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

That this House adopts the Report of the proceedings of the ACP Committees and the ACPEU Joint Committee meeting held in Brussels between September 27th to October 2, 2009 and the Report of the 18th Session of the ACPEU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and related meetings held between November 24th and December 3rd, 2009 in Luanda, Angola laid on the Table today, Wednesday 24th, March, 2010.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to ask the Minister for Information and Communications, the following Question by Private Notice. (a) Could the Minister update the House on the status of the Information, Communication and Technology Project for each constituency planned to be funded through the Economic Stimulus Package? (b)Will the Minister supply desktop computers to each constituency under the same project in view of exorbitant proposal of the IT buses of Kshs7 million which was rejected by this House?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to reply. (a) My Ministry was earmarked to implement two programmes under the Information and Communications Technology, ICT Economic Stimulus Package, 2009/2010. These are: Mobile Computer Laboratories and one million laptops. The MCL Programmes are aimed at taking ICT training to constituency level by making sure that students from poor schools have the opportunity to learn ICT skills. The programme involves procurement of 210 buses or lorries equipped with computers and furniture to cater for an average class. This was meant to increase access to ICT in the constituencies for learning purposes. To jumpstart the programme, the Ministry wrote to the Chief Transport Mechanical Engineer for specifications of vehicles and they came up with three models depending on the geographical terrain and climatic conditions of the region of the given constituency. These models include one mobile computer laboratory and a large bus of 40 students. A medium class of 4 by 4, nine to ten tonnes, high sided, enclosed mobile computer laboratory for 22 students and the third one large truck, 4 by 2, nine to ten tonnes, high sided, enclosed mobile computer laboratory for 18 students. However, the project was not implemented due to lack of support from both the Parliamentary committees concerned who favoured a fixed computer laboratory located in the schools premises. We were thus requested to initiate another concept. Following this request, my Ministry prepared a concept paper on building ICT skills and capacity for Kenyans through: Provision of computers and band waves to secondary schools and nurturing of ICT incubation centres for hardware and software development for the local and international markets. The programme involves the establishment of computer laboratories for schools targeting constituencies, using locally assembled computers. The Programme targets at least ten secondary schools per constituency each to be supplied with 20 computers for training purposes. My Ministry is still in consultation with the Treasury and other stakeholders on the best way to implement this particular project. (b) Mr. Speaker, Sir, as I have alluded in 1 (a) above, the new proposal seeks to establish fixed computer laboratories in identified schools in every constituency. Please note that this proposal is still under discussion.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, could the Minister inform us when we may expect this new revived concept to actually materialise and when we can expect the computer level at least to be put on the ground?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, as I have said, this is a new project. It is being written anew and it is going to be presented anew to the Treasury and therefore, I cannot prophesy the time for implementation.

Thank you Mr. Speaker, Sir. In view of the fact that the end of the financial year is beckoning and this was a project for this financial year, can the Minister tell the House exactly when he is going to finish these consultations and whether they will include the relevant Parliamentary committee? These days we like the participatory approach as Members too have ideas on how best we can serve our people.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I still cannot prophesy. The process has begun. I need to make it clear that by the time the approval for the last one; the one that we think

Mr. Speaker, Sir, could the Minister tell us the balance of the money because 200 computers cannot cost Kshs7 million? Could he, in the new proposal, consider giving every constituency Kshs7 million, so that we can cover more than 20 schools?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, ideally, I would like to do that, but the Ministry of Information and communications is not a money giving Ministry. I will only implement what the Ministry of Finance has approved.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, given that it is the Committee of the House that thwarted his plans to follow that procedure, could he consider bringing that policy to the main House so that we can amend it and, if necessary, divert those funds to the constituencies? We can spend that money to build computer labs?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is very difficult to hear the hon. Member. May I request him to speak near the microphone.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Minister complained that it is the House Committee that refused. So I am asking him: Could he consider bringing it to the main House so that we can consider the proposal that was rejected by that Committee and, if necessary, amend it? We can send that money to the constituencies directly!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I think it is just that technically--- It is not my Ministry that will allow monies to go directly to constituencies.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. The Minister said that the only reason why that policy has not been implemented is because the House Committee rejected it. I am asking him: Would he be prepared to bring it to the main House? I am talking about the policy that was rejected by a Committee of this House. Could he consider bringing it to the main House so that we could consider it? We can amend it to make sure that those funds are not returned to the Treasury.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I had hardly finished the sentence; there was nothing out of order. I had only begun to say “technically” and then I was already interrupted. I am willing to do whatever needs to be done. I think that the two Committees, one in charge of energy, communications and information and the other of Education, Research and Technology can hold their joint meeting and, if necessary, look at ways of fast-tracking the process and, secondly, look at the possibility of proposing that the proposals be brought back to the main Committee. I am held responsible by those Committees and so, I do not see the possibility of now bringing it to the House before the Committees are actually through with it. So, I want to recommend that we go through the Committees and, once we are through with them, and if the process is not going as fast, then the House has the authority to call back this matter for resolution.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. The Ministry has raised the expectations of Kenyans and, especially, those of us who come from disadvantaged regions like mine where computers are rare. The student community is not familiar with computers and it is disadvantaged. Could the Minister consider transferring the money to respective Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) so that we know the money is safe?

If the issue is money, we have less than three months to the Budget! I believe the Minister is not telling the House the truth. If the issue is money, he should know that these are his colleagues; if the money is there, there is no need for his Ministry to take nine months just to design a concept paper. That does not make sense! Could he consider taking the money back to the constituencies as he had promised?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I do not understand how I could be out of order! I do not have money. There is no way I can bring monies. I do not have the money. This is a stimulus package. The money is with the Treasury. We are only the implementing Ministry.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. The Minister is trying to mislead the House. All the monies that belong to the Stimulus Package Programme are channeled through the relevant Ministries. Why is he misleading the House?

Mr. Minister, are you misleading the House or is that a matter of argument?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, that is a matter of argument and you can protect me from that because obviously---

Let the Minister respond to that point of order first!

Obviously, Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Ministry of Information and Communications simply implements. If the project is supported by this House, then the monies come for implementation. If it is not supported by this House, then it goes back to the Treasury. I do not keep that money because I have nothing to implement.

So, Mr. Minister, in a nutshell, are you saying that you have not received the money?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, that is what it means. It means that I do not have the money. Technically, I do not have the money. I cannot spend a penny until the project is accepted and supported.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. In view of the fact that Questions under the stimulus package are coming here now and then, and Ministers have found a way of saying that it is the Ministry of Finance which is supposed to answer--- If you look at the Question under the Prime Minister’s Time, it is also on the stimulus package. Would I be in order to ask that since the Ministry concerned is that of Finance and it touches on money, all the matters under the stimulus package be directed to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance so that he can tell us where the money is?

You will be out of order as far as this particular Question is concerned. I think the Minister has so far dealt with it very ably.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am wondering what the Minister is doing to make sure that he gets that money. That is because when he tells us that he has not received that money, is his work just to sit there and wait for the money? Why can he not go and find out what is happening at the Ministry?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have explained. I do not know whether the hon. Member was following when I was explaining. I will ask for the money when the project has been approved. Treasury will then release the monies to fulfill my obligation of implementing the project. So, I will only get the money as soon as we work with the Committees to conclude the proposals. That will be better for all of us. The money will come from the Treasury.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, could we ask whether the Minister is misleading the House? In fact, the mobile computer laboratory and the IT concept that he is now presenting and saying he is going to look at address the same thing. They are addressing computerization at the school level. There is no new concept. I think the Minister is misleading the House because he well knows that over Kshs5 million of that Kshs7 million was dedicated to purchasing a bus and those buses from Tata have already been purchased.

Mr. Minister, you have no question to answer!

I beg your pardon!

