Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to give notice of the following Motion:-

THAT, this House extends the mandate of the Parliamentary Select Committee to investigate the root cause of cattle rustling by a further two months to enable the Committee conclude its activities as per the terms of reference of its establishment.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to ask the Minister for Forestry and Wildlife the following Question by Private Notice. (a) Why did the electric fencing around Mr. Kenya stall even though construction materials are available at the site? (b) When will the construction commence? (c) What measures is he taking to keep away wildlife, especially monkeys from farmlands around the Aberdares?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to reply. (a) The Mt. Kenya Electric Fence is a joint initiative of the local community, the Kenya Wildlife Service, the Kenya Forest Service, the Arid and Semi Arid Lands, Action Aid Kenya and other stakeholders through funding from the World Food Programme. The project stalled because of a boundary dispute in the project area. (b) My Ministry will soon convene a meeting of the parties concerned to resolve the dispute to enable the project to proceed. (c) My Ministry, through the Kenya Wildlife Service, is committed to minimizing cases of monkeys invading farmland in the Aberdare area through the following measures:-

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the issue of human wildlife conflict around Mt. Kenya and the Aberdares has been a big problem for the communities living there. The communities living on Mt. Kenya side have even started constructing their own fence to protect them from animals which normally come to their farms, destroy crops and even sometimes kill them. In this case, they have started constructing their own fence because it is as if they have been forgotten by the Government for a long time. It is now that the Government---

Come to the question, Mr. Warugongo.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, could the Assistant Minister tell this House how long it will take the Government to keep these animals in the forests and the people in their farms?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the issue of the electric fence around Mt. Kenya has taken quite some time. Since the hon. Member has brought this matter to our attention, within three months time, we will resolve it. The KWS wanted the electric fence to be put at the edge of the plantation forest while KFS and NEMA wanted it to be put just after the indigenous forest because elephants were also destroying the plantation forest. We will resolve this matter in the next couple of weeks. Funds are available and that fence should be ready for construction within the next three months.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, now that the Assistant Minister has admitted that these monkeys have really destroyed the crops and farmers are now suffering, could he consider compensating them because there is a lot of drought in that area

Mr. Speaker, Sir, our current law limits us from compensating for crop destruction. We have revised a new Bill which we will be presenting in this House very soon to cover crop compensation aspect amongst other issues.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, is the Assistant Minister aware that other than Mr. Kenya where animals are kept in the forest, there are dead monkeys along Kiambu Road as a result of speeding motorists? If we continue like this, we will have no animals in Kiambu forest.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to thank the hon. Member for bringing that matter to our attention. I would like him to discuss it with me in detail so that he can give me the information and we will take the necessary action.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want the Assistant Minister to talk about the materials that are on the ground. The materials have been there for many years, but it seems as if there is a problem. He should tell us who is involved in the dispute. We have been told there is a dispute between two parties.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, as I said much earlier, there was a disagreement on where the fence line should be put, particularly between KFS and NEMA on one hand which did an environmental impact assessment report and the KWS that wanted the indigenous forest and the plantation forest to be included within the 75 kilometre fenced area. The community wanted the plantation forest to be outside the fenced off area. This is a matter that has come to our attention and we are going to resolve it. As I promised earlier, in the next three months we will have resolved it. We will have internal discussions with the community and have the fence erected. The funds are ready and the material is ready. So, it is only a matter of taking the decision and then it will be done.

The Member for Igembe South!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to ask the Vice-President and Minister for Home Affairs the following Question by Private Notice. (a) Could the Vice-President confirm that Mr. Daniel Mutiria M’Ikiugu, the Superintendent of Prisons in charge of the main Meru G.K Prison and eight other Prison officers were interdicted on 2nd May, 2009 and that a nolle prosequi was subsequently entered on 14th July, 2009, thereby discharging them? (b) What steps is the Vice-President taking to ensure that the officers are reinstated to duty as Prison officers and their powers and privileges reinstated in compliance with rule of natural justice? (c) Could the Vice-President also give an undertaking that the said officers’ dues will be paid for the time they have been out of office?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg that I be given more time. I have been given this Question just about an hour ago. I beg that it be deferred to next week on Thursday.

Mr. Linturi, is that okay?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I will have to oblige because madam is a new Member of Parliament and a new Assistant Minister. I have no option but to give her the indulgence. However, I would expect her to come prepared next time.

Thank you, Member for Igembe South, for being a gentleman. However, Madam Assistant Minister, please, note that in future, it is easier for you to consult with the Member before you approach the microphone. It seems you had not done that.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to ask the Minister for Education the following Question by Private Notice. (a) Is the Minister aware that relevant provisions pertaining to the hiring of teachers under the Teachers Service Commission Act will be contravened if teachers are recruited by the Ministry and/or Board of Governors? (b) What steps is the Ministry taking to ensure harmonized remuneration and other terms of service across the country to ascertain that no teacher is discriminated against or is underpaid? (c) What is the basis for this shift in policy in the hiring of teachers?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to reply. However, I beg the indulgence of the House because the answer is long. So, please, bear with me. (a) No, I am not aware that the relevant provisions pertaining to the hiring of teachers under the TSC Act will be contravened if teachers are recruited by the Ministry or the Board of Governors since:- (i) Intern teachers will be on contract and will be employed under Board of Governors (BOGs) and School Management Committees (SMCs) as I stated in my budget speech on 29th July. (ii) It should be understood that over the years, the same SMCs and BOGs have been hiring teachers on contract basis to supplement the services of TSC teachers employed on permanent terms. (iii) Under the current arrangement, intern teachers will be paid standardized salary package of Kshs10, 500 for primary school teachers and Kshs14, 000 for secondary school teachers per month. This will safeguard the teachers against the very low salary packages currently being paid by the BOGs and SMCs. Hon. Members may wish to note that employment of teachers by SMCs and BOGs already exists but they are paid very low salaries. (b)The Ministry is taking the following steps to ensure harmonized remuneration and other terms of service for the whole country to ascertain that no teacher is discriminated against or unpaid. (i) Hiring of teachers under the internship will be done on the basis of regional equity and gender balance basis. (ii) An equal number of teachers will be recruited per constituency; 50 primary school teachers and ten secondary school teachers. (iii) For primary schools, the District Education Boards (DEBs) will be used to interview teachers for individual schools in order to ensure quality and fairness. (iv) DEBs will conduct the interviews and rank the candidates on terms of merit. (v) In order to exercise a high degree of accountability and transparency, the selection panel in the DEB will consist of the following: Director of City Education (DCE) or the Municipality Education Officer (MEO) or the District Education Officer (DEO) who will chair the panel, the Deputy DEO, District Staffing Officer (DSO) who

Mr. Speaker, Sir, you heard the hon. Assistant Minister’s answer. The policy on the implementation of this is very wrong. In answer to part “a” of the Question, the Assistant Minister says that he is not aware that the TSC Act is being contravened. This answer is based on ignorance because the preamble to Chapter 212 of the Teachers Service Commission Act says that it is an Act of Parliament to provide for, among other things the determination of remuneration of teachers and purposes connected therewith. In addition, Section 13 of the same Act gives the provision for the establishment of an agency known as the Teachers Service Remuneration Committee which is engaged for the purposes of fixing the remuneration of teachers. So, clearly, if the Ministry is going to hire teachers directly then that is a direct contravention of the Act and the Ministry must accept that. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the reasoning behind this is all wrong because the amount of money for constituencies is the same irrespective of the number of enrolment per constituency. The number of pupils in primary schools in Kisumu Town West Constituency may not be the same as the number in North Horr Constituency. Why is the amount the same? This is an issue that the Ministry must answer now!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have told the House that teachers who are going to be hired will not be hired by the TSC, neither will they be hired by the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Education does not hire teachers. When the TSC hires teachers, the money for that is got through the Ministry of Education to the TSC. The same applies to this case. These teachers are going to be hired by SMCs but the money to pay them passes through the Ministry of Education. The money will be taken to the schools directly.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Is the Assistant Minister in order to mislead the House that the hiring of teachers in primary schools will be done by SMCs when he ought to be aware that SMCs are not bodies recognized in law? They can neither sue nor be sued?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the hon. Member knows very well that even as of now, school management committees employ teachers. That is where the Government will give assistance.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the information from the Assistant Minister is not very clear with regard to the recruitment of teachers by the Board of Governors (BoGs). Currently, the BoGs employ teachers using school resources and are only on contract as far as the communities are concerned. However, we want some clarification from the Assistant Minister. Whom will the teachers who will be hired by the boards of governors, as he claims, be answerable to? How will that money be channeled to them?

Mr. Speaker Sir, I think I will repeat this although I have already said it. I gave the same point a few minutes ago. The money will paid by the school management committees; BoGs in case of secondary schools and PTAs in case of primary schools. The money will be channeled to the schools’ accounts the way the free education funds are channeled.

Order, Mr. Olago! Let the Assistant Minister be heard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. The reasons why school boards of governors and management committees in primary schools are hiring teachers is because we have shortages. Having realized that, if the Ministry wants to alleviate that problem, why can they not ask the TSC, using the monies they will send to these boards and committees, to hire the extra teachers?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is public knowledge that teachers are not retiring this year. We have to wait for another five years for the oldest teachers today to reach 60 teachers. That means that we have no vacancies to hire teachers. We only hire to replace teachers who have retired. That is what we do. Otherwise, we all know that---

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Right from his first answer, the Assistant Minister has misled this House. The Act, CAP 211, Ministry of Education, does not give the Ministry authority to employ teachers. It is the Teachers Service Commission Act which gives the TSC authority to employ teachers. When the Assistant Minister says that there are no teachers retiring this year and yet we know that there is a shortage of about 60,000 teachers, is he not misleading this House and taking the wrong direction by allowing the Ministry to employ teachers? This is wrong to mislead this House that the Ministry can employ teachers! Is he in order?

Order! Mr. Assistant Minister, are you in order to mislead this House?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have not misled anyone in this House. It is only a few hon. Members who did not get the point well. I did not mislead anybody. I have said that the TSC is not hiring and the Ministry of Education is not hiring. The Government is assisting schools management---

I think I will be heard! The school management committees are the ones which are being supported to hire teachers on contract. With regard to teachers being hired by the TSC, the TSC is not hiring teachers. We all know that in this country, employment in the Public Service was frozen. So, we cannot claim to have vacancies which we do not have.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. The Assistant Minister has not answered my question. Why can he not channel this money through the TSC to employ more teachers? He has not answered that question.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I will repeat it to the hon. Member that TSC does not have the vacancies to hire teachers. We know that we do not have enough teachers in this country. However, that does not necessarily mean that we have vacancies to hire.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, could you take care of those hon. Members?

