Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to ask the Minister for Education the following question by Private Notice. (a) Could the Minister lay on the table the amount allocated per student for the Free Primary Education (FPE) and the Free Secondary Education (FSE) funds disbursed from January, 2009 to date indicating the specific dates of disbursement? (b) Could the Minister explain how the schools have been able to sustain the programmes and how schools are managing the co-curriculum activities and, specifically, how much has been disbursed for the school teams participating in the National Music Festivals in Mombasa? (c) How and when will the Minister disburse the balance of the money to the schools, and what measures has he put in place to ensure the funds are not delayed in future?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to reply. (a) I lay on the Table the details of how we disburse, both FSE and FSE funds.

The allocation of the FPE Funds is based on annual capitation of Kshs1,020.00 per pupil, out of which Kshs650.00 is for tuition (Account I) and Kshs370.00 is for recurrent expenses (Account II). On the other hand, the allocation of FSE funds is based on annual capitation of KShs10,265 per student, out of which Kshs3,600 is for tuition and Kshs6,665 is for operation expenses. Accordingly, since January, 2009, the Ministry has allocated a total of Kshs4,071,718,365 for FPE and Kshs8,058,871,177 for FSE. The details are in the Papers I have laid on the table. (b) (i) The FPE and FSE programmes have been sustained through consistent annual budget allocation; devolution of the funds management at school level through capacity building on procurement and financial management; implementation of the National School Health Policy; support from parents through payment of fees in boarding

Thank you Mr. Speaker, Sir. While I thank the Assistant Minister for his answer, the delay in the release of this money has really caused havoc in our schools. The money which was released on 15th of January 2009, was the balance for last year. The money meant for January was released in March and to date no other money has been released. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I asked the Assistant Minister how the schools have been able to sustain the programmes and not how the Ministry has been able to sustain the programmes. Could he explain how our schools have been able to sustain the programmes up to date, now that they have just closed for second term without receiving any money meant for last term?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Let me clarify to Mr. Koech, that for this financial year, FPE funds, the first release was in September last year, the second and third release were done this calendar year. So there is no balance. As regards the release of the funds, the delay is not with the Ministry but with the office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Finance. If we get the money from the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, we release it straight away.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. The Assistant Minister is charged with the responsibility of managing our schools. I have asked him a very simple question and he is avoiding it. How have these schools been able to sustain their programmes?

Mr. Assistant Minister, answer the question directly!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, they manage the schools with the funds we allocate them.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is unfortunate that the Assistant Minister has not answered the question he has been asked. This Ministry has a responsibility and mandate to manage the affairs of our schools countrywide. No funds were released to the schools last term. How did the schools sustain their programmes? That is the question that the Assistant Minister has not answered.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, we released the funds for free primary education in September, last year. That was the first disbursement. The second disbursement was made in March, this year while the third disbursement was made in June, this year. With proper planning, the head teachers and school managers can manage the schools.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the allocation by the Ministry of Kshs10,265 per student in secondary schools is admittedly inadequate. This has made the principals to disregard the guidelines given by the Ministry of Education. Instead of charging Kshs18,260 per annum, some schools have escalated the fees up to over Kshs30,000. Could the Assistant Minister deny that the delay in disbursement has led to the principals overcharging the parents? Even the bursaries we give are not adequate to keep our boys and girls in secondary schools.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I will not deny anything here. The Kshs10,000 that the Government pays is for tuition. Any other expense is met by the parents. If the parents want their children to be provided with lunch or keep them in boarding school, then they should meet that cost. This is clear. It has been stated repeatedly by the Government that the Ministry of Education pays tuition for students in public secondary schools.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is no wonder the free primary education programme has become a failure and parents have to dip into their pockets to finance it. In his answer, the Assistant Minister has said that they provided money for accommodation for the students to go to Mombasa, and yet they did not provide transport. According to the answer the Assistant Minister has given us, each child was to get Kshs21 for transport. Surely, how does he expect a child to get to Mombasa with Kshs21? Is the Ministry serious? What has the Ministry done to make sure that the free primary education programme is effective and does not eat into the pockets of Kenyans?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, this was a very successful festival. Let the hon. Member tell me the students who walked to Mombasa. The schools hired buses using the Ministry of Education money.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I think the Assistant Minister is misleading this House. In my constituency, there is one school known as “Radienya”, which did not make it to the festival because it did not have transport.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, let me tell hon. Members once again that teachers know very well that the Ministry of Education gave full sponsorship to the number one school in each province. That included a bus, food and accommodation.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

Just a minute! Listen, I am telling you. You have to keep quiet!

Order, Mr. Olago! The Assistant Minister will have to be heard!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the runners up in the provinces were told clearly that if they could get their transport to Mombasa, they would be accommodated and provided with food. That was done.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Mr. K. Kilonzo’s question was very specific. He has said that the Ministry provided Kshs21 per student as transport. Is that money enough to take a student from Kisumu Town to Mombasa for the festival?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, as far as I know, no student was given Kshs21. We hired buses for them. If you get the average for doing all that work, it comes to that amount. However, we hired buses for schools. Tell me the school that was given Kshs21 per student and it had to look for a bus?

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Is it in order for the Assistant Minister to mislead this House that they did not allocate Kshs21 per pupil for transport, and yet he has tabled his answer before the House? He has tabulated it clearly that the money allocated is Kshs21 per child for transport?

Mr. Assistant Minister, could you explain that?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, that is the average for the whole population of students, but we did not carry the whole school to the National Festival!

Last question, Mr. Koech!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like the Assistant Minister to take this business seriously, because it is affecting the children and schools in this country. More so, these are children who belong to the poor. This is because the children of the majority of the rich are in private schools. The Assistant Minister has alleged that he started releasing the money in September and yet school programmes run from January to December, while the financial year of the Government runs from July to June. Could he confirm that, that is where the problem lies? What will he do to ensure school programmes match with the financial year of the Government, so that they are not affected?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is an old practice in this country that the school calendar runs from January to December. If the hon. Member wants that changed, it is the House to do that and not the Ministry. Schools belong to this country and not the Ministry of Education which is mandated to run the schools. However, if the hon. Member wants that changed, then he should do it here.

Please, let me finish my answer. Once the money has been released to the managers of schools, it is up to them to manage the funds the way they want.

Order, Mr. Koech! You are out of order and I will not allow you to raise any point of order! As the Assistant Minister answered your last question you remained on your feet. Our Standing Orders provide that only one Member shall be on his feet at any given time. Let us move on to the Question by Mr. Mungatana!

asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance: - whether following the directive by the Government that Ministers and top Government officials use one official car with an engine capacity of not more than 1800cc, he could - (a) state the rate of compliance with the directive and confirm how much savings are expected from the initiative; (b) table the list of the Ministers, top government and parastatal officials who have complied and those who have not and state whether escort cars will also be affected; and, (c) state when H.E the President, H.E. the Vice-President and the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister will start complying and lead by example.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I wish to seek your indulgence to allow me to get more information on this matter. I request that I answer this Question on Thursday afternoon.

Mr. Mungatana, what is your reaction to that?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have a lot of respect for the Assistant Minister, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Finance. However, this Question has been on the Order Paper for about three weeks. The Prime Minister has dodged it. Now this Ministry is trying to play games. As I speak now, I do not even have a written answer. I think they are not taking this matter seriously. They are the ones who issued this directive. What is going on?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, we are not dodging this Question. I have an answer which is not very satisfactory to me. I want to give the hon. Member a satisfactory answer. We will definitely give it on Thursday afternoon, this week.

Fair enough! The Question is deferred to Thursday afternoon, this week. Hon. Members, note that the fact of Questions not being responded to timeously by Ministers has acquired so much notoriety. We will be addressing this matter substantively later this week.

asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance:- (a) given the Government policy of bringing services closer to the people by creating new districts, why it has not extended the same policy

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to reply. (a)The Government has not opened KRA offices in towns like Kitale, Kapenguria and Lodwar in view of the cost effectiveness of running the offices in these stations. (b) The KRA is currently implementing an Integrated Tax Management System (ITMS) programme which calls for online service provision. To this end, taxpayers will not need to travel to KRA offices for these services. The KRA will assess the effectiveness of the online service programme with a view to exploring the possibility of opening additional offices should the business/economic activity warrant the move.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I do not know whether the Assistant Minister is aware of the amount of revenue the Government is losing by the amount of time people spent travelling all the way to Eldoret from Kitale, Kapenguria and Turkana. Has the Government taken time to access the amount of revenue it is losing for lack of offices in this region, given the distance and time?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, there used to be Government offices in Kitale and Kapenguria. However, when the road licensing was abolished in 2006, the Government found that the effectiveness of the officers who were based in those stations were underutilized. Because of this, the Government introduced mobile services. As far we are concerned, we have not noted that has led in loss of money. We are only aware that this is giving service to the people who require it conveniently, so that they do not have to travel all the way. But we go to them using mobile services on designated days.