Order, Mr. Shakeel! I think you have utilized your time!

asked the Minister of State for Immigration and Registration of Persons:- (a) to provide the staffing level at the Department of Registration of Persons in North Eastern Province, the months worked in 2009 and the amount of money they were paid; (b) to give the names and number of applicants for national identity cards in the province in the last one year, indicating how many were issued with the document; and, (c) whether he could also explain the requirements for vetting procedures in North Eastern and clarify whether the procedure applies nationwide?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the hon. Member was asking a supplementary question

Mrs. Noor, will you proceed now?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to thank the Minister for giving me the list of the names but, unfortunately, the list of names has no dates, locations or districts. So, it is very difficult for me to peruse this list and know the people from North Eastern Province (NEP).

First of all, we have no reason to mislead the House. The Question was about North Eastern Province generally without saying that we should itemize them following the districts that they came from. In fact, if the Question has asked that we list them according to locations, districts and divisions, we would have done that. Of course, it would have taken us a little more time, but we would have definitely done that. But the Question as was put was answered adequately.

So, Mr. Minister, are you confirming that these names are of people emanating from North Eastern Province?

Yes, Mr. Speaker, Sir. The names provided are for applicants from North Eastern Province for the last one year. We have also indicated the applicants who obtained their identity cards. In that one year, the applicants were 12,236. Out of that, 9,497 obtained their identity cards. A small percentage of 1,641are still in progress. I think that was the question and we tried to comply.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is very clear that the Minister is misleading the House. He is misleading the House because on Wednesday, 18th November, 2009, the same Minister is on record as admitting that his Ministry had suspended the registration of persons in North Eastern Province. The same list is purported to have been generated from the province. I just want to quote what the Minister said: “I have inquired and there is a statement to the effect that the registration of persons in North Eastern Province will be frozen until such a time that the security concerns are addressed.” It is very clear that the Minister had suspended the operation last year, which is the same year that he generated a list to say that they are registered persons. Which of the two statements do we take to be truthful?

The Question covered a whole one year. I think the Question asked me to provide names of applicants for national identity cards in the last one year and we showed who the applicants were, those who obtained and those names which are still in progress. Sometimes last year, there was a problem of a security nature when there was an influx of foreigners from our neighbouring country. The Provincial Administration then was overwhelmed by the number of applicants, whom when they scrutinized they found were not Kenyans. For a while, they announced in a baraza that they had frozen the registration. When the matter was raised in the House, I undertook to consult. Immediately after that, there was an Inter-Ministerial meeting between our office and the Office of the President. As we talk now, the operations of registration are open one more time. The only other question that was asked was on the procedures for vetting which I have also dealt with. I said that in all border districts, because of the nature of the border districts and the influx of foreigners, we have standard procedures, including my own district which borders Uganda by the lake. We have these standard procedures that the applicant must

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the hon. Minister has given us the requirements for vetting of applicants for identity cards in all the border districts. I have a different set of the regulations that he has read. He read six regulations and I have 19 regulations here. If you allow me, I can read the 19 regulations short-term and six regulations long-term.

Is your point of order that the Minister is misleading the House by referring to a lesser number of conditions to what is actually practiced?

Yes, Mr. Speaker, Sir. The Minister is not in order because he is misleading this House. We have a different set of regulations for North Eastern Province specifically.

Could you table them and let the Minister respond?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I hereby table the regulations.

It says: “New procedures for issuance of ID cards for North Eastern Province.” I have seen this list of conditions that came out of the Inter-Ministerial Consultative Committee. I have looked at them with my officers and we have said that some of these conditions infringe on the rights of nationality and human rights and they will not be followed. The only ones that will be followed are the six that I have talked about here because they apply to everybody.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. It is very clear that the Minister has brought to the House certain rules that he wants applied yet a different set of rules is being applied on the ground and he has not taken the trouble to harmonize these rules with what is pertaining on the ground. Is he in order therefore, to continue misleading us because we are subjected to the 16 conditions you see here and not even the six?

I undertake to ask my PS to issue a circular to the registration officers in North Eastern Province to apply rules that apply to everybody from border districts and not to apply any more new rules to North Eastern Province than applies to everybody else because we cannot be seen to be discriminating against applicants in any part of this country. The rules must be uniform.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, clearly the Minister’s answer in the regulations that he has read out appear to be discriminatory and this is affecting a lot of Kenyans of Muslim faith in Kaloleni, Manyatta Arab and Mukendwa in Kisumu. Is he sure that these regulations are not discriminative?

On a appoint of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I was taken aback when I saw the hon. Member asking a question because I thought he had been appointed an Assistant Minister. I saw him discharging the functions of an Assistant Minister in a function in Kisumu as the Assistant Minister for Medical Services. Since there is no clear directive that when the President or Prime Minister makes adjustments to the Cabinet they must announce them, could it be made clear that he has not been appointed? If he has been appointed, he be stopped from asking a question.

Order, hon. Members! The Chair is guided by official communication that the House receives from the Executive. As things stand today, the Chair has no notice of the hon. Member for Kisumu Town West having been appointed Assistant Minister for Medical Services. So, I will not accept that contention.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, certain rules may by their own very nature look like they are discriminative. When you say that the border areas will have certain different rules from those that are not border areas and certain cities will have different rules or additional rules, they are discriminative by nature. But the discrimination is deliberate.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. The Minister is referring to border areas, but I have referred to areas which are not at the border like Manyata Arab, Mukendwa and Kaloleni. They are in Kisumu Town and not at the border.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, in my answer, I referred to border areas and certain cities like Nairobi, Kisumu and Mombasa. These are not all the cities in the country. We only chose a few where we have this serious problem. Even in Kibera, we have a serious problem. However, the committees there are working and people are happy. What is important is the committees to work. The choosing of those elders should be fair. The results should not be discriminative, so that a Kenyan is not denied an identity card. At the same time, a non-Kenyan is not given an identity card. It is important that we look at our security.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Minister has admitted that the rules are discriminatory which is unacceptable. Also, his written answer which shows that 1,098 applications were rejected because some had already registered as refugees reveals irregularities in the Government service. Could he tell this House what action, if any, has been taken against the civil servants who gave supporting documents to these applicants who were already registered as aliens? What is he doing to improve the service, so that the errors of civil servants do not make him discriminate against Kenyans who need national identity cards?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, if I could enlarge that problem, there is a serious problem in northern Kenya, especially the area around the refugee settlement in Dadaab. Because refugees get some ration of food, water, medication, free education, bursaries and many other little things, some Kenyans are tempted to benefit from these facilities. They then voluntarily lie to our registration officials that they are Somalis, yet they are not. Then they are registered as refugees. We take the thumbprints and give them alien cards.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Minister is doing a lot of story-telling instead of answering the Question.

Order, Mr. Mbadi!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, under normal circumstances, how long should a Kenyan wait to receive an identity card from the date of the application? That has been a major problem.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, if you are in Nairobi and you apply normally, it takes 20 days. If you are in up country, normally without any problem, it takes 30 days. Those are our guidelines and we try to meet that target.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to appreciate the problem the Ministry is facing. The Minister has talked about people going to the refugee camps for basic needs like food. Unfortunately, those are services that the Government is supposed to deliver to Kenyans. Nevertheless, the data he has given to us translates to the fact that from January, 2009 to December, 2009, the Ministry was issuing only two identity cards per day. We have a balance of 1,600 people who have applied for identity cards since January, 2009. Many students have finished school and are looking for identity cards. The youth in North Eastern Province have been looking for national identity cards because that is their basic constitutional right. What is he going to do to address this particular issue? This is a sensitive, heavy and a weighty issue.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to agree with my sister that this is a problem for all of us. We want every Kenyan to be registered. In fact, that is my mandate, whether it is at birth or for the national identity card at the age of 18 years. I want all the Members to help me ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance to give me some additional funds just to fuel and repair some vehicles, so that I can go to every school. As we register for voting, we should also register our people along the way, so that every Kenyan gets an identity card.

We will have to take another ten minutes of the Prime Minister’s Time. Hon. Prime Minister, please, bear with us.

asked the Minister for Medical Services:- (a) whether he is aware that a brachy-therapy machine valued in excess of Kshs50 million, installed at the Nyanza Provincial General Hospital in Kisumu and meant for early detection and treatment of cancer has remained unused for ten years due to lack of personnel trained to operate it; and, (b) what emergency steps he is taking to have a sufficient number of personnel trained to operate the machine at Kisumu to ease pressure on the similar machine at the Kenyatta National Hospital.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to reply.