Order, hon. Members! The Assistant Minister shall be heard!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, we know very well that we have a shortage of over 60,000 teachers in this country. That we know. However, due to the freeze in employment, we cannot employ and everybody knows that. Some of these people were in the Civil Service, they know that.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, if this is the view of the Ministry of Education, based on the economic stimulus package announced by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, why is the Ministry, clearly, putting these teachers through internship at salaries much lower than what is paid by the TSC? Is that not modern day slavery and taking advantage of these teachers?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I think that is much better than the Kshs1,000 some of them are getting today from the BoGs and PTAs.

Fair enough:

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to ask the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Development the following Question by Private Notice. (a) Could the Minister clarify whether the Women of Kenya Initiative is a Non- Governmental Organization (NGO) or a government initiative? (b) If it is a Government initiative:

(i) when and how was it formed?

(ii) Did the Minister receive Cabinet approval?

(iii) Will the initiative be funded by the taxpayers and, if so, at what rate?

(iv) What are its mission and operation guidelines?

(v) What is the number and location of its offices in the country?

(vi) How much of the taxpayers’ money has already been spent on thereon; and,

(c) If it is an NGO;-

(i) How is it related to the Ministry?

(ii) What is the identity of its officials?

(iii) What relationship does the Minister have with the organization?

(iv) Is the organization registered in accordance with the NGO Registration Act?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to reply.

(a) The Women of Kenya Initiative (WOKI) is not an NGO but is a registered as self-help group project in each of the respective districts where it is operating.

(b) It is not a Government initiative but an initiative of like-minded women from different spheres of life, I being one of them. It came into being about three months ago. As a self-help group project, it does not require Cabinet approval. There are other

Mr. Speaker, Sir, you have heard the response from the Minister. First, the initiative is not three months old. She has misled this House because I have a communication she made in February this year. So, that shows it is more than three months old. It is an initiative she started herself. The women organizations of this country have been writing a lot of complaints. The Ministry is supposed to empower and capacity-build women organizations, but not create parallel organizations. Could she confirm that this initiative is not three months old? This is a parallel initiative she has started herself.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, as far as I am concerned, this initiative is three months old. I may have talked about it three years ago, but it actually came into force three months ago. As a woman, I am entitled to form a woman’s initiative. I do not think that there are any restrictions to that, whether I am a Minister, Prime Minister or President of this country. I am a woman. I am entitled to do so.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. As much as the hon. Minister has got high entitlement as a woman, I think the issue of conflict of interest must be addressed also.

Madam Minister, is there any conflict of interest?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, conflict of interest with who and what?

Fair enough!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, could the Minister clarify the relationship between this initiative, the National Council of Women of Kenya (NCWK) and Maendeleo ya Wanawake Organization? Are they working together or differently? Could

Mr. Speaker, Sir, Kenya has 18.9 million women. Maendeleo ya Wanawake has a registration of four million, leaving out 14 million women. The NCWK is a coalition of women organizations. So, as far as I am concerned, we are all working together for the agenda of all women. That is what the Women of Kenya Initiative (WOKI) is doing. This WOKI does not intend to get any money from the Government. It will use its own initiative. But if the Government feels that it can give them money, so be it. If I have a good proposal and I go to the Government and it feels it wants to fund it, I will be happy to take the money.

Last question, Mrs. Noor!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is unfortunate that when we bring critical and important issues to this House, we get such answers. What forced me to ask this Question is the fact that the Minister, herself, is using her letterhead to issue instructions. I do not mind the fact that she is a woman and she can register an organization. She is free to do so. Here is a Minister who is supposed to care for all the women in this country. She is supposed to empower, facilitate and give them capacity. She is now biased against a group people---

Order, hon. Noor! This is Question Time and not time for debate, argument or opinions. What is your last question?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, first, I want to table this document.

Secondly, I want the Minister to clarify if she has used her office to promote a certain group of people in this country.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have not.

Fair enough! Next Question by Mr. Mwathi!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to ask the Minister for Roads the following Question by Private Notice. (a) Could the Minister state how much money was allocated for roadworks in Limuru Constituency under the Kazi Kwa Vijana Programme? (b) How much money has been paid out for the works so far and why have some workers not been paid to date even after having worked? (c) When they will be paid?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to reply.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I thank the Minister for the attempt. However, it is clear that the Minister sends the AIE to the person on the ground and the same person is doing recruitment, supervision and accounting, while all the other administrative officers like the District Commissioners (DCs), District Officers (DOs), Members of Parliament and all others are not aware of the activities. Has he done an audit to find out what was done with the Kshs2.4 million?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, that is a good question. At the moment, we are involved in the compilation of reports from all the districts to make sure that the money was utilized. We are obtaining duly signed payment vouchers from all districts. As I speak, in my office, I already have a bundle of papers from Limuru Constituency showing the number of people who were employed. The DC, Kiambu West District, was fully aware of the people who were recruited.

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

Order, Mr. Mwathi! The Minister has already responded. You will have one more chance towards the end. Yes, Mr. Mbau!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, in view of the huge interest that the Kazi Kwa

Programme has generated across the country, especially regarding accountability for monies that have been sent to the districts, could he consider revising the mechanism in which this programme will be rolled out? We want to reduce the amount of inquiries and Questions we are putting to his office and the Office of the Prime Minister for lack of knowledge and information about this programme.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Government will continue to support the Kazi Kwa Vijana Programme in order to give a livelihood to our youth in the countryside and, at the same time, improve our roads.

I want to assure the House that we have learnt lessons on recruitment and payment of the youth. I want to assure the House that with those lessons, I am sure we will improve in the next exercise and it will be better than the one we have had this time round.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like the Minister to confirm to us that in future, the Member of Parliament and other leaders will be consulted before implementation, though we agree that the payment will be made by the District Roads Engineer. We have no problem with that but we want consultations so that the right roads are constructed.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, yes, I undertake to make sure that hon. Members are consulted and at an appropriate time, I may request your office that we go to a Kamukunji in order to brief hon. Members on how these young people are being recruited, how much they will be paid, how they will be supervised and who will be involved in the recruitment.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I heard the Minister say that there is only one person who has not been paid Kshs250. The truth of the matter is that 1,500 people have not been paid, a bill amounting to over Kshs1.5 million. The point that I am bringing forward is that those people are already up in arms with the administration. When is the Minister going to move into action to audit what has been done and verify the truth and at the same time, Table those documents he has from Limuru because we also have information about it?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have no obligation whatsoever to individuals who have been recruited outside the provided system of recruitment.

asked the Minister of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security:- (a) why Messrs David Lesadera Lekoloi (P/No.75077836), George Leariwala (P.No.92019134), Timothy Lekango (P.No.144515) and Kombera Lemiruni (P/No.820855230) who retired as chiefs or assistant chiefs on diverse dates, have not been paid terminal benefits; and, (b) when they will be paid.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to reply. (a) Mr. George Leariwala’s retirement benefit claim was processed and submitted to the Director of Pensions on 24th November, 2008. He should therefore confirm with his local bank if payment has been made or plan to come to our office so that we can explain to him his entitlements to erase any uncertainties. Mr. Kombera Lemiruni was written a letter dated 28th April, 2008 requesting him to complete and forward documents to our office to enable us process his entitlement. He has since not replied. Mr. David Lekoloi and Mr. Timothy Lekango should also be advised to come to our office with all the necessary documents as they will be required to fill and sign documents to facilitate their payment. (b) The retirees will be paid immediately once all the necessary paperwork is completed by them.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I really appreciate the efforts made by the Minister to sort out this problem. However, now that Mr. Kombera has not received the letter being referred to, is it possible for the Assistant Minister to write another letter to the retiree? For the case of the other two, instead of requiring them to come to Nairobi, is it not possible to send these documents through the District Commissioner (DC) so that they could fill the forms and then submit through the same channel?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, when I referred to our officer, I meant the DC’s office in Samburu West although these officers were working in Samburu East. At the

That should do it. Hon. Member for Samburu East, that settles the matter, really!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I appreciate.

asked the Minister for Tourism:- (a) to state how many tourist circuits exist in Kenya and indicate what packages they offer; and, (b) what the Ministry is doing to ensure sufficient promotion and publicity for all of them.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to reply.

Kenya is currently divided in five tourist circuits. They are:

1. The South Eastern Tourist Circuit which covers Nairobi, Amboseli, Chyulu Hills, Tsavo West and East, Shimba Hills, Malindi, Mombasa, Kisite and Punguti. Safaris in this circuit begin in Nairobi and end in Mombasa or vice versa. Nairobi or Mombasa City tours can also be arranged by private tour companies.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, package tours here include, Nairobi National Park, Amboseli, Tsavo East and West, Chyulu Hills National Park. Also Shimba Hills National Reserve and Arabuko Sokoke Forest Reserve. Beach Package Tours also feature in this circuit.

2. The South Western Tourist Circuit. The City of Nairobi is also the main safari base for the South Western Circuit which includes Mt. Longonot National Park, Hell’s Gate National Park, Lake Nakuru National Park, Ruma/Ndere Island, Kisumu Impala Sanctuary and the world famous Mara Game Reserve.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, packages here include Mt. Longonot volcano which rises 2,776 metres above sea level, Menengai Crater and the Great Rift Valley. Day trips can be organized to Hell’s Gate from Nairobi, Lake Nakuru which is the home for pink flamingoes while Mara is world renown for the famous wildebeest migration.

3. The Western Tourist Circuit which includes captivating landscape sights ranging from tropical forests, the Savannah to arid and semi-desert. The circuit broadly comprises of Kakamega Forest, Mt. Elgon, Saiwa Camp, Nasalot, South Turkana, Kamnarok, Kerio Valley and Lake Bogoria.

The packages here include visits to the Elgon cave, spectacular view of Kerio Valley, Saiwa Swamp and the rare Sitatunga antelope.

