On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I want to request for a Ministerial Statement from the Ministry of Education on a matter of national importance. The Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination results have really created a lot of confusion in the country. I would like the Minister for Education to clarify to the nation on the Floor of this House the correct position of last year's Form Four examination results. As we have seen, some students have received two different examination results. They have been asked to return the first results to the schools. I do not know whether they will be given lower or higher grades. So, it is good for the Minister to clarify, on the Floor of the House, what the correct position is with regard to the examinations.

Mr. Shitanda, you have not intimated to the Chair that you intend to request for a Ministerial Statement. So, you will be ambushing the Chair, so to speak; neither has Mr. Bifwoli or Mr. Kiilu. The Clerk has not given me any indication either, but if he does now, then I will bend backwards and allow the request. If you allow me two minutes, I will hear Mr. Gichohi first. BANNING OF PUBLIC SERVICE VEHICLES FROM ACCESSING NAIROBI CBD

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Last week, I requested for a Ministerial Statement from the Ministry of Local Government in regard to the crisis in the transport sector, especially in the Eastlands of Nairobi City. The Leader of Government Business promised that the Statement would be given to this House. To date, that Statement has not been given to this House. I was just wondering whether the Minister for Local Government is still waiting for an opportunity to either resolve the problem or to come and explain to this House what he is doing about the problem. As we sit here, the residents of Eastlands are still going through a lot of problems, especially in the morning and in the evening when they have to go back to their homes. School children are very inconvenienced at this point in time. 310 I would like the Chair to order the Minister for Local Government to come and inform Parliament what he is doing about the crisis.

Mr. Shitanda, unfortunately, this afternoon we do not have any Minister in the House, neither is the Leader of Government Business here, which obviously is an unfortunate development that should not happen. But I am hopeful that the Leader of Government Business or his deputy will be here before too long. But otherwise, the Chair will convey your sentiments to the Minister and it is expected that the Minister will have the necessary Statement by next week. With regard to Mr. Bifwoli, the indication I have after appropriate consultation with the Clerk's office is that you have not given them any indication that you will be requesting for a Ministerial Statement. So, that will have to wait until Tuesday next week. With regard to Mr. ole Metito's Statement, again the position is that there is no Minister present in the House now. I will convey that demand for a Ministerial Statement to the Leader of Government Business and ensure that a Statement is given as urgently as the circumstances demand.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Does it mean that the country comes to a standstill just because some Ministers are not available? You should make a decision and order them to come around.

Yes, Mr. Bifwoli, the country should not come to a standstill because Ministers are not doing their job. But I want to imagine that there may be a lot of anxiety because there is a possibility that there will be moving around of Ministerial positions and perhaps, that is where the problem is. I have noticed now that the Leader of Government Business will be in the House soon. Next Order! INCORRECT MEDIA REPORTS ON HOUSE VOTE

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I am seeking a clarification from the Chair arising from the headline in today's Nation Daily Newspaper. It states that a number of Members of this House did not actually take part in the vote that took place on Tuesday, and I am one of them. In fact, I took part in the vote. However, I was late to come in for the vote in the Committee of the whole House. The perception from the newspaper is that 19 Members did not take part in the vote. I would like to seek your clarification on the issue.

Yes, Mr. Kenneth, that is obviously a serious matter, save for the fact that the House is not supposed to be guided by reports in the media. That is what our Standing Orders say. However, I want to confirm that you were, in fact, present in the House and you participated in all the proceedings that took place with respect to the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, and even the subsequent Bill. So, I will urge the concerned newspaper to carry that correction and clarification if they, indeed, stand for any credibility. MEMBERS TO ATTEND INDUCTION RETREAT

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Obviously, you realise that the House is quite empty. I imagine the hon. Members must be lobbying. So, I wish them all the best. Mr. Speaker, Sir, my point of order is that you will realise that the new hon. Members are not very clear on the House rules. They cross the Floor and come in when you are on your feet because they have not been oriented. Could you consider orientating them as soon as possible, so March 20, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 311 that they can learn the rules of the House?

Thank you, Ms. Mbarire. Yes, I note your concern but, unfortunately, the prevailing circumstances are such that you are out of date. There was Communication from the Chair yesterday that we will, indeed, have a retreat which will incorporate an induction next week on Thursday.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, as we welcome the Prime Minister-designate, I could hear you loudly from my office and that is why I came down very fast. About the same time, I want to confirm that I was on telephone with the Minister for Local Government, hon. Uhuru, who has assured me that he will be making that Ministerial Statement pursuant to the request by hon. Shitanda, on Tuesday immediately after Question Time.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to the Presidential Address.

Sorry, Mr. Githae! I understand that Mr. Kiilu was on the Floor and he had a balance of three minutes. Will you, please, let him finalise his contribution.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for allowing me to continue with my contribution. Yesterday, I was on the Floor contributing in support of the President's landmark Speech. I come from Makueni Constituency, which is one of the ASAL constituencies. One of the major challenges that we face is lack of water, which is a basic human right. This is an area where we depend on the mercies of the weather. The rain predicability is very poor. I understand that a new policy is being formulated on water harvesting and storage. The Government should focus its attention, not only to Makueni, but also to other ASAL constituencies, where people have been reduced to paupers who depend on hand-outs. I am sure with proper water storage for irrigation, we can empower people in the ASAL areas to contribute positively to the economy of this country. In my constituency, we have put up health centres and other health delivery units using the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) money and on Harambee basis. These health facilities are not being put into use. I would like to appeal to the Government to open up these facilities, so that we can have a healthy nation, which can take care of its people. Finally, I want to talk about infrastructure in this country. We are happy that the Government is rehabilitating roads all over the country. However, it is only the highways which are 312 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 20, 2008 being rehabilitated. I would like to see a situation where feeder roads are given a priority because majority of our people live in rural areas. So, with the provision of feeder roads, many people in the rural areas will be able to travel to and fro and participate in the economic activities of this country. With those few remarks, I beg to support.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me a chance to contribute to the Presidential Speech. First of all, because I have not spoken, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your election as the Speaker. I have no doubt that you will be able to guide this House to the best of your ability. Secondly, I would like to thank the people of Ndia Constituency for giving me yet another chance to serve them. Together with them, we will develop our constituency. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am particularly impressed by two items that the President mentioned. The first one was on direct election of mayors and chairpersons of county councils. When this happens - I have no doubt that it is going happen very soon - all the problems that have bedeviled our local authorities will come to an end. When we have mayors and county council chairpersons elected directly by the citizens, they will be accountable to the people. In the current situation, mayors and chairpersons are accountable to the councillors who elected them. I also urge the Minister for Local Government to empower mayors and chairpersons of local authorities, so that they become executive mayors and chairpersons. If this happens, local authorities will render services to the people. At the moment, they have got so many problems. So, the current arrangement does not appear to be working. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the other issue that the President mentioned is the fact that there will be massive development of infrastructure, particularly that which was destroyed during the chaos that erupted after the general election. There have been calls for the President to appoint the Cabinet. We wish him well as he undertakes this onerous task. The view of Kenyans is that we should have a large Cabinet, so that we incorporate the various shades of opinion. This is not unheard of. I am told that in Germany, 75 per cent hon. Members of Parliament are in Government. Were this to happen, since we do not have an Official Opposition, those of us who will not be lucky enough to be appointed Ministers and Assistant Ministers will be the Opposition. If we have a Government of 40 Cabinet Ministers and 80 Assistant Ministers, for instance, making a total of 120 Members, the Government will not be worried about Back-benchers. It will be having the majority of the membership of the House. So, it is a good idea to have a bigger Cabinet. The other issue that the Government mentioned is on the youth. If we do not create jobs for our youth, we will be sitting on a time bomb. The group that gave me a lot of the votes in my constituency are the youth. We promised that we will create jobs for them. We said that we will have specific programmes for them. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Youth Enterprise Fund (YEF) has not been very successful. Most of the intermediary financial institutions that were appointed to manage the YEF want the youths to have opened bank accounts and provide security. This is will not happen. So, we must have a specific programme targeting the youth. We must give them opportunity to access gainful employment. One of the reasons as to why the chaos that erupted after the last general elections lasted for a long time is because, for the first time, the youth had something to do. Previously, they were unemployed, but at that time, they had something to do although very destructive. They were engaged. So, we must give the youth something to do. Quite a number of them are now educated up to university level. All that they are lacking is experience. I have always been wondering; how can you have experience when you have not even started your first job? We should do away with the requirement of experience for one to get a job. March 20, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 313 When you advertise for a job and say that one must have ten years' or five years' experience, how will that person who has never been employed get the experience? Mr. Speaker, Sir, now that we are in a power-sharing mood, this mood should be extended to other sectors. It should also go to schools. School principals should also share some of their powers with teachers and students. We want to see the power sharing concept that we have embraced taken from the top to the bottom. It should also go to our homes. We should also start sharing power with our spouses and children. We want this concept to go down to all sectors of the country. I would like to see this concept acceptable and popular with our people. Just before I conclude, I would like to say something about the hate speeches and Short Text Messages (SMSs) that we received during the campaign period. I was not surprised by the violence that erupted after the general election, taking into account the hate speeches that were circulated during the campaign period. The Ministry of Information and Communication should have a way of regulating SMSs. This was the most dangerous innovation that has come across this country. However shocking the violence was, we, politicians, from all divides were engaged in hate speeches in sending SMSs. Mr. Speaker, Sir, if you tell your people: "You are poor because others have taken away your wealth", what are you saying? You are actually creating conditions for violence. When you tell your people: "You have no jobs because they have been taken by others", what are you saying? You are actually creating conditions for violence. When you tell your people: "You have no houses because they have been taken by others", what are you saying? You are actually creating conditions for violence. Even churches are not excluded from this scenario. There is one bishop who said that she had a dream, and in that dream, she claimed that God had shown her who was to be elected as the President, and that anybody who would not elect that candidate would not go to Heaven. These are the conditions that created violence. Therefore, we must take care that we do not, again, engage in these SMSs and hate speeches. Mr. Speaker, Sir, in conclusion, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the President for the courageous move that he took in agreeing to share some of the responsibilities with the Prime Minister-designate. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank hon. Raila Odinga for the courage that he also showed. These two principals were under a lot of pressure from their supporters, friends and the people who had campaigned for them, not to cede any ground at all. They were looking at it as a win-lose situation. However, the two principals have shown us that they were able to go above the pressure from their supporters and those who had contributed money to their campaign kitties, so that the country could move on. What we now have is a win-win situation. Therefore, we must congratulate them for having risen to the occasion. I have no doubt that this grand coalition will succeed. It must succeed. It requires goodwill. Goodwill can only be cultivated. As we begin this new grand coalition, there are so many outstanding issues. For instance, the first business of the grand coalition should be to re-settle all the people who are displaced. We should also, probably, build them shelter. With those remarks, I support the President's Speech.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to support the Presidential Speech. I would also like to take the opportunity to congratulate you for being elected Speaker of the Tenth Parliament. I support the President and the Prime Minister-designate for the brave act of signing the Accord. Today, Kenya stands out like a sore thumb internationally. It is as a peace-loving country. All of us, are happy with the arrangement. From today onwards, we, as Parliament, should be speaking as one Government rather than as "us" and "them". 314 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 20, 2008 Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like, first of all, to thank the people of Karachuonyo Constituency for electing me to the Tenth Parliament with majority votes. I will never let them down. Karachuonyo Constituency lies on the southern part of Lake Victoria. It borders Nyakach, Kasipul Kabondo and Homa Bay. It has five health centres, nine dispensaries, 168 primary schools and 41 secondary schools. All these institutions are serving a population of 115,000 people. As far as agriculture is concerned, we grow groundnuts, cotton, millet, sorghum and maize. We also carry out some horticultural activities along the lake shores. I was elected on the platform of education. As the Minister for Education said here, we have to embark on e-learning. I support him very strongly. Most countries are now thriving on ICT. Kenya stands, again, like a sore thumb in the region to provide e-learning in the continent. What do we do with e-learning? If all secondary schools in Kenya had computers, then we would ensure that those who do not make it to university get jobs. The Government of India is thriving on ICT. They have telecentres all over. There is no reason why we cannot have telecentres in Kenya to provide jobs to our youth who do not make it to secondary schools or universities. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am a graduate of a polytechnic. From there, I went to university. However, even if I did not go to university, I still had a good job. I learnt the necessary skills in polytechnic. Today, even if you have skills, you cannot apply them without computer knowledge. That is why I am of the opinion that all our secondary schools and polytechnics must be equipped with computers. When I was the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Communications, I strongly supported the idea of providing computers to schools. However, I was so disappointed that only a few schools had them. It was not possible for many schools to get computers because they could not raise Kshs2,000 for insurance. Today, schools must have, at least, Kshs10,000 as an insurance for a computer. We should do away with this impediment and provide our secondary schools with computers. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on education, I would like to say that the free secondary education that we are providing is not free enough. To some parents, raising Kshs18,000 is a lot of money. Talking about roads, I want to thank and congratulate Mr. Michuki for having terminated some road contracts. I have a road in my constituency which is less than one year old since it was tarmacked. This is the Katito-Kendu Bay Road. The contractor is always on the scene repairing it. It is a pity that water is seeping underneath. Why should we pay for such shoddy work? Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Kendu Bay-Mbita Road has never been tarmacked since 1968. To date, it has never been completed. In 2005, the President inaugurated it and the contract was awarded. However, nothing has taken place. The road is very important to our people. There is a very thriving business between Mbita and Kendu Bay. So, it would be prudent that the Government completes it. Lastly, I will talk about water systems. In 1975, when I was a small child, a water system in Karachuonyo Constituency was inaugurated. However, up to date, we have not seen even a drop of water from those taps. We all know that it is not a rocket design to design a water system for a constituency. Safaricom Kenya Limited came to this country only recently. They have put up infrastructure which cost billions of shillings, and it is working. Why can we not have working water systems in our constituencies? What do we lack? We have enough engineers in the country. We have to make sure that we have a proper water system to assist wananchi . Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have seen metal water pipes which were installed in 1975 corrode and replaced with PVC water pipes. I would request the Ministry of Water and Irrigation to make sure that the water system in Karachuonyo Constituency works. Last, but not least, I want to talk about health. We have e-technology than can be used to facilitate the provision of health in the country. We are crying about the inadequacy of medical March 20, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 315 doctors in our provinces. We do not need to have all these doctors in the provinces. If we use tele- medicine, we could still treat our people. We have the VSAT system which costs less than Kshs300,000 per provincial medical centre. We could connect this to Nairobi or other centres where doctors can be put in a room to analyse the X-rays and even talk face to face with the patients. This will enable patients to be treated. Even if we do not use the VSAT system, we could use the underground fibre optic that the Kenya Data Network (KDN) and Telkom are laying down. It is time we looked at this country with a vision to having all these infrastructures in place because we have the money to do it. I know that it can be done to give Kenyans what they need in all aspects of their lives. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to thank all the people who came to support the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Karachuonyo. There was one Mr. Orinda who lost 10 members of his family who got burnt in one house in Naivasha. I got overwhelming support from my colleagues here, the Kenya Red Cross and elsewhere. I would like to thank them so much. One of his wives was pregnant and she had to be operated on so that the baby could be buried separately. We still have so many of such victims who are being treated in private hospitals, but they do not have the money to do it. I request the Ministry in charge to extend its long hand to make sure that these hospitals give free medical care. I beg to support the Motion.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Let me use this chance to contribute towards the Presidential Speech. First of all, I want to take this chance to congratulate you for being elected the Speaker of the Tenth Parliament. I also would like to take this chance to thank the people of Bumula for electing me again. So many of them voted for me that I have no doubt that the people of Bumula have faith in me. I want to take this chance to thank them. With regard to the Presidential Speech and what happened after the 2007 General Election, I would like to take this chance to thank the President and the Prime Minister-designate for the bold step they took. It takes brave men to do what Mr. Raila and His Excellency hon. Mwai Kibaki did. This is because they swallowed their pride. Raila's group was saying that its votes were stolen, while Kibaki's group was saying that it had won. However, Raila and Kibaki never listened to some of us who thought they won or votes were stolen. The two leaders took a bold step and signed the National Accord and, therefore, brought calm. According to me, they just put us in a calm situation. It is now up to us Kenyans to examine why there was no peace. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we should look at why people started killing each other; why a neighbour suddenly rose against a neighbour. This is the only time we have been presented with an opportunity to put the law in place so that tomorrow, so-and-so does not rise against so-and-so and start killing in the name of elections or something else. We should put the law in place in such a way that those who kill others also suffer a little. As much as we want to reconcile, now that we assume that there is peace in the country, are we imagining that the old lady I read about in the newspapers; the one who was trying to run away from an aggressor who had snatched her child and thrown it into fire---The lady knows who threw the child into the fire. Here, we are saying that we have brought peace. Have we really brought peace in the mind of that lady who saw the man who took her child and threw it into the fire to burn to death? When we think deeply, we will realise that this country had been invaded by devils. Perhaps we need to conduct national prayers so that those who participated in the wars or fights could come forward to confess publicly. Maybe that is the best way to bring peace in this country. Mr. Speaker, Sir, peace is something that is supposed to come from an individual and not collectively. What the two principals did remains a challenge to them. President Kibaki and Mr. Raila should visit those victims because people were killed for their sake. Now they are making 316 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 20, 2008 merry in Nairobi and yet people are suffering in Eldoret and Kisumu! These people have lost their property, but President Kibaki and Mr. Raila are seated in Harambee House trying to share out slots!