(a) I am aware that the cancer detection and treatment machine at the Nyanza Provincial General Hospital in Kisumu is presently not in use due to lack of trained personnel to operate it.

(b) A doctor from the Nyanza Province is currently attached to the Kenyatta National Hospital’s Radiotherapy Unit to be trained on how to operate the machine. On completion of the training, the doctor will be deployed to operationalize the machine at the Nyanza Provincial General Hospital. Thereafter, more personnel will receive similar attachment training before being deployed to strengthen the technical work force at the New Nyanza Provincial General Hospital.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, cancer is a killer of very many Kenyans, and particularly in Nyanza, throat, cervical and breast cancer is quite prevalent. This machine would help in early detection and killing of cancer cells. This machine has been lying idle for ten years now because of lack of personnel. Could the Minister kindly explain to the House why this machine has been lying idle for ten years when Kenyans are dying?

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. A few minutes ago, we had confusion as to whether hon. Olago is not, indeed, the Assistant Minister for Medical Services. To erase the confusion now that he is asking the actual Minister for Medical Services and given that the Prime Minister is here, maybe he may wish to confirm whether, indeed, he is not an Assistant Minister.

I dealt with that matter very categorically. Mr. Minister, you need not make any further observations on it.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Member for Kisumu Town West is right. This machine was installed at the Nyanza Provincial Hospital in 1992. However, it was not commissioned for lack of technical personnel. One other problem is that of

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Question poses a problem that is recurrent all over the country. In one dispensary in my constituency, an X-ray machine has broken down because of a simple problem. It has been non-functional for over one year. Does the Ministry not have a policy for maintenance of the various equipment we have in hospitals which have cost a lot of money? The maintenance cost would be just insignificant to ensure that the country realizes value for the investment it has in this equipment.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, again, I will not agree with the hon. Member more. I agree with him completely that we need to have a proper maintenance and management programme for our machines. Indeed, I have come across many machines in hospitals that are not properly maintained. The basic problem is that our Biomedical Engineering Department at the Kenya Medical Training College has not been training enough biomedical engineering personnel. We have not also established a well functioning biomedical engineering department in the Ministry to take care of the whole issue of biomedical engineering in the Ministry. We are addressing the problem at the moment. I ordered a baseline survey of all the equipment we have in the Ministry so that they are identified and we know where they are. That survey is going on and as soon as it is complete, I shall be in a position to know exactly what equipment exists in the Ministry; those that are functional and not functional. But the issue of biomedical engineering, as the hon. Member has observed, is an extremely important issue that we are addressing.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, a new brachy-therapy machine is estimated to cost about Kshs40 million. In the few occasions when one doctor travels from Kenyatta National Hospital to Kisumu, very many patients come for screening. What plans does the Ministry have in place to ensure that, at least, one similar machine is purchased for each provincial hospital, so that Kenyans do not have to travel long distances?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the good news is that apart from Kenyatta National Hospital, we have a provincial general hospital where we are establishing a cancer centre with the help of development partners, that is, the New Nyanza General Hospital. At the moment, the person being trained at Kenyatta National Hospital will take four years to train. At the same time, to effectively utilize the machine, he also requires the following technical personnel: One oncologist, one medical physicist,

asked the Minister of State for Public Service what steps the Government is taking or has taken to stamp out tribalism and nepotism in employment in the public service.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to reply.

To ensure that there is no tribalism and nepotism in employment, the Government, through the Public Service Commission, takes into account equity, equality and diversity in recruitment and appointments as a way of promoting national cohesion and development. Equity in employment entails regional balancing in recruitment in addition to mainstreaming issues and concerns of gender and people with disabilities in employment. The Public Service Commission makes a deliberate effort to include persons from all districts in recruitment by: (i) ensuring that existing vacancies are advertised in the daily print media and in the Commission’s websites; (ii) making deliberate efforts to include persons from all districts in short listing and appointments especially at entry levels; (iii) names of shortlisted and appointed candidates are advertised in the media and the Commission’s website; (iv) publishing quarterly reports in the media on those who have been appointed or promoted within the Ministries; and, (v) upholding the 30 per cent Government policy on appointment of women without compromising merit. The Government has developed a policy on district based recruitment for lower cadres of Job Groups “A” to “F”. The policy provides for: (i) open advertisements of lower cadre vacancies at district levels; (ii) Recruitment and selection of candidates through a committee chaired by the District Commissioner; and, (iii) selection of successful candidates on the basis of fair and equitable representation from the divisions, locations and ethnic groups in the district.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am asking this question because I recognised tribalism and nepotism in the Civil Service as a very serious problem for this country.

The answer I got from the Minister is a very poor term paper. I am wondering whether he does not recognise tribalism and nepotism as a serious problem in this country. When will the measures he has outlined make a change in what we see in every Government office? If a Government institution is headed by a person from a certain area then all the employees are from there. When will the measures he has tabulated address this problem?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, this is actually a question which each leader in this Republic should answer.

All of us here who have even private companies or are, heads of Ministries ought to answer this question. The proper answer to this question is going to come after we enact the Proposed Constitution and start enforcing the new Bill of Rights which will allow us to take some of these officers to court when they breach these entrenched rights of the people.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Minister has said that the policy is to have recruitment at the local level. But why is it that we still see the Public Service Commission asking candidates to come to Nairobi for interviews?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, that is interim measure because many districts were created in a short period of time and we have not been able to post human resource officers to every district. So Ministries, because of the cost of advertisement, are still advertising here, but they aggregate all the applicants by their districts. Posting and recruitments are done according to the districts.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Is the Minister in order to contradict the Head of Public Service who issued a directive saying that 25 per cent of employees in every Ministry should not belong to one community yet they are coming from the same Government?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, there is no contradiction. We are actually implementing that circular.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, is it a Government policy that all the employment done in the Coast Province should belong to the people of Coast Province? If that is the case, could we confine Coast people only to jobs in the Coast Province?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, we are not talking about people in Coast Province by their tribes. We are talking about residents in the districts from where they can be identified. We have not said that you must be an indigenous. We have never used the word “indigenous” in any of our circulars.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Minister has contradicted the policy that was issued by the Head of Public Service and Secretary to the Cabinet. It talked of 25 per cent, but he is talking of 20 per cent. But be that as it may, my question is: At the climax of Kenyatta regime we had 35 per cent of the Permanent Secretaries (PSs) coming from Kikuyu community---

Order, Member for Rangwe! I have previously issued directions that we do not refer to tribes in the House. So, maybe you will find a better way of phrasing that question. But first you must withdraw the word “Kikuyu.”

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I wish to withdraw that word unconditionally and apologise.

Thank you. Proceed.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, my question to the Minister is: He has conditioned his answer on the new Constitution. On the event that the new Constitution does not materialise, what steps has he put in place to ensure that in this country people get their equitable share in the Civil Service?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, first, I talked of two percentages; 30 per cent gender equity and 25 per cent in accordance with the circular issued by the Head of Public Service and Secretary to the Cabinet. If I said 20 per cent, it is actually 25 per cent. There is no ethnic community that is larger than 25 per cent.

As to the failure of the Constitution, I do not want to presuppose failure on such an important document as this Constitution.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I thank the Minister for admitting that this is a major problem and it must be addressed by every Kenyan. Now that the Government recognises tribalism and nepotism as a major problem in the Civil Service, could he formulate proper and tangible policies to address this problem?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am sure the hon. Member is aware that after the Constitution goes through there will be so many enabling statutes where some of these provisions will have to be entrenched to make sure that future administration of this Republic is done in a manner that deals effectively with tribalism and corruption as in place in the law.

asked the Prime Minister to explain the slow pace at which the Ministries of Finance, Education, Fisheries, Local Government, Health and Industrialization are implementing the Economic Stimulus Programme and its effect on the projected impact on the economy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, in my Statement today, I want to answer the question on the implementation of the Economic Stimulus Programme that was raised by the hon. Member for Githunguri, hon. Baiya. I wish to take this opportunity to update this august House on the implementation of Kazi Kwa Vijana Programme (KKVP).