4. The fourth circuit is the North Tourist Circuit which includes Maralal, South Island and Central Island on Lake Turkana, Sibiloi, Marsabit Losai and Samburu. This circuit is ideal for the adventure loving visitors as it is endowed with challenging terrain. Sibiloi National Park is credited with one of the world’s greatest treasury of paleontology as the proof of man’s origin has been unearthed in this area. Over 160 fossilized remains

Order, Madam Assistant Minister! This Question looks fairly simple and straight forward. You are saying too much and taking too long and some of it, in my view, is repetitive.

(Ms. Mbarire)

What I would have done, if I were in your shoes, when I named the circuits, I would have put the contents of the circuits as I named them. You have named the circuits and you have gone ahead now to rename them and put the details. Could you summarize?

(Ms. Mbarire)

I wish to thank the Assistant Minister for the answer although as she rightly put it, it is a bit confusing. But this House is aware that the world recognizes the Masai Mara as one of the seventh wonders of the world. Could the Assistant Minister, citing some of the approaches she has just outlined, tell us what the Ministry has done to enhance that international recognition accorded to one of the world famous tourist attractions in this country?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, we have carried out various campaign strategies through the Kenya Tourist Board (KTB). I think Kenya has been very well known as a safari and coast destination. Through that, we have used Masai Mara a lot in all our campaigns either through the internet or brochures. We have arranged familiarization trips for tour operators from various destinations to visit the Mara and be able to see what it has to offer. So, there is there is no doubt that Masai Mara is very key in our campaign strategies for tourism in this country.

I would like the Assistant Minister to confirm that the mid-northern circuit, particularly around Buffalo Springs and Shaba Game Reserve has been overtaken by bandits. What is the Ministry doing to secure that circuit?

Within the Ministry of Tourism, we have the Kenya Tourist Police Unit which we work with very closely. We also work very closely with the Ministry of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security to ensure that there is adequate security in all the areas where tourists visit. We are at the moment working very closely with the Ministry of State for Provincial administration and the Tourist Police Unit to ensure there is security for tourists.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I also wish to thank the Assistant Minister for her very comprehensive answer, except that the Northern Tourist Circuit around Lake Turkana, which she has described in a flowery language and correctly so, is the home of Homo Habilis and Homo Erectus, 12,000 crocodiles; the largest surviving community in the world. What are they doing to encourage investors to open the central highlands, the Sibilo National Park, the Iles Springs Lodge and Angling Lodge that are now desolate because there are no visitors?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I think the Member is aware that the Kenya Tourist Development Corporation (KTDC) was given Kshs800 million. The main purpose of that money is to encourage investors to borrow the money and build infrastructure for tourists. I want to tell the Member that one of the things we are doing right now is really diversifying our product in the country, so that tourists are not just coming to the Masai Mara, but they are able to come to Kenya and visit Lake Turkana and its environs. Therefore, any investor who is interested in investing in that area is welcome to visit the KTDC for money.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, climate change is a global challenge and tourism is one of the sectors affected by this problem. Could the Assistant Minister tell us how the Ministry intends to address the problem so that they are not affected? It is a big challenge.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the issue of climate change is a big threat to tourism. We already have a task force within the Ministry that is dealing with measures to mitigate against climate change. Yesterday, we were in the Masai Mara with the Minister for Tourism from South Africa, and we realized that the Mara River is almost drying up. Therefore, as a Ministry, we have made it very clear that it is about time that the Mau issue was sorted out, among many other water catchment areas and conservation areas, so that the tourism industry is not threatened. We support conservation very strongly, as a Ministry.

Order, hon. Members! In view of the quantum of business before the House, I am afraid I will defer Questions No. 114 by Mr. Ethuro and No.410 by Mr. James Maina Kamau to Tuesday next week. However, the Member for Mwea can proceed to ask Question QPM/014. This is the third time it has been on the Order Paper.

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

Order, Mr. Ethuro! I gave directions with respect to the Question in which you are interested. I am afraid those directions will stay.

asked the Minister for Water and Irrigation;c onsidering that Mwea GK Prison uses River Murubara for drainage and the villagers use the same water for domestic purposes, what urgent measures he is taking to ensure the area residents have access to clean drinking water and the prison stopped from releasing sewerage into the river.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, this Question was supposed to be answered by the Prime Minister. But now in my capacity, I have been directed to answer it by the Prime Minister. I will go ahead and do so. Yesterday, he got a lot of powers! I beg to reply. My Ministry is constructing Ndikiki Water Supply which will serve Ndindiruku, Kiumbi and Kianugu areas that are traversed by Murubara stream on the downstream of the Mwea GK Prison. The project which is estimated to cost Kshs25million is being funded by IFAD and is about 40 percent complete. When completed, it will ensure the residents of all these areas have access to safe drinking water so as not to draw water from the Murubara stream. The Government, through the Office of the Vice-President and Ministry of Home Affairs, is rehabilitating the sewerage disposal system at Mwea GK Prison to prevent any discharges of waste water into Murubara water course. Rehabilitation measures already undertaken include construction of a new septic tank, construction of two ablution blocks and rehabilitation of the existing dilapidated septic tank. Further, construction of a sewer network and a soak pit is ongoing. Long term measures for sewerage systems to serve not only Mwea GK Prison, but also Wanguru urban Centre, Kimbimbi, Muthithi and Kang’ondu areas are under planning and design. My Ministry will implement the project when the design is completed in the next financial year.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to thank the Assistant Minister for the answer but it is very sad that Ndikiki Water Project has been ongoing for the last four years and it is only 30 percent complete, which means that it might take another four

Mr. Speaker, Sir, we have requested the Mwea GK Prison, now that they have a borehole, to allow the local communities to draw water from it. We are also setting aside some funds to make sure that we can have an extension pipe and a tank where the community can be able to fetch water without interfering with the GK Prison. We are also going to send geologists next week to tell us whether we can be able to sink a bore hole so that the surrounding communities could start drawing water there immediately.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like the Assistant Minister to know that the ablution blocks being put in place are for the inmates only. Could he also consider building ablution blocks for the prison warders so that we can also alleviate that problem?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, we are having a meeting early next week with the Office of the Vice-President and Ministry of Home Affairs so that we can see whatever can be done on emergency basis. We are also going, next week but one, to visit the GK Prison with the hon. Member. We have already agreed and we are also requesting the Vice-President to send his representative so that we sort out this issue amicably so that the prisons will not go behind our back and refuse to allow the community to draw water from them. If there is any need to build more ablution blocks, that will be done. It will not require a lot of money.

Next Order!

Hon. Members, we will take two Statements beginning with the one by the Minister of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security on cattle rustling. Please do it within five minutes. Do not go beyond there!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I will try to make it within three minutes, if possible.

Mr. Speaker. Sir, on 12th August, 2009, Mr. Letimalo demanded a Ministerial Statement in connection to cattle raids in Komkala River and Lowangu. I wish to state as follows: Mr. Speaker, Sir, on 30th June, 2009, at about 1200 hours, armed raiders believed to be Samburu morans attacked herders from the Borana Community residing in Nyachisi area, which is approximately 70 kilometres from Merti Divisional Headquarters. During the attack, raiders stole about 90 head of cattle and drove them towards Komkala area. Immediately after the attack, residents of Nyachisi assisted by some police reservists pursued the raiders and caught up with them at a watering point within Komkala area, which is approximately some few kilometers to the Samburu and Isiolo districts border. This impelled an exchange of fire in which a 27 year old police reservist, one Isaac Fugicha, lost his life, a 37 year old police reservist, one Adan Godana and a 40 year old

Mr. Ojode, you did not honor your undertaking. You did nine minutes instead of three minutes!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I apologise. Next time I will stick to five minutes.

We need two clarifications!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Assistant Minister is really misleading this House because the incidents he has talked about happened in Isiolo. He has not talked about what I raised, that is, the incidents that took place in Samburu East. I was very specific. I talked about incidents that took place on 30th June, 2009 and 9th August, 2009. This confirms my fears that that the Government is biased in responding to raids that take place in Samburu East. Why was there no response on 30th June, 2009 when three people were killed, two were injured and animals taken away? No officer visited the scene to collect the bodies or take the injured to hospital? Why was there no response on 9th August, 2009 too? How about the animals that were stolen? What arrangements has the Assistant Minister made to ensure that the animals are returned to avoid revenge attacks? This is what makes conflicts continue in this region.

Order, Mr. Letimalo! You have done well. Leave it there. I said that I will allow two hon. Members to seek clarifications. Is there anybody else who is interested in this matter?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, two people from Laisamis District were killed and hundreds of livestock taken away in the raid that was carried out on 30th June, 2009. I confirm what Mr. Letimalo has said. For three days, there was no Government response and yet bodies lay in the fields for days and some were eaten by hyenas.

Order, Mr. Lekuton! Mr. Letimalo has already said what you are saying. So you are being repetitive!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg your indulgence. What has the Assistant Minister done to make sure that Laisamis gets justice?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, you will recall I confirmed here that we responded immediately and that is why we recovered 90 head of cattle.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. The Assistant Minister is misleading this House. The 90 head of cattle that he has said were returned were stolen before 30th June, 2009. We are talking about specific dates, that is, 30th June, 2009 and 9th August. When will he recover and return those animals?

That is fine, Mr. Letimalo. Mr. Lekuton, do you have a similar point of order?

Yes, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I know what the hon. Member is going through. We responded immediately to the raid he has talked about. We have been experiencing raids in that area where on three or four occasions, the Samburu have raided the Borana. Police officers visit the scene immediately a report is made and that is why we have contained further raids. As Provincial Administrators---

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

Order, Mr. Letimalo! The Assistant Minister must be heard! At this rate we will get nowhere.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I urge hon. Members to report to the police any time a raid is mooted. Hon. Members do not have to go to the Chiefs because we have patrol vehicles. We have police stations with police officers and patrol vehicles. I urge my colleagues to report any raid immediately in order for us to recover the stolen cattle. I assure this House that we will never have these raids if reports are made immediately.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Is it in order for the Assistant Minister to continue misleading this House by saying that the police have patrol vehicles when, indeed, we have always reported cases to the officers, including those that happened in Turkana South, but they never respond? In some cases, the police do not even have vehicles. We have been asking the Assistant Minister to provide vehicles to the police but he has not done that even after promising to do so. Is the Assistant Minister in order to mislead this House?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, there would be no recovery if, indeed, the police do not respond to those raids. Hon. Members should also appreciate what we are doing on the ground. As I am speaking---

Order, Mr. Ojode! This matter is very worrisome. As a matter of fact, apart from the concerns that have been expressed in the House this afternoon, several hon. Members have been to the Speaker’s Office to express concern over insecurity. Many lives and livestock have been lost. The frequency of these incidents is very worrisome.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I will do exactly what you have said. Let me also give---

Mr. Assistant Minister, I want you to do that and the matter to rest there because the situation is worrisome. You have given undertakings in this House, but nothing seems to happen. There is no effect! So, comply with my directions. I want a report in this House that will clearly demonstrate that the incidents have diminished and that you are on top of things.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I will do that.

