your power sharing in real terms? I thought we were running away from the issue of the winner-takes it all. I want to see a possibility that if a particular party produces the President then the Prime Minister must come from the party with the next largest majority. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we are back to the old issues. I need to make this absolutely clear here. There is the danger of majority rule. It can only help if individual rights are also considered. Imagine, as somebody once said, if you have majority rule of five hyenas and one sheep deciding what they will have for supper, they will be so unanimous that they will go for the sheep and not any other of them. It is important to enshrine the rule about individual rights. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, during my first time in Parliament the Speaker, then Mr. Kaparo, said: "The minority will have their say but the majority will have their way". If you come from where I come from, you know that to access West Pokot is hard. Two bridges have not been built for the last five years. The road from Kapenguria to Lodwar and Lokichoggio leads to Southern Sudan - a country we can take advantage of. We can translate our peace into tangible economic returns for this great nation, and extend our influence in the region. That road has just been left like that. I know we will come here, apportion money for roads as we did last time. Kshs4 billion will be for different places, depending on where you come from. That culture must stop. We must allocate resources on the basis of need and not influence. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we want a new agenda for Kenya; an agenda that prioritises what is important for this nation; an agenda that we, as hon. Members of Parliament, can sign and say, "for the sake of this nation I want a road elsewhere not in my place". I am hoping that the Chair will provide leadership in teaching Kenyans not to make heroes out of thieves, who get appointed Ministers. To the extent that you steal from your own people, you are a hero. They do not care whether other Kenyans are dying. We want an agenda for Kenya that ensures that all the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)--- Turkana has 6,000 of them. Thank you Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for finally seeing me; I look forward to more opportunities.

Thank you Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to air my views. Let me take this early opportunity to first of all congratulate you and the principals on the steps they have taken to bring us to this stage.

Order! The Hansard Reporters would like to know your name!

My names are hon. Maj. (Rtd) Godhana from Galole Constituency. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me also take this opportunity to thank my 296 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 19, 2008 constituents for sponsoring me to this House, so that I can serve them. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, at this stage I wish to appreciate and echo the President's remark that we were heading the wrong direction. I believe that the change that everybody is talking about in this House, and elsewhere, is about change in direction, so that we face the right direction. The two Bills, the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill and the National Accord and Reconciliation Bill, are indeed, the first steps towards the positive direction. I am also happy and impressed that a team that will look into the issue of truth and reconciliation is in the pipeline. However, I want to remind hon. Members of this House that reconciliation is a process of striking a balance between wrongs and rights. I also believe that it is a process that many people are calling the "healing process". However, in this process, there is something very critical that must be addressed and said. That is the truth. I believe that, justice which is entrenched in our National Anthem, is a product of some sort. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me say this in Kiswahili: Ukweli ni mchungu sana

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for noticing me. I have been trying to catch your eye for sometime. I also realise that I need to visit our gymnasium so that I am fit enough to shoot up in good time. I am particularly impressed because I can see the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs here. However, before I proceed, I would like to thank the people of Naivasha for electing me. The people of Naivasha elected me after making three attempts that were all bogged down. However, I am really happy that they elected me. I want hon. Members to look at Naivasha from a different perspective. Naivasha should be looked at as a place with an involvement like Sicily Island; one place that produces the best roses in the world. A place that even when there were chaos, kept the economy running by producing approximately Kshs24 billion worth of roses and other flowers for the market. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there was only one ugly incident that occurred there and on behalf of Naivasha people, I would not want us to be branded as warlike people. I would like Naivasha to be seen as a holiday town, and as a place where everybody can invest. Indeed, when His Excellency the President visited the town, he said that we should be thinking along those lines. We should think about Naivasha as part of the city. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, having said that, I want to make a comment in relation to the Presidential Speech. The President would like this House, at one point, to deliberate on two Bills. One is the Coffee (Amendment) Bill. That would be kind. However, it would be a wrong move because in this country, we have 160 pieces of legislation controlling the poor farmers. To be precise, out of the 160 pieces of legislation, 60 of them control crop production and livestock. Fifty of them have something to do with control of land. Twenty two pieces have to do with the environment and natural resources, eight have to do with regional authorities or something related to that and 20 have to do with taxation and taxes. The whole philosophy of using legislation during the colonial days was based on controlling Africans from production and introducing new taxes and new crimes for the Africans. All these pieces of legislation have something in common. They are oppressive to Africans. Indeed, 298 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 19, 2008 in 1923, there was a commission which to review African farming. There was a similar commission again formed in 1959. If you look through history, you will see that the Devonshire White Paper of 1923, clearly, says that Kenya is an African country and that everything we were to do then was to be based on the philosophy and thinking about Africans in one frame. The Devonshire White Paper, on the other part, introduced the first economic plan which envisaged the African agricultural sector. I would go through all the 160 pieces of legislature if there was time. Even with my broken legal English, because I am not a lawyer - I am an agriculturalist - I would point out a few things. Obviously, I will not do that. But having come, on a lighter touch, from the jogoo party, I would like to draw the attention of the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs to Cap 321, The Crop Production and Livestock (African Eggs) Rules under Section 4(3):- "No eggs shall be purchased by a trader from an African except between the hours of 6.00 a.m. and 6.00 p.m."

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, those are some of the rules that our farmers had to live with. That is even not outrageous. If you consider that those who lived in the Mwea Irrigation Scheme, once you attain the age of 18, you are supposed to vacate. Those are part of the draconian rules that were set by the people who developed the irrigation scheme. We also know that under the same rules, like in the Mwea Irrigation Scheme, they do not allow the exploitation of other by-products of the rice industry. The poor farmer is left exploited and suffering. Those pieces of legislation are also very inaccurate. For instance, under the Animal Diseases Act, Cap 364, they have omitted very important diseases such as the Mareks disease, Gumboro disease and infectious bronchitis. They have also omitted Fowl Pox and avian Encephalomyelitis, amongst many others. There are about ten deadly diseases which have been omitted in that list. Again, with regard to livestock or animal health, you will find out that the Public Health Act, Cap 242, the Pharmacy and Poisons Act, Cap 244 and the Pest Control Products Act, Cap 346 all deny the experts from the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock Development a chance to give their views after looking at a product. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, all said and done, I would like to ask the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, in the same spirit that she did the wonderful work that we have just witnessed, to come and repeal all those 106 pieces of legislation and replace them with one workable Cap 318. That is because our grandmothers are bogged down by those legislations and it is a total mess! Yesterday, in one of the media houses, there was a news item on HIV/AIDS. I shed tears when I learnt that some people in some parts of the country, that is Kisumu specifically, women, other than buying the fish, they give in to sex so that they can be allowed to buy. The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, please, whether it is an economic, legal or whatever intervention it is, let us save this country and realize enormous potential that we have in our industries and our people. It is a shame! It was there on TV that our mothers and grandmothers have to give in to that before they are allowed to buy fish. That is the price of most Kenyans. Once we start looking at ourselves as Kenyans, it will be possible for us to go and develop the Coast just off Lamu, do a super highway all the way to Ethiopi and Sudan without knowing who is going to benefit. That way, we will open up the so-called Arid and Semi-Arid Lands March 19, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 299 (ASALs). As a livestock and agricultural economist, I will persuade this House, with all sincerity, that future exports that do not comply with certain cardinal measures--- That is value adding, environmental control and things to do with quality control. They should be banned all together under one single Act. I want to say that our highways are not safe. No matter how much we try to patrol the highways, it does not work. That is because the potholes will always make your cars to break. In actual fact, before they built the Naivasha Road up to Nakuru, it was impossible for our friends from Nyanza to drive their Mercedes Benzes all the way to Kisumu. They needed four-wheel-drive vehicles. That is the disparity in development that we do not want to see in this new era of development. I want to welcome you again to Rift Valley and tell