Anybody else interested? Yes, Mr. Lekuton!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Government has created a lot of administration units across this country. The reason for this is for people to get services. That is why we have all these new districts. What is this Ministry doing to make sure that these services are decentralized to the man in a village between Wajir and Laisamis, so that they do not have to waste their time coming all the way to Nairobi?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Government is trying to introduce IT villages. We want Kenyans to be computer literate so that they do not have to spend so much time going to sort out their tax matters. We are also assessing the effectiveness of these services in the short term. If we find that this service is not very effective in delivering services, we will consider opening more offices. This will depend on the effectiveness of the delivery of the services.

Mr. Assistant Minister, I do not know when these assessments will be finalized. As you know, for most of the towns that we have mentioned, the residents come from rural areas where electrification has not been done effectively. So, online services are really not a very practical and effective method. What is the Ministry doing about it?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the assessment is ongoing and will be completed very soon. We hope that hon. Members will use the IT system very effectively. The use of IT is the way the whole world is going. I know it might not be quite effective from the

asked the Minister for Planning, National Development and Vision 2030:- (a) if he could table a list of all banks in which Constituency Development Fund Committees (CDFC) are authorized to operate accounts; and, (b) which criteria was used to select the banks.

Order, hon. Members, we have a letter from the Minister for Planning, National Development and Vision 2030 asserting that he has a problem which entails sickness of one of his relatives. So, obviously, that is a matter that the Chair must be sympathetic to, except that the Minister must be having an Assistant Minister. So, where is the Assistant Minister? Somebody who can take responsibility from the Cabinet?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I believe maybe the Assistant Minister is assisting in the same case. However, I undertake to inform their office that they should be able to answer this Question by Thursday, this week.

Fair enough. Except for what we will be saying later this week, the Question is deferred to Thursday, next week. Next Question, Mr. Konchella!

asked the Minister for Water and Irrigation:- (a) why the Kilgoris, Kuria and Transmara Water Services Company (KIKUTRA) is unable to provide water to Lolgorian and Ongata Baragoi Trading Centres for the last 2 years; and, (b) if he could consider forming a water service provider to cater for Transmara District only so that over 50,000 residents of Kilgoris town can access clean water for domestic use and sanitation services, considering that Migori, Kuria and Transmara Water Services Company (MIKUTRA) is also serving a large area.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to reply.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I thank the Assistant Minister for the answer; particularly part “b” where the Ministry has designed, through the Lake Victoria Water Service Board, a project as a permanent solution to the water problem in Kilgoris of Kshs291 million. However, I am not very happy because it is not really the inadequacy of the sources of water and facilities but the lack of the completion of projects. I have a list of stalled projects for the last years which include both boreholes and dams. I do not have to read them because there are more than ten projects. I can probably hand the list to the Assistant Minister. When will those projects be completed?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would really like to see the list of projects that have not been completed. However, what we are dealing with right now - because all sources of water are drying up, including the water table – is that where there are emergencies, we can be able to fix them. Where there are public institutions like schools, we can be able to intervene.

The former Mayor, Mr. Shakeel!

The title of Mayor is something that I will die with, with the grace of God.

I would like to ask the Assistant Minister, whether the water service boards across the country have failed. Whenever there is a water service company, whether in Kisumu, Nairobi, Mombasa or Trans Mara, they have all failed. Could he tell us one successful water service company in the country?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the water services companies have not failed. One successful case is in Nyeri.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am straining to listen to the questions because of loud consultations.

Order, hon. Members! Could you lower the level of your consultations so that hon. Members who are asking questions are heard? Mr. Kombo!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I was a victim recently when I visited Kilgoris---

Use the microphone!

My friend, I am standing near a microphone!

When I visited Kilgoris recently, there was no water in the hotel. This is a town of 50,000 people and the Assistant Minister is promising to look for Kshs291 million through the UN Habitat or the African Development Bank (ADB). That means donor funding and yet he knows very well that donor funding takes a long time to materialize. What is the Government doing to ensure that a town of 50,000 people has water?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is true that the town has over 50,000 people but the only water source that we have can only serve 10,000 people. In the other areas like Ongata, we can only be able to serve 3,000 people. In Lolgorian, we can only serve 2.500 people. That is the source that we have. That is why we want to draw water from Migori. Last week I said that we already have Kshs482 million for supply of water to the three districts of Migori, Trans Mara and Kuria. When we augment all these projects and we get that money in addition to what we are receiving from UN Habitat for sanitation, then we shall get adequate water for Trans Mara, Kuria and Migori Districts.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, Trans Mara District was created from the larger Narok District. Migori and Kuria Districts are in Nyanza Province while Trans Mara and Narok are in Rift Valley Province. Could the Assistant Minister consider forming a water company for Narok and Trans Mara for ease of management?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, forming a water company depends on so many things. First, whether we have sources of water, second, whether there are enough customers to purchase the water and third, whether it would be cost effective to do that. We might end up with a water company that cannot even run or manage itself. If we are convinced that the Narok/Trans Mara Water Company can manage itself, then we can go ahead and form it. But this far, we know that Trans Mara cannot be able to manage itself. It cannot be self-sustaining.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, Kilgoris Town has more than 3,000 school going children. In fact, there are boarding schools; three secondary schools and three primary schools. Those children walk to the river to fetch water very early or very late. We have lost more than 10 girls through pregnancy because they are just idling at home and not in school. What immediate steps could the Assistant Minister take to sink a borehole to provide water to these schools because this is an emergency? We have Kilgoris Boys’ Secondary Schools, Kilgoris Girls Secondary School, St. Joseph Girls’ Sosio Secondary School and DEB Boarding School.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to know from the hon. Member whether they can be served by one borehole. If we can be able to supply them from one borehole, then I can assure the hon. Member that we can do one borehole for him on an emergency basis. Then we shall consider the next one later but the most urgent one can be done in the next one month.

asked the Minister of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security:- (a) why he has not paid service and pension benefits to Mr. Joseph Muturi Kagwi (P/No.371347) who retired on 1st December, 1997; and, (b) if he could he inform the House when he will be paid.

Is the Minister of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security not here?

Mr. Bett, I am told you are the senior-most here now!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I do not understand what Question has been asked.

It is Question No.222, asked by Mr. Warugongo and it seems there is no Minister to respond.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, there was a Cabinet meeting today and I believe he could still be there. I came out earlier because of the business I have in the House. I undertake to inform the Minister to come to answer the Question later.

Order, Mr. Bett! Do Assistant Ministers also attend Cabinet meetings?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would not be able to respond to that because I am not clearly aware.

Order, Mr. Bett! You have to take this House seriously. You are a Member of the Cabinet and you attend those meetings. Do your Assistant Ministers attend Cabinet meetings at the same time as you do?

No, they do not, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

Could you, therefore, indicate to the House why the Assistant Minister in that Ministry is not available?

I may not be able to give you an answer. All I know is that the Minister was in the Cabinet meeting. I undertake to pass the information to the Minister.

Order! Obviously the explanation given by Mr. Bett on behalf of his colleagues in the Cabinet and on behalf of Assistant Ministers is not satisfactory. That notwithstanding, I will defer this Question to Tuesday next week but we will be covering this ground in the communication that we will make later on this week.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

That matter is concluded! Mr. Mwathi!

asked the Minister for Lands:-

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to reply.

(a) LR.No.12082, Tigoni Market, measuring 1.446 hectares is registered in favour of Kiambu County Council for a term of 99 years with effect from 1st March, 1969. In 1998, a portion of the plot was irregularly excised and planned into nine commercial plots measuring between 0.03 hectares and 0.5 hectares each.

(b) The allocation was based on Part Development Plan No.Kiambu1271/97/12 of 24th December, 1997 which was approved by the Director of Physical Planning and Commissioner of Lands. However, this allocation ignored the fact that the original title deed which is still valid ought to have been surrendered first.

(c) The nine plots were allocated to the following persons – I beg to read the names, because they are only nine: (i) Parcel 69 was allocated to S.A. Service Limited and transferred to Regina and Morris Brewer of P.O. Box 483, Nairobi. (ii) Parcel No.70, Teresia Njeri Kong’i of P.O. Box 52688, Nairobi. (iii) Parcel No.71, Joseph Karimi Koigi of P.O. Box 85, Ngecha. (iv) Parcel No.73, Devland Company Limited of P.O. Box 64678, Nairobi. (v) Parcel No.78, New Valley Estate Limited of P.O. Box 47217, Nairobi. (vi) Parcel No.75, Anna Wanja of P.O. Box 167, Nairobi and transferred to Chakwe Holdings Limited of P.O. Box 67771, Nairobi. (vii) Parcel No.76, Janet Wangui, transferred to Chakwe Holdings Limited of P.O. Box 67771, Nairobi. (viii) Parcel No.77, Kalama Agencies Company Limited and transferred to Chakwe Holdings Limited of P.O. Box 67771, Nairobi. The sub-division and subsequent allocation of the nine plots to private individuals and companies was irregular because there is an existing valid title deed registered in favour of Kiambu County Council. These leases are, therefore, invalid.