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Is it in order for Mr. Bifwoli to say that Mr. Raila and Mr. Kibaki are sitting at Harambee House, and yet I have just met hon. Raila outside here?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I do not need to respond to that. It is common knowledge that this afternoon, they are going to meet in Harambee House.

Order, Mr. Bifwoli! You are certainly out of order because the statement in your contribution stated that the President and Mr. Raila are meeting at Harambee House. You are now saying that they are going to meet. Quite obviously, the two statements are at variance! So, if you are not able to substantiate the first statement with tangible evidence, then you must withdraw, Mr. Wakoli.

I withdraw, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, as a country, we are definitely faced with challenges. This Government pledged a number of promises last time and some of them are being fulfilled. We want to appreciate that some of the promises pledged are being fulfilled. For example, free primary education (FPE) was promised to Kenyans and now free secondary education (FSE) is being given to Kenyans. However, it is about the quality of education. The question some of us who have been teachers are asking ourselves is this: Is the FPE really quality education? Is free secondary education really going to be quality education? Look at a scenario where children have been collected from the villages and taken to school; and yet no single extra teacher has been employed to take care of the additional number of students who have joined school. The challenge to the Government, now that we are one thing--- We happen to have no opposition. What we should think about now is how to employ more teachers and motivate them so that our children can learn well. Currently, our children are not learning. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the truth of the matter is that children go to school to listen to teachers who we are terming as politicians. For a politician, he can address a rally and he will be assessed by being voted for. I do not know, when a teacher addresses 100 students, how he or she will be assessed because it is the child who should be assessed for listening. Out of 100 people listening to one person, who should know whether the same child has understood or not? The challenge is very big that we must rise up and make sure that we employ teachers. At the same time, we must also pay the same teachers well. We should not just give them a heavy load, but they can also work knowing that apart from teaching more than they taught before, they also earn something a little more. That is a problem that we, as a nation, must address. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as I speak, the prices of farm inputs have gone up. Right now, a bag of fertiliser which used to cost Kshs2,000 costs Kshs4,000. What is the Government doing to assist those farmers who ran away from their farms? How are they going to be assisted so that they can plant now that the rains have come, and yet they are still in the camps? They are not on their farms. We should make an effort to walk over there and supply fertiliser. This Government should issue an order reducing the price of fertiliser to enable farmers to plant, so that they will not experience hunger in future. March 20, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 317 Mr. Speaker, Sir, another thing is that the same people are being killed. This is happening in Mount Elgon and Trans Nzoia districts where the fighting is still going on. We are not even allowed to know what is happening in Mount Elgon. This Government should inform us what is happening in Mount Elgon because, now the Press is reporting this today, and yet tomorrow we read other things, and yet people are dying. We are burying our relatives every day, and yet here we say we have acquired peace. I thought where there is peace we should have people living and dying naturally and not dying because someone has killed another. With those few words, I beg to support.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to contribute on the President's Speech, which is the Motion on the Floor of the House. Like the other leaders who have spoken here, I also wish to thank the people of Amagoro for voting me back for a second time to represent them in Parliament. I promise I will not let them down. Mr. Speaker, Sir, having come from the Ninth Parliament and with reference to the President's Speech--- Indeed, in the last Parliament, we had a terrible Government. We had Ministers who could not listen to Members of Parliament, which means that even the common person could not be listened to. We brought here so many grievances and they were not addressed. Our people whom we represented listened very keenly. After wananchi having discovered that this Government or the Tenth Parliament which was coming in with the Head of State who was there in the last Government, was going to do the same thing that they had repeated in the Ninth Parliament, probably that is why they behaved the way they did. Mr. Speaker, Sir, in Kenya, sometimes, you have to behave like a mad man in order to be understood. When we were appointing the Members of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) in the Old Chamber, Mr. Bifwoli was forced to behave like a mad man. He wanted to be listened to and understood. He behaved like a mad man because the then Vice-President and the few Ministers who were present, had already concluded that they had elected Members of the EALA. This was done before even the meeting started. So, the lessons that we have learnt from the clashes, I think, should send a clear message to those who will be in the Government that the people who we are representing need services and not just empty rhetoric and sycophancy. I am appealing to the President and the Prime Minister-designate to ensure that the people they will appoint are people who are for reforms. They should not just appoint the same people who were there during the colonial days. By so doing, they will give us and Kenyans at large a very good break. Mr. Speaker, Sir, emanating from the President's Speech, he said that he will review the Chiefs Act. We passed the Public Officer Ethics Act here which prevents civil servants, particularly the chiefs and assistant chiefs from participating in politics. However, what happened in the previous elections was very shameful. Indeed, in my constituency, all the assistant chiefs, chiefs, District Officers (DOs) and District Commissioner were actually Party of National Unity (PNU) agents. They were distributing money openly and now they do not have any moral authority even to hold a meeting there.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Is it in order for the hon. Member to say that chiefs and assistant chiefs were PNU agents? I stand here as the campaign manager of PNU and I know for fact that we never appointed assistant chiefs and chiefs as campaign agents.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, this is common sense. They were even in the Chair's constituency also. They were distributing money. We saw them. So, there is nothing to hide. I am just trying to state--- 318 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 20, 2008

Order, Mr. Ojaamong! Could you, please, avoid involving the Chair in your debate? Respond to the matter raised legitimately by Mr. Nyamweya.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am saying that in Emuhaya Constituency, it was very common. I come from Western Province. I know that the Provincial Administration officials were distributing money and campaigning for PNU. I am saying that in the reforms---

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Was the hon. Member in Emuhaya when the chiefs were distributing money? Could he substantiate his claims or withdraw and apologise?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have not even mentioned their names or their titles. As I said, in various parts Kenya, both Emuhaya and Teso districts, included and all over, assistant chiefs, chiefs and DOs were distributing money. Let us not deny these things in broad daylight. It was happening.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I think your directions were very clear that the hon. Ojaamong is misleading the House that chiefs were involved in this campaign, when he knows that in those polling stations, we had both Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and PNU agents. There were no chiefs distributing money in those polling stations. Could he withdraw and apologise instead of misleading and taking the House for a ride?

In fact, you guys are wasting my time! Let me say this way.

Order! Order, Mr. Ojaamong! The House by Standing Orders calls for decorum in all the rules. We have hon. Members in the House, even this afternoon, and not guys. Mr. Ojaamong, if you are unable to substantiate the claim that chiefs and assistant chiefs were campaign agents for PNU, then you must withdraw.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, at times it becomes very difficult to withdraw a fact; something so practical that happened on the ground. I will have to bring documents here later on to show that these people actually recruited agents, distributed money and campaigned for that party. But for the purpose and the honour of this House, in the meantime, I withdraw. I wish to say that in the changes to the Chiefs Act that will come, we should include severe penalties for those civil servants who break the law by engaging in politics. There is also the issue of internally displaced persons (IDPs). We have IDPs from my place whom we gave safe passage to Uganda. There is a mistaken belief that these people might have been displaced from Amagoro or Teso. The IDPs who are in Uganda came from Eldoret and other parts of the country. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to inform the people from Central Kenya or elsewhere that the Tesos have always accommodated the people of Central Kenya in good faith. They have done businesses there and we have never had any problem with them. In fact, we lived with them in our villages. So, the IDPs who are in Mulanda, Uganda, should come back to their respective places. They should not fear coming back because we have no problems with them. In fact, they did not come from Teso. Let them just go back to where they came from; either Eldoret or elsewhere. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I hope this Parliament will have an opportunity to discuss a number of issues we raised in the Ninth Parliament. One is the issue of boundaries. We have had over five Members of Parliament who represented Teso and sang the issue of boundaries year in, year out. I think I am coming here for the fifth year. This issue of boundary is very critical. If it is not for the fact that almost all the people in Western Kenya are ODM supporters, we could have fought each March 20, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 319 other because of the issue of boundaries. But we had to wait for these peace talks to end. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we have long standing boundaries issues between Teso and Busia, Teso- Bungoma, Mt. Elgon-Bungoma and so many others which must be addressed. These are some of the historical injustices that Dr. Kofi Annan was referring to. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we also want the districts that were created by the President prior to the last general election--- I managed to get one and the Member for Kuria also got one. I think we were happy. The Government should operationalise those districts. They should post District Commissioners and other heads of departments to those districts to bring services closer to the people. We should not look at it as a political gimmick. Mr. Speaker, Sir, there is also the issue of constituencies. The Teso community has had only one Member of Parliament representing them in Parliament since Independence. If you come to my constituency, you will see for yourself the problems we are experiencing. I am the only Member of Parliament for one constituency which has two districts. It is also a very large constituency with a very difficult terrain. I appeal to this Parliament to amend the Constitution. If we cannot overhaul the Constitution, we should amend it in piecemeal so that we can increase the number of constituencies. With those few remarks, I beg to support.

Mr. Kombo! Mr. Mwakwere, you were in the same position as a party leader with Mr. Kombo but, unfortunately, he stood up ahead of you!

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to speak on the Presidential Speech. Like everybody else, I want to take the opportunity to congratulate you and wish you well in that hot seat, in which you will be guiding the Tenth Parliament through a very historical process. I think what you have done so far is commendable and we wish you well. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I also wish to congratulate the President, Mwai Kibaki, and Prime Minister-designate, Mr. Raila Odinga. This is because after elections, the country went through a really difficult period. It needed men of stature, and who were prepared to put aside their self- interest for the sake of the country and made the famous handshake on the steps of Harambee House. Indeed, when that handshake took place, the temperature in the country came down dramatically. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we need to emulate those two great leaders to ensure that, that handshake is not just on the steps of Harambee House but it goes as far Trans Nzoia, Kachipora, Kuresoi and all areas where there are problems. If that handshake is going to be meaningful, we need it in those areas such as Uasin Gishu, Naivasha, Nakuru and all the other places.