you that the problems in that area will not be solved by what we just did. The problems will be resolved by revisiting the Ndung'u Report, the Mau Forest and our own politicking; the dirty politicking around Rift Valley. That is urgent, so that we can live in peace in Rift Valley. For our brothers in the Rift Valley, if you are targeting certain communities, please, they do not live in Molo or in Eldoret! We understand those people live in Central Province. So, please, just jump, get a train or a bus. But do not harass those small people again! They have suffered! We have suffered! My own tenants have suffered. In 1948, I had a similar fate. We are looking forward to getting to the root cause of the problems that have befallen this country. In conclusion, I want to thank everybody who participated in the peace deals. I beg to support. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to address the House. I would like to start by congratulating my colleagues for having won one of the most hotly contested elections to be in this Tenth House. I am Lee Kinyanjui and I represent Nakuru Town in the Rift Valley. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the great people of Nakuru for giving me this opportunity to represent them in this Tenth Parliament. It was my first time to vie in a general election and I must say that I was really delighted by the confidence that they have in me. Having say that, I would also like to mention that my town was greatly affected by the recent clashes and, in fact, it acted as the first stop-over for the people who were affected from Northern Rift and Nyanza region. As a result of that, my town has been overstretched. We still have over 20,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who are currently within the town. My big lesson after what we have gone through over the last few weeks is that, as a nation, we need to seriously re-consider our position with regard to the way we perceive ourselves. I have had the opportunity to be in seminars where they are trying to look at the issue of tribalism. We have also tried to look at the word "tribe" and its special reference to Africa. We have many communities and people who do not speak the same language, even outside Africa. We have the example of Europe. We never sit to ask them what tribe they are. There is a certain connotation that is attributed to the word "tribe"! Essentially, what it means is: "A group of people who are savage in nature". So, essentially, when you talk about being "42 tribes", you are referring to a group of 42 savages. If you look at the manner in which we saw things work out, especially over the last two months, sometimes, I am not so sure that I would doubt that description. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would also like to remind my fellow Kenyans that we have had great moments when we have thought as a nation. 300 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 19, 2008 Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am reminded of the times when we had athletics such as Paul Tergat. He has been the pride of this country. Many times when he won medals in all the races he has participated in, we hardly ask ourselves which community he comes from. We had Mr. Dennis Oliech in soccer, our Noble Laureate Prize Winner, Prof. Wangari Maathai, and many others. We do not mind where they come from. It is only that when sometimes negative things happen, we want to attribute them to certain ethnic groups. This really takes us back. So, it is important that we define where we are coming from. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as a nation in our 44th year of Independence, it is important to remember that any adult around that age goes through a very critical phase in life called middle age life crisis. At that age, one tries to define where he is coming from; where he is going; what he believes in; and starts realising that certain ambitions are not possible. How you resolve that crisis becomes an important milestone in your future development. So, I hope that this country will be able to resolve the current issues. I also believe that the two Bills we passed yesterday will go a long way in ensuring that is done. However, it is important to note that even with the enactment of those two Bills, it would still remain to be seen what will happen if we do not enact the same Bills in our heart. If there is no sincerity in pursuing some of the issues that we have highlighted, in working in partnerships, we may not go very far. I am impressed by the commitment and the team work that we have seen in the recent weeks that brought about the Bills. I am sure, we will carry on with the agenda. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, going back to the issue of the clashes - I would like to mention this because it is an important development - we, seriously, need to look at how we can engage our youth. A lot of activities and mayhem that we saw was basically perpetrated by young people. This is because our young people have lost hope in life. Many of them completed their secondary school education and others are graduates, but they have nothing to do. The worst we can do is to deal with somebody who has lost hope in life. We need to instill hope in our youth. We need to show them that there is life even when things are not working. We should also go an extra mile of ensuring that we create new job opportunities for them. There has been a lot of suggestions on how we can create job opportunities in this country. One of the recent suggestions is by way of business