(d) My Ministry has, through the Commissioner of Lands, directed the cancellation of the said leases. My Ministry has undertaken an exercise to document all public utility land in the country and the policy has been to issue title deeds of such land to the Permanent Secretary, Treasury. Where the public institutions have the legal capacity to hold title deeds, then the title deeds are issued directly to them.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I thank the Assistant Minister for assuring this House that the titles will remain cancelled. Could he tell us which action he is taking to discipline the officers who did this work irregularly in Kiambu County Council?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, as I said, this land was irregularly allocated, therefore, we are investigating. Some of the officers have retired but those ones who are definitely still with us; we shall take some disciplinary measures against them.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I listened very carefully to the answer by the Assistant Minister and I noticed that he has not addressed the question in “b”. I listened keenly because similar instances have occurred in Kisumu Municipal Council where land registered in the name of the council as trustee for the public is disposed of by senior officers. So what is the Ministry doing to ensure that such allocations do not happen anywhere else in the Republic?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, apparently when I was reading, my brother might not have been listening. I said very clearly that for any land that might have been irregularly allocated, we shall cancel that deed and not just this one but across the country.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. What I am trying to reiterate here is: What the Assistant Minister is saying takes cares of what has already happened; but what is being done to ensure that it does not happen?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, you will agree with me that in this country, if there is any Ministry that has been messed up by the previous Government is the Ministry of Lands. That is why we have the National Land Policy that has been approved by the Cabinet and is awaiting to be approved by this august House. Once approved, some of these anomalies in the Ministry of Lands will be a bygone story.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, we are grateful to the Assistant Minister for this answer that those titles which were allocated illegally will be cancelled. The Assistant Minister is aware that in my own place, there are 331 dams which was drained and some people subdivided this land and acquired the titles illegally. I would like to know when those title deeds will be cancelled and the dam reinstated to its former use.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, as I have told this House, this issue does not affect Kiambu alone. The other day, we were in Mombasa and we are going round the country as a Ministry. Anywhere, anybody including anybody seated here, if you have been irregularly allocated land that is meant for public utility, I and my brother, Mr. Orengo and the rest shall cancel that title.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. The Assistant Minister did not answer the question. The question is: When? Because every time they come here, they say those titles will be cancelled. When will the first title deed be cancelled so that we have faith?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I wish my brother listened. Why can he not let us know today and we will cancel it?

Fair enough! Mr. Ngugi, the ball is in your court. The Assistant Minister is ready to cancel the first title today if you supply the information.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the first title to be cancelled is mine because he has just cancelled it. But despite the fact that he has undertaken to cancel this title, could he assure the House and the people of Limuru that this land will not be allocated in future and it will be used for the intended purpose of a market.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, this land was leased to Kiambu County Council with conditions attached with. There is no way land allocated for public utility with conditions on it can be allocated to individuals. If you get it, you get it at your own risk!

Next Order!

Hon. Members, do we have any statements ready for delivery today?

Yes, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

How long are you going to be? We only have ten minutes?

Five minutes, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

Stick to it! Proceed!

Yes, Mr. Speaker, Sir. On 26th May, 2009, Dr. Eseli asked a question on the rise on the issue of the rise of cases of cancer in this country and I made a Statement to that effect but he wanted some clarifications which I want to deliver. The following are the companies that manufacture plastics in Kenya: Plastic Products, Plastic Industries, Afrom Plastics, General Plastics, Kenapen Industries, Malplastic Industries, Plastic Prestige and Safepak Limited. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the following are some of the companies that are packaging their foodstuffs using plastics. They are Coca Cola Bottlers, Bidco, Keringet, Aquamist, Kapa Oil Refineries, Unilever and New Kenya Co-operative Creameries, among others.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, in this country, the plastic container manufacturers for food packaging use lead and cadmium as stabilizers for their final products, but that must conform to our county’s standards; that is the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) 1667 of 2001. For plastics in contact with food and drinking water, the maximum level of lead is 0.1 per cent or 10milligrams per kilogram.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the hon. Member also wanted to know why we use those plastics to the detriment of the health of Kenyans. My Ministry, in collaboration with KEBS, has been carrying out surveillance in food outlets to withdraw from the market any container showing signs of damage.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I hope that clarification closes the chapter on this discussion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the law is generally made to protect the weak. In that case, once the containers leave the manufacturers and the goods inside have been used - even if it was cooking oil – eventually, those containers end up in the hands of the rural folk who fetch and store water and other edible items in them. Those containers get damaged and, I believe, that is the cause of the rising cancer cases in the rural areas.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I think the Assistant Minister might be constrained, being in the Ministry, to give a full report on this. Would I be in order to request that this issue be referred to the Departmental Committee on Health to do a thorough probe into it? That is because the rural people are the ones who are being exposed, inadvertently, to cancer causing materials.

That is fair enough. Is there anybody else interested in this issue? Order, hon. Members! Even as you respond, Mr. Assistant Minister, the Departmental Committee responsible for health is at liberty, according to our Standing Orders, to initiate an inquiry whenever and howsoever it deems appropriate. So, you do not require an order from the Chair. The Committee is at liberty to proceed. Dr. Gesami?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Two weeks ago, I sought a Ministerial Statement from the Minister for Lands regarding Mt. Elgon Hospital in Kitale that was taken over by individuals under questionable circumstances.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I will try and bring the Statements next week.

Why next week? Those issues have been pending for about two weeks?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am learning about it now and I have to go and look for it.

Hon. Bifwoli, the essence of requests for Ministerial Statements is that they pertain to matters that are urgent! So, they must be responded to as fast as possible, within 48 hours. Can you do that by Thursday this week?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, on Thursday, I will be attending the Mombasa International Show with His Excellency the President.

Tuesday, next week!

Yes, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

It is so ordered!

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. About three weeks ago, I sought a Ministerial Statement from the Minister for Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs on the failure of the Ministry to utilize about Kshs2.5 billion for the Governance, Justice, Law and Order Sector (GJLOS) Reform Program. He was supposed to give the Statement this afternoon. He asked, with your permission, that the Statement be given on Thursday this week at 2.30 p.m., if that will suit---

Who is the Minister concerned?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Minister for Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs. He contacted me this morning and said that he would to deliver the Statement on Thursday.

Thursday, this week?

Yes, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

Then, it is so ordered. We will take your word as being factual.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. There was a clarification that was to come from the Ministry of Agriculture regarding the importation of Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) maize, and I was given to understand that the investigations were through and they were supposed to clarify the issue.

Could the Minister for Agriculture do that on Thursday?

Order, Mr. Ndambuki! Can you do that on Thursday, this week?

Not on Thursday, Mr. Speaker, Sir. But I can do it on Tuesday next week.

Tuesday next week?

Yes, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

It is so ordered! Order, hon. Members! Before we proceed to the next Order, I have the following Communication to make.

A Workshop whose theme is: “Strengthening Partnership between

has been organized jointly by the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) and the Kenya National Assembly for all Members of Parliament. The Workshop will take place on Friday the 14th and Saturday the 15th August, 2009, at the Leisure Lodge in Mombasa. Resource persons will include sourcing by

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to move that the Speaker do now leave the Chair.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Ministry’s Vision Statement is to attain and sustain world class roads infrastructure to enable socio-economic development. The Mission is to facilitate provision, maintenance and management of quality roads infrastructure in support of Kenya Vision 2030 aspirations.

The Ministry of Roads has the following functions:- National Road Development Policy (NRDP); Kenya Roads Board (KRB); Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA); Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA); Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA); Mechanical and Transport Services (MTS); Enforcement of Axle Load Control; Material testing and advice on usage; standardization of vehicles, plant and equipment; registration of roads contractors; registration of engineers and protection of road reserves. The budget of the Ministry is Kshs71,931,150,000 broken down as follows; Recurrent Expenditure - Kshs21,434,550,000 and Development Expenditure - Kshs50,496,600,000. This gives a total of Kshs71.9 billion. The Recurrent Budget is broken into two and is procured as follows; Roads Maintenance Levy Fund - Kshs20 billion; other Appropriations-in-Aid - Kshs79,150,000 and from the Government Ex-chequer - Kshs1,335,400,000. This gives a total of Kshs21.4 billion. The Fuel Levy Fund charged at Kshs9 per litre of fuel consumed has continued to increase over the years. The Roads Maintenance Levy is managed by the KRB and the