Let that matter rest there!

Hon. Members, we have another Ministerial Statement although we are short of time. However, this is a matter so topical and important to the nation as it pertaining to the Kenya Airways. We will have to take that Ministerial Statement.

Mr. Minister, try and issue the Statement in seven minutes.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise to make a Ministerial Statement on the recent Kenya Airways staff strike.

The national carrier, Kenya Airways, whose unionisable staff are members of the Aviation and Allied Workers Union, went on strike last weekend from early morning, 14th August, 2009 to Sunday morning, 16th August, 2009. The strike partially paralysed flight operations of the national carrier, locally and internationally.

Following consultations between Kenya Airways Limited and the Aviation and Allied Workers Union under the reconciliation of the Federation of Kenya Employers and the Central Organisation of Trade Union (COTU), the parties agreed to a return-to-work formula which addressed all the issues under dispute.

The unionisable staff of Kenya Airways include cabin crew, flight technicians, cargo loaders, customer service desk personnel, security and ground support staff. A review of their qualifications confirms that they aptly satisfy international standards necessary for the execution of their duties. I congratulate the Kenya Airways Board and the Management for maintaining appropriate academic and professional standards amongst its employees.

I confirm that their remuneration is determined, amongst other factors, by local economic and regulatory guidance which satisfy international standards. I am, therefore, pleased to lay on the Table, a copy of the Collective Bargaining Agreement that was reached collectively by the concerned parties.

Hon. Members, I will allow a maximum of three clarifications, starting with Mr. Mungatana’s.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Aviation and Allied Workers’ Union (AAWU) is composed of 3,645 members. Therefore, it is critical when a union of such magnitude issues a strike notice. Last October, there was a strike notice issued against the management of the Kenya Airways as regards foreign employees in that company. A very quick action was taken and the strike did not take place. This time round, a strike notice was issued, but the management and the Ministry watched until the strike took place. Why was the Government keeping quiet when things were happening? Who is going to pay the Kshs600 million loss that occurred because of pure negligence by the Government?

Mr. Minister, please, take notes.

Mr. Mbadi!

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. The speed with which this strike was resolved after the workers withdrew their labour indicates that there was high-handedness in the management. If they had taken action earlier, the strike would have been averted before it took place. What is the Ministry doing with a management that seems to be complacent, and with a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who seems to have outlived his usefulness in that position? Why can the Ministry not take a bold step to replace such an officer, so that there could be fresh blood to run such an important airline?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like the Minister to clarify why he took so long to understand the situation in Kenya Airways, especially after the same issue had been discussed in this House when we were contributing to the debate on the Vote of the Ministry of Transport? I would also like him to clarify whether we have any reciprocating agreements with other airlines to employ our cabin crew? Kenya Airways has employed so many foreign cabin crew members, but we do not have any cabin crew who are employed in other countries.

Mr. Minister, please, respond.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, those are very useful interventions. I think I need to make a thorough clarification.

The Ministry does not involve itself in matters relating to industrial action in private companies. Kenya Airways is not a State corporation. It is a private company, just like the companies that some of us have. Kenya Airways manages its industrial relation activities under the labour laws, and not through the Ministry of Transport. Kenya Airways can even face competition. I only recognise it as a national career. It does not appear under any Act for me to recognise it as the national career. We can recognise any

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. It is a very disappointing day today. The Minister is, on one hand, says that this is a national carrier and the other, he says: “We are not involved. It is a private company.” What are we saying? Are we saying that if a problem arises tomorrow, he is going to sit and watch? This Government is abdicating its duty to its citizens. Somebody needs to wake up and do something! What is going on?

Mr. Minister, are you misleading the House?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am not misleading the House. I urge hon. Members of Parliament to exercise respect and decorum when they refer to another hon. Member of the House and where a response is required. I would like to educate the young Member of Parliament that the terminology “national carrier” does not appear in any of our laws or statutes or Acts. It is just a terminology in passing. In other words, there are countries in the world that do not have what we call “national carriers”, yet they have registered airlines. This is an honour that we have given to Kenya Airways, and it receives certain preferential consideration from me, as the Minister for Transport. It is not by law that we refer to it as our “national carrier”. I can stop referring to it as the “national carrier” even today, if I so wish and it will not have any cause to demand that it be referred to as such.

Order! Order, hon. Members! The Minister will be heard!

Mr. Minister, please, run through the responses quickly! You can see that we are desperately out of time.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

The Management of Kenya Airways and its staff could not agree in good time because the union was demanding a 130 per cent salary increase. At this time, when we have economic strain all over the world – when there is recession virtually everywhere – such a demand was totally unacceptable. In fact, as a case in point, the British Airways staff agreed to have a cut in their salaries this year to ensure that they sustained their airline. They did not demand more money. Therefore, there was no delay occasioned by the Kenya Airways; the problem was the outrageous demand for a salary increase of 130 per cent. So far, in the collective bargaining agreement that they signed, they accepted a 10 per cent increase, to be backdated to 1st July, 2008, and another 10 per cent increase with effect from 1st July, 2009. That is reasonable. Negotiations are continuing so that a stalemate does not occur any more. Mr. Speaker, Sir, finally, I would like to confirm that we have Kenyans employed as cabin crew in other countries. We do not have to go very far. Even the national airline of the United Arab Emirates--- By the way, there is not one. They have the Airline of

Hon. Members, this matter will have to rest there!

What is it, Mr. Samoie?

On a point of order Mr. Speaker, Sir. I rise under Standing Order No.76 to address a matter that involves my name. Yesterday, at the request of this House, we tabled the list of beneficiaries of Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) land that was given out. My Assistant Minister complied with a request from the House. As a Ministry, we believe in doing the right thing when we are asked to do it by this House. The ADC is a State corporation under my Ministry. The list that was tabled in this House contained the name “William Ruto”, who was given 10 acres of land somewhere and another 10 acres or 50 acres in another place. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to state categorically that the William Ruto referred to in that particular set of names that were beneficiaries of the ADC land is not the Minister for Agriculture. Unfortunately, I do not have the patent for the names “William Ruto”. There are other Kenyans who carry that name. I have not applied for the said land. I have not been allocated any such land. I have not been sold such land. I have not sold any land that formerly belonged to the ADC. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to state that some media houses decided to assign those particular pieces of land to me. I do not qualify to be a squatter to be given that kind of land. I think it is important for the right impression to be given – that the William Ruto that was listed in that list of names, which emanated from my Ministry, is not me. My Assistant Minister knew that very well.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have a reason to make this Statement because it is important that the newspapers and the media houses correct that impression. If by miracle or mischief, some land has been allocated to a Mr. William Ruto and he does not exist, because it is not me, then that piece of land should either be returned to the ADC or be given to a deserving squatter. I do not qualify.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise to bring to your attention the contents of the HANSARD yesterday in which Mr. Jakoyo Midiwo referred to me as “a rogue Member of a political party”. I was not able to respond to this because the Chair immediately rose and, therefore, in accordance with the rules, I could not raise any more points of orders.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I wish the hon. Member to withdraw this statement and apologise or he should be named for being grossly disorderly, especially for a senior Member like a party Whip and a cousin to a very senior---

Order, Mr. Ruto. Your concern is noted. I expect hon. Members to be vigilant at all times, particularly when they are present in the House. They should point out matters that are out of order instantly, more so, when they are affected. The hon. Member for Chepalungu was to the extent that he did not raise this concern yesterday, negligent. But that notwithstanding, Mr. Midiwo is not here to withdraw and apologise. The Chair does find the term “rogue” referring to a Member of Parliament, unparliamentary. I direct that it be expunged from the records.

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

That settles the matter unless it is a different issue.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is a slightly different matter.

A slightly different matter, means it relates to it to some extent.

It is related to it to some extent.

If that is so, no.

Hon. Members I have two communications to make.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, we need further direction on the first communication. In an instance where a Committee has traveled outside the country or other parts of the country, will the meeting that has taken place on the date and subsequent days, be considered as separate meetings? If an hon. Member has missed a meeting for whatever reason, and the Committee is out for four days, does that rule apply? We need some form of accommodation in such instances. I think further direction needs to come out to clarify that issue.

Hon. Members, on that intervention, the rule will be interpreted as it provides, that, an hon. Member who misses four consecutive meetings without apology; in other words the hon. Member is in a position to request for an apology and he fails to do so, then the membership will be discontinued.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Thank you for the ruling and clarification. I think the ruling was whether you could actually make verbal apology or have it in writing. Now that you have confirmed that it shall be in writing, then the rule should not apply retrospectively to those Members who gave apologies verbally.

Order, Mr. Ethuro! This is why I said earlier on relating to the matter raised by Mr. Isaac Ruto that, when Members are present they must be vigilant, listen and attend to everything proceeding in the House. Part of that Communication used the word, “henceforth”. “Henceforth”---- Do you want me to go further, Mr. Ekwee?

I am satisfied, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, this is on a matter you touched on but which was not quite clear to me. I want a clarification. In a situation where a Member is away on duty authorized by the Speaker,does that automatically mean permission from committee sittings?

Mr. Bahari, I think it follows because for a Member to be given permission by the Speaker, the Standing Orders say that you make a written request to be granted permission. Normally, the Speaker will endorse on your request that it is noted and the Speaker directs the Clerk of the National Assembly to register that absence. So, it follows that the request will have been made in writing and if the Speaker has granted permission, then that does it.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I think that as a House, it is important that our Standing Orders appear to have harmony between them. I am looking at the ruling that you have made and trying to reconcile it with the fact that for a Member to lose his seat in the House he or she needs to be away from the House for eight consecutive sittings. I wonder why then it should not be possible to make it harmonious so that even for committees it becomes eight sittings instead of four. Does it not look disharmonious that one part of the Standing Orders says this and another says that?