That handshake can only take place in those areas if all of us as leaders will emulate what they did. In our utterance and whatever we say, we should help to enhance that handshake and not bring about issues that will divide us. So, let us not talk about those people of Central Province or those people of such and such area. I think we should learn to look at ourselves as Kenyans. We will be moving ahead in support of that handshake. 320 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 20, 2008 Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in his Speech the President hailed the resilience of Kenyan people through times of crises. We have had crises since Independence when the late Tom Mboya and J.M. Kariuki were killed. We also had a crisis in 1982, tribal clashes in 1992 and even Likoni clashes in 1997. Indeed, the people of Kenya showed resilience in getting out of those problems. It was the people of Kenya who were resilient, but the leaders did not follow what the people of Kenya wanted them to do. So, this time round, the leaders took a cue from the people of Kenya by being resilient to ensure that we avoided those problems. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when we had these crises, we relied on the resilience. We did nothing to sort out our crises. We hoped that they will not recur in future. This time round, we have an opportunity to sort out those problems and put in place mechanisms that will ensure that we do not have these crises recurring all the time. So, in that spirit, we have agreed, as a country, to form a grand coalition. I think that is the way forward. I have personally said for years that no one group can rule this country effectively unless groups come together. In this spirit of grand coalition, I think we are moving towards the right direction. In coalitions, it is not just the agreements on paper that matter; it is the agreements in the hearts of the individual leaders. We must be genuine in our commitments. What we say during the day should be exactly the same things that we say at night. The spirit of give and take, the spirit of compromises will be so essential. The people of Kenya will be looking at us and asking themselves: Are these people only talking in

or do they really translate these things to our areas?. We want the compromises, the give- and-take also to take place in those zones and areas all over Kenya where there have been problems. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if we are to pass on the spirit of compromise and so on, then we must also be prepared to speak the truth. Sometimes, when the truth will come out, it will be very painful. It may even touch on us as leaders and say, "You, in your utterances, caused this problem". That will be the truth and we, as leaders, must learn to accept that truth even when it hurts us personally. That is the only way we can bring back our country to the road of development. Whether you are talking about unemployed youths, there will be no jobs created to give them unless there is economic development taking place in the country. If we do not build industries and roads, jobs will not be found. Development can only take place in an atmosphere of peace prevailing in the country. That is what we should all be looking at to ensure that peace prevails. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the implementation of this Accord, for me, is the most difficult thing. I mean, it is easy to sit down and agree, but to implement it needs each and every leader in this House, and everywhere in the country. They should all come forward and say, "Yes, I believe in this. It is necessary for the country. I will make sure that I do my part to implement the Accord". So, that implementation is the responsibility of each and every one of us. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is also a good opportunity for hard options to be taken. If we need to develop, then sometimes we may have to take very hard options. I am thinking of Nairobi. If we want a city that is modern, clean and so on and so forth, we may have to take very hard options. It is nice to take those hard options when you are in a grand coalition. I hope that we will take the options, so that all our cities, like Kisumu, Mombasa and so on can be developed and planned. I am thinking about the current crisis at Muthurwa. I think Nairobians, and Kenyans, have also got to take--- Changes come with a bit of difficulties. In order to bring sanity in the City, Nairobians should be prepared to take responsibility. Sometimes I watch and see that Kenyans will not go to a bus stop. They want a bus to come to where they are standing. You know, people complain that they cannot walk from Muthurwa to the City Centre. But when you go to big cities like London, people alight from railway stations and walk for miles and miles to their offices. Here in Kenya, we are not prepared to take that extra step in order to bring sanity to our cities. March 20, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 321 Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to take this opportunity to ask Kenyans to be prepared to participate, even if it hurts them, for the sake of moving forward and developing. When we conceived Muthurwa Market, nobody said it will accommodate every small trader. That is why there is a programme to build more markets. In fact, there will be 12 markets after Muthurwa. Westlands is the next one. So, patience is really called for in the people of Nairobi, so that we can bring sanity to the City. That is the way to move forward. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when we started lighting the streets of Nairobi, security was brought into place immediately. These are some of the things that we need to do. When Muthurwa is fully developed and we move forward, we are saying that even the small businessmen will be brought into a modern economy, so that they can participate and also pay more taxes for us to develop and build more markets. This will not be only in the cities, but everywhere in the country to ensure that we have discipline. With those few remarks, I beg to support.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. My names are Jeffa Kingi, the Member for Magarini Constituency. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, may I take this opportunity to thank the people of Magarini for electing me and showing confidence in me. I hope they will reap from their choice. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of His Excellency's Address. It was such a wonderful speech. However, unless we are willing to move an extra mile--- We can speak so well, give wonderful speeches, moving speeches, but, if we are not committed to actualise and put what we say in action, then, however beautiful those speeches may be, we will not be able to make any mark. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have just come out of a period of turmoil as a country. I want to take this opportunity to thank the institutions and personalities who were involved in bringing sanity back to this country. I want to thank the Annan-led team, the hon. Member for Langata, Mr. Raila Odinga, and His Excellency President Mwai Kibaki for having come together to save this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, what we have witnessed is a political settlement and, certainly, this directly benefits politicians. They are going to benefit out of it. However, as a House, we need to find a social settlement for Kenyans, so that they can also be able to reap. What happened after the elections; the violence that was witnessed immediately after the results were announced, many people may think that it was as a result of a "stolen" election. However, to me, the flawed process that we witnessed was just a catalyst. We know there were underlying factors that caused people to hack each other down. For a country to move forward, then we need to sit, look back, investigate and come to know what really caused what we saw after the elections. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is historical injustices which led Kenyans to hack each other. For us to move forward, we must address the historical injustices that have been perpetuated by Government after Government, including the colonial Government. One of the historical injustices is the issue of land. My constituency is located within the coastal belt. It runs from the Indian Ocean. There is a problem with the coastal belt, mainly the Ten-Mile Coastal Strip. The historical injustices touching on land at the Coast started way back in the period of the slave trade. I believe this is the period around 1895, when the British and German imperial governments established what is now known as "the Mwambao ". Later on, they ceded control of what is known as the Mwambao to the Sultanate of Zanzibar. By then, the slave trade was at its peak. Arabs who had come to settle at the Coast were rummaging for slaves and establishing permanent establishments to consolidate trade between East Africa and the Middle East. At that point, the indigenous people were being pushed away. Their land was now beginning to be taken away. The other period ran up to 1908. The British Government, being very anxious to bring a 322 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 20, 2008 very alien concept of land ownership; that is, the private land ownership, promulgated an ordinance called the land title ordinance; what is presently known as title deeds. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the 1908 land titles ordinance had very far-reaching provisions. One of the provisions was that any person living within the 10-mile Coastal Strip had six months to lay a claim. After the expiry of the six months, if the claim was not laid, the land that was left unclaimed would become crown land. The indigenous people were not made aware of that particular ordinance. So, at the end of the day, 90 per cent of the Coastal Strip was taken by the Arab immigrants and the 5 per cent became crown land. Upon Independence in 1963, because that is the time when the indigenous communities' fate on land ownership was sealed, the Independence Government, instead of going back to correct that mistake. The independence constitution stated that any land that was acquired. However acquired before Independence was recognised by the independence Government. That is the time that the coastal people, mainly the Mijikenda, had already been moved out. They never owned any land. The land that was there was owned by the Arab immigrants. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, immediately the Independence Government took over the reigns of power, it started to address these injustices. In the first decade, it tried to reactivate colonial settlement schemes; these were Gedi and Shimba Hills. But the biggest problem was that these schemes ended up benefiting very influential individuals in the Kenyatta Government, such that the local Mijikenda person did not benefit from these settlement schemes. The second attempt was in 1975 when this House set up an Inter-Ministerial Committee to investigate the issue of historical injustices within the 10-mile Coastal Strip. It had so many recommendations. However, none of them have so far been implemented. That report is within this House gathering dust somewhere. The third attempt was in 1976 when this House set up a Parliamentary Select Committee, again to investigate the issue of land within the 10-mile strip. That particular Committee came up with far-reaching recommendations, which included the issue of the Government buying land and distributing it to the locals so that the local Mijikenda people could own land. That Report is also gathering dust in this House. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am speaking about this issue because sometime last week, Mr. Kiunjuri pleaded that this House comes up with a special committee to look into the issue of land. However, we have many reports which are lying in this House. I have already mentioned the issue of the Inter-Ministerial Committee which was formed in 1975, the Parliamentary Select Committee of 1976, the Ndung'u Report, the Njonjo Report and many others. When this House is serious and wants to confront the issue of land head on, then we have enough material that can help us come up with a policy that can make sure that land is equitably distributed to all citizens of this country. That is why I will go to my opening remarks; that we can say so much, but as a long as we do not have the will or commitment to take an extra mile to actualise what to come up with, then the issue will remain as it is. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the issue of land has been very confusing. It has been confusing because there are very many statutes that deal with land matters. We know that there is only one Kenya. However, you will find that there is the LK, which is applied mainly at the Coast, we have the LRA, GLA and other statutes which are very confusing. I believe that this House should pass--- I beg to support.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for granting me the opportunity to contribute to this important Motion. The tradition has been that we first mention our names and any other details. I am Kamama Asman, Member of Parliament for Baringo East and Member of PNU. I want to thank the people of Baringo for electing me for the second time to serve them. It was a struggle, but I want to promise March 20, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 323 the people of Baringo East that I am equal to the task and that I will deliver their expectations. I want to thank our two Principals, His Excellency the President, Mr. Mwai Kibaki, and Mr. Raila for signing the historic National Peace Accord that brought normalcy to this country. I hope that this normalcy will be felt throughout the country. I also want to thank hon. Kofi Annan and hon. Kikwete for playing a very vital role in the signing of the Accord. I recommend that in honour of His Excellency Kofi Annan, it would be fair if we remembered him for quite sometime in the future. I recommend that we rename the Procession Way that is near the Serena Hotel in his name. We could also give him automatic citizenship of this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also want to thank His Excellency Kufuor, the former Chairman of the African Union (AU) because he was the first person to arrive when this country was burning. I think, arising from that, he rolled out a programme that precipitated into what we are seeing at the moment. I will not forget the son of the late Martin Luther King. I think it was a great honour to come to this House. Martin Luther King Jnr, the father of Martin Luther King III, played a very crucial role in the emancipation of the Afro-Americans and has been the epitome of freedom in the entire African Continent. I am usually impressed by the way Mr. ole Ntimama likes quoting him severally. Most of us like quoting him in most fora. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also want to thank the Western countries for playing their part. But I want to caution them that once they are through with their assistance, they should leave this country and go back. That is because we have seen them getting involved in many conflicts in Africa, but most of them have been protracted and never-ending. I can give you a thousand and one examples. But we would wish them to participate up to a certain point and then leave and concentrate their efforts in other places. I think we have the capacity to handle our problems, especially now that we are one good Grand Coalition which the late Mulu Mutisya used to call "Multiparty moja" . I believe that this Grand Coalition will take this country forward. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, our President gave an excellent exposition of public policy in his Speech. The policy contains several proposals, Bills and Sessional Papers. He also recommended that we should have a joint policy that will actually take this country forward in tandem with Vision 2030. If we are able to get a hybrid manifesto from Party of National Unity's (PNU) "Kazi Iendelee", Orange Democratic Party's (ODM) "Real Change" and "Maisha Bora" of ODM(K), this country will go places in this Continent. So, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I just want to say something on what happened immediately after the General Elections. The underlying causes of the post-election violence is known by all and sundry. First, it is the issue of land. Secondly, there was a complaint by most Kenyans that some people have what we call disproportionate access to justice and economic opportunities. So, some people had complained that, that was a problem. But now that we are one, we want to confront those problem as Kenyans. We want to solve the land question once and for all in the Rift Valley and some parts of Coast Province. I remember when I was an Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Lands, we did a lot with Prof. Kibwana to settle people in Coast Province. We actually undertook a Rapid Response Initiative (RRI) programme to make sure that a good number of people got title deeds. But, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in the Rift Valley, I think we have to bite the bullet and make sure that those who were dispossessed of their land by the colonialists - the so- called White Highlands--- Those were the Kalenjins and Maasais-- We must confront that problem once and for all. We have land that is owned by large-scale farmers in the Rift Valley. We have the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) land. Let us get that land, whether through compulsory acquisition or buying, and settle the people who are actually aggrieved. In this case, I am talking about the Maasais and Kalenjins. We have the ADC land. We have land that is owned by Brooke Bond in the highlands. Let us buy that land and settle those people. 324 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 20, 2008 I want all Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to go back home. That is because if they do not do so, we have actually no business sitting in this House when people are living in squalid conditions. They are living in deep penury! We are here taking wine and whisky while people are languishing in problems. I am talking about the small children in those IDP camps. Once again, I will not belabour that point. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to say something on how we should handle the 1,000 people who were slaughtered. We want to have a monument. Let us have a memorial for those people. Let us have all their names listed, like we did during the 1998 American Embassy bomb blast. That way, those people will be remembered forever and ever! Amen! We do not want to repeat that kind of thing again! When I am talking about this issue, I want to remember a small kid who was thrown into the fire and the mother was told to actually sit down and watch that happen! That was really, really tragic! We want these things to be remembered by the next generation, so that we do not repeat them. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, last year's General Elections were very competitive. But Kenyans expressed their democratic rights by voting the way they did. But, I want to caution Kenyans that the concept of voting 50-50 or 43 per cent against 43 per cent--- The election was described as "close to call" or "it could go either way"! An election of that nature could kill Kenyans! We want Kenyans to vote for their President with an overwhelming support of 70 per cent and above. The idea of 50-50 is what cheats everybody. If one side gets 43 per cent and the other side gets 43 per cent or thereabout, we end up getting into a quagmire. So, I call upon Kenyans to vote for their leaders with over 70 per cent or more, so that we can avoid situations where we get into a confused scenario, just like the one we have experienced. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support.Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. My names are Ababu Namwamba, the Member for Budalangi. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I think it will be in order for me to start by expressing my gratitude to my constituents for expressing their confidence in me and sending me to this august House to represent them and, at the same time, to serve the people of Kenya. Mr.Temporary Deputy peaker, Sir, I want to support this Motion but, first, I want to applaud the spirit of bipartisanship that has descended upon this House over the last several weeks, since the signing of the historic agreement between hon. Raila and hon. Kibaki. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, before I came to this House, I was a member of a group of Kenyans from across the regions, political parties and diverse ethnicities, and all of them were eyeing this House. We came together with an agenda that upon walking through those doors, we would try to build the spirit of bi-partisanship. It gratifies me that as I look at both sides of the House, I see no less than 15 Members of that group who made it to this House. So, the spirit of bi- partisanship for me is the grand opportunity for myself and Members of that group to lead this nation towards a new face, where we can live together as a nation. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, two days ago, we enacted two momentous pieces of legislation, and while there has been some disquiet on the jurisprudential soundness of those pieces of legislation, especially of the constitutional amendment Bill, I want to tell my learned friends in this House, and outside, that even in law, great scholars like Dicey do acknowledge through a terminology we use in law, "sui generis", that whether in legislation or in rulings by a court of law, there comes a time when any tribunal, or any institution like this one, makes extraordinary decisions. The pieces of legislation that we enacted last Tuesday fall within that rubric about extraordinariness. They are sui generis . That is, pieces of legislation of a peculiar nature. I do believe that, that will not set a worrying precedent, but does reflect the flexibility of legislation. It is March 20, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 325 for that reason that I would want to confine my speech to the legislative agenda outlined in the Presidential Address. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we cannot appreciate fully the enormity of the legislation we passed recently unless we put it in a historical context. Recently, as a nation, we walked together to the brink. We looked down the precipice and did not like what we saw. As a nation, we decided to walk back. But we also run a risk in the excitement of walking back. We run the risk of repeating the same mistakes that have been made over the last 45 years; the mistake of peppering over the real issues that underlie the kind of challenges that faced this nation recently. We run the risk of glossing over and not fixing the fundamentals. I would like to pose a question to all of us: These ghosts that have repeatedly arisen to disturb the soul of our motherland, have we only lulled those ghosts, or have we slayed and buried them for eternity? I want to challenge this House that we should use that opportunity to slay and bury those ghosts for eternity and not merely lull them to slump just to awaken again later. The path that we have walked as a nation over the last 45 years, when I look back, is a path littered with debris of impunity, ethnic unease, extremism and exclusion. We have a grand opportunity to look back and chart a path free of this kind of debris. We all know that the First Republic was constructed on the succession to the colonial governor, and its attendant anomalies and weaknesses. We have a grand opportunity to construct a Second Republic in this nation. That Republic can be firmly anchored on this legislature and the supremacy of this House. Way back, I learnt from a tree surgeon that when any branch of a tree becomes deceased, that tree automatically transfers the functions of that branch to another branch. Those functions do not cease. I think, for 45 years, we have attempted to run this nation through the Executive and what we call the "imperial presidency." We now have an opportunity to transfer the management of the affairs of this land to this legislature. That will not happen overnight. The pace may be slow and sometimes frustrating, but as Napoleon would say, victory is never won in miles but in inches. You will win one inch and celebrate it, and then move on to the next inch. May we celebrate every inch of victory and gather enough inches to have a great moment for transformation of our land. The leadership of this country has historically failed us. The constitutional and institutional heritage that we have had over the years has also failed us. This is a great opportunity to re- engineer that heritage. So, I am looking forward to witnessing, in this Chamber, a new era of legislation, where legislation will be passed not for the sake of statistics - so that at the end of the Session we can say that we enacted 100 pieces of legislation - but for the purpose of responding to the actual needs of this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I look forward to witnessing the enactment of a new constitutional framework that replaces the queer structure of Government that we have today, which is a strange fusion of the American presidentialism and the Westminster parliamentarism. We need a system that would be unique to us, but that which anchors itself around this august House; a truly parliamentary system, which we have an opportunity to test through the legislation that we passed a couple of days ago. There is no way a firm democracy can be anchored on wobbly political parties. Political parties must be, and essentially are, the building blocks of any democracy. We must strengthen our political parties and other political institutions. I add my voice to those who have urged the President to expeditiously assent to the Political Parties Bill. It is unacceptable that 45 years after Independence, we have segments of our society that feel completely removed from the mainstream of this nation. I am thinking about the young people of this country. We must move beyond tokenism, and have concrete measures that can advance our youth. It is unacceptable that a constituency like Budalang'i, that I represent, should suffer flooding every single year. Of course, I have promised my people that there shall be no flooding under my watch. I want to believe that we 326 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 20, 2008 have a grand opportunity for a fresh beginning. I hope that Members of this House will not waste this opportunity. Thank you.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am George Omari Nyamweya, Secretary-General of the Democratic Party of Kenya (DP). There is a reason as to why I am saying so. I am also the Secretary to the Council of the PNU. In 1997, in the DP manifesto we advocated for the office of Prime Minister. I supported the creation of that office. Why? Because as long as we have a system of Government that we have, it is necessary that we have a Prime Minister in the House to answer on behalf of the Government. That is why I supported it and I support it now. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I read somewhere that before you pull down a fence, ask yourself why it was put up in the first place. They created the office of the Prime Minister; we amended the Constitution, including Section 3. Before we engage in further amendments, let us ask ourselves why Section 3 was put in the Constitution. Let us ask ourselves: What is going to happen to Public Investments Committee (PIC) and Public Accounts Committee (PAC), now that we are entering into a Grand Coalition? What is the role of the Opposition? I do not think that it is lesser than that of the Government. So long as we have a system in Kenya where we are opposed to everything--- There are winners and losers. That is the system that we have. Our courts have the same system. It is So-and-so versus So-and-so. Here, we have the same system; the Government side and the Opposition side. So, so long as we have those systems that way, we must then put safeguards. We must never ever give leave to the goodwill of individuals. We must strengthen our institutions. Whatever we do, do not take them lightly. Let us not just move them around because we think that it is the right thing to do. Let us not say that peace comes from individuals. Peace is there because the law requires us to keep the peace. You cannot tell me or those people who have been displaced from their homes - and I am included because I come from Trans Nzoia - that if you displaced me from there and you take me to Borabu where, again, I am displaced or I am under threat of being displaced, what peace can I enjoy if I have no place to enjoy it in? What possible peace can there be? So, before we go too far in applauding ourselves, let us first put up a Select Committee of this House and say: "We must resettle those people who have been displaced from their homes." We must also ask ourselves: "Why were they removed from there? It had nothing to do with the elections! Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have taken the liberty to look at something that is very interesting. The First Parliament had three petitions. The Second Parliament had 14 petitions. The Third Parliament had 30 petitions. The Fourth Parliament had 31 petitions. The Fifth Parliament had 27 petitions. The Sixth Parliament had 23 petitions. The Seventh Parliament had 67 petitions. The Eighth Parliament had 20 petitions. The Ninth Parliament had 31 petitions. Today, as I gather, we have about 38 petitions pending. So, we do have ways of resolving our electoral misgivings. We do not need to go out there to look for others to resolve problems of our own creation. That is because we must begin to have faith in our own institutions. We must begin to have faith in our courts. We must also begin to have faith in this House, Government and the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK). Why do I say that? We are Kenyans. We were born in Kenya. Nobody else is going to come and manage this country for us. We must manage it ourselves. We must solve the problems that are there. Why do you believe or think that there was such a reaction to the 2007 General Elections? I know that PNU Parliamentary votes were over 5,000,000. The ODM and its associates had 3,000,000 votes and yet, ODM had 100 seats and PNU got 85 seats. Do you not ask yourselves how the difference of 2,000,000 votes is represented in this House? Is there not something wrong with our electoral system? Should we, therefore, not be thinking about proportional representation March 20, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 327 or adjustment of constituencies? That is because those 2,000,000 votes were wasted. Why do you think the ODM had difficulties in accepting the Presidential elections? The 4,000,000 that went to hon. Raila Odinga were frustrated votes. So, we must find a way of ensuring that our votes are not wasted. That way, we will be equally represented. We will live in a country which we know we deserve to be in which we belong to, which regards you as a human being and you have a right to share in its bounty. I think that is really what is troubling us. It will not be solved by our being put in the Cabinet or being promised this or the other. That is the Executive function. We must ask ourselves why this House conducts its business this way. What did we do during the last term? How have we influenced the life of an ordinary Kenyan? I think that is what we must ask ourselves. How will my being in this House affect the future of those children we see up there? The free education that we are giving them, which they are entitled to--- Indeed, it should go up to secondary and university levels. Unless you invest in your own peoples' education, you will never develop anything. You will not get very far. So, we must make sure that our resources go to education. We must make sure that every constituency has, at least, two model schools, so that they can actually produce the Kenya we want. I went to a school where we were completely mixed. Until we left school, we never regarded ourselves as: "A person from that village or tribe." That business has been brought about by politicians who need to go back to their ancestral land to seek votes. At Independence and, maybe, that is why there were not so many petitions, you went to seek votes on the party sponsoring you. Wherever it is was, you were sent there. But now, you know you must go to where your clan is. If your clan was represented in Parliament last time they say: "Let us try another clan." That is what we must get rid of. The way to do it is to start at the foundation. Let us start with the schools. That is where children are nurtured. Let us start teaching them leadership. Let us allow them to elect prefects, and not just appoint them. That way, they can start learning leadership and responsibility. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have gone through a crisis! Yes! It was self- induced! It was self-induced because we have had elections before. There has been no reason why, if the outcome does not favour you, you must fight. We have had elections and we have learnt to accept defeat and victory. But as we proceed, we must engage in an economic summit. And ask ourselves: How are we going to help our farmers? I know that it is possible. I was the Managing Director of Agricultural Finance Corporation - for a very short time - six months! But I do know that if it was possible five years ago, it is possible now. We can have fertilizer for, at least, one- third of the current price. I also know that we can have tractors and implements at half the price. Why are we not able to do so? It is because of greed. We have middlemen--- Something that costs Kshs200 or Kshs300 is increased to Kshs2,000 by middlemen. So, it is necessary for the Ministers in charge - the Minister for Finance and othe to intervene. That is why I am talking about an economic summit. We should get all the players to sit down and agree on how we can manage our agriculture, connect electricity across the country and how we can tap and harvest rain water. We have plenty of rain water. But all of it goes to the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Egypt uses our own water to grow wheat and sends us rice and sugar. Surely, there must be something that we are not doing right. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this House, individually and collectively, must take the lead. I would like us to ask ourselves: Do we really need to express ourselves by having to praise others? I do not think so. For sure, I am not going to be among the ones who must do it that way. I beg to support. 328 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 20, 2008 Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to address this august House. My names are Mr. Alfred Wekesa Sambu. I am the hon. Member for Webuye Constituency. From the outset, I would like to thank the people of Webuye Constituency for taking 20 years to elect me as their hon. Member!