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the major objective of the Budget of the Government of Kenya for the Fiscal Year 2009/2010 was and still is to stimulate the economic activity in our country. Last year, our economic grew only by an estimated 2.2 per cent, falling well short of the pace at which our population increased. As a consequence, regrettably, poverty deepened in our country. Rather than accelerating as intended, the economic growth actually decelerated in the second half of last year. The slow pace of implementation of the Economic Stimulus Programme, the issue that was raised by the Member for Githunguri, is partly possible for this outcome. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as you will recall, the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) was introduced in the year 2009/2010 Budget as the key instrument to stimulate the economy. In this regard, we are not alone. Many countries in the world that are faced with similar circumstances introduced ESPs. The House will recall that in the United States, President Barrack Obama came up with a massive US$800 billion programme to stimulate the economy. Accordingly, quite a large sum, namely Kshs30 billion was allocated in the Budget for that programme. Because the very purpose of this programme was to stimulate the weak economy, it was to be implemented almost fully by December, 2009. In other words, our intention was to inject a stimulus equivalent of 1.2 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second half of last year through the implementation of ESP. Mr. Speaker, Sir, by the end of last year, the Treasury had released Kshs3 billion for that programme, which is about one-tenth of what was intended. An additional Kshs1.7 billion was released in the first two months of this year, bringing the total for the fiscal year to about Kshs4.7 billion. Of this total, Kshs252 million was released to the Ministry of Education, Kshs633 million to the Ministry of Fisheries Development, Kshs1.303 billion to the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation; Kshs250 million to the Ministry of Industrialization and none to the Ministry of Local Government. Those are the Ministries that the hon. Member for Githunguri specifically listed for an explanation of slow implementation. A breakdown of the releases by the implementing Ministries is provided in Table 1, which I shall lay on the Table here. This table also provides amounts that the Treasury expects to release during this month; that is by March, 2010. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that these figures relate to the Exchequer releases by the Treasury. The actual amounts spent on the projects are not yet available at the Treasury. I have, therefore, directed that all the implementing Ministries submit a report to the Office of the Prime Minister answering directly and fully the Question directed to me by the hon. Member for Githunguri. I will have the report summarized and forwarded to the House.

Hon. Members, where are those seeking clarifications? We will begin with the Member for Lugari.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, while I thank the Prime Minister for his explanation on the stalled ESP and his admission that the Ministries are actually not implementing it and that he has requested the Ministries to give him a report, I would like him to clarify to the House the KKVP. We know that by the last General Election we had 12 million young people who were unemployed. In the next election, we will have 17 million young people who will be jobless. In 2017, we will have 24 million young people in this Republic who will be unemployed. I would like the Prime Minister to explain whether he is convinced that KKVP is viable and that actually provides employment to the young people of this country and whether it is sustainable. Secondly, could he indicate to the House when we will have an audit report of the funds already released? This is because some of us have not experienced anything on the ground and yet billions of shillings have already been released.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, with the realization that some of the Permanent Secretaries in some of the Ministries concerned have stepped aside and we have acting Permanent Secretaries in their place, could the Prime Minister confirm that the CDF Committees which were tasked with work at the grassroot level completed their work by November and that works only stalled due to bureaucracies in the Ministries? Could he also confirm whether lack of substantive Permanent Secretaries in these Ministries will curtail further works and realization of the ESP?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Prime Minister has confirmed that there was no provision for funds for the KKVP. He has talked about the rationalization of other programmes in different Ministries to cater for the KKVP. What steps will he take to ensure that the programmes in those Ministries are not affected as a result of the rationalization which, to me means reduction of activities from the normal programmes in the Ministries and transferring funds to the KKVP?

Order, the Member for Konoin! Seek only one clarification at a time.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to thank the Prime Minister for elaborating on the needs of the youth of this country. However, this Government is not serious in addressing the needs of the youth. I would like to ask the Prime Minister whether he will take the ESP to his docket. This is simply because the youth of this country are crying.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want the Prime Minister to comment more on the issues of the fresh produce markets under the Ministry of Local Government. Could he confirm that the monies which were meant for fresh produce markets in various constituencies will not be diverted to fund those markets which were advertised and tenders awarded last year? Their funding was not factored in the current Budget.

The Rt. Hon. Prime Minister, could you respond? We will see if we can take another five clarifications.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I could not agree more with the hon. Member for Lugari that, in fact, the rate of unemployment is very high in the country and that it is increasing. I know that on a yearly basis we churn into the labour market an average of 750,000 people and more. These are people who drop out of primary schools, high schools, colleges and universities. The KKVP was not a long-term solution to the problem of unemployment. This was an interim stimulus programme that was introduced to stimulate the economy in the rural areas and the poor parts of the urban areas around that time. This is not something that is sustainable. Mr. Speaker, Sir, for this economy to be able to create jobs, it must first of all grow and expand. The economy should grow faster than the rate of population increase. We must invest more in those sectors that will create more jobs. The Government is investing very heavily in the infrastructure sector precisely for purposes of creating jobs for our youths. We must attract both local and foreign investment in the manufacturing sector. Our agriculture sector must also grow. The ICT should also grow so that we can be able to provide more employment to our youth. The office of the Controller and Auditor-General is in the process of auditing Phase I of the KKVP. Once the audit report is ready, it will be brought before this House. Dr. Nuh, the Member for Bura wanted to know whether the programmes in various Ministries where there are acting Permanent Secretaries will be affected. I would like to assure him that, that will not be the case. There will be no vacuum and there is no vacuum. The acting Permanent Secretaries are as competent as those for whom they are acting in their absence. Mr. Speaker, Sir, Dr. Kones wanted to know if the programmes which were ongoing will not be interfered with due to non payment of debts that are owed. I do not expect that to be the case. However, that should be handled on a case by case basis. However, as I have said, I know that funds will now be released so that most of the projects which have stalled can continue. With regard to my friend, the hon. Member for Kamkunji, the Prime Minister does not intend to take these programmes into the Office of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister co-ordinates and supervises functions of other Ministries. That is the reason you see the Prime Minister giving directions to Ministries to execute what is

Yes, Mr. Njoroge Baiya!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, after listening to the Prime Minister and considering that the ESP came through the budgetary process, and that it has not been superbly implemented, as the PM has explained, what actions have been taken? Has this issue been raised in the Cabinet? Has it been discussed amongst the various Ministries to streamline the implementation process and ensure expedient release of these funds? Are Kenyans not entitled to feel that the Government was not serious about this programme, considering the complaint being launched that we are very poor at implementing development programmes? This again can lead to the increase of wealth and alleviation of poverty in this country.

Hon. Musikari Kombo!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, my understanding of “economic stimulus” is immediate injection of funds into the economy for immediate effect. A sum of Kshs30 billion was set aside for the ESP. The year is ending, and the Kshs4 billion that had been set aside has not even gone into the economy. Is the Prime Minister not satisfied that Kenyans were being hoodwinked, and that we were talking about development programmes and not an economic stimulus programme? If we still want to have an economic stimulus, could the Government have a programme of immediately injecting the funds set aside for the ESP?

Hon. K. Kilonzo!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I do not know whether the Prime Minister is aware that one of the problems we have in the constituencies is from the Ministry of Public Works. For instance, to construct a classroom that would cost the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) between Kshs200,000 and Kshs300,000 under the ESP, the Ministry of Public Works gave an estimate of Kshs1.4 million. A good example is Belgut Constituency, where the area Member of Parliament, together with the District Education Board (DEB), had to intervene to have such estimates stopped. What is the Prime Minister doing to ensure that officers from the Ministry of Public Works do not inflate these costs to the extent that there is no effect of the ESP on the ground?

Member of Parliament for Bomachoge!

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I wish to seek four clarifications. We have been told quite a number of times that the delay in the implementation of the ESP is due to other reasons, but the way I see it, especially with an example from my constituency and the constituencies around mine, the delay is due to shortage of personnel from the Ministry of Public Works. Most of the projects are infrastructure

The Member of Parliament for North Horr!