Order, hon. Members! Lower the level of your consultations so that the Minister is heard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for that intervention. The total Recurrent net to be provided from the Ex-chequer is Kshs1.4 billion. A major component of this net expenditure is salaries which amount to Kshs1.1 billion. The balance of Kshs286.7 million is to be allocated to operations and maintenance which, when combined with the total Appropriations-in-Aid of Kshs79.2 million, gives a total of Kshs365.9 million to be expended by the Ministry for operations and maintenance. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the gross Development Budget of Kshs50.5billion comprises the following; Development partners’ component - Kshs24,947,500,000; Government component - Kshs25,549,100,000. This gives a total of Kshs50.5 billion. The Development Budget has risen by Kshs8 billion from the Printed Estimates of 2008/2009 of Kshs42.4 billion to Kshs50.5 billion this year. This represents an increase of 19 per cent from last year’s Budget. The Development Partners’ Component will contribute 49 per cent to the Ministry’s Development Budget and the Government will contribute 35 per cent. You will notice that our absorption of the Development Partners’ funds is still low and we will endeavour to increase the level so that we can have more roads developed for our people. The Development Partners’ Component has increased by 13.7 per cent from last year’s component. I take this opportunity to thank our development partners for the good gesture and support they have given us. The Government component has increased by 25 per cent, if you look at the Printed Estimates of last year and this year. The Ministry has made achievements and is involved in a serious reform exercise in the sector so as to improve efficiency and quick delivery of service to the people of this country. To address the institutional challenges facing the roads subsector, the Ministry has been able to operationalise three roads authorities as stipulated in the Roads Act, 2007. The institutions are the Kenya National Highways Authority (KENHA), which is responsible for design, development, management and rehabilitation of all our national roads. These are roads commonly classified as A, B and C. The Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KERRA) has been put in place to man all our rural roads. It is responsible for designing, developing, managing, rehabilitating and maintaining our rural roads. This Authority will work in conjunction with the District Roads Committees. We have allocated close to Kshs18 million per constituency this year. This money is obtained from the Roads Maintenance Levy Fund which has Kshs20 billion. Mr. Speaker, Sir, another Authority we have put in place for the same reason is the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA). Its responsibility is on roads which are

Order, Mr. Minister! Wind up!

Mr. Bett): Mr. Speaker, Sir, in conclusion, for my Ministry to be able to finance its operations, I am asking this House to approve a sum of Kshs71,931,150,000 for both Recurrent and Development Budgets for the financial year 2009/2010. With those remarks, I beg to move.

Thank you, very much Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to second this Motion. First, I want to thank the Minister for Roads for this eloquent, very elaborate and comprehensive presentation in defence of his Ministry’s budget estimates.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank the staff of the Ministry for the good work being done. I have worked in several Ministries of the Government. I have also had the opportunity to work at the Ministry of Roads. The staff of the Ministry of Roads, including staff of the Kenya Roads Board and those of the road authorities, are among the most diligent and hardworking public servants in the entire Civil Service.

Today, Kenyans everywhere are proud because they can point at some striking development projects being undertaken around them. When most Kenyans speak of development, they are, probably, referring to a road which has been constructed in their area. To a lesser extent, they are referring to rural electrification projects which they have seen in their areas. Development and maintenance of roads in Kenya in recent years has been a huge success story. This has also been the Government’s greatest achievement and success in recent years.

It is a success because once roads have been constructed, they are measurable. They can be seen in every part of our country. Roads can also be felt when we drive on them. The reason we have been successful is because the Government has been prepared to invest large sums of money in the development and maintenance of roads in recent years. We must be prepared to sustain these levels of investment in the road sector if we are to sustain the current momentum. We should strive, not only to develop roads, but also to ensure that they are in good motorable condition and free of pot holes.

Order, Mr. Obure. Your time is up.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I support.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to speak on behalf of the Departmental Committee on Transport, Roads, Public Works and Housing. I would like to start by thanking your office and that of the Clerk for the support that you have given our Committee in terms of deliberating on the issues which were before us.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Members of the Committee who have been very committed during the several meetings that we have had with the four Ministers heading the Ministries under our Committee.

We did table our report and I am sure members are conversant with our recommendations and observations. Therefore, I will only highlight a few areas which I would like to share with hon. Members.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Ministry of Roads is a very key Ministry. It is one of the Ministries in charge of infrastructure in this country together with the Ministries of Energy, Transport and others. Therefore, if the Ministry of Roads succeeds in its mandate, then we are about to see development in our country.

If we want to achieve the development goals that we intend to achieve by 2030, then it is very important that this House supports the request by the Minister for Roads. In the past, the Government was not keen on developing the total infrastructure in the country. In the recent past, as from 2003, we have seen tremendous development of our road network.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, over the last seven years, wherever you travel in any part of our country, you will see a major road being done. Had this been the trend since Independence, I am sure we would be very far in terms of road development in this

I thank you Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this Motion. From the onset, I want to congratulate the Minister for doing a good job. As one of my colleagues has said, this Ministry is working. I think we need to be rated and in order of performance, we know performing Ministries. This Ministry and my Ministry

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for this opportunity to contribute to the Vote on the Ministry of Roads. As it has been said by the previous speakers, the Kenyan roads are key towards the development of this country. As hon. Members, we demand equity when the Ministry of Roads is disbursing these funds to the various agencies and to the various constituencies and districts in this country. I want to start by highlighting the amount of money which the Ministry has allocated to Koibatek District. They have allocated Kshs5,000 for the development of roads where I come from. I actually wonder what this Kshs5,000 is for. If they are giving Kshs5,000 to Koibatek District, definitely, we do not need that kind of money. I want to believe that this is the money that was supposed to be voted for the Eldama Ravine-Nyaru-Eldoret Road. However, this road needs billions of shillings. When the Minister was moving the Vote of his Ministry, I did not hear him mention the key item which the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance highlighted when he was reading the Budget this year. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance indicated, in the Budget, that 22 per cent of the Petroleum Levy Fund would go directly to the constituencies through the CDF. We did not hear the Minister talk about that and say that he would bring an amendment to the Kenya Roads Board Act so that, that Fund can go through the CDF. I want to believe that most hon. Members would support me in that idea that the Petroleum Levy Fund which has been going to the constituencies should go through the CDF. That is the only way that this money will reach the various constituencies. We also want to support that the amendment should be brought here so that equity may prevail. We would also like the amount of money which has been going to the so called districts--- The districts we have now are no longer manageable. We are aware that there are two principals who are competing in dishing out districts in this country. Very soon, we will have close to 1,000 districts. There is an amount of money which the Act requires that it should be disbursed equitably to the districts. Since we no longer know the number of districts we have in this country, we want to request the Minister that the 12 per cent which he is required to distribute equitably to the districts be distributed equally to the constituencies. When we use the word equity, it means that this issue is within the discretion of the Minister or the Managing Director of the Kenya Roads Board to decide what amount is equitable. We demand that the money should go like the 20 per cent which has been going to the constituencies so that we can have equity in this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, just to say a little bit about Nairobi, this is the only Ministry which can assist us to decongest this city. The issue of by-passes has been on the air since the year 2003. In 2003, I was a very young man and I had not even started dreaming about coming to this Parliament. We are yet to start the job. The Minister has indicated that they are still looking for the President to come and inaugurate

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I stand here to support the Motion. In doing so, I want to say that I have a lot of respect for the Minister for Roads, his able deputies and indeed, the Permanent Secretary and his staff. However, having said that, I want to agree with the previous speaker, Mr. Lessonet, on the inequality in development and particularly as far as the Ministry of Roads is concerned. There has been a deliberate marginalization of certain areas by this Ministry. Today, we are being asked to approve a lot of money, billions of shillings; Kshs15 billion. The Minister was very eloquent in describing what the Ministry was going to do. However, did you hear him talk about any projects that he will do in the North Eastern Province? The whole of North Eastern Province has 12 kilometers of tarmac road. Are those not Kenyans? The south eastern, apart from the road that leaves Thika to Garissa, which is dilapidated and is not a road anymore, there is no road. No roads have been done. For how long will this continue? This is my 12th year to support the Vote for the Ministry of Roads. Every year, I talk about Road C94 which is the only major road that passes through my constituency. To date, nothing has been done. This is 12 years down the line. For how long will I wait? Other than the money that is allocated to the District Road Committees (DRCs) equitably on constituency-basis, the rest of the money is allocated through favouritism. Certain areas have Class E roads tarmacked, while others have Class B roads untarmacked. I was surprised to hear Mr. I. M. Muoki, the Member for Kitui South praise the Ministry when, in fact, Road B2 - Kibwezi- Kitui that passes through this constituency has never been constructed.

On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. Is Mr. Musila in order to say that I praised the Ministry and failed to mention the road when I strongly said that the road from Kibwezi through Mutomo/Mwingi to Isiolo was left out and, therefore, needs money through the allocation to be done?