I do not look at this situation with any form of regret. To the contrary, I look at it with a lot of satisfaction, because over the 20-year period I have had 20 years experience in facing the challenges posed by ethnicity. As we know, ethnicity is a great disease in this country and, all of us, of good faith, should fight hard to eliminate this problem. In 1988, when I first vied for this seat, I faced the challenge of ethnicity. I also faced the same challenge in 1992, all through to 2002. I am happy that the people of Webuye in 2007 conquered this problem. I am now here as their hon. Member. I would like to assure them that I will not let them down. I will do my best as their servant. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, during the 2007 General Election, wananchi turned up in large numbers to cast their votes. Generally, the voting exercise was very good. The counting of votes in various polling stations was conducted in a good manner. The announcement of the results of various parliamentary seats in general was also good. Later, after the disputed Presidential results, the country exploded. We feel very disappointed about this, because of the number of people who died, those who were displaced, those who lost their property and those who were traumatised. It is regrettable. But we went through this trying time and are now firmly together as a nation. I am proud that we are in the process of forming a Grand Coalition. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I fully support the Presidential Address. I give thanks not only to God, but also to the people of Kenya, who have worked very hard to bring us to where we are. I particularly would like to thank His Excellency Kofi Annan. At one stage, during the negotiations, we did not know if there was any hope. But he kept on telling us that there was hope, and eventually we realised a breakthrough in the negotiations. I would also like to thank the negotiators from both sides of the political divide, who worked day in, day out, to get us to where we are. Above all, I would like to thank His Excellency the President and Mr. Raila, the Prime Minister-designate, who stood before all of us and said: "Kenya is above all of us. We must work together as Kenyans ". I thank them all. I feel proud of them. We now have the Peace Accord. That Accord, on its own, may not work, unless we all come together, as a nation, and fully support it. Looking at the events, and the way we passed the two Bills, all hon. Members supported the Bills. This shows that we are going to work together as a nation. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, a number of things were mentioned in the Presidential Address. I would like to comment on one or two of them, particularly the one to do with the issue of agriculture. I come from an agricultural area. Many hon. Members have commented on the high price of fertilizer. Much as this is an important factor, the price of fertilizer is fixed internationally. If you went out and asked for the price of fertilizer, you would find that it is very good. So, what is going on when the farmer is buying a bag of fertilizer for about Kshs4,000? The problem is internal. People have taken advantage of the effects of the post-election violence. They have hiked the transportation costs and the risks involved. This is what has brought about an increase in the price of fertilizer. This is something that can easily be looked into, especially with regard to the transportation costs. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we, in Western Province, practise sugar-cane farming March 20, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 329 on a large-scale. Sugar-cane farming is our mainstay. A few weeks ago, the Government, without making any consultations, gave a green light for people to import a lot of sugar into the country. This will create a lot of problems for Western Province, which produces a lot of sugar. This means that a lot of factories may not be able to sell sugar. This will result in a big problem to the farmer. I suggest that this problem should be looked into. If possible, the importation of sugar should be stopped. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to look at the issue of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from a different dimension. We have many children, who are probably learning in schools away from their homes. When the violence broke out, many children went to schools near their homes. As a result of this, in Western Province, there was a great influx of children who were non-residents, but are now back in the schools near their homes. That has resulted in a lot of physical infrastructure problems. We need more classrooms, dormitories and dinning halls. When we talk of supporting the IDPs, we should also be talking of students who have flooded their home schools and have no classrooms, dining halls or dormitories. I suggest that we should look into this issue. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, finally, I would like to talk about security. There are some districts that were created recently. You find that in one district there is only one police station. All the police officers are congested in one police station. To move them from one area to another is very expensive and inefficient. I suggest that we spread out the police stations in some of the new districts. The police officers are there; they only need the physical facilities. If we provide the physical facilities, we can transfer the police officers within the district. If we transfer them, they will perform their duties more efficiently, and this will be less expensive to the Government. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support.