Eng. Gumbo, I do not think that it is justifiable to link what happens in a committee to what happens in the House. I think the House is certainly a greater institution than a committee. In mathematical terms, which I think an engineer will understand, a committee is a sub-set of the House. So the rules that apply will naturally be different. There is rationale why the House was put at eight meetings and the committee at four meetings. Essentially the committees feed the House. That should be understood. Next Order!

Hon. Members, you will note that we will have to continue the business of the House until 10.15 p.m. We got into this situation out of necessity. So, Members should be prepared to make the extra sacrifice. Mr. Minister, please, proceed!

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to present to this House the budget for the Ministry of Agriculture for the year 2009/2010. Mr. Speaker, Sir, from the outset, I want to say that the Ministry of Agriculture is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that there is sufficient food in the country, good incomes for our farmers, reduce hunger, reduce poverty---

Order, Minister! Mr. William Samoei, I think we pointed out this very many times. My attention was not quite fully focused on you. The Motion before the House is to move that the Speaker do now leave the Chair! Can you start from there?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to move:- That The Speaker Do Now Leave the Chair. As I have said, the mission and mandate of my Ministry is to get this country to produce enough food, reduce hunger, eliminate poverty by enhancing incomes of our farmers and build our economy by availing more jobs through value addition and other value chain activities in the agricultural sector. Mr. Speaker, Sir, vision 2030 identifies agriculture as a pillar to support the Vision 2030 Initiative. Under Vision 2030, we have undertaken to make agriculture profitable, commercially viable and internationally competitive. It was realized way back in 2003 by Heads of States and Government in what is now commonly referred to as the Maputo Declaration, that there is a strong correlation in agro-based economies between growth in agriculture and growth in the economy. When agriculture grows by 10 per cent, there is a very high likelihood that the economy will grow by the same margin. If agriculture goes down, in every likelihood the economy will go down. Therefore, the way to meaningfully grow the economy is to ensure that there is growth in the agricultural sector. In the 1980s, 13 per cent of the Budget used to be allocated to the agricultural sector. We are experiencing very serious challenges in food security and poverty, partly because of the level of funding that the agricultural sector Ministries, at the moment, enjoy.

Mr. Minister, your time is up!

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me just conclude in one minute.

We have developed a mechanism where we are going to partner with seed companies, private farmers and agricultural training centres to develop this seed so that we can access it to farmers, for food production, especially in our ASALs.

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

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me an opportunity to second this Vote of the Ministry of Agriculture.

First, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our Minister. Since we were appointed to that Ministry, we have not stayed in the office. Last season, for example, we went to every division of Rift Valley doing a sensitization campaign to make the people aware that rain was coming and also giving vouchers to those who qualify. Since then, we have not settled. I would like to congratulate and thank him for very good leadership in the Ministry.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other thing I would like to thank him for is clearing the air that he is not the “William Ruto” who was given the ten acres which appeared in the newspapers and is being talked about in many radio stations. I would like

Order, Mr. Assistant! Your time is up!

Mr. Lesrima!

The Chairman!

Order, hon. Members! He took too long to stand up.

Mr. Lesrima!

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I will give the Chairman enough time. Thank you for this opportunity. I want to congratulate the Minister and his technocrats for the manner in which they run the Ministry. I think if there is any Minister in Government who understands the operations of his Ministry in detail, it is this Minister. I want to say that we can no longer rely on rain-fed agriculture because of global warming. It is for that reason that we want to support the recommendations by the Minister on desilting. He is spending Kshs9 billion to be paid by Treasury in installments for desilting all dams. We hope that these dams will be used to do small-scale drip irrigation using modern technology, to increase our food production. I also want to congratulate the Ministry for the huge irrigation programmes that they are reviving. I would like to say that we should not forget the small-scale farmers.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, KARI is a very important institution in the Ministry of Agriculture and we need to strengthen it and allocate it more resources because there is a lot of research done there. Not only do they do a lot of useful research for our farmers, but they can also be utilized as extension services. I would like the Ministry to encourage the support of KARI to do extension work. In this context, I would like to invite KARI to my constituency because we have 1,200 acres of land which is suitable with buildings so that they can also extend a facility there.

The universities also do a lot of research. They can also form part of the extension services to use the knowledge that they discover there for the benefit of our people. Similarly, the National Council for Science and Technology should also be involved in extension work. I want to commend the Minister for the programme on orphan crops. I think it should not just be another subordinate programme within the Ministry. This is a programme that can be very useful for arid and semi-arid places. I also want to say that this will assist us to move away from dependence on maize. We have become a nation that is totally dependent on maize. Having said so, we require extension services linked up with the Poverty Eradication Commission in the Ministry of Planning, National Development and Vision 2030, so that our farmers can begin to accept some crops like grain amaranth and other crops that grow within a short period. Our people can be educated on the usefulness of those types of diets.

With those few remarks, I beg to support.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do apologize for taking too long to stand up but I agree with your rules. I rise to support this Motion on behalf of Members of the Departmental Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Co-operatives. I would like to report that the Committee scrutinized the annual estimates of Vote 10 – Ministry of Agriculture, for the financial year in accordance with the provisions of Standing Order No.152 (1) and (2). Pursuant to Standing Order No.152, the Committee held eight sittings to consider the Printed Estimates for the six assigned Ministries for the

Order! Proceed, Mr. Mututho!

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those remarks, I beg to support, subject to the comments I have made.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I too want to support this Motion and I want to, with very few words, support what the Chair of the Departmental Committee on Agriculture has said; that the Ministry of Agriculture will not achieve anything if they rely on the NIB.

I know them; I worked with them! I was the District Commissioner, Tana River, and they made Hola and Bura irrigation schemes collapse. They have made others collapse and I do not think this time round they will make any success. That is all for that!

Order, hon. Members! I plead that you observe time. The Chair will not entertain additional minutes!

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Minister for the Vote he has presented on behalf of his Ministry. This is a very crucial Ministry. It is a Ministry that everybody looks to for the provision of that very essential commodity - food. When I was in school, we used to be taught that agriculture was the backbone of our economy and, indeed, it was. We have been told today that at some point in the past, up to 13 per cent of funding was allocated to this Ministry. I think that is why we could feed ourselves well and agriculture played its role as the backbone of our economy. Now that we have learned from the effects of treating agriculture the way we have done, it is important that as the Ministry makes

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I rise to support the Minister for Agriculture for the very good and informative presentation. I would also like to support the Chairman of the Departmental Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Co-operatives.

We say that agriculture is the backbone of this nation. I would like to support the views that have been expressed by the previous speakers with respect to agriculture. My biggest concern as a professional in that area is that over time, agriculture has been down- played at the expense of production and turning this nation into a subsistence nation. We will not sustain this country until we move from the production line, add value and then

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity. I stand to support the Vote of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this Motion. I rise to support the Vote of the Ministry of Agriculture. The Minister for Agriculture is making good efforts. We know that this country today is in a serious food security crisis. The situation became more serious in recent times. Therefore, the effort that the Ministry is making, particularly in subsidizing farm inputs, should be applauded. In that case, the Government should keep trying. As my colleagues have said, this Ministry should be given more funds.It should be given adequate support. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I would suggest to the Ministry that other inputs should also be subsidized, particularly crop protection chemicals. If the Government allows, we should give the Ministry more money so as to subsidize some of these inputs. Today, the Minister has told us that we will put more land under irrigated farming. I wish to agree with the Chairman of the departmental Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Cooperatives that the irrigation sub-sector is in the wrong docket. We said this during the last Parliament when irrigation was moved from the Ministry of Agriculture to the Ministry of Water and Irrigation. It is in the wrong docket. I do not know how this can be sorted out. The Minister for Agriculture sits in the Cabinet. That is where they make all the key decisions. He should propose this idea there, so that he brings that sub-sector to the right place. We are talking of irrigation, but where is the water? Where will we get the water? Kenya is a seriously water-deficit country. All the natural water catchment areas are gone. We are virtually living in a dying country. The country is dying. Every single day, we are shown pictures of dying animals. Every single day, we see pictures of seriously starving Kenyans because of lack of water. Egypt can only do irrigation along the River Nile where the water is. Of course, the water comes from Eastern Africa. Once the few rivers that are left dry out, how shall we do our irrigation? When leaders are crying: “Please, let us conserve what God gave us. Let us make sure we get back our forests---“ Trees make forests, but a few trees will not give you a forest. It is the forests that help in creating water, not just a few isolated trees. A few isolated trees will just allow all that water to rush down into the lake and be lost through evapo-transpiration. It is the forest that allows for infiltration of rain water which comes into springs, rivers and also gives us the evapo-transpiration water which then turns into rain. All these forests are gone and we are talking about irrigation. Let us have a second thought about it. When will we get water for irrigation? In the next 20 years, there will be no more water if we do not do something about the situation.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to also support this Motion.

I want to begin by congratulating the Ministry for being proactive and doing a good job. We have seen the Minister has been very active and he has really delivered. I want to particularly commend the Ministry for the subsidies that they gave on fertilizer. It has had a great impact on the farmers and I know that the farmers of Sotik have appreciated that reduction in fertilizer. I am sure it played a major role in the high yield of maize that we got this financial year.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, nonetheless, I would really like to urge the Ministry to consider as has been already alluded to, value addition to raw materials. We have a lot of raw materials in this country and the farmers are really not benefiting as they should.

I am very proud to be a farmer’s daughter. I was a farmer’s daughter when farming used to mean something. At that time, my parents were able to take me to school to quite a high level. I do not think the same can be said of farmers right now. Farming is not able to give farmers enough to provide for their children and to also meet all their needs. This is basically because a lot has changed over the years. I would like to say that the role of extension services has not been effective. If farming is going to make sense in this country and be taken as a business, then we must ensure that we provide farmers with extension services. We know that there are so many people who are employed under the Ministry of Agriculture, but that they are not actually making a lot of difference on the ground because they are not providing services to the farmers. We want farmers to take it as a business. We went the extension services to provide information and knowledge to those farmers, so that whether they are growing maize or flowers, they will get value for their efforts at the end of the day. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am also quite pleased that we are moving from rain-based agriculture to irrigation-based agriculture. As we have all said, there is a large part of this country that is not exploited that could produce all the food that we need in this country. As has already been indicated, food security is a major problem that we have in this country. In the 21st Century, in a country such as this, we should not be talking about not having enough food for our people. At the moment, that is the sad situation that we find ourselves in. we hope as the Minister has promised us that within the next five years, that will be a thing of the past because all our ASAL areas will have been exploited.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to Vote 10 of the Ministry of Agriculture. I do support this Vote from the onset.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also want to congratulate the able Minister for Agriculture, Mr. William Rutto and the professional Permanent Secretary that runs that Ministry. We have confidence in the team and we respect them. We know for the last 19 months how this Ministry was run.