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would have expected that being a very able Chair of his Committee, his road would have been included in this year’s Budget.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with regard to Kazi Kwa Vijana programme, I would like the Kenya Roads Board (KRB) to know that the conduit for misusing public funds through bush clearing is evident. As I speak here, there is serious drought in my constituency. However, all the Ministry of Roads officers did was to use Kazi KwaVijana money in bush clearing, and yet there is no bush to clear. The other area on which they used money is in cleaning culverts. Even if they are cleaned, you will not know because they are under the ground. I emphasize that let us use money in Kazi Kwa Vijana

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to support this Vote fairly reluctantly. I will support it because the Ministry has done something. In so doing, I would like to quickly point out the fact that it is very important for the Ministry and Minister, for that matter, to know the importance that road infrastructure has in the lives of Kenyans. Even though I know people cry about tarmac roads, there are certain roads that must be passable in order to access some areas. However, I would like to say that if the Ministry undertakes to upgrade a road to a certain level, for example, tarmac it, it should do so. I do not want to be selfish but since I do not have a choice other than talking about my road; let the road be tarmacked. Let us not have a road that is half way tarmacked and before it is completed, the initial section of the road has developed potholes. I will give a road in my constituency, as an example of probably what happens in Kenya. I have visited the Ministry many times and brought Questions here about this road. I have tried to befriend the former Minister and Assistant Minister by speaking very well because this section of the road is not complete. All this does not seem to yield anything. I will try hard next time. However, all said and done, if I were in the West, for example, Britain, I would immediately tell my constituents to take the Ministry of Roads to court. This is because these people live in dusty conditions. They have now started developing breathing-related complications. They cannot air their clothes because by the time they get them from the line, they are full of mud. Why do we subject our people to these conditions? If you do a road, it is only fair - and I know it is provided for in the contract because I have been in that Ministry for a long time – that you water the road so that you do not subject people to conditions that are not good. So, as the Minister looks at the roads programme that he has, if it is a tarmac road, let it be tarmacked to the end. If it is a murram road, let it be so. The Ministry should not do the road half way because we will always complain that the work is incomplete. This is true anyway. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to talk about the DRCs. I have realised that the Ministry has allocated some money through the DRCs and some through the local authorities. In certain instances, you will find that there are work plans that are superimposed on each other. So, if there is collusion among the officers, you will find that the same road is funded through the DRC and at the local authority level. I do not know why this has to happen. So, it is important that if a road is being covered by the DRC, then that should be so. The same case should apply to those covered by the local authorities. However, the DRC is doing very well in this case. The only thing the Minister should do in order to streamline this, is to ensure that there is monitoring and evaluation. This is because the local District Roads Engineer is the boss of everything. With those few remarks, I beg to support the Motion.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I support Vote 13 – Ministry of Roads – for the current

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Ministry has been allocated a total of Kshs71.9 billion this year, up from Kshs44.8 billion that it was given the last financial year. I want to support this money to be spent.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to make my remarks on the Vote for the Ministry of Roads. I will start by congratulating the able Minister, Mr. Bett, for the eloquent way in which he presented his budget for this year. I also want to congratulate and thank him together with his Permanent Secretary and the entire team for the seriousness with which they take their work. We have seen them go around the country inspecting roads and touring construction sites to ensure that the contractors that have been given work to build our roads are doing a good job. I just want to encourage them to keep that up. I want to encourage them to keep that up. We want to see their presence all over the country.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, while I congratulate the Minister and his team for the good work, there are one or two observations that I want to make on this particular Ministry. I will start by stating that the importance of the Ministry of Roads cannot be over-emphasized. This is a very important Ministry and we know that many other sectors that are driving this economy rely on this particular Ministry. Agriculture, which is the backbone of this economy, depends on these roads. The farmers will need good roads to get their farm inputs to their farms. They will also need good roads to get their outputs or harvests to the market. For the tourism that we have been talking about to flourish, we need good roads. We are losing many tourists because of the bad roads in our parks and the roads leading to tourist attraction areas. Therefore, for the country to be able to realize the dream of Vision 2030, we must ensure that we have a proper road network system in this country. That is why we are saying that this is a Ministry that must be allocated enough funds to ensure that they give us good roads for us to achieve what I have stated.

Therefore, I want to appeal to my colleagues to support this Vote and I also appeal to Treasury to consider giving enough money to the Ministry of Roads for them to be able to give us the roads that we are asking for, including the one Dr. Khalwale talked about.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when I go around the country, while on duty, I see so many road construction works going on. The only thing that I want to appeal to the Ministry, and I also think Dr. Khalwale, alluded to this, is that while they are distributing the little resources that they have from Treasury, they must make sure that it is done fairly and equitably to all corners of this Republic. I do not understand the rationale of constructing a six-lane highway to Nyeri while the Nairobi-Nakuru-Eldoret- Busia Road remains a single lane road. Between these two roads, which one is more economically viable? Is it the road to Nyeri or the road to Busia? I do not understand the rationale. Therefore, we are saying that we want equitable and fair distribution of these resources because we are all tax-payers and therefore, entitled to services from our good Government.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, while moving his Vote, the Minister stated that the Eldoret-Kapsabet-Chavakali Road is being recarpetted while they wait for proper

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving me the opportunity to contribute. I want to start by congratulating the Minister for the good job that he is doing at the Ministry. This is witnessed by the various projects that we are seeing across the country. It is also true that the Ministry has to justify what it is doing with the huge allocation of resources that they are receiving. The point that I am trying to make is that even when it comes to the choice of projects, I want to endorse the sentiments raised by my colleagues who have just spoken, that it is very important for the Ministry to justify why it allocates funds to a particular road and not another one. We know of an era where some roads would be done and they would be so “idle” that farmers would use them to dry maize. We do not want to see a repeat of that in this era. I have a case in my constituency where a road stretching from one area to another, being diverted to another area just because there are some prominent people who are residing there. They leave out a huge area where there are many people. Actually, the money being used is Fuel Levy Fund where Kenyans are contributing on the basis of the fuel that they consume. So, that criteria is very critical.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, even as we do the roads, repair and maintenance is very critical. When it is not done promptly and timely, it leads to waste. I do not know again, what criteria is used because we have raised complaints about certain roads in my constituency where you can see that the rate of wear and tear is so huge. I wonder where the Ministry is actually applying due diligence in maintenance of the roads. Ensuring adequate and proper maintenance is very critical because of the huge resources being invested if they are going to be properly utilized and taken care of.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other issue that I would like to be properly utilized and taken care of is the management of resources across the districts. The effort to maintain rural roads through the system of the District Roads Committees (DRCs)--- We know that in the Budget, it was rescheduled to go through the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) but the details of that have also not been outlined. It is very important that the issue is clarified. The reason why I am saying that is because I have seen much of those resources meant to go to the road maintenance in the constituency go to waste. It is not being used for road maintenance. The worst thing is that the names of the Members of Parliament are being dragged in. The Ministry is not able to reign in on the engineers and the way they are doing their work. Whereas the law is very clear about the role of Members of Parliament, committees and the DRCs, the engineers ignore the law and run the show themselves. Therefore, the percentage of resources reaching the constituency is less than 50 per cent. The rest must be going to people’s pockets. We are talking about corruption. We urge the Minister to ensure that the engineers play the role of being the consultants to assist the local communities through the Members of Parliament and the committees to do the right thing.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with regard to the projects being done through the Kazi Kwa Vijana Initiative, we are also having a huge challenge. Even the choices of work to be done, compared to the amount of resources being extended to KaziKwa Vijana, programmes pose a challenge. Why should we be talking about huge

Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to support this Vote of the Ministry of Roads.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the most important measure for service delivery is customer satisfaction. We are representatives of the people of Kenya and from all the submissions from hon. Members here today, clearly, except for suggestions to improve on certain aspects of service delivery and equitable distribution of resources, this Ministry is doing a good job. So, for me, I see the key driving force in the Ministry for this commendable job is the Kenya Roads Board (KRB). So I will clearly go direct and congratulate the KRB because they are doing Kenyans proud. They should keep it up.

It is very important for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Finance to follow up on what it has indicated in the Budget with guidelines to all Ministries with regard to devolved resources to the constituencies. There are no clear instructions or guidelines to this Ministry with regard to those funds that were specially allocated for the purpose in this year’s Budget. Perhaps, it is very important that we urge the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Finance to do that as quickly as possible so that we know how these projects will be implemented.

When I go to the issue of equity the way my colleagues have done, there are quite a number of areas in this country which were ignored in the past and which are very potential in terms of development and contribution to the economy of this country once they are opened up and their roads made. A good example is Northern Eastern Province and other parts such as the north and even Ukambani. It is not all just misery unlike what some of our colleagues or members of this country believe. But these are potential areas; they still have a lot of resources to be tapped if only the infrastructure could be improved. So, I urge the Minister to clearly take the issue of equity seriously when allocating resources.