Bw. Naibu Spika wa Muda, na ndugu zangu Wabunge, kwanza nataka kutoa shukrani kwenu nyote kwa kumchagua mhe. Marende kuwa Spika wetu na kinara wa Bunge hili la Kumi la Jamhuri ya Kenya. Hatukufanya makosa na amedhihirisha kweli kuwa anaweza kusimamia utaratibu wa Bunge kwa hizi siku chache ambazo amekalia Kiti hicho. Tunampongeza sana kwa uhodari wake aliotuonyesha. Pili, nataka kumsifu Rais Kibaki. Nimesimama kuunga mkono hii Hoja ambayo iko mbele yetu. Rais Kibaki alitoa mwongozo ambao sisi kama Wakenya tukiufuata, basi tutasonga mbele kimaendeleo katika hali ya kutufurahisha na nchi zote duniani zitajua kuwa Kenya ipo. Rais Kibaki alitugusia kule tulikotoka na akatukumbusha pale tulipo. Alitusihi tujitayarishe kuifanya Kenya iwe bora kwa miaka ijayo ili iwe na manufaa kwetu sisi na vizazi vyote vijavyo. Huu ndio wajibu wetu kama Wabunge. Ni wajibu wetu na ni kazi ambayo tutaweza kuifanya. Tumeianza kazi hiyo kwa mfano ambao umetolewa na viongozi wa vyama vikubwa. Uongozi ambao Rais Kibaki pamoja na mhe. Raila walionyesha ni hali ambayo kwa hakika, imeturidhisha sisi sote. Tunajua kwamba tuna mwanzo ambao utaleta manufaa makubwa nchini. Bw. Naibu Spika wa Muda, madhumuni ya chama chochote kile cha kisiasa ni kuunda Serikali. Hata madhumuni ya Chama cha Shirikisho ilikuwa ni kuunda Serikali. Ikiwa madhumuni ni kuunda Serikali na viongozi wa vyama wamekuja pamoja ili waunde Serikali, basi hilo ni jambo la busara kwa sababu limetuleta sisi pamoja. Nakumbuka Rais Kibaki akituambia kuwa watoto wetu, kokote wanakosoma, wako pamoja wala hawazungumzi mambo ya ukabila au utengano wowote. Wao wanajichukulia kama Wakenya. Sisi, tulivyofanya hapa yaani kuja pamoja kuunda Serikali, ni kama tumefundishwa na watoto wetu kuwa lazima tuwe kitu kimoja na tusitengane ili tuweze kupata manufaa ya maendeleo hapa Kenya. Kwa hivyo, tunawashukuru watoto wetu. Mara nyingine ni vizuri kuiga wanavyofanya watoto wetu ili nchi nzima isonge mbele. Bw. Naibu Spika wa Muda, madhumuni ya chama chochote ni kuunda Serikali. Kwa nini tunaunda Serikali? Kuunda Serikali ni kuhakikisha kwamba uchumi na hali ya maisha ya wananchi 330 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 20, 2008 inazidi kuwa bora kila wakati. Inaweza kuwa bora kwa sababu kuna sehemu za maendeleo ambazo ni muhimu tuziangalie sawa sawa. Kwa mfano; ikiwa ni usalama, tunaunda Serikali ili tuwe na usalama thabiti. Tunaunda Serikali tuwe na usalama ili tuweze kufanya mambo mengine ya kuendeleza nchi bila wasiwasi au woga. Kuja pamoja kwa viongozi wetu ni mfano mzuri. Sote Wabunge tuje pamoja sawa sawa na pale ambapo kuna makosa, basi tutoe maoni yetu juu ya makosa hayo. Mara nyingi kuna ukweli wa yale tunaambiwa ama tunayotaka kufanya. Basi tuungane pamoja ili tuweze kuleta maendeleo na usalama katika nchi yetu. Yaliyopita si ndwele; tugange yajayo. Juzi na jana tuliumizana. Ni ishara kwamba baada ya kila uchaguzi, wananchi katika sehemu fulani za nchi huanzisha vurugu. Wao si kwamba hupigana kwa kuwa kuna matokeo ya uchaguzi yasiyoridhisha, bali huwa wanakumbuka yale maonevu na dhuluma walizopata miaka mingi iliyopita hata zama za wakoloni. Watu wengine husahau kuwa kila mwaka watu wa Matuga, baada ya uchaguzi, hujitolea kupigania haki zao. Wengi wamesikia Kaya Bombo. Kaya Bombo iko Matuga, ambalo ndilo wakilisho langu. Tulikuwa tukipigana kila baada ya uchaguzi kwa sababu tulikuwa tunakumbuka dhuluma tulizopata miaka mingi iliyopita kuhusu mambo ya mashamba. Sisi tulifanywa maskwota kutoka wakati wa ukoloni. Tuliibiwa, tulinyang'anywa, tulinyimwa, tulitukanwa na tukadharauliwa. Watu wetu hukumbuka mambo hayo yote baada ya uchaguzi kwa sababu ni hali ambayo kila mmoja huzungumza na mwingine. Tunafahamu kuwa watu wanaishi pamoja. Tulipigana vita mwaka wa 1992 lakini ardhi yetu hatukupata. Mwaka wa 1997 baada ya uchaguzi tukang'ang'ana katika vita tena, lakini hatukupata ardhi yetu. Naishukuru sana Serikali ya Rais Kibaki kwa sababu katika miaka mitano ya kwanza ya uongozi wake, sisi watu wa Mkoa wa Pwani ambao wengi wetu ni maskwota, aliamua kwamba Serikali itaweka utaratibu ili kuwepo na mashamba ili awagawie wananchi ndiposa waweze kuwa na ardhi. Kazi hiyo imeanza lakini haijamalizika. Hii ndiyo sababu kubwa kabisa ambayo watu wa Matuga na Wapwani wote hawakupigana tena baada ya uchaguzi wa hivi majuzi. Serikali imeanza kutekeleza utaratibu huo na mashamba yameanza kununuliwa. Wananchi wameanza kugawanyiwa mashamba sawa sawa. Hiyo imeleta amani. Je, nasema hivyo kwa nini? Ni kwa sababu yale yote tumeona sharti tuyaangalie sawa sawa. Ni lazima tuhakikishe kuwa wananchi wamepata haki zao. Bw. Naibu Spika wa Muda, utaratibu unaweza kufanyika kwa sababu tumekuja pamoja na hakuna anayetupinga. Hakuna upinzani. Kazi ya chama cha upinzani ni kupinga lolote linalosemwa na Serikali, liwe bora au baya. Sasa tumevuka msimu huo. Tuko pamoja na ni lazima tuchukue msimamo ambao utaondoa shida za wenzetu ambao wamepigana, si kwa sababu ya matokeo ya uchaguzi au matamshi kuhusu mshindi au aliyeshindwa, bali ni kwa sababu ya kukumbuka zile shida walizopata miaka mingi iliyopita. Lolote huweza kutokea wakati kama huo kwa sababu watu huwa wako pamoja. Sisi kama nchi tumesonga mbele kiuchumi. Uchumi wetu unasonga mbele vilivyo kwa sababu ya uongozi ambao Rais Kibaki ameleta.

On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. The Member on the Floor has made a statement that the work of the Opposition is only to oppose Government. Is it in order for him to mislead this House that the work of the Opposition is only to oppose when we know very well that multiparty democracy demands that there be various political parties? Is that not an affront to our National Assembly?

Hon. Member, I think the Minister on the Floor is in order. The work of the Opposition is, of course, to check the Government and I think he is just alluding to that fact. Proceed, Mr. Mwakwere!

Nakushukuru sana Bw. Naibu Spika wa March 20, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 331 Muda. Labda hakunielewa kwa sababu nimeongea kwa lugha ya Kiswahili. Lakini kimombo nakijua sawa sawa. Nikianza kukisakata labda atanielewa sawa sawa. Lakini kwa vile sheria zetu zinasema kuwa ukianza kuzungumza kwa lugha moja sharti uendelee nayo hadi mwisho, sitamweleza kwa Kiingereza. Nitafanya hivyo tukishatoka nje na labda atanielewa sawasawa. Huu ni wakati wa kihistoria kwa Kenya nzima. Ni historia kwa sababu mambo hayajawahi kuwa hivi. Zamani tulikuwa pamoja kabisa lakini katika Katiba ambayo ilikuwa inaruhusu chama kimoja cha kisiasa. Hali hii ni tofauti. Tusichukuliwe eti tumerudi nyuma; la, hasha, tumesonga mbele. Hii ni kwa sababu wakati ule tulikuwa na chama kimoja cha kisiasa. Fikira zetu wakati huo zilikuwa juu ya chama tu, lakini sasa tunafikiria maendeleo. Hayo ndiyo madhumuni yetu makubwa ya kuja pamoja. Tunataka maendeleo katika nchi yetu. Bw. Naibu Spika wa Muda, naishukuru sana Serikali ya miaka mitano ya kwanza ya Rais Kibaki kwa kukuza uchumi kutoka takwimu iliyokuwa dhaifu sana hadi asilimia saba kwa mwaka. Huu ni ushindi mkubwa na dunia nzima inajua hivyo. Labda ndiyo sababu dunia nzima ilipoona sisi wenyewe hatuelewani, walikuja hapa kuhakikisha kwamba tunaelewana ili tuwe mfano kwa dunia nzima. Sisi Wakenya ni mfano kwa dunia nzima. Labda sisi wenyewe hatujui hivyo lakini huko nje twasifiwa. Hatusifiwi kwa ajili ya mbio tu, bali pia kwa uhodari wa uchumi, elimu, mipango na uongozi na siasa. Bw. Naibu Spika wa Muda, kwa hakika, tumefika wakati ambao sisi lazima tuwaunge mkono na kuwasaidia wakulima. Najua wenzangu wamezungumza juu ya ukulima. Bila chakula huwa hakuna maendeleo. Chakula kwanza, ndipo uchumi uanze kukua. Kwa hivyo, lile suala la kuangalia bei ya mbolea ni suala muhimu sana. Pia, tuwaambie wananchi kokote waliko waanze ukulima hata katika sehemu ambazo kilimo hakiridhishi. Tuwe kitu kimoja. Tuungane sawa sawa. Tusonge mbele sawa sawa. Tuwe na sauti moja. Mkenya yeyote atakayehujumu mmoja wetu basi ni adui. Mara nyingine mimi husema: "Kamata kamata, kamata adui".

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to make my maiden speech. My name is Ms. Lorna Laboso. I represent Sotik Constituency. I stand here to support the Presidential Speech which was quite exhaustive in many areas. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there are certain areas that are quite dear to me. Sotik Constituency, just like many other parts of the country, was affected by post-election violence. However, the situation there was quite different. We tried so hard to quell the violence even though many people thought that it was caused by the people of Sotik Constituency. I want to let this House know that the post-election violence in Sotik Constituency erupted spontaneously immediately the Presidential results were announced. We tried our best to quell it. We had quite a number of peace meetings, especially with our neighbours, the Kisii. We even set up peace committees to ensure that the two communities live together in harmony. Even as we did so, we had a big problem with the security agents. There was a lot of shootings by police. Obviously, this angered our people. Many of our people died from police bullets. I hope that this issue will be addressed. I am quite happy that the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission will be set up to look into all those things. We know that there are many accusing fingers, but we would really like to leave a lot of that to the Commission. The Commission will tell us the real story behind the chaos. We know there are issues that date long way back. Many of us do not know that after every election in Sotik Constituency, there is always violence. In Chebilat, for example, what happened in 1992 is just exactly what happened in 2007. Many houses in Chebilat were burnt down. The two 332 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 20, 2008 communities fought for a long time. I hope leaders in that region will do their best to restore peace. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, another issue which contributed to the post-election violence is lack of employment among the youth. Many of our youth do not have jobs to do. When the Presidential election results were announced, the youth were unhappy. That is why they came out in large numbers to protest. They are young people who have no jobs. The last Government promised to create 500,000 job opportunities. That did not happen. Their hope was on a new Government that would address their plight. This issue must be addressed by the Grand Coalition Government. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we hope the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission will address most of the issues that have bedeviled this country for many years. I would urge the people concerned not to speak about it so much. There are many people in police cells. They are being blamed for the post-election violence. If the envisaged Commission will address this issue, among others, then I plead with the Government to release them. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President spoke about a committee to prioritise programmes and policies in the Government. Agriculture is the bread basket for Rift Valley Province. I hope that when we address those issues that are very pertinent to Kenyans, we will look at the tea industry which earns a lot of foreign currency to this country. Roads in the tea-growing areas are in a very bad state. It rains for three quarters of a year. Most of our roads are pathetic and impassable. A lot of tea is left on the roads to rot because it cannot reach factories to be processed. I hope that the committee will look into incentives in the agricultural industry. Most of the investors are discouraged from investing in Kenya because of the red tape bureaucracy. It really discourages many investors. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, Sotik Constituency also happens to be an area where livestock is one of the bread-earners. A long time ago, there were veterinary officers all over the country. We had a lot of services, including the Artificial Insemination (AI). Right now, after the clashes, we do not have this service. I hope the Ministry of Agriculture will address issues of transport, so that the technical officers visit farms and advise farmers. Last year, Kenya Co- operative Creameries (KCC) returned the milk to the farmers or poured it because of the low batter. So, those technical officers from the Ministry of Agriculture should advise farmers accordingly. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President also talked about health care. I also look forward to the day when every Kenyan will walk to a hospital in Kenya and get services without paying a single cent. They will only need to show their identity cards and get services. This can only be made possible through changing some of policies in health care. It is possible for the rich to be able to pay for the health care, so that every Kenyan can walk to a hospital and get health service. In my constituency, every Harambee that we do is about hospital bills. I hope that this Parliament will come up with good policies to make sure that our people access health care without payment. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President also talked about gender. I hope that 30 per cent slots of Government appointments will be reserved for women. They always talk about 30 per cent, but it does not happen. I hope this time 30 per cent of Government appointments will go to women. We expect to see many women appointed as Permanent Secretaries and ambassadors. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President, in his Speech, talked about national security. We have had so many problems, especially at the borders, on security. In Sotik Constituency, two weeks ago, police went to a girls school to look for militias. The girls were so scared. I hope that the future security agents will be informed on how to handle such situations. I believe that there is a problem with the present security system. They go looking for what they term militias or warriors. In the process, they shoot people arbitrarily. We want that issue addressed by that National Security Committee. March 20, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 333 With those few remarks, I beg to support.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. My names are Lewis Nguyai. I am from Kikuyu Constituency. I want to thank you for catching my eye. Hon. Thuo, being taller than me, was trying to overshadow me! So, thank you, Mr, Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to address this House for the first time. When I say that I am from Kikuyu Constituency, there are many people who have been asking: Is Kikuyu such a lucky tribe or ethnic community that they have a Member of Parliament to themselves? I would want to probably inform them that Kikuyu Constituency is the former Kabete Constituency. The name was taken away wrongly and was returned by the ECK. It is actually a location within the Central Province. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would want to support the Speech that the President gave during the Official State Opening Ceremony. First and foremost, from the outset, I would want to congratulate both His Excellency the President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister-designate, hon. Raila, for rising to the occasion when this country so badly needed magnanimous leaders, who look at the needs of the country before their very own and who badly needed to ensure that this country does not disintegrate into ethnic violence that was almost precipitating. So, I am happy that I will be serving this House under the two great leaders. During the Speech the President was unable to mention the word ethnicity. I wish to state that the word "ethnicity" has been misused to invoke selfish needs of leaders. The populace of this country has been used like a carpet. This is because when we rise up and we want to take leadership positions, we make promises by saying that this particular ethnic community is marginalising this other ethnic community; that this ethnic community has taken advantage of this other ethnic community; that this ethnic community is cleverer than this ethnic community or this ethnic community is made up of people who are of a certain nature, either they are industrialists or they are sexy or thieves. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is time for us not to take advantage of the populace because of our own selfish needs. We should address the issues that confront us. The problems that confront us, as you look into the present situation that we are in, 80 per cent of the Members of this House are new. They are new Members because the Kenyan population wants a change in the way leadership is being delivered in this country or the way the country is being run. So, the Kenyan population is watching with bated breath to see how this country will be run from now on. I am sure if we do not rise to the occasion, we will be kicked out within the next five years. This is because the Kenyan people have realised that they have the power in the ballot. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, during the State Opening Speech the President mentioned about the establishment of a Technical, Industrial, Vocational and Enterprise Training Authority. I think, for far too long, the Kenyan population has not been encouraged or even rewarded for being creative and for trying to become entrepreneurial. So, the formation of that Authority together with a national policy for science, technology and innovation will probably put us on a path that can enable this country to start delivering services to our people. This will help them to meet their own needs, provide their employment and employment for others. We have labour that is very cheap within this country but we have never been able to manufacture even a bicycle. I remember the first President saying that if this country was able to produce just a bicycle, he would climb out of his limousine and ride on that bicycle because he would be proud to see that there is innovation. I believe we have not had the opportunity to teach our people to explore; to be confident and to try new ideas so as to become industrialists. I will propose that this is the time for us to look at the other emerging markets within the continent and in particular, I will talk about India where they have cottage industries. I think it will be proper for us, as that authority is being created and the policy for innovation is formulated, to have a visit to see how India was able to start small 334 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 20, 2008 industries that can enable people to empower themselves. When we talk about us having a poor land policy, I am sure many of you know that even within the Central Province we have what we call the land reserves. The maximum size of those land reserves is a quarter acre. We have four generations of people who live within those quatre acres. I am sure it is the same for many areas of Kenya, for example, Kisii. Within those areas, people need to be taught how they can become productive and start to develop small industries that can serve within the populace. I am looking forward to seeing the establishment as being able to do that. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, one of the problems that we have suffered is that problem of tragedies. If we were to look into history, you will see that when we were colonised, this country was given a bwana- and-native kind of attitude. That colonisation in itself brought the problem of us feeling as if we are inferior to others. In history, I think and I heard one of the past speakers talk about the late Martin Luther King Junior--- I started to wonder and think why we are called "black" when really our skins are not black. If you look at the dictionary, the definition of black is something that is very dark, impure and evil. When you compare this definition to those people who call themselves "white"; it means they are pure and clean. I must apologise to my own children. This is because when they were growing up, we used to have some neighbours across and they used to say; "We want to go and visit the house of those pink people". If you really look at our skins, you will see that our skins are very brown. So, I asked them: "What are the colours of our skin?" They could differentiate that our hair is black and our skins are brown. Just by those simple connotations, like the way in America we had the Negroes being called nigers, I think here in Kenya, we should start looking at ourselves as proud Kenyans who are able to overcome, at the times of a need, a very difficult time where the country was almost torn apart. We should be proud of doing that and more importantly, become proud people who are brown and one country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I conclude, I want to say that we have many problems within this country. We have the issue of unemployment; we said we would create 500,000 jobs each year. Thank you Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir.

