On a point of order, hon. Speaker, Sir. I rise under a point of order to raise a matter of national importance during this time of Communication from the Chair. That is because I believe that this is a matter that you need to give direction on. Looking at our Constitution, this House is mandated to protect the Constitution and uphold its principles. But if you look at Article 22(1) of our Constitution, it talks about submission of budget estimates to this Parliament.

Can I continue hon. Speaker, Sir? There is some interruption.

Yes.

So, hon. Speaker, Sir, Article 22(1) of the Constitution talks about laying the budget estimates, at least, two months before the end of each financial year. The Cabinet Secretary responsible for finance shall submit to the National Assembly estimates of revenue two months before the end of the financial year, which is Tuesday next week. We will be required to be seized of the budget estimates in this House. Those estimates must come from none other than the Cabinet Secretary responsible for finance. I am aware that His Excellency the President unveiled four names yesterday. Among the four names is the name of the proposed Cabinet Secretary for finance. But my concern is the time that is left. You need to give direction to this country on what we are going to do in the event that we are not going to have those cabinet secretaries in place. That is because no other officer is allowed to introduce or forward those estimates other than the cabinet secretary.

But, more fundamentally, is the fact that if you read the Finance Management Act, before those estimates are brought to the House, they must first be approved by the Cabinet. If you look at the number of the Cabinet that His Excellency the President read yesterday, they are just four. According to Article 152 of the Constitution, a Cabinet must have not less than 14 members. Therefore, even if the four names are approved before

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Hon. Members, hon. Mbadi likes addressing the House on any conceivable issue. There is no Motion before the House for the Speaker to rule on. You cannot anticipate what the President is going to present to the House. Again, you cannot engage the Chair in arguments about this. There is no Motion before the House. In fact, I rule that you are out of order to claim to have stood in your place when the order was Communication from the Chair. You should have waited until we got to the point where there are Statements. If there is any issue you wanted to raise, you could do so at that point. You cannot now rise and claim that the Chair should make a Communication. Certainly not! That is because the arguments you have raised, I am sure, you could have raised them very well during the chance you may have had to contribute to the debate on the President’s Speech. So, please, let us wait and see what it is that is presented before the House and then we can interrogate it. Right now, it is an incorrect position.

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Hon. Speaker, Sir, I rise to issue a Statement, on behalf of the Government, on the latest shooting incident in Garissa Town.

On Thursday, 18th April, 2013 at around 7.45 pm, six people suspected to be Al

members, armed with AK47 rifles, attacked a food kiosk commonly referred to as “Kwa Chege”, which is along Jamia Road. Six people died on the spot while seven others were injured and admitted to Garissa General Hospital. Out of the seven who were admitted, three have died. Two are still admitted at Garissa General Hospital and two are admitted at Kenyatta National Hospital.

Hon. Speaker, Sir, following the incident, a high level security team led by the Permanent Secretary, Provincial Administration and Internal Security and the Inspector- General of Police, David Kimaiyo, went to Garissa on Saturday, 20th April, 2013. This team met with the Governor of Garissa County, area Members of Parliament, the Provincial Security and Intelligence Committee, the District Security and Intelligence Committee and other grassroots leaders; and deliberated on the issue with a view to getting a way forward and agreed on the following:- (i) Registering of all boda boda motorcycles afresh, in addition to their original registration, and limiting their operation hours to between 6.00 am and 6.00 pm; (ii) Registering all taxis, banning of tinting of windscreens and ascertaining their registration numbers against their logbooks; (iii) Mounting of mobile and random roadblocks on all the major roads and closing down of all panya routes; (iv) Sensitisation of security officers on the need to be cautious for their own safety while on duty by remaining alert and exuding high levels of professionalism; (v) Searching of all vehicles, including GK and UN vehicles at all mounted roadblocks to arrest aliens and impound any contraband goods being ferried to Garissa from the border of Kenya with Somalia; (vi) Keeping an updated residence register in all the 102 villages of Garissa Town and ensuring that, with the help of the community policing committees, landlords and tenants of all the households are registered; (vii) Transferring security officers who have served in their current stations for over ten years and taking of disciplinary action against officers who compromise on security intelligence; (ix) Continuation of registration of customers visiting hotels and lodges through inspection of their luggage and registration of their presence; (x) Deployment of Rural Border Patrol Unit (RBPU) and General Service Unit (GSU) personnel to carry out joint operations within the confines of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights; (xi) Offering of reward to members of the public who would provide credible information and support that would lead to the arrest of the most wanted criminals in Garissa; (xii) Following up with the Governor of Garissa County to facilitate lighting of the town and installation of CCTV cameras at Tana River Bridge and the CBD to enhance surveillance; (xiii) Arresting of all aliens and arraigning them before court;