The other issue is the formation of the authorities. In any formation of any organization, there are always teething problems. This Ministry is doing a good job now and their activities are very well streamlined. I urge the Ministry to ensure that the operationalization of the authorities is done as quickly as possible. The civil servants who have been appointed to these authorities should get their postings as quickly as possible because as of about a week or two ago, they were still not posted although they had been appointed into the various authorities. It is important that they are posted as quickly as possible and these authorities are operationalised so that it does not disrupt the activities of the general service delivery of the Ministry.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the services that are being delivered at the district level now are a little wanting. They have become even worse after the posting of the officers to the authorities. Currently, therefore, the authorities are not operationalized but appointments have been done and delivery of services is still being done at the district level. There is a lot of corruption going on currently. There is a lot of inactivity and inefficiency apparently simply because those services will now be taken over by the authorities. So, I urge the Ministry to hasten the operationalization of the authorities.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity. I stand here to support the Vote of the Ministry of Roads. It is true that any area which does not have an all-weather road cannot open up. That area will be behind the rest of the world. Actually their properties will definitely not attract value. They will be behind civilization. But it is also good to mention that while a good road network brings this civilization, it is also good to admit that the distribution of road network in Kenya is skewed. One of the reasons which make many of the areas feel very uncomfortable is especially where there is no single tarmac road which traverses the constituency. As I talk here, I may not be a very happy Member of Parliament because of only one road, Mutunduri-Manyatta-Kianjokoma Road. That road is under construction as we are talking by Aegis Construction Company. As we are talking, there are some sections which have started forming rubbles; not by design but because of deformation and specifically the area between Kibugua where they have the campsite and Kigari Teachers College. At one corner, the road has started being deformed. It is so worrying and now that it is not even complete, I doubt how it will be a year from now. In fact, if it sees 2011 without major potholes, I doubt whether we will be talking of a tarmac on that road. Worst of all, when you remember that 2012 will be a campaign year, it will definitely mean that my people will see as if nothing was being done or I never complained about it. I want to complain here that, that road is being done in a sub- standard way. It is also good to mention that even the feeder roads that have been used as diversions are all in terrible condition. When I tried to ask the roads engineer, the comment was that there was no money meant for the diversions. If that was never done, the Ministry has a share of blame because, surely, funds ought to have been allocated for the diversions. If there were no feeder roads that were motorable, then it meant that the contractor had to do the diversions. Now that he made some motorable roads, then it means that he must maintain them. He is doing nothing! There are some three bridges on River Kavingasi which are located on the diversions. Those bridges are out of shape. One is being repaired. It is also being repaired in a sub-standard way. I do not think it is even going to assist the community even for a year. I would hate to be complaining every other day and whenever we try to talk with the roads engineers, they give excuses. They tell us that the resident engineer is the one who is supposed to handle that. When you go back to the roads engineer, he gives us some excuses that there were no monies for the diversions. Surely, these are all gimmicks to try and make the contractor get away with it. I am very bitter. It is good for the Ministry to note that despite the fact that we appreciate tarmac roads, they should not come and get away with all the feeder roads that were already done before it came into being.

Your time is up!

With those few remarks, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to support.

Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me a chance to support the Motion on the Ministry’s Vote. I join my colleagues in supporting the Motion on this Vote. I thank the Minister for a sterling performance in his Ministry, together with his Assistant Ministers. Usually, the Assistant Ministers are a forgotten lot. I thank the Permanent Secretary, together with his directors, who are doing a wonderful job in that Ministry.

So, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I just want to start by saying that the Ministry has introduced quite a number of reforms, starting with the reforms in the Kenya Rural Roads Authority, Kenya Highway Roads Authority, Kenya Urban Roads Authority and, of course, you have heard about the Kenya Roads Board for quite some time. So, I think the Ministry is on the right track. So, in terms of performance, the Minister should do a much better job this time round than before. When you delegate other duties or roles to specific authorities, the Ministry becomes efficient. It will deal with issues pertaining to guidance and policies to all the other departments. So, I support the Ministry for that.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to talk about the way our local contractors have not been empowered since Independence. The entire construction sector is actually in the domain of the Asian community. That is known by Kenyans and it is time we actually woke up and empowered our local contractors. That is because since Independence, we now have about two local contractors. Even those two, I am sure, are not doing much better. So, we want to hear about 20 local construction companies. The rest can be taken up by international companies. I think that something should be done in that direction.

Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to support this Motion. I want to start by congratulating the Ministry for doing a very good job. I want to, especially, thank them for introducing new measures to benefit the people through various roads authorities. I believe that with the new authorities that have been put in place, we are going to see a more efficient way of running the Ministry.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, even as I support the Ministry, I want again to reiterate that the road network in this country must be seen across the country. For a long time, this country has suffered from inequitable distribution of resources. What is going to change this country is when everybody will have a very good road network, either within the constituencies or the newly created districts. Even as we speak, I can tell you that my own constituency, Sotik, does not have one single tarmacked road. I am sure you might talk about the roads that are going through to Kisii or Kericho. But I would not count them as being roads within my constituency. So, I wish to ask the Ministry that, as it distributes road networks across the country, it should consider areas where there are no roads.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is one particular road I would like to single out – the one that has been spoken about from time immemorial. It has been used to politicize the people. The KCC-Ndanai Road has been spoken about, I think, for the last 20 or 30 years. There have been promises to tarmac it but, after the elections, it is quickly forgotten. So, I would, again, wish to ask that, that road be considered, together

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity. At the outset, I would like to commend the Minister, Assistant Ministers, the Permanent Secretary and his team for doing a very commendable job.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I think it would be fair to say that if there is any one Ministry whose efforts are physically visible on the ground - with no pun intended - is the Ministry of Roads. It is apparent to anyone who has moved around the country how much work has gone into infrastructure in the last few years. I wish to commend the entire team and, indeed, the Minister for Finance for continuing to allocate them funds. Indeed, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance should allocate them large sums of money so that they can respond to all the issues raised by the hon. Members who have spoken here and others who will not have an opportunity to voice their requests.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to talk about two very important points. One of them has to do with the construction of roads, for instance, the proposed Nairobi – Thika Highway. I would like the Minister to consider giving out a small component in whatever amounts is available to assist the outlying county councils or municipalities to do physical planning. Our planning has been extremely poor and it will be a shame when we put in place a Kshs27 billion road that leads to concrete jungles and failed municipalities.

Secondly, with regard to toll roads, they have never been popular. People do not like to pay taxation generally. They will be resisted because they are not in every place. People will feel that they are being penalised in their respective areas. In order to avoid such resistance, I urge the Ministry to consider some resource-sharing from the toll proceeds. For instance, if they collect money from a toll stations on the said road, a certain proportion, for example, 10 to 15 per cent should be allocated to outlying or neighbouring county councils and municipalities to ensure that people are not moving from a cattle track into a first-world road. If this is done, there will be some progress in terms of better infrastructure in the neighbouring areas and people will feel the impact of having the new road and toll station. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, may I also use this opportunity to say that we should continue to learn from our experiences. As people are being moved away from road reserves, it is clear that it is never an easy exercise. It is not a very good idea to move people whether they are there rightfully or not. I am talking about Kenyans who have been trading along road sides for many years. I request that as roads are being built, road reserves are kept clear permanently so that these things do not recur. This will also ensure that the roads are clear to avoid road accidents. I appeal that the road reserves are also demarcated. Continuous efforts should be made to keep the road reserves clear of all settlements. Sometimes, it appears as if the Ministry is being draconian and yet it is doing

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to support this Vote for this very important Ministry. There are a few things that the Minister needs to do, being what we call a “new broom”. I know the Minister has a lot of experience in the public sector. With good linkage between him and the well trained engineers in the Ministry, he should do a very good job. Arising from what Mr. Thuo has just talked about with regard to the standards, even if you talk about the new Ministries that have come up, for example, the Ministry of Nairobi Metropolitan Development, they must be stereorized with the engineers. The only place we know we have engineers who are from the university is the Ministry of Roads. There is the aspect of water and so on, but I am talking about roads. An hon. Member has asked a question about what we are doing about our roads. If you look at our roads now, you will find that we have widened the road from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), but failed to think about what would happen when you approach Nyayo National Stadium. So, we have widened the road, but we have not solved the problem. This is because you cannot move the moment you get to Nyayo National Stadium. These are the standards we are talking about. The Minister should have a feedback with regard to what goes on in the Ministry. A lot of money is given out, for example, to constituencies through the District Roads Committees, but I do not think the Minister gets feedback on how it is spent. The reason we are decentralizing and talking about devolution and saying that money should go to the districts and constituencies is that we want to do away with unemployment and poverty. If you send, for example, Kshs20 million and the District Roads Engineer in Vihiga decides on his own to engage a Government grader or a contractor from Kisii, how much money is left in Vihiga? Those are the kind of things we come across. That is why we have been stressing that there is lack of capacity to monitor what goes on.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have asked Questions in this House about the staffing of the districts. The answer we normally get is that they have no problem with staffing. I think the Ministry needs more officers. Just imagine a situation where money is allocated to every constituency for all these projects at once. We are talking about five or ten projects to be done at the same time and the contractors come at the same time for payment. A single engineer has no capacity to go back and check what has been done. We need to employ more engineers as we decentralize. We also need to have more qualified staff.

It is now time for the Minister to reply. However, there are two hon. Members who have been here since the beginning. Could you give each a few minutes of your time? The discretion is yours.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, you have talked about two hon. Members and I would like to know who they are. I will give each of them one minute to contribute.