Thank you Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for having noticed me. It is an honour to be in this House. I am very lucky because this is something I have dreamt of for 13 years. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, my name is Richard Momoima Onyonka. I come from Kitutu Chache Constituency. First of all, I would like to thank the Chair, because I participated gleefully in the election of the Speaker; that is Mr. Marende. I would like to thank hon. Members of this House who have been very resourceful. They have become very friendly and I have learnt a lot since I came to this House. I would like to thank the people of Kitutu Chache for having taken me seriously, when I asked them to vote for me. Like all the other hon. Members have been saying, I think I face the challenge. I promise to do the best I can. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, lastly, I would like to thank the hon. Mwai Kibaki, the President of the Republic of Kenya and hon. Raila Amolo Odinga, now the Prime Minister- designate, for having made sure that this country did not collapse and gave us another chance. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other thing that I would like to do is pass my sympathies to the people who were displaced in this country, and the many lives we lost during the crisis. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to react to some of the issues that the President raised during his Address. I happened to have been a student of economic development at the University of Nairobi. The problems that we have in this country are all about development. March 20, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 335 Since the time I was in school until the time I became an hon. Member of Parliament, the issues we have been discussing and talking about are about the inequality of incomes and resources between different tribes who form the whole. That is the issue that I think this House must look into very seriously. When you look at development issues, I can give an example; look at education. I am not going to look at the whole education policy, because doing that would take a whole day. We all know that for our students to do well in school, we need nursery schools. We get nursery school teachers, as I heard one hon. Member mention in this House, trained by the Government but they are not given jobs. This happens yet we know that for a child to do well in school, they must first attend a grassroots institution, the lowest level to make sure that the child is educated from the time they are two or three years old. Something must be done about this. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have a problem with water resources in this country. Many of our people drink dirty water 45 years after Independence. We have a problem with health facilities in this country. After 45 years, our people cannot go to hospitals and get medicine. Women cannot go to maternity hospitals and get treated. The story goes on and on. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, many of our people are under-employed and unemployed because we do not have electricity. In some occasions, electricity has been distributed across the country according to how you voted for who was in power at that particular time. This country needs an electricity policy to enable distribution of electricity equitably to the whole nation, depending on its availability on the grid. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker Sir, I come from Kisii and you know we grow a lot of tea. There was a time when the Kenya Tea Development Authority (KTDA) came up with a policy, whereby there was decentralisation. Private individuals could buy tea and take it to the KTDA agencies. However, the policy has failed. This House will have to come up with a solution to that, because the farmer is losing more to the middlemen than before. When I look at all these issues, I think one of the most immediate solutions to this problem is the need to increase the allocation of the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF). That is why I have always been sympathetic to the ODM team. They have always said that they would increase the CDF allocation to about 10 per cent. I hope we will achieve that during my time in this House. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, one of the issues that I want to raise is political. Right now, the Government is now forming different districts in different areas. We do not know the criteria used. We do not know whether there is any statistical data, or benchmarks that make the Government create these districts. Right now we have some constituencies which cut across districts; in some cases three or four constituencies share one district. This inequity must be changed, or something must be done by this House, so that when the Constitution Review Commission is formed, we will have a criteria on how to create districts and constituencies. For example, I would like to create a district called Marani District, so that we have Kitutu Chache Constituency covering both Kisii District and Marani District. The total number of registered voters in my constituency is about 90,000. For one constituency, that is a very big number. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other issue I want to raise in this House is the fact that we need reconciliation. I think that this House must sit down and evaluate the relevance of having vernacular radio stations. The post-election issues which came up, when you were listening to the analysis and what was happening, were that vernacular radio stations participated and contributed to making this country more tribal than it was before. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we need to do something about the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK). I do not have to belabour the point. On top of that, I would like us to be very careful when looking at the issue of those who created the violence. We must be sensitive and should not look like we are being revengeful. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would also like to make a recommendation to this 336 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 20, 2008 House in response to what the President said, that this country needs people to look back and do a total analysis, historical or otherwise, of what has happened from 1960 up to 2007. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the last point that I would like to make is that this is a wonderful country. Some of us dreamt for very many years of coming to this House to make a change. I hope that we will be given an opportunity by our friends, and all the people of goodwill in this country, to make Kenya the best country in Africa. Thank you.