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Realising that these programmes have started very slow, and that we are left with only three months before the end of the financial year; realising that we have made commitments to our constituencies, could the Prime Minister assure this House and Kenyans by extension, that the funds earmarked for the ESP will not revert back to Treasury come 30th June, 2010? Thank you.

The Member of Parliament for Embakasi!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, considering that processing title deeds takes a lot of time and that some of the areas that are earmarked for fresh produce markets and JuaKali sheds do not have title deeds, could the Prime Minister consider waiving the condition of title deeds on this plots before the projects are implemented? Thank you.

The Rt. Hon. Prime Minister, you may respond to those ones.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, there are some questions which are related. Maybe, I can answer one for a number of them. The ESP is an emergency programme that is aimed at stimulating the economy. That is really the purpose of countries coming up with ESP. I agree that the pace of implementing the ESP has not been as fast as it should have been. I have actually owned up to that fact. We are doing something to streamline the implementation of this programme. This is the first time that the Government has come up with an ESP. So, it has been a learning experience. First, there were attempts to try and create new structures. I remember that hon. Members of Parliament themselves were very concerned about the structures at the grassroots. So, it was necessary for Treasury to have a Kamukunji with Members of Parliament to agree on how to implement the ESP. That itself took time. The designs were also to be done, which also took time. What should have happened at the very beginning is that, because most of the projects that were being implemented were replicable, it would have been necessary to come up with standard designs for health centres, schools, markets, et cetera . There was no need for duplication. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I also agree with hon. Members that some officers in the Ministry of Public Works may not be very professional. I know that for a fact because I have given them an assignment to do and after consultations with them, they sent me a fee note of Kshs150,000, which was supposed to cover overtime allowance despite the fact that these were public servants working for the Government. So, action is being taken to ensure that officers, not only in the Ministry of Public Works, but also in other Government departments do not abuse their professions to over- charge or inflate prices of goods and services, which lead to losses being incurred by the Exchequer.

Order, hon. Members! We will have to move to the next Order.

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

What is it the Member for Chepalungu?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, under Standing Order No.1 which gives you latitude, I wish to request you to allow the Minister for Education to issue a Statement on the fate of the children who were locked out of possibly sitting exams for the next two years, since the House is sitting up to 8.00 p.m. today. He had promised to do so because this is a matter of national concern. The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) unilaterally ---

Order, the Member for Chepalungu! Let us cross that bridge when we get to it. Let us move on to the next Order!

Yes, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I will have to shorten my response

Please, do!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I wish to respond to Mr. Isaac Ruto’s question on the regulations barring candidates involved in examination irregularities for the next two years before sitting for the next examination. My Ministry is mandated to offer quality education by providing, promoting and co-ordinating lifelong education, training and research for Kenya’s sustainable development. To fulfill this mandate, my Ministry has to ensure that there is quality assessment of learning which is fair, valid and reliable for certification of the qualified candidates. Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is important that I make pertinent comments that examination results are the major determinants of access into the job market and into institutions of higher learning in Kenya. Given the very stiff competition for places, it is imperative that objectivity and fairness be the overriding concerns in the allocation of these limited places. Any practice, therefore, that threatens fairness and objectivity in examinations must be stamped out without hesitation. Cheating in examinations is one such practice and can be defined as claiming or appropriating more than one has a right to achieve in an examination. This may take the form of collusion, impersonation, pre-prepared notes and script cases among others. Mr. Speaker, Sir, cheating in examinations can, if undetected and unpunished, undermine one of the major functions of examinations which are to grade candidates according to their abilities. It can very quickly erode the confidence the public has in examinations if false grades are awarded. Cheating can also undermine values of honest candidates if it appears that dishonest candidates are the once being allocated places on the basis of grades obtained through cheating. Therefore, the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has put interventions in place to sensitize all stakeholders involved in the administration of examinations on the roles they are expected to play during the administration of examinations. The evil of examination dishonesty has been displayed through public campaigns, briefing sessions and mass media. It is not only that, we have spent considerable sums of money in the way of surveillance in order to ensure that these examinations are done in a very comfortable way. Fortunately, there has been a drop in cases of cheating from the previous last two years to a manageable level but we still want to drop it to a much lower level. Mr. Speaker, Sir, despite all these measures, we are now clear that after frisking, some candidates still manage to smuggle prepared notes and resorted to many other unorthodox methods of cheating in the classroom. I have examined the issue of the ban and noted that it was irregularly imposed. Subsequently, I have instructed the KNEC to withdraw the two-year ban with immediate effect and issue a circular to this effect.

Well done Minister for living within your time! I will take three clarifications beginning with the Member for Chepalungu!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I wish to thank the Minister for making that timely intervention. However, I had asked him to indicate to us what statute the Examination Council had quoted in imposing this draconian rule. We know that children are given a cane or two, or you no longer cane them, but do not kill them. I do not know whether there is a subsidiary legislation. Those are the two questions I had asked the Minister. What did they quote in the activity?

The Member for Bomachoge!

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity. I would like to state that one of the schools in my constituency is the most affected by this issue. I would like to say that 180 students or the whole school was accused of having colluded in the exams although we do not have evidence to that effect. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am very grateful to the Minister for waiving the two year ban because that was the most serious of all the issues. Obviously, I do not condone leaking of exams but then I would like to get clarification from the Minister. These kids do not steal alone, there must be somebody right from the KNEC itself up to the school and maybe including the teachers and the rest. What is being done about this one? If children are shown a paper that will be coming tomorrow, they will be tempted to look at it. But then somebody must have been there showing them the answers or somebody brought those papers or still he broke into the safe of the KNEC. I think this is where the heavier punishment should lie.

Thank you Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity. Examinations are there to help our students move to the next level. Some of them look for places outside this country and when we see news on cheating in exams being flashed in our media, it concerns us because it raises the question of validity and integrity of our certificates and, therefore, the need to stop cheating completely. First of all, of course, the banning of students for two years will not have been the best solution and I thank the Minister for withdrawing that. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I wish the Minister could tell us what concrete steps he is taking to ensure that cheating is completely stopped, especially at the KNEC and school level? It does not matter even if a child sneaks some material in some parts of the body that somebody may not be able to reach. If we have an invigilator in class, for the two and half hours or one hour, no student should be able to access that material. What concrete steps are you taking to ensure that come next year there will be nothing called cheating in this country?

You may respond, Prof. Ongeri!

Mr. Speaker, Sir, hon. I. Ruto asked under what statutes, rules or subsidiary legislation and I have clearly stated it was irregularly done. That also formed the basis upon which I withdrew and exactly ordered the KNEC to resort to other methods of disciplinary measures other than quoting the subsidiary legislation which is nonexistent. As regards hon. Ogari, yes, his school Magina with 80 students got involved in this unfortunate exercise, and they are very clear of the rules; that if your school is in breach of these results, then the best course of action is you are allowed 30 days for appeal and I believe the school has made adequate appeals. It is now before the KNEC and it will be premature for me to hazard any guess. There have been instances where schools have applied, the issue has been investigated and some remedy carried out. It will not be the end of the road. As far as hon. Koech is concerned; what concrete steps are we taking to ensure that cheating does not continue, it takes two or three to tango, and therefore, we have, in fact, taken very serious measures in this last examination. The people who were peddling rumours, people who were selling fake reports or examinations were netted and in fact one of the students who was from one of our local universities who was caught impersonating has been handed a sentence of 12 months. Mr. Speaker, Sir, therefore, I want the public to know that we will not condone in any way, cheating, whether it starts at the KNEC, the invigilators level or the student level. There are cases where communities collude with the students and teachers. Like there was a case in Mombasa where one merchant was peddling or trying to buy the papers on the morning of the examinations. He paid hefty sums of money but unfortunately, we caught up with him in time and he was not able to carry out this mischievous act. Unfortunately, we caught up with him in time and he was not able to carry out that mischievous act. Similarly, we have now put surveillance cameras in all our Kenya National Examination Security rooms and one is being monitored carefully as he or she goes in. We have put in place other security measures. For example, at the centre of the examination, if you open the paper before time, you will not be able to close it. It will collapse and, therefore, it will be seen that, that particular paper has been tampered with. Therefore, we will continue tightening those measures and processes until we eliminate what I think is a very dangerous game. That is because if you begin doubting the integrity of our certificates, then this nation will not be where it should be. Thank you.