Coming back to the basics, investment by the public sector in agriculture is very crucial if this country has to go ahead in terms of food security. We all know that 80 per cent of our people live in the rural areas. To improve on their livelihood and reduce poverty, promotion in agriculture and livestock investment by the Government in this region is very crucial.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to thank the Minister. For the first time in the history of this country, he has taken the lead in finding a way of taking this country towards adopting irrigation. We have seen Kshs3 billion allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture. We were at the launch of the Hola Irrigation Scheme from where we expect to harvest 14 million bags of maize in the next quarter of the year. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, coming back home, when I say “home” I mean where I come from. I want to dwell on the opportunities that are available for the people of North Eastern and specifically the people of Dujis whom I represent. We have an irrigation potential of about 20,000 acres along River Tana. We have a permanent source of water and the largest river in this country. We also have enough Government and Non-Governmental Organizations’ (NGOs) presence. Above all, we have a very competent technical staff of the Ministry of Agriculture. The question that comes to one’s mind is, why out of the 20,000 acres of irrigation potential in Garissa, only 2,060 have been exploited? This is only close to 10 per cent. I want to thank the Minister for Agriculture for the various income and livelihood supporting projects that his Ministry has undertaken across the country including my constituency. They include the National Agriculture and Livestock Extension Programme, the Njaa Marufuku Programme, the Water Harvesting Programme and many others. I would also like to thank him for the major improvements they are doing in terms of re-introducing traditional crops like sorghum, maize, cow peas and many others. However, if you look at Dujis Constituency, I have 91,000 acres of rain-fed potential. Out of this, only 1,320 acres have been exploited. The reason for this is well known. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Ministry is not exploiting the ran-fed agriculture potential because less than 300 millimeters per annum of rainfall is what my constituency receives against the 650 millimeters expected per annum. We want to see how we can solve the food insecurity in this country. With those few remarks, I beg to support.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for noticing me. I thought you were initially not noticing me because I am short.

Thank you Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to support this Motion. I would like to start by thanking the Minister and the entire team for making sure that Kenyans are not going to starve during scarcity of food and ensuring that Kenya is going to be food secure. I also wish to thank the Minister for being accessible any time we want to consult him. We really appreciate that. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I represent Samburu East Constituency which is a semi arid area. Our main economic activity is livestock keeping. However, that does not necessarily mean that there is no agricultural activity that can be undertaken in that area. I wish to inform the Minister that the Alovera plant does well. I have seen people taking initiative of growing this plant. I wish that the Ministry could pursue it and facilitate the interested groups, so that they can also make a living out of it. Fruit crops also do well in this area. I believe that they do well because Catholic Missionaries have been growing fruits in their areas and supplying them to the schools that they sponsor. I believe if the Ministry could support those who are interested in growing fruits, that would go a long way in assisting those people who entirely depend on livestock. That includes other drought escaping crops that would take between a month or three months, so that people do not rely on animals and animal products. I agree with the issue of organizing field days as a learning resource because that is one way of creating awareness and educating our farmers. I believe that extension officers, who have been posted there, should not give an excuse that the area is dry and, therefore, there is no crop that they can grow or concentrate on dealing with the 4K Clubs. If they organized field days, they would educate people, so that they can diversify their crops. Lastly, I want to request the Ministry to open a National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) branch in Wamba. This is one area where there is food insecurity. Our traders procure foods either from Nyahururu or Meru. When the Government made an intervention by subsidizing cereals, we did not benefit because the traders had to cover transport costs. With those few remarks, I beg to support.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir for giving me the opportunity to support Vote 10 of the Ministry of Agriculture. These days when we talk about agriculture, we are thinking of food security because of the number of people we see starving around the country. I want to commend the Minister and his colleagues because they have really gone out of their way to demonstrate that they are sensitive and they are listening. Obviously, behind this Minister, there must be very efficient civil servants working behind the scenes that nobody sees or even knows. Let me use this opportunity to congratulate them for a job they are doing really well. Kenya is an agricultural country. By that, we do not only mean that we ought to be food secure, but we are also talking of the fact that the backbone of this economy remains agriculture. While a colleague will talk about what we will do with potatoes and why coffee is not being subsidized and so on, if we put all these in the context of our overall economic performance, we should immediately recognize what the Ministry must know. For example, we very rarely talk about the cash crops which are not food and

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to support this Vote. The Ministry’s work has been felt in this country. Many hon. Members have contributed positively about the good work of this Ministry. However, I would like to ask the Ministry to do some work so that we can feel them in my constituency. We have not quite felt them. I am only concerned with the issue of irrigation, as far as it remains under the Ministry of Water and Irrigation; I think we are headed for mucky waters. We have a history of this department. We saw what became of the Mwea Irrigation Scheme. Now, we are pumping in billions into this board. I am afraid and many hon. Members have said the same that we may end up in a disaster. It is important that what we have said be taken seriously and acted upon quickly because we do not want to come back here next year and start wondering about what became of the billions that we pumped there. The other issue that I would want the Ministry to consider is water harvesting. The Ministry of Agriculture is doing a lot across other places. It is important as the Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology said that a little more of attention be given to those areas that produce food, particularly now when there is drought. If we are not helped at the constituencies to dig water pans and rehabilitate the existing dams, then the situation will be worse than it is now. While we must move to the ASAL areas

Thank you, Mr. Temporarily Deputy Speaker, Sir. I rise to support the Vote of the Ministry of Agriculture and for the very well presented proposal on how they intend to

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to support the Ministry of Agriculture and the entire team, because of a well presented budget, although I know that it is very limited. We have not been able to go even a tenth of the Maputo Declaration. However, I am pleased that we have seen a lot

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving me this chance to contribute to this very important Vote which I want to support from the outset. First, I want to take this opportunity to thank the Minister, the Permanent Secretary and the entire staff of the Ministry for doing a commendable job. This is a Ministry that is dynamic and visionary. It is a Ministry that has a Minister, a Permanent Secretary and staff who actually know what they want to do and know where they want to take this country.

Time up, Dr. Otichilo!

With those few remarks, I wish to support this Vote.

Hon. Members, it is time for the Minister to respond.

Order, Mr. Affey!

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me take this opportunity to thank hon. Members for the tremendous support they have given to the Ministry of Agriculture Vote. Let me single out the suggestions that have been made on the Floor of the House for increment of budgetary allocation to the Ministry of Agriculture. Let me underscore that if we want to grow this economy at 10 per cent, all we need to do is to grow the agricultural sector at 10 per cent. It is as simple as that. To be able to do that, we must invest human and financial resources in this sector. I want to inform the House that we have a lot of human resource on board and out there. If we get additional funding, we should be able to access or change the trend of our economy by changing the status of the agricultural sector. In the course of this year, I will be bringing to this House another Bill for the establishment of an Agricultural Development Fund so that we have specific funding for the agricultural sector, especially priority projects that we believe can stimulate the economy for food security, job creation and poverty eradication.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I appreciate the concerns of hon. Members on extension staff. It is true that in the past, before the advent of liberalization and structural adjustment programmes, we continually enhanced the level of personnel available for this exercise. I want to report to this House that we have adequate staff on

It is now the turn of the Minister for livestock Development to move his Vote.

Vote 19 – Ministry of Livestock Development

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

The livestock sub-sector continues to be a major component of the wider agricultural sector contributing about 12 per cent to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and about 42 per cent of the total agricultural GDP. The livestock sector plays a very major role especially in the arid and semi arid lands (ASAL) areas where over 90 per cent of the population there depends on livestock. In the highlands also, about 600,000 families depend on keeping of dairy cows through production of milk and selling that milk and, therefore, eking some livelihood from there.

In Vision 2030, this Ministry is charged with improving its performance which has been dragging along for over 20 years because of certain policy changes during the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) in the 1980s. During this policy change period, a lot of programmes in the livestock sector stalled, some of them very key like

Order, hon. Members! Order, Ms. Chepchumba!

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. Artificial Insemination services became very expensive after the Government pulled out from subsidizing the services, especially now when the demand is very high. We have reached a level of 600,000 inseminations per year, which is one of the highest in history, because of the good prices that farmers fetch for milk. The Ministry is now in the process of negotiating with the Treasury, so that some sort of subsidy for AI services can be put in place. Currently, there are lots of private practitioners, who are not only bringing very expensive semen but also semen of not very good quality, and with very high failure rates. The AI Service at Kabete has now installed a Kshs50 million nitrogen plant for cooling purposes. This plant will go a long way in contributing to the quality of semen by keeping it at the required temperature and for delivery to various farmers. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the privatisation of this service was hurriedly implemented, despite the fact that it was a very critical service to the dairy sector. This was done very hurriedly, and without assessing the capacity of the private sector players to render the same. In areas where AI service providers are present, the service is expensive to most of the livestock keepers, resulting in use of low quality bulls. Another very crucial area that was privatised, which is affecting farmers very much, is dipping services, which have actually collapsed. This is one of the key disease control methods, especially for ticks. The use of sprays is not only ineffective since it only covers the top layer of the fur; it also has a degrading effect to the environment. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in order to reverse the above trend, my Ministry is training more private AI service providers at the Animal Health and Training Institute (AHITI), Kabete, and AHITI, Ndomba. The Ministry has also intensified the supervision of AI services. It has also planned to sell IA equipment to livestock keepers and other stakeholders at subsidized prices through the Central Artificial Insemination Centre (CAIC). Regarding tick control, my Ministry has successfully undertaken the dip wash strength analysis, and is collaborating with acaricide manufacturers and other stakeholders to develop an appropriate policy and legal framework in this area.

Time up!