They are Mr. Wambugu, who has been here since the beginning of this debate and Mr. Nyambati.

I concede, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I give one minute each.

What about Mr. Onyonka, who is seated behind you?

Mr. Onyonka has just arrived. I will give them one minute each.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this chance. I also thank the Minister for giving me a chance to briefly contribute to this debate. First and foremost, I would like to say that I stand here to support the Motion.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I believe you have noticed that I was standing all the time – about 20 times. I am also a Member of the Departmental

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity. I want to thank the Minister, the Permanent Secretary (PS) and other officers for doing a wonderful job. They have been everywhere in the country, trying to check on what is happening. I want to raise a few issues.

Firstly, it is important that at this time, we ensure that we encourage our African contractors to do roads construction jobs. The work of contractors must be seen to be qualitative and fair in terms of pricing. There are quite a number of issues we must address. We are all saying that we need more roads, but there is no money that we give this Ministry. We must urge the Ministry of Finance to give more financing to the roads sector, because without roads, we cannot do other things.

As I finish, in my constituency, I have nothing to thank the Ministry or the Government for, because my people do not know how a tarmac road looks like. The two roads I am begging the Ministry to work on are Kemera-Mabuko and Metamaywa- Kebirigwa Roads.

With those remarks, I beg to support.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to reply.

First of all, I want to thank every hon. Member who got the chance to speak as well as those who have not had the chance to speak for their contributions and the ideas they have given us. I know that some of them have talked hard. I want to thank them for having talked hard. It was necessary, so that we may be able to work even harder.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to, quickly, summarise what I have heard from hon. Members. They have stressed on equity, in terms of distribution of funds and distribution of projects across the country. I want to assure the House that I will make sure that, that is done.

Hon. Members have also stressed the issue of efficiency in the use of funds. I want to assure the House that money in the Ministry of Roads will be used efficiently. I want to disabuse any person of any notion that there is corruption in the Ministry. I want to disabuse any person who may think that way.

I have also noted with a lot of interest and respect to the hon. Members who have stressed on timely completion of projects. We will observe time lines where

It was not Mr . Kivuti. It was Mr. Kathuri.

Was it Mr. Kathuri? Okay! I am sorry about that. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also note that there was serious persuasion that we listen to you when you come to our offices. I want to advise every Member of Parliament that our doors are open. Feel free to come and discuss with us your roads. Secondly, I will be touring roads in your constituencies. I want you to talk to me the way you have talked in this House today, or even more strongly, when I tour roads in your constituencies. It is very important. For every road I visit, I write to the Members of Parliament in whose constituencies those roads are. I am disappointed because they do not come.

Are you disappointed?

Yes, I am, because I write letters to you but you do not come. One or two hon. Members turn up. I am sure that Mr. Wambugu came

Hon. Members, we will be going into Committee on this Vote in two hours’ time because we have to give the Vote of the Ministry of Housing its time first. Mr. Minister for Housing!

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move:-

THAT, The Speaker do now leave the Chair.

I would like to thank the House most sincerely for according me this opportunity to move the Vote of my Ministry, Vote 44 – Ministry of Housing.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, before I move debate on my Ministry, allow me to outline the mandate of the Ministry of Housing as derived from the Presidential Circular No.1 of 2008 on Organisation of Government. This mandate includes: 1. Formulation, implementation and monitoring of the Housing Policy. 2. Improving the living conditions and housing for the poor and low income through shelter and slum upgrading.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I rise to second the Motion on the Vote of the Ministry of Housing. Let me, first of all, take this early opportunity to thank the Minister, his PS and the staff of the Ministry for a job well done since the Minister was appointed to that Ministry. We have seen rapid development of housing, particularly for civil servants. This is something that we need to commend the Minister. Before the Minister moved to that Ministry, it was the Government’s plan to house civil servants. It used to be very ridiculous that a civil servant would work for 25 to 30 years and once he retires, he would be forced to move out of the house he was staying in to a slum area because that was the only place he could afford to stay. With the new policy of giving mortgage loans to civil servants to own their own houses is a very commendable plan. We must commend the Minister for this. This policy has been static but it needs to be accelerated so that it will be our policy, that every civil servant owns his or her own house so that by the time they retire, they have something to hand over to their children. This would be a very good investment. I noticed that most of the programmes are in the urban areas. My request to the Minister is that they should spread this scheme to the rural areas so that the civil servants in those areas can benefit. The houses need not be very expensive and not also very big. However, it is important that when a civil servant retires, they have a house to retire to. They do not have to move from the house they have been staying. They do not have to move from the place where their spouses and children are used to. It is on record that many marriages used to go down the drain when a civil servant retired and he was told that the only place he could afford to live was in the slum areas. I am told that many spouses would refuse to accompany their husbands to those areas. This used to have an effect on marriages. The landlord and tenant law is housed by this Ministry. There are complaints that whenever a dispute is referred to the Tribunal, it takes too long to be determined. As a result, this encourages landlords and tenants not to refer issues to the Tribunal. I would

Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, for this opportunity. I am responding on behalf of the Departmental Committee. We have had an opportunity to interact with the Minister and his staff. Therefore, we do not have many comments to make, but I would like to highlight a few things. From the outset, I would like to say that I support the Vote of the Ministry of Housing and make the following observations: One of the key concerns of the Ministry is to provide decent housing to all Kenyans. I think that has been a challenge, so far. I think it is not all Kenyans who have decent houses and not all Kenyans can afford decent housing, especially in towns. One of the issues I would like to raise with the Ministry is that of slums. If you look around the country, in major towns, starting with Nairobi and other towns, you will find that the mushrooming of slums has been on the increase because many Kenyans cannot afford to rent decent houses. This has been a major concern in the country. While the Minister is talking about the slum upgrading programme, I would like to say that this programme has not been successful. I would like to put the following issues across. One, the process has been very slow such that whatever was supposed to be achieved has not been achieved. If you delay a project, you delay your plans and you do not achieve anything. Secondly, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, even if the houses are completed, you will find that they are not given to the slum dwellers. If you start a slum upgrading programme in Kibera, the people there may move to other areas and start to develop other slums because they cannot afford those houses. The houses will end up being occupied by other Kenyans. We really need to address the issue of slums properly. We need to

Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. I also wish to support this Motion on the Floor and congratulate the Minister for Housing and his entire staff for the good job they are doing to provide housing for the people of this country.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity. I also wish to join my colleagues to congratulate the Minister for turning a small department to a fully-fledged Ministry. I want to congratulate him and his staff led by the Permanent Secretary for that.

I stand to support this Vote because descent and affordable housing to Kenyans is a right. I want to commend the Ministry, particularly on the Civil Servant Housing Scheme (CSHS). This scheme is very important. Civil servants all over this country are charged with the responsibility of implementing Government programmes. So, when they

Your time is up!

With those few remarks, I beg to support.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I wish to take this opportunity to contribute to the Vote for the Ministry of Housing. I would also like to thank the Minister and his team for a job well done and for the proposals that he has given us here. We are convinced that the Ministry will be able to move to greater heights. I also wish to commend the Ministry in its quest to ensure that

Thank you very much, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to the Vote of Ministry of Housing. Let me start by talking about owning a house in a town or urban area, which is a very, very important thing. There is nothing as important as owning a house. But the laws and policies that are in place are prohibitive and restrictive to owning a house. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I wish to thank the Minister for preparing what he has said is now before the Cabinet. But when it comes to this House, we shall have a look at it and approve it. That is because the common people are suffering by paying rents. There are so many cases and the Rent Tribunal takes ages to expedite cases or disputes between house owners and tenants. Tenants pay a lot of money to landlords. Even for a one-bedroom house, it is too much! Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I really wish that the Ministry could come up with some policies to encourage people to own houses in towns. People who live, work and do businesses in towns should be encouraged to own houses. If you are unable to own a house in a very important area like Karen, Parklands or Lavington, one can even go to Kitengela and other areas where the price of land is still low. The Ministry should encourage Kenyan citizens to own houses. It is very, very important! Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, rural-urban migration is very important. Our people ought to learn that coming to live in urban areas is very important, and the Ministry should encourage that. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the National Housing Corporation must be given finances to start the Rural Housing Fund, which used to be there a long time ago. Our people should be supported to build houses, not in the rural areas, but in some towns like Thika and Eldoret. They can build houses in areas where they can get good services like health facilities, clean water, good roads and good education. That is actually where the world is going today. Our people should not be encouraged to live in the rural areas where there is a lot of insecurity. In my place right now, if you have built a very expensive house--- I have seen many people building very good houses but, at the end of the day, they do not live in them because of insecurity. The security situation is terrible! You cannot build police stations everywhere! It is very important to encourage our people to come to urban areas where there is security. There are police stations and where the administration is very close to the people. But in rural areas, you can walk for five kilometers to find a police station. People have abandoned very beautiful and expensive houses just because of insecurity! The Ministry must come out strongly and encourage people to live in urban areas, where there are so many facilities. We should leave rural

On a point of order, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. Have you noticed that there are bottles of water all over the Floor of this august House? Hon. Members are walking on top of bottles. Mr. Bett almost fell down. Even the lids are all over. Could we go back to using glasses?