prospect out-sourcing. We have seen a lot of companies, especially in Europe and the United States of America, where labour is expensive, resulting to out-sourcing certain services like customer service from countries like India and Indonesia. Our labour is even cheaper than that in those countries. If we do so, we will, definitely, go a long way in trying to reduce unemployment in this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in his Address to this House, the President also said we will be building markets and stalls. This will help a long way in trying to house or take care of young people who find themselves idle. In the area of tourism, we were able to achieve the highest numbers in the year 2006, which stood at over one million tourists. With the passage of the Tourism Bill, a lot of the issues that have remained grey will be sorted out. Tourism happens to be one of the easiest ways in which we can revamp our economy. It is said that for every five tourists we get, we are able to create one more job opportunity. So, we should be able to increase the numbers. This can be done in the short-term, because, unlike agriculture and other industries which require long-term investments, we only need to manage our image outside by presenting Kenya as a favourite destination, especially on the African scene. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is important to note that a city like Dubai, which is currently one of the fastest growing cities in the world, attracts more tourists than us. In fact, it attracts about ten times the number of tourists that we get. But if you look at what would attract a March 19, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 301 tourist to a place like Dubai, where the temperatures are so high, is difficult to see. We have favourable weather and wildlife. Basically, we have all that it takes to bring tourists here. It just requires us to manage our image. It would go a long way in terms of increasing employment opportunities in this country. There is also the issue of re-settlement. As I said, there are lots of people who are still in the camps. As the rains set in, it is going to be very chaotic in those camps. Most IDPs live in tents. It will become very difficult, especially for women and children when it rains. We have seen a lot of them get infections during the rainy season. So, we hope that re-settlement will be done speedily, so that we take care of that situation. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is also important to note that most of those people are small-scale farmers from the most productive parts of this country. So, the longer they stay in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps, the greater the possibility of a famine towards the end of the year. So, I would ask for a speedy re-settlement, so that we overcome the issue of food security. Another issue I would like to mention has to do with land. We have mentioned that a lot of the things that we saw have to do with land. I am happy that we will address this issue once and for all when the constitutional review process is brought to the Floor of this House. Sometimes, until things are so bad, you do not get the time to see where you ought to go. I would like to quote Dr. Martin Luther King, when he said: "Only when it is dark can we see the stars." Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we had gotten to the darkest part of our nation and nationhood. It is the only time that we can see how far we had gone. So, we need to do a lot on the land issue. There are a lot of land questions that have remained unanswered for many years, including the Mount Elgon and Likia issues. But as long as they did not affect the rest of the country, there was no urgency in resolving them. It is important that we resolve some of these issues before they get out of hand. There was also mention of some of the cash crops and the possible legislation of laws to govern the way they should be run. We talk about most of the cash crops. However, in my area, we grow pyrethrum. It has been one of the biggest employers for that whole region for many years. In 2002, the Pyrethrum Board of Kenya had about 1,200 employees. Today, it barely has 400 employees and we are not even able to pay them their salaries. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is important for the Government to look at this sector. We produce about 80 per cent of the world's pyrethrum and yet, we are not able to pay for our pyrethrum, despite the fact that the market is there. The trend in Europe and most of the western countries, is to go toward natural pyrethrin. So, we have a great demand for our product. However, the problem is that our institution has partly been seen as more of a political entity. The turn over even in terms of management has greatly affected our perception in the international market. I would support the Pyrethrum Act that seeks to separate the production aspect of the board from the regulatory aspect. I will be looking forward to seeing this Bill. It has been long-overdue. I hope that it will come and solve some of the issues to help our people. I would also like to mention that most of the people from that region are also displaced. Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving the opportunity to contribute to this Motion. My names are Mr. Japhet Kareke, Member for Nithi Constituency. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me take this golden opportunity to thank the Nithi people for overwhelmingly voting for me in the December, 2007 general elections. Let me also take the same opportunity to congratulate all the hon. Members who managed to make it to this 302 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 19, 2008 august House. We know that the elections were very competitive. I believe that the last elections produced real leaders. In the Mount Kenya region, the elections were based on the credibility of the leaders. We had no party euphoria as it normally happens. I believe that the leaders who are here are the best we could ever have from that region. I would like to take this opportunity to give a picture of Nithi Constituency. When the results of the Presidential elections were announced, there was hue and cry about results from Nithi Constituency. Nithi is one of the few constituencies in the country which have two districts. I am honoured to have two District Commissioners, one in Mala District and the other one in Chuka District. Nithi is one of the largest constituencies we have in the country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President mentioned about the review of the Constitution in his Address to this House. During that exercise, one of the issues we would like to embark on is the review of constituencies boundaries. We feel that we have suffered a serious historical injustice in Nithi. I strongly believe that I am here by the grace of the Lord, because working in Nithi was not something easy. In his Address, the President touched on tribalism. He also talked about youth unemployment. It is the young people who can unite this country. The youth do not know boundaries. In Nithi, we have four Meru sub-tribes. There is the Mwimbi, which I come from, the Muthambi, the Chuka and the Tharaka. All along the Chuka people used to produce a Member of Parliament. The last Member of Parliament to be elected from the Mwimbi sub-tribe was the late Bernard Mati. For the last 25 years, the Mwimbi people have never produced a Member of Parliament, but this time the youth united in one common cause to produce a Member of Parliament among themselves. I am honoured here today because the youth of Nithi united for one common cause. They knew no boundaries; they did not know where I came from, but they all voted for me. So, if we rally the youth in this country and address their issues properly, I believe that the tribalism that we are seeing across the country will be a thing of the past. As I have earlier stated, I was elected on a youth platform. One of my biggest challenges and the biggest challenges of this House is how to address the unemployment situation in the country. We are sitting on a serious time-bomb. If these issues are not properly addressed, we shall have a serious catastrophe in this country. We can address the issue of unemployment in this country through entrepreneurship. I am one of the beneficiaries of entrepreneurship. When the NARC Government took over, the financial sectors opened up. It became easier for people to borrow money from banks. We were able to invest in small ways and create a lot of wealth for our people. We created a lot of employment. When I was campaigning I was promising the young people that when I got to the august House I would make arrangements, so that, at least, every three young people can get a matatu from a financial institution. One person will be a driver, another one a conductor and the other one a loader. At the end of the day three youths will be in employment. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, our biggest challenge is how to take care of the youth. If we can utilise the current situation where there is peace, and liaise with the financial sector, we shall be able to tackle that issue. We have organised serious youth fora, in conjunction with the Equity Bank, in Nithi Constituency, and the youth are seriously banking on our projects. We believe that white-collar jobs are difficult to come by. Most of the people who come to knock on our doors come to seek jobs and we have nothing to offer. So, I encourage the coalition Government to seriously address the issue of unemployment. The current Youth Enterprise Development Fund, which had Kshs1 billion could not do much. You find that a small youth group was getting Kshs50,000. What can Kshs50,000 do? It is a big March 19, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 303 challenge, and I call upon the Government to take the issue of unemployment seriously. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other issue that I would like to talk about is the constituency boundaries review. It is my wish, and the wish of most of hon. Members, for this House to set specific criteria on how the boundaries will be reviewed. We can set some standard that any constituency with more than 100,000 registered voters will automatically be reviewed in the next elections. We are now more or less going to the Parliamentary system of government. In the last review of constituency boundaries, the major beneficiaries were in Rift Valley. In Central Province we were left out because we were not politically-correct at that time. The Motion about constituency review of boundaries was in this House during the 9th Parliament, and was defeated because some hon. Members thought that new constituencies would be created in Central Province. So, we need specific guidelines on how we can entrench constituency boundaries review and its specifics in the Constitution. The review should be based on population and geographical factors, so that some of us do not get into difficulties. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) is becoming a very big challenge to manage, especially in a big constituency like Nithi. I would like to say that instead of 2.5 per cent it should be increased to 7 per cent, so that we can have equity, and be able to initiate projects in the larger constituencies. As much as we try, it is an uphill task to implement projects across a big constituency. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our two principals for agreeing to work together. In 2002, after the elections, they started working together. But, unfortunately, any coalition which is formed before elections is bound to fail. I am 100 per cent sure that this particular time they enjoy the goodwill of the country, and are going to succeed. The most important thing is to trust each other and believe in a common cause, and the good of the nation and not in individual interests. Most of us expected to get some positions in the Government, but we shall be comfortable to work in whatever position that we may get for the sake of this country. With those few remarks, I beg to support.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you for noticing me. My names are Mr. Peter Kiilu, the Member of Parliament for Makueni Constituency. Let me start by thanking the people of Makueni for electing me to this House. Secondly, I would like to congratulate hon. Members who are here for being elected to serve in this National Assembly. I also want to congratulate them for uniting yesterday, and, in one spirit, passing two important Bills that will give rise to a new political dispensation. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to make a few comments on the Presidential landmark speech during the opening of this House. His Excellency the President touched on water. What is making me happy is that for the first time, a national policy on water harvesting and storage is being talked about. I say so because I come from an arid and semi-Arid area. The ASAL areas are as good as the high potential areas, but their potential has not been exploited, because we have no water to make ourselves felt in the national economy. If water harvesting and storage capacity is put in place, the ASALs can contribute a lot to food security, thus making the pastoral communities in those areas self-sufficient. As we are talking now, those of us from the ASALs live under the mercy of the weather. As talk now, my constituents are asking me how they are going to survive, because the rains are failing. As usual, we are being told that nobody will die, because the Government will give them food. What we want in this country is not to pride ourselves in providing famine relief. We should pride ourselves in empowering communities in the ASALs to produce enough for themselves. I have seen, in my working career, communities fighting and killing each other over that scarce resource called water. It is high time that resources were equitably distributed. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I now want to touch on education. I want to support 304 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 19, 2008 and congratulate the Government for putting in place free primary and secondary education. If that facility was not available to those of us who come from Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs), many of our people would not access education. We thank the Government because now, they are able to access education. But as we do so, I am appealing to the Government to also consider extending that facility to cover the pre-primary unit. We are living with many poor people. I believe that pre- primary education is important for setting the base for those who are joining primary education. We also believe that Vision 2030 will be implemented by a well-trained human resource. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the base for training that resource should start from nursery schools. That is why I am asking this House to support, my view, that teachers in pre-primary schools should be paid by the Government and that, education at that level should be made compulsory and free. That way, as many children as possible will access that education. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the resettlement of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)--- Yesterday, we passed two landmark Bills. Those Bills will enable this House to create a conducive environment to enable those people who are displaced to move back to their areas. That is because due to what happened, many of them will not move back to where they were, unless they are assured that the environment is conducive for them to move back. That calls for increased security surveillance and assurances by this House and the Government that the environment is good for them to move back. I want to touch on infrastructure. We want to commend the Government for what it is doing to rehabilitate roads in this country, particularly, the highways. But as we do so, let us look at the standards, so that roads are not done and before the contract is even completed, they start peeling off. The road between Machakos, passing through Wote to Makindu, which is about to be completed in a few months, is already peeling off. Potholes are already appearing on the road. Could something be done about it?

Mr. Kiilu, I have to interrupt you because the allotted time for today is up. But you will have three minutes when we resume the business of the House tomorrow. Hon. Members, it is now time for the interruption of business. The House is, therefore, adjourned until Thursday, 20th March, 2008, at 2.30 p.m. The House rose at 6.30 p.m.