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have a lot of issues left, but I beg to move.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to second the Motion. I want to begin by congratulating the Minister and his senior staff for the job they are doing under very difficult circumstances – difficult because the level of funding reflects the mentality of the current and previous Governments towards livestock farmers. We are told that the agricultural sector, which includes the livestock sub-sector, contributes 12 per cent of Kenya’s GDP. Of that agricultural contribution to GDP, 42 per cent is from livestock. However, if you look at the Budgetary allocation to the livestock sub-sector over the years, you will realise that pure agriculture gets double the amount of money that the livestock sub- sector gets. The current Government created another Ministry for the livestock keepers, in a bid to please us, called the Ministry of State for Development of Northern Kenya and Other Arid Lands and provided it with a Budgetary provision of Kshs800,000,000. That is what I was referring to as “another shell” the other day.

I am encouraged to note that the bulk of the hon. Members present in the House now are members of the Pastoral Parliamentary Group (PPG). Of course, we also have Mrs. Shabesh, who is a national Member of Parliament, Mr. Mureithi and a former Provincial Director of Range Management, who is the Chairman of the current Departmental Committee. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the Minister has highlighted a number of sectors he is putting emphasis on in terms of improving them. I want to say that range management development is very critical. There is no point giving us grass. The other day, I was given 1,000 bales of hay to feed 200,000 cows. That is not being quite realistic. We should just go back and strengthen the Range Management Department, as one of the most important departments, so that our people can know how to grow, conserve and manage grass. The Minister mentioned about dipping. I agree with him. Dipping was privatised at the wrong time, because of pressure from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), But I must say that we also have difficulties dipping cows. How do you dip livestock without water? We must also develop our water resources.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to support this Motion and report that the Committee met the Minister for Livestock Development on 27th July, 2009 and examined the estimates of the Ministry of Livestock Development.

Livestock rearing supports a large segment of the Kenyan population hence the need for Government investment in this sub-sector. The sub-sector is key to the attainment of Kenya’s development agenda.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, this Ministry’s net allocation for the Financial Year 2009/2010 is Kshs3.1 billion and Appropriations-In-Aid (A-in-A) of only Kshs24 million. The Development Expenditure is allocated a net of only Kshs1.2 billion with A-in-A of Kshs264 million. This translates to just 0.69 per cent.

We are talking about an already suffering sector in agriculture. Even when we talk about that, I want to inform the House that in our oversight role we found that this Ministry in all the money that this Government would think of and boast of, has only 0.69 per cent of the Budget. That is slightly better compared to the Ministry of Co- operative Development which is at 0.17 per cent and Ministry of Lands which is at 0.37 per cent.

Talking about land in relation to livestock, you will realize that cattle rustling is all about the fight for land and other factors. When you look at this sector, we refer you again to the Maputo Protocol, so that you understand why it is important to have the 10 per cent financing package under this sector. If land issues can be resolved, most of these

Thank you very much, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to support this very important Vote. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I will just pick from where the Chairman has just left. I thank the Minister, Assistant Minister, Permanent Secretary and staff generally at the Ministry of Livestock Development. We stand here full of lamentations and do not know who to blame. This is because this Government is not sensitive to the livestock farmers in this country. It has no interest; otherwise this Ministry would not have been cannibalized the way the Chairman has just said. Part of it has gone to the Ministry of State for Development of Northern Kenya and other Arid Lands and another part to the Ministry of Agriculture. So, there is general policy confusion. Now that we have passed the Livestock Policy, I want to tell the Minister that he has substantial support in this House. You are a very powerful Minister. If you use it well, during the next Budget, we will not be lamenting the way we are doing. The starting point is to get out of the office together with your staff and go and visit all the pastoral areas in this country, together with the 60 Members of Parliament whose economic mainstay is livestock. From this House you can become a Prime Minister in 2012. When you become one, this country will never be the same again, because 70 per cent of the landmass is inhabited by livestock farmers. Therefore, it is good that you have our support. We know the contents of the Budget now. Not enough money has been allocated to this Ministry. But some of the efforts the Government has done in the last few days are recommendable, I want to associate myself with those Members who have thanked the Minister and Government. I only did not understand the dynamics behind Kshs8,000. Why did you choose the figure Kshs8,000 and not Kshs10,000 or Kshs15,000? I am sure that some of the animals that you have collected within the Kshs8,000 can fetch much

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to support the Vote for this Ministry. I would like to commend the Minister and the staff of this Ministry for their efforts in trying to contain, with the little money that they have, some of the diseases. They have done so much in containing some of the diseases as has been mentioned by the Minister like the PPR and others. However, a lot needs to be done. Eradication of Rinderpest is good news to the pastoralists and livestock farmers. But the issue of tsetse fly needs more effort so that these zones which are tsetse fly-infested can be used more effectively for the management and production of more livestock in that area.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. I support this Motion and I want to start by saying that many of the Ministers that we have within our Ministries are not visible but on this Ministry I want to say that we see a lot of visibility. However, the visibility is not translating because of the attitude of the Government, as my colleagues have said, towards this Ministry. Most of the communities which depend on livestock are already marginalized communities. I think it is double disaster that regions

Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to the Vote of the Ministry of Livestock. From the outset, I would like to congratulate the Minister, his very able Assistant Minister and the other professional staff in the Ministry. They have done the best under very difficult circumstances. They have realised the immense work they have to do.

We always talk about the marginalization of pastoral areas. If you want evidence, then look at the budget for the Ministry of Livestock Development. If that is not enough, look at the budget for the Ministry of State for Development of Northern Kenya and Other Arid Areas. This is the case and yet these Ministries are being led by able Ministers and Assistant Ministers from the pastoral communities. They are appointed to these noble Ministries and yet they are not allocated enough resources. They are not allocated enough funds in order to perform and yet we expect them to perform. How can they perform? It is time this country did what is necessary to enable the livestock sector, which is worth over Kshs5 billion, in the ASAL areas to be of value to this nation.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, it is a shame that 45 years after Independence we still import powder milk and preserved meat from other countries and yet we have many livestock in northern Kenya and other arid areas. This shows that, as a State, we have not invested in our livestock sector. If Botswana has done it, why not Kenya? Do we lack the human resource? We have it. We only lack political will. Our policy makers do not see the need to invest in the livestock economy.

I want to congratulate the Minister for Livestock Development for the very innovative and timely programme of livestock off take now that we experience drought. I hope this programme will be well implemented. I am sure that the Ministry is targeting small stock as well as cattle. This will go a long way in alleviating the suffering of our people. We should see to it that the animals do not go to waste because they will be of value to this nation and particularly, the pastoralists.

I urge the Ministry of Livestock Development to think about market access by our people. Up to now we do not have any formal market for the livestock in this nation. We take our livestock to Kariobangi and Dandora in a very informal setting that is controlled by brokers. This cannot make our people have a good living out of this sector which is their lifeline. I urge the Ministry to think seriously about market access. It boggles my mind that Ethiopians are able to export their animals to Yemen and Saudi Arabia. This is the case and yet our animals cross the porous borders of northern Kenya and are bought by Ethiopians who sell them in Yemen. In Kenya, we are said to be within a disease zone and as such we are unable to access those markets. Something is fundamentally wrong in terms of policy. I hope that the Ministry will see to it that we access the lucrative markets in the Middle East.

I have a problem with the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC). First of all, why is it located in Nairobi? Tea factories are located where people grow tea. The same case applies to coffee and pyrethrum factories or State corporations. From the outset, it was not meant to serve the livestock farmers but large-scale cattle ranchers and it is time we stopped that. We should support millions of pastoralists who are struggling hard to raise livestock in the ASAL areas as much as we support large-scale cattle ranchers.

I beg to support.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. I want to take this opportunity to, first, thank and appreciate the Minister and the technocrats within the

Time up!

With those remarks, I beg to support.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity. I want to support the Vote of the Ministry of Livestock Development. I want to start by congratulating the Minister and his staff for doing a good job.

I also want to thank the Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Cooperatives for bringing out issues that they have come across. I wish he can do it by way of a report to this House, so that this matter can be debated extensively in broad daylight, not at night like now.

I was just wondering how we will organize our business here. When it comes to the issue of finances or budget, indeed, the timetable should be changed such that the Votes of the Ministries come first and the Questions should come last. This issue is not even getting attention from the Press. The Press gallery is empty. I want to request although he is not here, I will personally talk to him to make sure that he brings the report that he has on the injustice in the budget and all other issues that he has brought up here, so that we can discuss as a House in full.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to say that pastoralism or livestock rearing is supposed to be a very enjoyable business. It is supposed to be a stress-free business. When you see most of the ranchers, they are hefty fellows. Even physically you can see that they are well fed people contrary to what we see in parts of northern Kenya or the pastoral community.

This is because this Government has deliberately neglected this Ministry. I do not think we will allow it to happen next time. We will make sure that this Ministry is taken care of. It has been allocated less than one per cent of the Budget. It is unbelievable yet the contribution to the GDP is 12 per cent which is even, perhaps, understated because we have not even invested in it.

I know the example of Botswana has been given. I have had the opportunity to be in Namibia to look at how that industry is developed. They have a meat company in Namibia called Namibia Meatco. Since the place is a desert the entire industry has been taken care of from the time of production up to the time of processing the product which is meat to the final market. These are people who have been trained here.