Bw. Naibu Spika wa Muda, jina langu ni Abu Mohammed Abuchiaba. Mimi ni Mbunge wa Lamu Mashariki katika Mkoa wa Pwani. Kwanza kabisa ninataka kumpongeza Spika wetu mpya, ambaye ametuongoza kwa miezi mitatu. Amekuwa na muongozo mwema, ukakamavu na imetambulika dunia nzima kwamba anastahili kuweko katika Kiti hicho. Pili, ninawashukuru watu wa Lamu Mashariki kwa kunichagua mara ya tatu ili niweze kuwahudumia vyema. Ni ahadi yangu ya kwamba nitawatendea yale ambayo ninaweza. Nitakuwa kiongozi ambaye analingana na matakwa yao. Bw. Naibu Spika wa Muda, Hotuba iliyotolewa na Rais Mwai Kibaki ilikuwa ya kusisimua. Pia ilikuwa na busara kubwa. Kwanza kabisa, vile nchi hii ilivyokuwa inaendelea kwa miezi mitatu baada ua Uchaguzi Mkuu, imeonekana kwamba Kenya ilikuwa inajulikana kama nchi ya amani, inayopenda watu na nchi ambayo haipendi ukabila. Inaonekana kwamba uchaguzi uliopita umeleta ukabila zaidi. Umeleta mafarakano na fitina nyingi ambavyo vimeishukisha hadhi ya Kenya. Marafiki wa Kenya dunia mzima walitukimbilia ili waiokoe nchi hii. Tuna wajibu mkubwa wa kuwashukuru viongozi wetu, Rais Mwai Kibaki na mhe. Raila kwa yale ambayo walifanya ili kuirudisha nchi hii katika hali yake ya zamani; kujulikana kama nchi ya amani. Isiwe tu eti Wakenya 1,200 walifariki tu, bali iwe ni kielelezo kwa viongozi wote walioko hapa. Tuwakumbuke na isiwe damu yao imemwagika bila sisi kuyatekeleza yale waliyopigania. Tunaweza kuyatekeleza hayo kwa kusimama imara na kuhakikisha kwamba haki ya mnyonge inatekelezwa. Haki ya mnyonge, Mswahili anasema, haiwezi kutekelezwa isipokuwa makabila makubwa yakitaka. Watu wa makabila makubwa ni lazima wakubali kwamba ndugu zao ambao hawakubahatika kutoka kwa makabila makubwa wana haki vile vile ya kuishi. Katika ugawaji wa sera za maendeleao, wao pia wanastahili kupata maendeleo pia. Bw. Naibu Spika wa Muda, ningependa kugusia kidogo mambo yanayotukumba baada ya miaka 45. Watu wa sehemu ya Lamu hulilia barabara moja. Mwenyezi Mungu ametubariki na barabara hiyo moja. Viongozi waliopita wamezungumzia barabara ya Lamu mara nyingi ili barabara ya Lamu iweze kurekebishwa katika kipindi hiki. Viongozi wameamua wafanye ugawaji sambamba na haki. Mimi ni Mbunge wa Lamu Mashariki. Hili ni eneo la Uwakilishi Bungeni ambalo liko katika Bahari ya Hindi. Kutembea kwangu kule ili niweze kukamilisha sehemu ya Lamu Mashariki inategemea vile maji ya bahari yalivyo na kiasi kilichoko. Kuna hatari ya bahari na siwezi kukamilisha kutembea ila tu baada ya siku mbili. Watu huona ya kwamba sehemu ya Lamu Mashariki ikiwa ndogo, lakini shida zilizoko ni nyingi. Katika sehemu hiyo, maji ambayo Wakenya halisi hutumia, hutoka mbinguni. Ninajua jambo hili linawashangaza. Ni mpaka mvua inyeshe ili watu wa sehemu hiyo watie maji kwenye birika na kuyatumia hadi msimu mwingine wa mvua. Kwa hivyo, tunatarajia mipangilio ya ugawaji wa rasilmali iweze kuangalia mambo kama hayo. Bw. Naibu Spika wa Muda, mambo yaliyotokea ya ukosefu wa amani yameathiri sana sehemu za Mkoa wa Pwani. Watu wengi wamepoteza kazi, kwa sababu sehemu hizo wao hutilia maanani utalii. Watalii hawawezi kuja hapa wakisikia kwamba sehemu ya Burnt Forest inachomeka, hata ikiwa sehemu ya Lamu huko pwani ina amani. Vita hivyo huathiri maendeleo ya March 20, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 337 utalii. Kwa hivyo, tunatarajia ya kwamba viongozi wa Serikali ya Muungano wataleta mabadiliko ya kimsingi ili tuwe na ugawaji sawa wa sera katika sehemu zote za nchi. Kwa hayo machache, naunga mkono Hotuba ya Rais Mwai Kibaki.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I want to echo my support to the Speech given by the President during the State Opening of this House. I want to thank Mr. Raila and our President Mr. Kibaki for agreeing to sign the Peace Accord that has brought peace in this country. We can now move around peacefully and do our usual jobs normally. It is very sad for peace not to be there. I remember on the 28th of December, 2007, even before the results of the General Elections were announced, three of my constituents were killed in Eldoret by people, whom I had greeted, simply because by that time, one of the Presidential candidates was leading in the polls, while the other one was trailing. It is important to have peace for us to live harmoniously. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, since we have to forget what happened, I want to say that, the Government will have to move with speed to see that our youth, who are the majority of the people who became casualties of what we went through, are given jobs as fast as possible. If jobs are not available, then, an enabling environment should be created for them to get some business opportunities that will propel them to the kind of future they would like. Nyakach Constituency is in Nyanza and has been marginalised for a long time in terms of development. For your information, that is where the Ministry of Energy harvests almost 60 megawatts of electricity which is taken directly to the national grid, and yet the same electricity is not even within the constituency. The Ministry wants to move on and harvest another 20 megawatts which will, again, be taken to the national grid. I believe that this time round, they will remember to take the Rural Electrification Programme to that constituency. We do not have water whereas we are surrounded by Lake Victoria. We do not have proper health institutions and we do not carry out any agricultural activities because the people whom the Government purports to be taking care of their agricultural activities, are no longer there. We do not know whether extension officers are still being employed by the Ministry or not. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, at the same time, it is important for the Government to try and build many industries. I support hon. Members who have said that industries that are located in Nairobi should now be moved away. If new investors agree to come in, let them be given good incentives that can make them go and establish industries in places like Kisumu. That way, those areas could also enjoy the benefits of good governance. I would also say that Kisumu Airport is one area which needs to be looked into very seriously. We believe that if an international airport is created there, we will be able to grow flowers and export them directly to other countries. We believe that the Government could, again, restart the cotton industry. That was actually our mainstay in terms of agriculture, but it was frustrated for a very long time. We need to grow cotton once more for our people to, at least, gain out of that activity. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we are also talking about the fishing industry. We are fishermen. Most of the people around my constituency who stay along the lakeside normally survive on fishing. That is one industry that has not been looked into very seriously. We believe that, this time round, we will make sure that fishermen also enjoy the sweat of being in the lake for 24 hours. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to say that it is better to stay in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps than being shot at or burnt alive, the way some of my constituents were burnt alive in Naivasha. We want to bury all that. Let us hope that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that has been set up will look into all those issues and make sure that all those who perpetrated those heinous acts are brought to book. That way, we can bury all that 338 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 20, 2008 took place. It was not very good. It was ungodly. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to end my speech by echoing the Presidential Address. I believe that Kenya will move on very peacefully from now henceforth. Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity. My names are hon. Jamleck Kamau, Member for Kigumo Constituency. I want to start by thanking the people of Kigumo for electing me to be their Member of Parliament. They have given me a very onerous task; a task which I am prepared to handle for them to the best of my ability. I am telling the people of Kigumo that I am prepared to make a difference in their lives and make Kigumo a better place to be. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also want to take this opportunity to congratulate His Excellency President Mwai Kibaki and the Prime Minister-designate, hon. Raila Odinga, for showing statesmanship when they signed the Peace Accord. Those two gentlemen rose to the challenge when Kenya needed them most at its hour of need. I want to tell them that, that is an example of what we require for future leaders. I know that their actions were not in vain. This country will move to greater heights and I am very sure that, we will make things work in this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also want to congratulate the Panel of Eminent Persons led by His Excellency, Kofi Annan, for a job well done. Actually, their actions showed very clearly that Africans are capable of solving their own problems. We do not have to wait for the white man to come and tell us what to do. We, as Africans, are capable of solving our own problems. I remember that when Dr. Kofi Annan finished his very good job, my young son said to me: "This gentleman called "coffee" has done a very good job. When I grow up, I would really like to be coffee!" I told him: "Maybe, you might not be like Kofi exactly, because he is a different person". After all that discussion, he told me: "Okay then, if I do not become coffee, I would like to become tea!" Those are things that happen in life. His confusion was "coffee" and "tea" and, at the end of the day, the whole idea is that my son knew clearly what that gentleman had done for this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to support one of the speakers who spoke today and said that we should recognize Kofi Annan by, perhaps, naming one of the roads in Nairobi after him. He actually talked about Processional Way. I support that recommendation. It could be called "Kofi Annan Way". May I also congratulate the team of negotiators from both sides of the political divide. They did us proud and we are really happy. Congratulations are also in order for Members of Parliament for agreeing to pass the two Bills. It went a long way to show that, indeed, even after fighting for too long in the general elections and even calling each other names, we can still sit together and be brothers and sisters. There is nothing as satisfying as knowing that you have a brother next to you, irrespective of where he comes from. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, what this Parliament did last week is historical in its own sense. The coalition which was set up by this Parliament is something that has never happened before. I would like to urge this House to make sure that it does not take any action that may result in this Grand Coalition arrangement failing in a few years down the line. It is important to us, Members of Parliament and leaders - and especially those two leaders - to ensure that none of them has any hidden and dangerous card under the table. Let them put the interest of this nation first, and this country will move forward. I can tell you that, in building alliances and coalitions, you, honestly, must trust each other. As Nelson Mandela once said, and I quote him: "No true alliance can be build on the shifting sands of evasions, illusions and opportunism". I would also like to say, on the same token, that no true Grand Coalition can be build on the shifting sands of intolerance, March 20, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 339 dishonesty, mistrust and lack of confidence and respect for divergent views amongst the two sides of the political divide. I believe it will work! I believe that Kenya will be a land of peace for the next five years and beyond. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as we all celebrate the signing of that Accord and the amendment of the Constitution, may I also take this opportunity to register some little disappointment to the effect that, perhaps, it looks like this House may have no Opposition. It is something worrying, but, I believe, as Members of Parliament, we will have to also rise to the occasion and make sure that we keep the Government on its toes. I believe that there is always a danger that when there is no Opposition, the governing party can become too arrogant and, sometimes, too confident of itself to an extent of becoming dictatorial. I believe that, as hon. Members, we must stand up and make sure that we criticise the Government whenever possible. I believe that as long as we have checks and balances, the Government will be kept on its toes properly. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President's Address touched on the issue of the post-election violence that claimed more than 1000 lives of innocent Kenyans. I want to thank him for setting up a national humanitarian assistance unit alongside the directorate for resettlement of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). When we are in this House today, being very comfortable and earning huge salaries, there are those Kenyans who are outside there languishing in IDP camps, and life is not in their best interests. There are those who were killed by others and others died from bullets. I want to say that there was absolutely no reason for us Kenyans to have gone to that extent. I would like to see us, this time in this country, being able to say with confidence that it is within our ability to declare that never again shall our country be reduced to smoking battle-fields of contending forces of ethnic hatred. Never again shall our country have any Kenyan die because of ethnic violence. No Kenyan should enjoy lesser rights for being tormented because they were born in a particular area, hold political views or pray to God in a different manner from others. I hope that in future, that will never happen. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, my constituency, Kigumo, depends largely on coffee and tea as its main cash crops. I am happy to note that the President proposed some legislative action and policy agenda, which included amending the Coffee Act to provide for direct sales of coffee. We all understand that coffee in this country has had serious problems. One of the main issues is that of middlemen. As we shall deliberate in this House when that legislation comes up, we will have to do away with middlemen, so that the amount of money reaching the farmer at the end of the day will actually be a little bit higher than now. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the youth cannot be left behind. A country that does not think about its youth has absolutely no future. I am also happy to note that the Government will re-table the Sessional Paper on Employment Policy for discussion in this House. I am also sure that we will be able to provide enough jobs for our young people. The issue of infrastructure is one of the problems of Kigumo. I believe that the Government will work hard towards making sure that roads in all areas are done properly. With those few remarks, I support.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you very much. My name is Charles Onyancha from Bonchari Constituency, and I take this opportunity to thank you for giving me this chance to speak for the first time. I wish to first of all, congratulate His Excellency the President, Mr. Kibaki and His Excellency, Mr. Raila, for arriving at an accord which saved our country from imminent disaster. The establishment of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission, which is imminent, and the proposed Ethnic Relations Bill will go a long way in healing the wounds of this country, which are the result of injustices which started before Independence. Those injustices were started by the colonial government, which 340 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 20, 2008 snatched land from its worthy owners, and subsequently were caused by our fellow Kenyans at Independence. They took huge tracts of land, some of which are larger than Nyanza Province, some for one individual, while so many of their own countrymen or tribesmen owned nothing; so, people were displaced or died fighting for land. Those are the injustices which will be corrected by the Bills, which will come into this august House. I wish to congratulate His Excellency the President for remembering the issue of continued poverty in our country. The introduction of Sessional Papers and Bills on the dairy, poultry and fishing industries will directly address the needs of the common man. That is the purpose for which we were elected. Our constituents have suffered over the years from poverty, and unnecessarily so. Bonchari ranks number 205 out of 210 constituencies in the poverty index. It is for that reason that this topic is very dear to our hearts. We cannot continue living a lie. As a country we cannot continue living in two classes, the rich and the poor. We cannot continue pretending that Central Province with a poverty index of 31 per cent is richer than Nyanza Province with a poverty index of 64 per cent, when those in Central Province who make up that index of 31 per cent are fewer than 1000 people, and the other three million are really poor. We must address the issue of redistribution of wealth, starting with land. In that regard, I propose that this House takes this matter seriously and actually prioritises all the Bills, which will come here, and ensures that the redistribution of wealth happens during the life of the 10th Parliament. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when I listened to His Excellency the President, I was carried away by his Address. He wished to address the issue of poverty. He also wished to introduce measures that would return this country to its proper path of development. I was impressed by the way the House accommodated those feelings. I am sure that if we continue in that spirit of unity, nothing will beat or defeat us, and we will achieve our goals. I fully support the President's Address. As regards development, I propose that we look into the issue of the railway network, because no country can develop without a proper and viable railway network across the country. We should start by rehabilitating the railway line that used to go up to Nanyuki, Nyandarua and many other areas. The Government should put money into the railway network to remove the burden from the road system, otherwise, as much as we might like to repair them, we shall be doing a job in futility, because the load that is transported on the roads cannot be sustained over a long period of time. If I may continue about poverty and development, many of the poor are people who are willing to work for their upkeep. But they do not have jobs to do so. Some of them, unfortunately, have large tracts of land but they are not willing to till them. I would like to propose a policy that ensures taxation of idle land so that, those who are willing to work on land can be allowed to do so. Those who are willing to be landlords can be landlords without holding land which is under- utilised. In that same vein, it saddened me to see some of our colleagues in the last Parliament not taking Parliament seriously. Parliament lacked quorum all the time. I hope that this Tenth Parliament will not see the recurrence of those shameful acts of missing Parliament and duty; pretending that you are a leader and showing the whole country that all we earn in Parliament is not deserved. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would briefly like to touch on the issue of the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) Act. It is my hope that we shall amend that Act to include assistance to churches. Church attendants and members are the taxpayers who contribute towards the kitty that, in the end, is used to support CDF. Towards that regard, I should also, in the same vein, raise concerns about the church. The church in Kenya largely failed the country. The March 20, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 341 church in Kenya showed that since pre-colonial times, it has not succeeded in its best aim of christianising and making people to be concerned about each other and obeying the commandment that says: "Thou shall not kill." It is a shame that, that happened across the country. It is a shame that bishops and cardinals supported certain motions which were the result, at the end of the day, of what happened. I am a Catholic myself and I should, in the same vein, be very proud of the church in Kisii and the people of Kisii as a whole. When they were being killed in Eldoret, Nakuru, Naivasha, Thika, Nyeri - we were burying people from all areas - the people within Gusiiland who were from other ethnic communities were safe! That is because we, as leaders and the church, issued a fatwa that nobody shall be touched. I hope other leaders will do the same in future. That is because no community has suffered more from the ethnic clashes than the Omugusii . In that regard, I hope that when it comes to distributing any funds that are forthcoming, we shall be looked upon as a favoured community to resettle our people. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, may I conclude by saying this: Let us not be hypocrites. Let people not start blaming others about the ethnic clashes. Those were spontaneous clashes that arose as a result of the announcement of the Presidential elections. There is nothing else to it. Otherwise, they would not have been planned without the National Security Intelligence Service (NSIS) or the police knowing it. Unless we want to admit that we do not have those forces at all. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is a painful subject! But may I also add that corruption in this country has killed more people than those clashes. I want to call upon us, as Parliament and Government, that the issue of corruption be addressed. We should start from the top. The people involved should be taken to task about their activities. With those few remarks, I beg to support the Motion.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this chance to address this House for the first time. I actually got frustrated yesterday when I rose 16 times without being noticed by Mr. Speaker. I thought today would be the same, but I thank God that you have been able to notice me. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me first begin by thanking the people of Igembe South for giving me this opportunity to serve in this House as their Member of Parliament. I want to promise them that I will not let them down. I will serve them with dedication. I also promise to support whatever Bill that comes to this House for the interest of this country and, particularly, for the interest of the people of Igembe. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me also pay tribute to the two major Principals in this country for withstanding the pressure that was around them and making a decision that this country should come together and everybody should work as brothers and sisters. By so doing, they were able to come up with an agreement that brought about peace in this country. I want to say that, to me, the Tenth Parliament is baptism by fire. It is baptism by fire because of the challenges that face this House. The challenges that face this House are so enormous that each one of us here has the responsibility to live to the expectations of Kenyans! We should face the challenge of eradicating ethnicity, corruption and inequitable distribution of resources. I want to say that, that will not be achieved if there is no change within ourselves. We must change in our hearts and agree, as leaders, to eradicate ethnicity and do away with corruption. I am saying that because we, as politicians, are very selfish. We come here and talk very good things and preach peace. But when we get out of this place, the things that we do at night are horrible. I am saying that because whatever happened immediately after the 27th December, 2007 General Elections, to me, was not really spontaneous as some hon. Members of this House would want us to believe. I believe that the politicians had a great part to play in whatever happened in this country. We really need to pray to God to forgive us. It is a shame, indeed, when our own 342 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 20, 2008 brothers turn against one another. I remember very well that when that was going on, I was called from Nairobi. That is because a number of Merus had been killed on the other side of this country. They really wanted to revenge because they had already thought that this country was about a brother against one another. I had to move with speed and one of the members that we, really, rescued was a senior Government officer who worked in the Department of Lands in my own district. I said: "No! This is our brother. Forget what is happening on the other side! Let us all agree to live together because we really need one another. We exhibit a type of symbiotic relationship such that we cannot live without the other." I think it is important for us leaders to take it as our responsibility to heal this country. It cannot only be left to the leaders or the Principals; that is, hon. Raila and His Excellency the President. I think it is us who are supposed to do it. I believe that this House will take it as its responsibility. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, ethnicity is highly entrenched in this country. The problem we are having with the 2007 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) results, for example, has nothing to do with other things but ethnicity. When examiners are examining students, they do not look at the content of the scripts. They instead look at the names of the candidates. An examiner wants to know whether the candidate he or she is examining is a Mr. Kamau, Otieno, ole Kareno or ole Kimutai. This is wrong. We must address this issue. We should develop a document that Kenyans can be identified with, without necessarily having information on tribe, clans and so on, displayed as is currently reflected in our IDs. Those who experienced the violence in Naivasha, for example, will tell you that if we had a document that did not reflect somebody's tribe, people would not have been easily victimised. People's names like Otieno, Biwott and so on would not have been easily read on the IDs. Therefore, this House has a huge task. Since we are all committed, we shall be in a position to come up with serious policy changes in this country. We shall be able to pass Bills that, at the end of the day, the Kenyan population will say:"We did a good thing by electing hon. Members to the Tenth Parliament. They have done Kenya proud". Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the issue of reviewing the Constitution is something that must be done with speed and handled with the seriousness that it deserves. We have issues that must be addressed by the Constitution. We recently passed the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, and the National Accord and Reconciliation Bill. For the sake of peace and unity of this country, we had to pass those Bills. We really needed to stay together as brothers and sisters. But had we been given enough time, and if the mood was properly set, and I believe this is the right time to address the constitutional review, some of us would not have voted for it. On how the Prime Minister should be picked, I was very uncomfortable, because we said that the Prime Minister will be the leader of the party that has the majority hon. Members. When we talk of inequality we should not only address this issue in the context of allocation of national resources, but we should address inequality in terms of representation in this House. I represent 95,000 voters. There are other constituencies that have as few as 10,000 or 20,000 voters. If we want to be fair to ourselves it is high time we addressed this issue. We should also review the constituency boundaries in this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to deliver a message to the principals that the people of Igembe South Constituency are very dependent on the Miraa business. We are very comfortable because the "Big Three" in this country, that is His Excellency the President, Mr. Raila and Mr. Musyoka, visited my constituency and told my people that they would recognise Miraa farming when they are elected to power. I am happy because the grand coalition agreement that was signed has brought on board the three leaders. I will be very comfortable to come to this House to ask the three leaders: Can you, please, be in a position to bring to this House a Bill that will recognise Miraa farming? Miraa, in my place, is referred to as "dream gold". Miraa is not found in March 20, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 343 other areas. Unfortunately, this product is castigated by many people because they think it is a drug. People have stood up in this House and tried to classify it as drug. Miraa is not as dangerous as tobacco, which causes cancer. After this House recognises Miraa farming, the Government may end up getting a lot of revenue in form of taxes from the Miraa trade. Miraa farmers in Maua Town do business to the tune of about Kshs30 million everyday. That is the money that changes hands in my town. The Treasury is not able to get money from Miraa farming just because we have not been able to realise this is something that we really make money from.

Your time is up!

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir!