Madam Minister, you have put your point across. We will take care of that.

Yes, Mr. Njuguna!

Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me a chance to contribute to this very important Vote. First, I would like to thank the Minister for performing so well in the Ministry. I would also like to thank the Assistant Minister and the Permanent Secretary who have been of great help in the management of this Ministry. This Ministry has been charged with an important responsibility of promoting the living standards of our people. Therefore, resources will be used to realise these objectives. I call upon the Minister to ensure that fairness, justice, and equity are applied in the distribution of these resources. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, new districts have been created and senior officers posted there. I call upon the Minister to move fast and make sure that housing for senior civil servants are developed. For example, District Commissioners now live in rented accommodations. Some District Officers live in hotels which are not conducive to the rendering of better services. We would like senior civil servants to stay near their place of work. The low cadre should also be encouraged to stay where the houses have been provided. There are instances where Government houses were grabbed in the past. It is the responsibility of the Minister to apply the law and make sure that the grabbed houses revert back to the Government so that they can be used by our civil servants. On the Rent Tribunal, it should be expanded and create constant harmony between the landlord and the tenants. In some situations, we have seen landlords fight with tenants. We have seen loss of lives in some areas. This should not be encouraged. We recall cases where landlords have taken the law in their hands. They have broken doors and kicked out the aged and the sick from their houses. This should not be encouraged.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. I wish to support this Vote. In so doing, I wish to commend the Minister for the good work he is doing. I know very well that this is not a very old Ministry. As person with background information about the Ministry when it was part of the former Ministry of Roads, Public Works and Housing, because of where I was working, I know that he is really trying. However, I have a few comments to make, the first one being about the Housing Policy. This is a document that has been going round and round but at the end of the day, it does not come out clearly for people to know what the plan is for housing in the whole country. If you are in Britain, you will find a comprehensive housing policy for the citizens. We need the Housing Policy document to be polished and show us whether the Government is able to provide housing or subsidised housing for the citizenry. That is a very critical thing because; even if you do not have food, you will probably have somewhere to sleep. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the second one is on the issue of slum upgrading. In this regard, I would think of the slum upgrading projects in Pumwani and Kibera and what happened. We are bringing down mud houses and putting up concrete five-floor flats and saying that we have upgraded a slum. Sooner or later, that becomes almost an up-market area, from which even those we upgrade slums for do not benefit. So, that kind of slum upgrading programme is a failure, because it should be able to benefit those people for whom it was intended. Once you upgrade one place, those people who are displaced go ahead and create other slums elsewhere. This means that you are failing, and that that housing scheme is actually benefitting those who should not benefit.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. I want to join my colleagues in supporting this Motion and congratulating the Minister for a job well done.

Physical planning and planning of houses in our urban centres in general is wanting. It appears like the construction of houses is ahead of planning. Consequently, we have haphazard constructions across the country in our urban centres. We have structures which have been done without any particular order, making it so difficult for water systems, the electricity and the sewer system to be supplied. That is posing a major health hazard. I would want to urge the relevant Ministry in charge of physical planning to go ahead before the housing section comes.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. I want to support this Motion. However, I want to point out that it is very disappointing to see the amount of resources the Government is committing to housing. Looking at the state of human settlement in this country, especially in Nairobi, it is very disappointing that the Government is telling over 70 per cent Kenyans that it has no resources for them. I recall very well that when the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) Government came to power, it had promised that it was going to put up over 500,000 housing units per year. What happened to this promise? Are we saying that we will have a sustainable settlement

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, as I support this Motion, we have to remind ourselves of the inadequacies and the poor planning we have in this country. Housing is one of the parameters that are used to assess the development of a community. The human development moved from the caves to funny shelters to real houses. It is the inverse in our country where we are moving from good houses to slums. That means that we have poor planning. We have to borrow a leaf from other funds that have been able to be used well and enhanced the development of this country. The Petroleum Levy Fund under the Ministry of Roads is one example. We are able to construct dilapidated roads using this Fund. If such a system was to be used in the Ministry of Housing under our policy formulation, it would be mandatory for any civil servant who can sustain his services to the Government for at least, five years, to build a good decent house using such a fund as a grant that is not felt

Hon. Members, having no other Member to debate, may I now call upon the Minister to reply.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. May I take this opportunity to thank the hon. Members who have supported my Ministry’s Vote. I assure them that most of the concerns that they have raised about the Ministry’s operations will be taken up to make sure that the operations of the Ministry are done in such as way that Kenyans derive maximum benefit.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, slums have been upgraded before. I share hon. Members’ concerns that previous slum upgrading programmes have ended up benefiting the people who live in other areas. But I want to assure them that the strategy that we have devised as a Ministry on the slum upgrading project in Kibera where we have 600 housing units will ensure that those houses are distributed fairly. These houses were meant for slum dwellers. The Ministry has worked out a programme to ensure that these houses go to slum dwellers. My Ministry has not quite taken into consideration issues of affordability. If we go in that direction, then we will end up dispossessing the slum dwellers of these houses. We are making sure that issues of affordability will take back seat when we are discussing issues of relocating the slum dwellers of these houses. So, the very poor slum dwellers are the ones who will occupy these houses.

Madam Temporary Speaker, hon. Members also raised concern about the Rent Tribunal Bill which we intend to table before this House. I want to assure hon. Members that the Bill does not seek to protect rogue tenants. It seeks to streamline the operations of the tenants/landlord relationship. It also seeks to take into consideration the rights of each party. The Bill is intended to bring some form of sanity in the sector. We have heard cases where landlords have thrown out tenants. We have also cases where tenants have refused to pay rent. I think the Bill is structured in such a way that both interests are catered for. I am sure when it comes before this House, Members will have an opportunity to give their input on the many provisions that are contained in the Bill.

Madam Temporary Deputy, the Civil Servants Housing Scheme is about four years old. We intend, if funding was available, to make it possible for every civil servant to own a house. But, even then with the little funding that we have, we are trying our best. I want to assure hon. Members that we will do our best to see to it that civil servant both in low and upper cadres have access to housing.

Many hon. Members have talked about problems that are experienced in the building industry. Majorly, most of these problems emanate from archaic building code that we are using. The current building code was developed in 1968. There has been a committee that has been working on a reviewed building code. On 25th of this month, the draft building code will be presented to the Prime Minister. He is the one who put up that committee. I think that building code will find its way to this House. Members will have an opportunity to debate. They will have an opportunity to give their input in the proposed law, so that some of the problems that we have experienced such as collapsed buildings and who is responsible for what, can be streamlined. We want also to harmonise some of the laws governing the construction industry under one authority.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, we have discussed with the Ministry of Finance the issue of tenant-purchase schemes. We think that if the mortgage period is extended from the present 18 years to 50 years, many Kenyans will be able to afford mortgages or a house on tenant-purchase programme. Once the discussions are concluded, a paper will be prepared for tabling in this House.

Time up!

I wish to thank all the hon. Members, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker.

With those few remarks, I beg to move.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Chairman, Sir, I beg to move:-_ THAT a sum not exceeding Kshs15,077,250,000 be issued from the Consolidated Fund to complete the sum necessary to meet the expenditure during the year ending 30th June, 2010, in respect of:-

We will proceed to the Ministry of Housing. Proceed, Mr. Minister!

Mr. Temporary Deputy Chairman, Sir, I beg to move:- THAT a sum not exceeding Kshs1,557,532,415 be issued from the Consolidated Fund to complete the sum necessary to meet the expenditure during the year ending 30th June, 2010, in respect of:-

Vote 44 – Ministry of Housing

VOTE R44 – RECURRENT EXPENDITURE

SUB-VOTE 440 – GENERAL ADMINISTRATION AND PLANNING

SUB-VOTE 441 – GOVERNMENT ESTATES DEPARTMENT

SUB-VOTE 442 – HOUSING DEVELOPMENT

VOTE D44 – DEVELOPMENT EXPENDITURE

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I am directed to report that the Committee of Supply has considered the Resolution that a sum not exceeding Kshs15,077,250,000 be issued from the Consolidated Fund to complete the sum necessary to meet expenditure during the year ending 30th June, 2010 in respect of Vote 13 – Ministry of Roads and has approved the same without amendment.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I beg to move that the House doth agree with the Committee in the said Resolution.

(Mr. Otieno) seconded.

Vote 44 – Ministry of Housing

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I am directed to report that the Committee of Supply has considered the Resolution that a sum not exceeding Kshs1,557,532,415 be issued from the Consolidated Fund to complete the sum necessary

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I beg to move that the House doth agree with the Committee in the said Resolution.

(Mr. Otieno) seconded.

Hon. Members, we have come to the end of today’s sitting. Therefore, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow, Wednesday, 12th August, 2009, at 9.00 a.m.

The House rose at 7.20 p.m.