If the Ministry does not take us seriously, what we can do as the pastoralist community is to withhold the product and see what will be on the dining table. We will want to see how long they will sustain what they will have on the dining table Probably, that kind of a sanction will do us good and people will realize that this Ministry is important and it must be supported.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I stand to support this very important Motion. Let me thank the Minister, the Assistant Minister, the Permanent Secretary and other players in the Ministry for their continued commitment and dedication in the Ministry. I also take this opportunity to thank the Chairman of the Departmental Committee, Mr. Mututho, for his radical recommendations which I hope the Ministry will study and implement. On the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC), I take this opportunity to thank the Government for reviving this very important asset. The revived factory should not be allowed to collapse again. One reason why it can easily collapse is the appointment of the top management. We have noted time and again, that the top cream; the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), has been appointed on ethnic consideration. This should not be the factor to be considered. Qualified and capable Kenyans should be given the opportunity to lead such parastatals. It is also important that the expansion programme for KMC must be embarked upon. There are so many animals that have been taken by KMC. Once they are taken there, the current facility cannot accommodate the numbers from the north eastern region. Secondly, the KMC must embark on a very aggressive campaign to sell the end product. Secondary schools and universities should be allowed to buy meat products at subsidized prices. On the issue of private practitioners, they have been denied a chance to buy certain seemen and this has really hindered their operations in the field. That issue must be addressed critically by the Minister. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, concerning dairy farming in Central Province, we have not had rain just like other regions in the country. When I hear hay being given to farmers to keep their animals alive, I am disappointed that none has been released to Central Province. It is, therefore, important that as we create employment for

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this Vote of the Ministry of Livestock Development. I will start by thanking the Minister and his entire team for steering the Ministry well despite the enormous problems that they have been facing like inadequate staff, inadequate means of transport and low funding. Statistics show that over 60 per of all livestock in Kenya is found in Arid and Semi Arid Lands (ASAL) areas and employs about 90 per cent of our global population. However, the ASAL areas also have unique characteristics because they experience frequent drought and severe famine which have devastating effects on pastoral communities due to loss of their livestock. Long after the drought, the pastoralists are left without sufficient livestock to sustain their livelihood. Therefore, I want to suggest to the Minister - this was brought when we were discussing the National Livestock Policy - that there is need to come up with a livestock insurance agency so that they can cater for restocking and other recovery programmes. I am saying so because of the same reasons that my colleague has talked about. When farming communities experience crop failure due to poor rains or as result of drought, the Government comes in handy to provide them with free fertilizer and free seeds. At the moment, nothing is given to the livestock keeping communities. Through the insurance schemes, the livestock farmers will also benefit. Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, equally important, just like what happens to farming communities, institutions like the Agricultural Finance Corporation should provide credit facilities to farmers. However, there is no consideration that is given to livestock farmers. I think it is necessary that the Minister and his team, and I know that they have the capacity to do it, come up with arrangements where livestock farmers can be advanced with such facilities so that they can do restocking. I do appreciate that in his speech, the Minister has really emphasized on animal disease control. We do know that, that greatly contributes to low productivity and poor sustainability of livestock. We remember the effects of the outbreak of PPR. Those of us who come from those areas were really affected. My extended family lost over 300 goats. It is for the same reason that we have been going to the Minister and raising Questions in

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to say just two or three things. First, I want to go on record as having supported this Vote. The Ministry has done well and I want to stop at that before I run the risk of sounding a bit of a sycophant. But as I make my contribution, I want to say that it would be dangerous for us to allow the Minister to go, because he may end up getting the feeling that the Ministry is for issues affecting the pastoralists alone. The staff who are here need to know that there is more than just the issues that have been raised very well by those who come from the pastoralist communities. The Ministry is much more than that. There is a danger if we do not bring it out that way. I know that the Minister has been very busy with issues affecting the pastoralist communities. It would be good if we see you in my constituency. We had a discussion in my constituency with my constituents and we agreed that, when we see the pastoralists in our area, we will allow them space and time because they are there because of the difficulties that we have in our country. That gesture is on and it will remain there. But there is a danger. When those head of cattle come through our areas--- Three months ago, I spent some Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) money to vaccinate all the dairy cows against Foot and Mouth Diseases. But we have lost it now. The Government is also absent. Nothing has come to help the farmers in Ndaragwa, even after spending CDF money to support the Ministry. No intervention measures have been seen in the dairy sector. There are pigs which are supposed to be looked after. We also have rabbits and sheep. We are supposed to see the Ministry doing something about them. We have not felt it. We have the intervention measures including what the President and the Prime Minister were doing two days ago. What is there for those who are doing dairy farming? What is there for those who rely on milk and milk products? This Ministry must also remain relevant in those areas. There is nothing more that we need to say about it. We have the issue of veterinary officers. Now, we literally have to pay for everything. The private sector has taken over and they are very expensive. We are losing our dairy cows because of very simple diseases, for simple reason that farmers can no longer afford the medicine to cure these ailments. The veterinary sector in our area is no more. It is like history to those people. It is important that we get that. When we talk of intervention

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if I fail to contribute to this Motion, then I have no business being in this House. I want to thank the Minister for the effort and determination that he is trying to put, in expending in this Ministry. But those efforts are limited by definition. They are not good enough. The Minister needs to operate like yesterday because this is a Ministry that has suffered for too long under the umbilical cord of the Ministry of Agriculture. When you hear my friend, Mr. Kioni, talking about “this is not for pastoralists” he is taking us back to those days where livestock is defined as a sub-sector of agriculture.

On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. Is this hon. Member in order to insinuate that I have no clear understanding of what I was talking about? It is important that he restricts himself to his contribution and leave mine alone. I also want to help him---

Mr. Ethuro, stick to the Motion before us and if you need to bring a substantive Motion on Mr. Kioni, you can do that. Otherwise, stick to the Motion.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the rules are very clear, I am not discussing Mr. Kioni, I am just raising a point he made which is very relevant to this Motion; that the livestock sector has suffered because of an attitude problem.

Continue contributing to the Motion!

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Minister needs to operate on a few basics. One, we need a livestock census. The Minister of State for Planning, National Development and Vision 2030 is doing a human a census. What are you doing about our livestock? How do you plan for something you do not know, you do not

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have stood several times here but thank you because I have caught your eyes. I have two issues to raise. First, I want to congratulate the Minister. It was a very good calculation that the Government thought it wise to bring somebody who has banked his life and everything that he has in livestock. The problem of allocation of funds to this Ministry is something which is shocking. We have been shocked to see the amount of money which has been allocated to the Ministries of Agriculture and Livestock Development. These are the areas where majority of Kenyans depend on. I am really very

It is now time for the Minister to reply.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to start by saying that I appreciate the support that hon. Members have given this Vote. I appreciate the fact that they understand the various challenges that the Ministry faces. That is lack of enough funds, staff and transport. I also appreciate the challenges that the hon. Members have put to the Ministry which I lead. I would like to assure them that from now henceforth, I will call the PPGs and interested hon. Members so that we can try and address the challenges that this Ministry faces.

I also appreciate that hon. Members know the potential of this sector. We must work together in order to fulfill the expectations of livestock farmers. This Ministry had hitches when it was established but it now has a team. The Permanent Secretary, the

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

THAT a sum not exceeding Kshs5,856,153,480 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 10 – Ministry of Agriculture

VOTE R10 – RECURRENT EXPENDITURE SUB-VOTE 100 – GENERAL ADMINISTRATION AND PLANNING

SUB-VOTE 101 – POLICY, LEGAL REVIEWS AND REGULATION OF AGRICULTURAL INPUTS AND OUTPUTS

SUB-VOTE 102 – MONITORING AND MANAGEMENT OF FOOD SECURITY

Mr. Temporary Deputy Chairman, the Recurrent Expenditure is Kshs75 million and the Development Expenditure is about Kshs128 million, that is about

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I wish to explain that under that Vote we have money from donors to supplement the Vote on Development. However, we will use our own infrastructure and personnel whom we have to pay from the Recurrent Vote. So the real rations are much smaller than what is seen on paper. We have money that is supported by donors that is not reflected in the books.

SUB-VOTE 103 – FACILITATION AND SUPPLY OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICES AND RESEARCH

SUB-VOTE 104 – INFORMATION MANAGEMENT FOR AGRICULTURE SECTOR

SUB-VOTE 105 – PROTECTION OF NATURAL RESOURCES BASE FOR AGRICULTURE

Vote 19 - Ministry of Livestock Development

Mr. Temporary Deputy Chairman, Sir, I beg to move;-

Mr. Temporary Deputy Chairman, Sir, under Head 432, the largest district in Kenya – Marsabit North – has not been considered, while a number of other districts have been considered for the construction of structures for veterinary services.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Chairman, Sir, of course, we will consult and see what we can do about that.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am directed to report that the Committee of Supply has considered the Resolution that a sum not exceeding Kshs5,856,153,480 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 10 – Ministry of Agriculture, and has approved the same without amendment.

Mr. Samoei): Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move that the House doth agree with the Committee in the said Resolution.

(Dr. Kuti) seconded.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, while supporting the Vote of this Ministry, I would like to request the Minister to consider supplying free seeds to the arid and semi-arid areas where there is a bit of irrigation. This includes areas like Kina and Malkadaka, so that we can be able to produce a lot.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, while supporting the Minister, I would also want him to consider that the economic stimulus package of irrigation is extended beyond the traditional coastal areas, but also to go into those food deficit chronic areas like Turkana.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I support this very important Vote, I would urge the Minister to seriously look into the issue of tea hawking in Lari District because it is almost crippling down the existing tea factories like Kagwe and Kabaa in my constituency.

Vote 19 – Ministry of Livestock Development

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply has considered the Resolution that a sum not exceeding Kshs2,189,730,115 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 19 – Ministry of Livestock Development and has approved the same without amendment.

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

(Mr. Samoei) seconded.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, while supporting the Vote of the Ministry the issue of laboratories is very important. We still guess on animal diseases. The laboratories are not on the ground. Specimens have to be brought here for verification. That needs to be corrected with speed so that we are able to do diagnosis where the livestock is. In addition, I wanted to say that the issue of breeding needs to be looked at very keenly. I had an opportunity to attend an agricultural show in South Africa and I realized that some goats could deliver as much as three triplets. That is very good. I think they need to look into this area.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with good funding we should do a feasibility study for abattoirs in northern Kenya during this financial year. I do hope that the Ministry will undertake that study and ensure that a number of abattoirs are set up in the arid areas of northern Kenya.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, while supporting the Vote, I urge the Minister to consider setting up a honey processing plant in Marigat to discourage the rampant hawking of honey.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, while supporting this important Vote, I would like the Ministry to consider the disease control programme, and particular the tsetse fly infected areas, especially in Ijara District.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving an opportunity to support this Vote. While I do support the Vote, I would like to urge the Ministry to employ enough technical staff including the veterinary surgeons because the

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, now that we have given the Minister money, he needs to put value; the issue of the quantum is no longer material. One, he should make sure that branding of livestock take place in order to stem rampant cattle rustling. Two, he should ensure that the Lokichoggio abattoir is made operational and another one is put at a place known as Kainuk for the benefit of the Pokot and the Turkana. Finally, the public employment of animal health workers must be given priority to northern Kenya.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would request the Minister to clarify why he has allowed human beings in Nyeri to continue eating animal feeds, especially for pigs.

Hon. Members, that concludes the business on the Order Paper. The House is, therefore, adjourned until Tuesday, 25th August, 2009, at 2.30 p.m.

The House rose at 8.22 p.m.