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I stand to support the Presidential Address that was delivered to this House during the State opening of the Tenth Parliament. I equally support the Prime Minister-designate, for all the statements that he has been making to bring peace in this country. This is the first time in my 15 years in Parliament that I address this august House when we have just gone through a crisis after a general election. In the past, we have held elections and have come here in a very peaceful atmosphere. Unfortunately, this was not the case this time. I am pleased that at long last, peace has been restored in this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to commend the international community for helping us to bring peace to the country. However, I believe that we could have brought the desired peace. We really did not have to get the international community involved in what was happening in the country for us to get His Excellency the President and the Prime Minister-designate to sit together and agree on what needed to be done in this country. It is very unfortunate for us, as a country, that those of us who have been fighting for change in this country were the same people who have brought this kind of problem to Kenyans. We have been fighting for change in this country with His Excellency the President and the Prime Minister-designate, Mr. Raila. Indeed, in 2002 we thought that we had arrived. We thought we had actually got the change that we wanted, only for us to see ourselves going back to the same undemocratic practices that we were fighting. I hope that as His Excellency the President serves his final term, he will leave a legacy that Kenyans will be proud of. That is a new Constitution that Kenyans have been fighting for. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, listening to both His Excellency the President and the Prime Minister-designate I think they have decided to work together. They are the only ones who, I believe, can bring lasting peace to this country. I really commend His Excellency the President for, in his wisdom and humility, he has agreed that he is going to work with Mr. Raila. This has been my prayer since 2002. That is why we were really happy when they decided to work together. But since we are all condemning ethnicity, it has got to start with us in this House. In 2007, we all went back to our tribal, if you may say, cocoons and decided to talk of "mundu wa nyumba; mwana waMumbi or mwana wa Mwende ". The only person who stood as a real nationalist, I want to say here, is Mr. Raila. All the others went back to seek support from their own tribes. I hope this will be the last time we will have people only going for one of their on. People from Central Province should be able to stand up and do what Mr. Raila's father did when Kenyatta was in detention. He said that he did not want freedom until Kenyatta was freed. In 2002, Mr. Raila said that he would support Mr. Kibaki instead of Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta. He did so. When will people from Central Province also say that they can support somebody else? We are all Kenyans! Let us start here in this House and ensure that we actually live up to what we say. All of us who have spoken on the Floor have condemned ethnicity. With regard to what we agreed to do, I hope that we are going to realise it this time because it is the same players. We have all agreed that we must fight corruption and tribalism, we must have a new Constitution, we must share the resources available to us equitably and ensure 344 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 20, 2008 satisfactory leadership. Our people want to be part and parcel of the decisions that are being made by the leadership. We have to go back to our people and listen to them. They do not want us to load it over them. When I say so, I am also thinking about women. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, although His Excellency the President recognised the fact that we now have 21 women Members of Parliament, yet we still see ourselves not being recognised. I still cannot understand why the President, in his half Cabinet, has only two women. Surely, for how long are we going to talk about representation of women? We work as hard as our male counterparts in looking for votes and fighting for positions, but when it comes to sharing, we are relegated to the back seat. I think, maybe, we will be expected to do what men have been doing. Sometimes you fight until you almost kill each other. Since women will not do that, could we ask that we be recognised? Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I know that both PNU and ODM will have a position of a Deputy Prime Minister. In our case, we do not want to go the way we went in NARC by not honouring our agreement. Ours, I believe has already gone, but PNU has the other position of Deputy Prime Minister that has got to be given to a woman. We shall be fighting for that as women outside there. In fact, PNU has a woman we recognise in this country. She has done very well. However, we shall say that outside there because we hope that with the Presidency and the Vice- Presidency positions being occupied by men, then the Deputy Premiership in PNU should go to a woman.

Prime Minister! Prime Minister!

Actually, that was supposed to be mine long time ago before you kicked me out of NARC, but it will come. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to talk about delivery of services in this country. I believe this is one thing that we, certainly, did better between 2002 and 2007 than what the KANU Government did. I also believe that with the resources available in this country, we should do better. However, this will only happen if we ensure that we do not misuse resources. This will happen if we establish proper institutions in this country that can guard against misuse of resources. Since we have got a wake-up call in this country now, we need to involve everybody in what is going to happen in this country. Here, I am thinking about our youth. We all come to this House after we have been supported by the youth, but it all ends the moment we enter this House. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF) and the Women Enterprise Development Fund (WEDF) have not been used properly. We did not also allocate them enough resources. I do believe that we need to increase allocations to the YEDF. We should allocate them one per cent of our budget. If we want a YEDF that helps the youth, the Ministry of Youth Affairs needs to be given enough allocations. We want them to come up with programmes that will help our youth. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the WEDF was also given a paltry Kshs2 billion. There is no good reason for any woman in this country to rejoice over that. That is the kind of money that is pocketed by one person in one deal in this country. I think women of Kenya need to be recognised and be given enough money. They should not just be given this money, but they can borrow it and carry out certain programmes that will uplift their own lives. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, since we have been demonised by the outside world, I think we now have had a wake up call. We know that what happened will never happen again. We will spend over Kshs30 billion to resettle our Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). This money would not have been used for that purpose, if there was no post-election violence. I hope this will never happen again in this country. I hope His Excellency the President will leave behind a legacy that will be for all of us, including our children, to enjoy in future. Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. March 20, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 345

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to support the Presidential Speech. I must record my gratitude to the people of Juja Constituency for giving me an opportunity to serve in this august House, particularly in the company of such stalwarts as hon. Charity Ngilu, among others. I wish to advise that good things come to those who wait. I am sure yours is on the way. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me also take this opportunity to associate myself with the remarks made by my colleagues earlier on the issue of all the people who came from all over the world to help us achieve a peaceful end to what was, obviously, a most ugly situation. I wish to, particularly thank His Excellency, hon. Mwai Kibaki as well as hon. Raila Odinga, the Prime Minister-designate. They acted like true statesmen in agreeing on a deal that was obviously less than each had hoped for when they first took up the business of running for the presidency. It is my hope that we can now move forward. This coming together brings the original National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) of 2003 plus others like His Excellency the Vice-President and hon. Uhuru Kenyatta. The original NARC that gave this country so much hope is now back with more. I sincerely hope that they will deliver to our expectations. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, earlier in the year 2003, we all recall that there was such excitement that the public was going around arresting policemen for taking bribes. Those hopes were dashed. I was one of the members of that public because I did not have the honour of being in this House. Today, we come from a different perspective. With the same team, and probably, better, we expect a lot. People have gone through hell. All they want is to go back home to farm. We have a unique change and our leadership has an opportunity to actually exceed their expectations by far. I, therefore, wish to challenge all those who will be appointed to Deputy Prime Ministers including--- it is my believe that they ought to be women from both sides of the House. I have no idea why women would do themselves in by asking for only the post of Deputy Prime Minister. I hope that they will have the capacity to work as a team and create the synergies that they are capable of having so that this country can move faster than what was envisaged in the manifestos of all the three parties that have come together. The good from each party manifesto must be blended. I really appreciate the President's remark to that effect. The Party of National Unity (PNU) has Vision 2030 with the three pillars; the social, economic and political. The ODM had the issue of devolution of resources to the various regions. The ODM-K, as well, the Chungwa Plus, has its manifesto. If these things are put together--- Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, allow me to read from the National Accord and Reconciliation Act what was a very important area for me. If you look at the preamble on the third paragraph, it says: "As partners in a coalition Government, we commit ourselves to work together in good faith as true partners through constant consultation and willingness to compromise". It talks about good faith, true partners, constant consultation and willingness to compromise. If we live by this, I have no doubt in my mind that this country will reap the true benefit of our coming together. Even though we regret the death and destruction that was caused to this nation, hopefully, this is a small thing that we can give to our society. We will never be able to compensate them for what happened but we can give back something so that we are seen as leaders who have learnt some lessons. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I, therefore, wish to ask that as we come together, we stop the old culture of undermining each other and trying to bring down somebody. If our President is hon. Kibaki, let us support him fully. If our Prime Minister is hon. Raila Odinga, we must not undermine him at any opportunity. We must give them full support and accept that, that is the position. Anyone who wants otherwise must wait until 2012 to try his luck. For the next four and 346 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 20, 2008 half years, we must work seriously as one towards achieving development for this country.

At that point, I will consider my support for hon. Charity Ngilu who has been waiting for a long while. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also dare our leadership to have big dreams. We heard from hon. Samoei when he quoted the example of the tourists in France. This country has a lot to offer but we do not have big dreamers. We do not have people who want to dream big dreams. We want to compromise and go for the small ones. There is nothing to stop us from doing the things that have been done elsewhere. If you go to places like Brazil, they boast of having the biggest stadium, the Marakana Stadium, with talks of a cable car into what they call the sugar loaf which has several million tourists more than Kenya does as a country. These facilities were built in the 1920s and 1930s by people who were visionary. In the year 2008, we do not have a plan to do anything close to that. What a scandal! I challenge all of us to rise to the occasion and to accept that we have a responsibility to dream on behalf of our children and then to actualise it. I would not be good if I concluded my contribution without mentioning my constituency, Juja. It is a land of very many facts, one of which is that we are the single largest constituency in the whole of the Mt. Kenya region. We are very proud to have had the highest votes in the country for His Excellency the President. I assure you that they were not stolen. They were genuine. In fact, they are understated. We are also proud of the fact that we gave the Prime Minister Designate the highest votes in Central Kenya region. So, we did a bit of fair work. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have spoken about the constitutional change and fair representation. I want to add my voice to those who were calling for a review of electoral boundaries. With 166,000 voters, Juja cannot be compared to Lamu East which has 16,000 voters or Samburu East with 17,000 voters and be allocated the same resources. It is not right. I think in the spirit we have in this House, we must address this issue in the next 12 months as we deal with the review of the Constitution. Sometimes, Thika was referred to as an industrial town but now it has declined. As we dream for this country, I pray and hope that those who are in charge will consider what we need to do to bring back these industries because as has been said here by many Members, this is what determines employment for our youth. If we go to the next elections when several million youths are jobless out there, we will be back to square one despite the pieces of paper we have signed. They will end up being just that, pieces of paper. We must make a difference to these young men over the next five years, so that they do not have the appetite or time to take up

on behalf of political leaders. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I wish to comment on a proposed road from Nairobi to Thika that will cost about Kshs18 billion. I want to ask the hon. Minister, or the Government, to reconsider it. It is so good to do a five- or ten-lane road between Nairobi and Thika, with all its benefits. However, it would be useless if we do not consider the issue of all the small settlements along the way. These towns have no plans. Buildings are constructed haphazardly. There is no sewerage system. This road will bring in many more residents, and then create one huge slum from Nairobi to Thika, and probably beyond to Makuyu. It would, therefore, really help if the Ministry concerned was to get some money to do new planning and zoning of all those urban, municipal or county councils, so that they assist us in ensuring that this road will produce maximum benefit for our people. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I know it is the first of its kind in Kenya; so, we are fairly excited. However, in that excitement, we must be sure that people will reap its benefits. At the same time, Juja suffers an environmental disaster from the large number of quarries on the right March 20, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 347 hand-side, from Nairobi to Thika. As that road is constructed, this could be an opportune moment for us to consider what we shall do with the huge gaping holes. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I conclude, I also wish to remark that in Thika Town we have the single largest slum outside Nairobi. As we talk about slum upgrading, let us remember we have the people of Kiandutu, who are not children of a lesser god, and who deserve to be considered alongside other Kenyans. If that is done, I have no doubt that our people will feel the presence of a truly representative Government. After all, Juja is the most cosmopolitan constituency in central Kenya. With those few remarks, I beg to support.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving me an opportunity to contribute to this Motion on the Presidential Address. From the outset, I would like to thank my people of Keiyo North for electing me to Parliament to serve for another term. I would also like to congratulate all hon. Members who were elected to the Tenth Parliament. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President's Address touched on all aspects of our development. I must congratulate the President for the good Address that he gave. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker Sir, I would like to start with the issue of education. I would like to congratulate the Government for, at least, trying to support the free secondary education programme. However, secondary education is not free as such. The Government only caters tuition fees to the tune of Kshs10,600 per year. Therefore, use of the word "free" is not correct. It should be termed "subsidized secondary education". The Government only pays about a third of the school fees. Nevertheless, it is a good beginning. I hope it will be made free as promised in various parties manifestos. Many parties, particularly the ODM, to which I belong, promised it free secondary education. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Ministry of Education has not come forward to state its position regarding secondary school bursaries. My constituency is one of the areas where many parents are unable to educate their children in secondary schools. They are poor and unable to pay school fees. They, therefore, have been relying on the bursary money from the Ministry of Education that was being dispersed through the Constituency Bursary Committees (CBC). I would have liked the Minister, if he was here, to clarify the position of these bursaries. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, another issue with regard to education is the Kenya National Education Council which has messed up examinations in this country. First of all, there was massive cheating in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) done last year. Even schools in the rural villages had leaked examination papers of the KCSE, prior to the examinations. You wonder how these examination leakage was spread all over the country. One also wonders what those people who man the examination papers were doing. This is not the first time! It has been happening in the past few years. One wonders why there is cheating and why it cannot be stopped. I would like to call for a total overhaul of the staff working at the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC). I hope that the Minister will take action. There was not only cheating but this was followed by examination results which had been interfered with. The Council issued different sets of results which showed just how confused the Council is. The Minister should take action to ensure that we have new people in the Council who can maintain the integrity of examinations in this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, finally, I would like to appeal to the Ministry to extend bursaries to university students who are on self-sponsored programmes in various universities. We have quite a number. All these students do not come from rich families. Some of them come from poor families. They are only trying to achieve what they can. The fact that they 348 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 20, 2008 take up self-sponsored programmes does not mean that they are from rich families. That does not add up. These are students who are struggling to achieve university education and they need the support of the Government. I hope that the Coalition Government will come to their support. Agriculture is a very important part of our economy. It contributes overt 60 per cent to the national GDP. This sector should be given the attention it deserves. Currently, farmers who are growing cereals which are important in terms of food security do not seem to have any support.

The cost of agricultural inputs have drastically risen. These include the prices of fertiliser such as DAP which is the main one being used by farmers. Its price has doubled over the last three months. I do not know if this is as a result of the violence or if the price increase is done by importers. The Government should come up with a policy to assist farmers. It is high time we subsidised the prices of inputs. Otherwise, from next year, we will not have adequate food. We will resort to importation which will be very expensive and will not be affordable to the ordinary

. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to comment on the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) which is charged with the responsibility of buying and selling of cereals, both wheat and maize. The Board has not played an active role in the past two years. Farmers who sold their maize last year have not been paid to date. Those who delivered their maize last year in February and March last year have not been paid. Up to now, the NCPD has not opened its depots to farmers to sell their maize. One wonders what is in the minds of those running the NCPB.

On the issue of security, I would like to commend the Government for the steps it took to quell violence. The police tried their best. However, in some areas, the police shot innocent people who were running for cover. Innocent people were shot and this was very unfair. Innocent people who were travelling were shot and this was unfair. The Commissioner of Police needs to bring order to his department so that his officers do not just shoot. That is abuse of human rights.

Mr. Chepkitony, you will still have your three minutes next week. Hon. Members, it is now time to interrupt the business of the House. The House, is therefore, adjourned until Tuesday 25th March, 2008, at 2.30 p.m. The House rose at 6.30 p.m