Next Order!

Hon. Members, before we proceed with this Order, I have two Communications to make. One is outside this Order, but it is important that is it made now.

Hon. Members, you will recall that on 4th March, 2010, the Chair issued a Communication informing the House that His Excellency the President had submitted a Memorandum in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by Section 46(3) and (4) of the Constitution of Kenya declining to give assent to the Offices of Minister Bill. In my Communication, I directed the Clerk of the National Assembly to circulate the Memorandum to all hon. Members and further directed that the Memorandum be placed on the Order Paper for Wednesday, 10th March, 2010 Afternoon Sitting for consideration by the House. You will also recall that the Order Paper of Wednesday, 10th March, 2010 Afternoon Sitting did not contain the Memorandum and I issued a Communication in which I indicated that after careful consideration of the Memorandum submitted by His Excellency the President, some important questions of law had been noted and that the issues on the appropriate procedure for the disposal by this House of this particular Memorandum had arisen.

Hon. Members, consequent to the foregoing, I undertook to consult the Attorney- General with a view to determining the best way to proceed. I also directed that the Memorandum be placed on the Order Paper on Wednesday, 17th March, 2010. As hon. Members will no doubt remember, this was overtaken by events as the House did not sit on the said day. I have held consultations with the Attorney-General and in the Supplementary Memorandum, His Excellency the President recommends that Clause 8 of the Bill be amended in subclause (b) by inserting the words, “Subject to the Constitution” immediately after the word, “Shall”. The Chair is satisfied that the supplementary Memorandum meets the provisions of Section 46(4) of the Constitution of Kenya which states:-

“Where the President refuses to assent to the Bill, he shall, within fourteen days of the refusal, submit a memorandum to the Speaker indicating the specific provisions of the Bill which in his opinion, should be reconsidered by the National Assembly including his recommendation for amendments.”

The House will, therefore, be required to reconsider Clause 8 of the Bill and, in accordance with Section 46(5) of the Constitution, approve the recommendation proposed by the President with or without amendment or refuse to accept the recommendation and approve the Bill in its original form by a resolution supported by votes of not less than 65 per cent of all the hon. Members of the National Assembly, excluding the ex-officio members. I direct the Clerk to circulate the supplementary Memorandum to all hon. Members and further, that the Memorandum be placed on the Order Paper in the Afternoon Sitting of Wednesday, 31st March, 2010.

Thank you!

Hon. Members at the Bar may want to come in!

Hon. Members, the second Communication is as follows: You will recall that yesterday, Tuesday, 23rd March, 2010, shortly before the Motion on the draft Constitution was moved by Mr. Abdikadir, the Member for Chepalungu, Mr. Ruto, stood on a point of order and sought the clarification of the Chair on two issues. Firstly, the stage at which we are in the Constitution review process in accordance with the Constitution of Kenya Review Act (2008) and secondly, the nature of the document that is currently before the House.

Mr. Ruto advanced the view that the House is currently at the stage provided for in Section 33(4) of the Constitution of Kenya Review Act (2008) and also that the business before the House is a Motion by the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on Review of the Constitution. It was the view of Mr. Ruto that even though it has been described as a draft Constitution in the Act, the document currently before the House is not the draft Constitution to which Section 33(5)(a) refers and is, therefore, not subject to the procedure provided for at Section 47A(2)(b) of the Constitution. To bolster his argument, Mr. Ruto argued that it was not by mistake that Section 33(5)(a) applies the procedure at Section 47A(2)(b) to only Sub-section 5 and not to Sub-section 4. He further argued that the document before us cannot be a draft Constitution as it has emanated from a group of seven persons. There has been no representation in its discussion to this stage. It was his argument that the document is being discussed by a representative body for the first time.

A number of hon. Members made some interventions on the issues raised by Mr. Ruto. They were Mr. Mungatana, Dr. Khalwale, Dr. Machage and Mr. Orengo. Hon. Members, although Mr. Ruto did not expressly say so, the effect of his point of order is to question the appropriate procedure which this House should utilize in the disposal of the Motion presently before it. The stage at which we are and the nature of the document before us determines the procedure the House should invoke. In particular, these issues determine the number of votes required to approve or amend the document before us. It is, therefore, important that I make a clear ruling on these questions.

Before I do so, allow me, hon. Members, to put the process of constitutional review in perspective. Let me state, at the outset, that I have no doubt in my mind that this process is the single most important national project ever undertaken by this House since Independence. For close to two decades now, the people of Kenya have sought a new constitutional order. Indeed, at this moment, I am certain that the eyes of the entire country are on this House. We carry the hopes, aspirations and fears of an entire nation. It is a solemn trust that we must discharge with honour and responsibility. The history of the constitutional review process is well known to all of us. I need not repeat it here. It is a process governed both by statute and by the Constitution of Kenya. The statute governing the review process was enacted by this House, so was the constitutional amendment that inserted a new Section 47(a) to specifically provide for the procedure, hitherto, non-existent of replacing of the Constitution of Kenya. I want to repeat that for emphasis. The Statute governing the review process was enacted by this House. So, was

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I stand to support the draft Constitution as prepared by the Committee of Experts (CoE) and the work that has been done on it by the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC), which was put in place by this House. Just in my preamble, I would like to also echo what was contained in the President’s Speech, when he was opening this Session of Parliament. He put first priority to the Constitution. I also want to echo what you said in the same deliberations when you encouraged Members to contribute to the Constitution making process with soberness.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I also want to pay tribute to those who have toiled for many years up to the stage where we have reached in this Constitution making process. The wish of Kenyans, even as Members of Parliament haggle around, is to have a new Constitution. There are very many reasons, some of which have been tabulated in the Draft Constitution, why Kenyans would like to have a new Constitution. One of them which we kept on talking about is the imperial presidency. Kenyans felt that if they had a President from their own community, then they could benefit from the resource allocation. Kenyans also suffered under the high handedness of the leaders that we have had under the Constitution that is in place now. Kenyans have fought about ethnicity in various ways because of the current Constitution. So, it is the hope of Kenyans that at least, we will deliver to them a new Constitution. There has been a lot of connotation and caucusing among the Members of Parliament. I only hope that Parliament, which happens to be the third organ in the review process after the work that was done by the CoE and the PSC, will be part of those who are preparing the “chakula”. When I see Members of Parliament sometimes behaving as if they are preparing the “chakula” for themselves, I wonder. I want to plead with the Members that we are passing this Constitution for the benefit of all Kenyans. The Constitution that we are debating now in order to take it to the referendum is for posterity. It is for many years to come. It is not something that we can talk about and say that if something goes wrong, we can correct it tomorrow. I would like to urge my colleagues that as we consult even outside this Chamber, like I have seen them doing, we must bear in mind that we must all come together in support of the draft Constitution. The draft Constitution that we are debating has a lot of unique features, some of which have been highlighted by my colleagues. We have seen some of the exciting features like the duo citizenship. In the past, people were given jobs irregularly in the public sector. This is even happening in the private sector because corruption is now all over. It is even in the private sector where we thought that there was no corruption. We kept on talking about the issues of the code of conduct, but I am happy that these issues have all been incorporated as part of the Constitution. We have seen the benefits that have accrued on the few reforms that we have experienced in this country in the last few years. The Constitution will go a long way in putting together all these reforms, so that we can look at them at a glance rather than looking at things selectively and not being able to have control in coordinating them.

Mr. Baya): Thank you very much, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. The document which is before us in this House is very important. For many years, particularly from 2005, Kenyans have been waiting for this document. I feel it is important that this House plays its role by passing it and we ask wananchi to vote for it during the Referendum. There are some very interesting and good features of the Constitution. Of course, it may not be good for all of us. There are some areas that may need to be looked into, but as the Speaker directed, this will be done substantively tomorrow, but I would like to mention a few areas. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, like hon. Chanzu pointed out, the issue of dual citizenship has been long overdue. I know friends and even relatives who lost opportunities abroad simply because they were unable or feared getting citizenship in those countries. Regarding the issue of devolution, this time we are not talking about the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF), an economic devolution that was made without being entrenched in the Constitution. This is not even an administrative devolution, but a legislative devolution which is very important. It will enable the county assemblies to discuss and pass some policies. It will also assist them collect revenue to some extent. Therefore, this is a real parting from the old Constitution. I know that this will come tomorrow but it is important to mention to it here; that the number of counties need to be increased. The number that we are given at the moment; that is, 47, is too small. It will make life very difficult for those who are supposed to occupy the offices in the county assemblies. For instance, at 47, our county will start from Mtwapa to the border of Malindi and Tana River. That will be too huge. Those who will be occupying those positions will be in a baraza and not an assembly. There is also need to retain the current strength of councillors. These, I believe, are the ones who will occupy these positions in the county assemblies. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, lastly, there is the issue of land and environment. Under Chapter 5, forests and national parks have been categorized as public land. Sub-section 2 goes ahead to vest the administration--- It says that this public land shall vest in and be held by the county government. Up to that point, it is very good. But it goes ahead to suggest that the administration of this land be under the National Land Commission. We need to relook into this because those counties that house national parks, for example, Tsavo West and Tsavo East, and huge forests like the Gede Forest, should be made wholly responsible for the management of these resources, so that they can also benefit in terms of the tourists who visit the parks and the products from the forests. These could form part of their revenue. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, with those few remarks, I beg to support.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me a chance to make my contribution to this very important Motion before this House. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, history gives us in this House, the singular opportunity to define the future of this country; a fete that is not available and has not been available to any other House. I want to start by paying tribute to many Kenyans who for the last 20 years have participated in many ways to get this process to where we are today. Again, I want to pay tribute to the Parliamentary Select Committee chaired by the

I know it is Mr. Eugene who was next, but I can see hon. ole Ntimama is up and I will allow him to contribute.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. I want to say, from the outset, that I support this document. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, we must now really decide to have a new Constitution for this country. Let me say, and I have said many times on the Floor of this House, that we never had a Constitution. The 1963 Constitution was abrogated by the leader of our country then; by President Kenyatta and a few of his friends. We lacked a Constitution. There was no Constitution then. The regional assemblies were sent reeling. The Senate was disbanded and we were left with the rule of one person who was installed not by the Constitution, but by his friends and a few people who were supporting him. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, then a situation came into this country. A big black cloud hovered over this country. What really happened is that vicious dictatorship came into this country. People were detained without trial; people went missing and this went on and on and on. Even when President Moi took over, it was a question of following the footsteps; Kufuata Nyayo za Kenyatta, and it continued. It became even

Hon. Wamalwa!

Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me a chance to support this Motion for the adoption of the Draft Constitution as moved by the very able Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional Review, my learned friend, Mr. Abdikadir, and seconded by his very able Vice-Chairman, my learned friend, Mr. Ababu Namwamba.

A former President of the USA, Franklin Roosevelt, once said that there is a mysterious cycle in human events, where sometimes, to some generations much responsibility is given; to others, much is expected. To his generation, he said that his generation had a rendezvous with destiny. I believe that to the Tenth Parliament, much responsibility has been given by Kenyans and to this Parliament, much is expected by Kenyans. Indeed, this Tenth Parliament, has a rendezvous with destiny.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I rise to give my support for the Draft Constitution before this House. However, before I say why I support this Draft Constitution, I think it would be in order for me to state why I have problems with the current Constitution. The current Constitution has a lot of defects, chief amongst them is that it puts too much power in the hands of one person. Again, power is concentrated in one region which is Nairobi. Secondly, it does not have adequate accountability measures that can help this country deal with corruption. Corruption that has permeated generally even within the Executive and most recently, what we have seen exhibited by the police. I also think that our current Constitution does not guarantee equal and fair distribution of national resources. This has been a bone of contention for many years and it is time we had a Constitution that enshrines the equal distribution of resources to all parts of this country. The current Constitution also discriminates against vulnerable groups like women, children and marginalised communities and some ethnic groups. In view of that, I have taken my time to read the Draft Constitution that has been presented before us and of particular interest are the provisions that are contained in the Bill of Rights. What really excites me is the creation of independent institutions. The proposed draft gives serious consideration to the distribution of power through the creation of independent commissions so that anything that is politically contentious, sensitive or anything that needs or requires special skills will be entrusted to independent commissions. Secondly, marginalised and vulnerable groups have been given specific attention with the specific inclusion of children, youth and even those with disabilities. That is a very good provision. There is also a very interesting and new provision on access to information. Access to information has been used to cover mega corruption. If we are going to enshrine this in the Constitution, then the public will have an opportunity to access information that is currently classified and that is being abused by various institutions. Within the Bill of Rights, there is also the creation of Economic and Social Rights which is very interesting because one of the major contention of Kenyans is that sections of the society feel that they are left out of what has been known as the “national cake”. If we have these created, it facilitates the well-being of Kenyans and they are able to access basic needs as a right contained in the constitution. I have also noticed that the new draft has enhanced the operations of human rights bodies and apart from that I have noticed the provisions relating to culture. These have given sufficient safeguard for Intellectual Property Rights. Currently, we have lost a lot of our indigenous knowledge to foreigners who take it to foreign countries and then

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for affording me this opportunity at this momentous occasion and historical moment when we are debating the draft Constitution and deliver to the people of this country the much needed document; the new Constitution. On the onset, I want to pay tribute of congratulations for a job well done to all the institutions and organs that have come before us. I want to thank the CoE. They may be 14 members, but they are people of integrity and knowledge. I also want to thank the (PSC), more so the Chairman and his Vice-Chairman. These are first timers in Parliament, yet with eloquence and commitment, they have guided the PSC until we are here today. I also want to thank these hon. Members who are assembled here. They are assembled here with one purpose; to debate and deliver to the people of this country a new Constitution.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, every morning before 6.00 a.m., a friend of mine in Kericho sends me a text message or an inspirational note for the day. Today, he sent me one. It says: “Embrace this day with hope.” The operative word is “hope”. The people of this country have hope in us. They have placed their confidence in us. They believe in the minds that the Members of Parliament they elected shall give them this Constitution. Then I took time to look at the Holy Book and what it says about hope. I came across a statement by King Solomon, writing in the 10th Century B.C; he said:

Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to add my voice to this very important debate. Allow me at the outset to congratulate the men and women of the PSC on Constitutional Review for a job well done. Allow me to equally congratulate the CoE for doing an equally wonderful job.

Kenyans have been yearning for a new Constitution for many years. We have been waiting patiently for this moment. This is a golden opportunity for us to make that

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this Motion on the Draft Constitution. From the outset, I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the Committee of Experts for work well done. I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate our colleagues in the PSC for really walking the talk and being able to unite and come up with a more improved version of the Draft Constitution. I will mostly dwell on representation. I would like to support the representation of the people on Chapter 7. We have had challenges of unfair representation in this House. This House is the most skewed House we ever had. There is no semblance of fair representation in terms of population and geographical size. The Committee of Experts has articulated well and has gone a great way to try and address the issue of unfair representation. They have come up with a formula. They have come up with a population quota which will enable us to achieve the much cherished fair representation in this House. Currently, there are constituencies which are far much bigger than others yet all the devolved funds are channeled to the constituencies, therefore, making some of us very aggrieved. When you look at Chapter 7 on representation of the people, you will realize that the population quota which is being used together with the deviation of maximum of 40 percent for the cities and the ASAL areas, I think it is adequate and will be able to serve the purpose of fair representation in this House. During last elections, there were some people who said there was rigging in some of the constituencies because of the massive numbers. Never again should massive numbers be construed as stolen votes as it happened in my constituency, Nithi. Most of the post-election violence which occurred in this country--- Some people mistook massive numbers to mean that the elections were rigged which was also confirmed in the Kriegler Report. Therefore, I am here to support the representation of the people as it is well articulated in Chapter 7. We cannot mind an improvement of the same to take care of our brothers in the ASAL areas so that they can also feel comfortable in the representation of the people. One man, one vote should be the cardinal factor when it comes to creation of the constituencies. I would like to comment about devolution. We went to the Kenya Institute of Administration (KIA) at Kabete to try and build consensus. Unfortunately, we were not able to get anywhere. When people talk about marginalization, we, the people of Tharaka, have been marginalized by our big brothers, the Imenti from the other parts of Meru. We are happy and comfortable with the 47 counties because we, the Tharaka, have been taken care of. We support the two tier level of government because our economy will be able to support the same. The Committee of Experts was able to send a memorandum through the Kenyan population. It was well noted that the country cannot be able to support a three tier system which will be very expensive and a big burden to the taxpayers. Therefore, I wholly support the current counties. Through consensus, we will be able to come to a reasonable number.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. First of all, I want to add my voice to that of all my colleagues who have been congratulating the work which has been done by the Committee of Experts together with our own colleagues, the Parliamentary Select Committee. A lot of work has gone into this document. As we are looking at it, when the law was being crafted so that this document could come to this House to be debated for 30 days, it was because we were meant to actually add value to what the Committee of Experts and the Parliamentary Select Committee have already done. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to touch on a few issues. One is the issue of the right to life. Yes, we agree that this beautiful life begins in several stages. It starts with a zygote and then goes to a foetus. From a fetus it ends up being a baby. This life must be protected. If we do not protect the two stages, then finally we will not have a baby. So, certainly, I agree that life is God’s gift and it must be protected. But at the same time, you cannot protect life without protecting the vehicle which takes care of it. The vehicle here is the mother. Some of the pregnancies do manifest as a disease. If they manifest as a disease, the only way for that disease to be taken care of is through treatment. Now, as we are debating on this, I am calling upon all colleagues to give support to the amendment which will be brought by one of our colleagues, on making sure that we have good language so that we can carry all of us, including the religious leaders. This is because we need to make sure that we protect the baby, the mother and also the medical practitioner who will be taking care of the two. A medical practitioner is not a witchdoctor. He is a person who takes care of life and the only happiness a doctor would have is to deliver a safe and healthy baby and also to have a healthy mother. We can work on that and I am sure our colleagues will support this so that we have the right wordings and make sure that our religious leaders and all Kenyans will be with us on this. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I come from an area where land is such a thorny issue. I have read the land chapter and I am not happy with what I have seen in it. That is why I have said that we have come here to add value to this document. In the current Constitution, Chapter IX on trust lands, some of our trust lands have actually been protected in the current Constitution. But this new proposed Constitution has set aside all the gains we had made. All the protection that we had in the Current Constitution has

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to make my comments on this very important document for this country. First and foremost, I want to support this document without any doubt. Kenyans have waited for this document for a long time. This is the time and we cannot afford to postpone it any more. I believe that my colleagues will rise above personal interests and discuss this document in a very sober manner and pass it. I know there are a number of contentious issues that need to be addressed. Those that we cannot address, it will be nice for us to find a solution or go ahead and pass this proposed Constitution and hope that in future we shall be able to amend it. A constitution is a living document and we will continue to amend it as need arises. So, I want to take this early opportunity to thank particularly the Committee of

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I stand to support the coming into force of the new Constitution. However, I have a few amendments to raise. I would like to put something straight. I heard some previous speakers talk against regionalization. It is negative to think that when people ask for regions, it is because they want to balkanize this country. They have given a negative connotation to regional governments. I would like to support the view that we have 25 regions in this country. I am not supporting these regions for negative reasons as people perceive them. Let us forget the past because it is all behind us. We, as Members from the marginalized areas in this country, feel that we need to have a structure that will draw up proposals within the reach of the people living in that area and reach out to investors to invest in this region. It is for economic purposes that we are asking for regions and not for political reasons, as people might think. However, the leader is always a politician. I want to give an example of the North Rift where you have the Turkanas. As people come from Turkana, when they reach Eldoret, they think they have reached Kenya. They do not imagine that they are part of this country. When they come from

Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this Motion.

We, as elected leaders, represent Kenyans in this House. We are supposed to defend their rights at all time. The issue of a new Constitution has been discussed for so long in this country. In fact, many Kenyans have been agitating for a new Constitution for a long time. It has taken us over 20 years to look for a new Constitution.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, this is a noble opportunity that has been bestowed on us by our electorate. We need to make sure that Kenyans this time round have a new Constitution. The Members of the Tenth Parliament have the responsibility to deliver a new Constitution to Kenyans. We have now reached a point of no return in this process. It is a long history. I urge my fellow colleagues as we debate this proposed Constitution to ask ourselves what kind of legacy we want to leave behind. This Constitution is not meant for us. It is not meant for His Excellency the President or the Prime Minister. It is for the future generations. As we debate this draft Constitution, we should remember what happened in this country in 2008. This country was headed to the dogs. It is through God’s grace that we were able to salvage it. Where we are now is because of God’s grace and mercy. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, as much as I support this Constitution, I would like us to agree on one thing. We know very well where we were in 2008 and where this country was heading. It is just through God’s grace that we have managed to be where we are. I am so much incensed by those people who are talking about regional assemblies. It is as if they were not here in 2008. It is so painful for some of us who saw everything and witnessed all that had happened. I think you will agree with me that whatever happened, especially in the Rift Valley, nobody else in this House would like to see it recurring again. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, when we come to regional assemblies, the perception that people have down there is: “This is our kingdom.” We are going to create tribal kingdoms whereby some communities will feel too threatened or intimidated to live in those particular regions. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I hope you are aware, and a majority of us are aware that, there are some areas in the Rift Valley where some communities feel that they cannot even go and buy land; neither can they invest because of what they saw or how much they suffered. So, those who are advocating for regional assemblies, I do request them to think as national leaders. Let them not see the gain they are going to get as individuals. How about their children? That is because right now, there are some people who have said that we should go for the regions. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker and hon. Members, I hope that when we shall come to voting, those patriotic Kenyans who think that they are Kenyans and who know that they belong to Kenya, will support this draft the way it is. For the time being, let us heal those wounds. If there will be any amendments, it is this same, same House which has the power to come and debate whichever clause they feel should be amended and amend it! But for the time being, let us try to be realistic and nationalistic and support this document the way it is.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I rise to support the draft as it is. The process of changing the Constitution has taken a long time. The only perfect Constitutions that I know of are the Bible and the Holy Quran. There is no other perfect Constitution. We can continue to improve on this Constitution with time. We will be judged harshly by our citizens. The people who voted for me to come here have said to me: “We want our right. We want this Katiba to be completed. We want it as it is.” Why are we trying to change it now? We will continue. We will never finish this process. It will continue and continue. The only way to do it is to start now.

I am totally against the issue of regions. I think it is creating many openings for people to go tribal, to be misused and to have little kingdoms. Governments come from below and not from above. Regions are above counties. However, counties are the actual deliverers of service. Even if we had 47 counties, they can also be effective in policy making because they are closer to the people. It is not somebody in a region who will be in a position to understand--- The Senate is there and it will be corrective.

I want to support the issue of counties as it has been set up in the proposed Constitution. The counties were meant to be an umbrella to the Provincial Administration as it was going to be “collapsed” together with the local authorities into a service delivery. The county was going to be near the people. It would have powers. We would have county governors and county representatives who are councilors or administrators. I do not want to dwell too much on this.

Democracy is based on the sovereignty of the people. The people of Kisumu Town East, say that they want the proposed Constitution as it is. They are saying: “We are tired of Members of Parliament and others going around to change it. Give us what is 80 per cent good and then we can wait for the rest later.” The Constitution that we rejected in the referendum was 85 per cent good, but because of politics, we rejected it.

Mr. Shakeel, you will have an entitlement of 15 minutes when we start tomorrow.

Hon. Members, we have come to the end of today’s sitting. Therefore, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow, Thursday, 25th March, 2010, at 2.30 p.m.

The House rose at 8.00 p.m.