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Hon. Speaker, Sir, first, I want to appreciate and thank the Leader of the Majority Party for what he has said. I know that he comes from Garissa, which is our town. That town has been under this kind of threat for the last two years. I can say that about 300 people have been killed in that town, and the most interesting thing is that the Government has done nothing since then. We are hearing of stories of their intention to do one thing or the other but so far, nobody has been arrested. So far, there is a major security operation taking place, targeting innocent people in Garissa Town. As we speak, the people in Garissa Town are suffering. I want to put just one question to him. The issue in Garissa is very fluid in the sense that--- (Technical hitch) --- Our security forces are in Kismayo. There cannot be peace in Garissa until and unless the Government of Kenya pulls its troops out of Somalia.

Secondly, we are concerned because right now, the Provincial Security Committee (PSC) and the District Security Committee (DSC) are not working together as a team. Every time there was an incident, we were told that the two teams were holding joint meetings, and that business men and the local people were being consulted. Secondly, we are concerned because right now, the Provincial Security Committee and the District Security Committee are not working together as a team. Every time something happens, we are told that they are coming together and they are having meetings. We are also told that businessmen and the local leaders are being consulted. We want answers to these issues because we cannot accept Kenyans to be killed when there is a Government, unless the Government has gone on adventure and left the people on their own. This is a serious national issue. We are not in Somalia or Congo; we are in Kenya and we want peace and stability in that town.

Thank you, hon. Speaker, Sir. Kenya is a country where there is supposed to be law and order. Garissa is not very far from Nairobi. We have security agencies including the NSIS and the CID. We would like to know why it has taken more than one year to bring the people who are causing mayhem in Garissa to book. It seems that the security agencies are not doing their work properly. There is lax in matters concerning security. I hope that in this operation, innocent people in Garissa will not be molested unnecessarily and only those who are causing mayhem are brought to book.

Thank you, hon. Speaker, Sir. We have lost over 300 people in Garissa since we sent out forces to Somalia. This being a national issue, my concern is very simple. What is going to happen to the families that are left behind? Is there any arrangement from the Government to ensure that these families are catered for? We have situations in this country where people are killed by gangs or by police officers and their families are left to suffer. Investigations continue forever. It is my humble request especially to the Leader of Majority Party to ensure that the affected families in Garissa are taken care of by the Government.

(Hon. (Ms.) Gure): Hon. Speaker, Sir, I want to echo what my colleagues have said. Garissa was once a peaceful town in East Africa. Now, it has become a little Mogadishu. Things changed all of a sudden after the Kenya Government decided to go to Kismayu. As the people of Garissa, we are blaming the Government for going there. That is when the problem started. The operation is going

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I will give a chance to one more Member. Remember this is Statement time and you seek clarification from the Leader of Majority Party. Maybe after this last one, we will give another five Members a chance to seek further clarifications.

Hon. Elmi): Thank you, hon. Speaker, Sir. The Statement by hon. Duale is on something that has been on for a long time. There are two words that I do not like in his Statement, in the sense that during the operation, a church was attacked. In broad daylight, people were killed. We went there, led by none other than the Prime Minister. People were arrested and an operation was carried out. Not a single person has since been convicted. Subsequently, more people were killed. The last attack was where three Army officers were killed. An operation was carried out, property was looted and people were killed. In fact, nothing stopped. A week later, more military people were killed. What is happening in Garissa is not something you can finish using normal swoops and arresting people. A person who can walk during the day to a church that is guarded by police officers and shoot them is not somebody you are going to get through swoops. The second word that I do not like is “aliens”. Aliens have rights. We know what is wrong with Somalia. You do not just go and arrest every alien just because they have fled away from the same terrible people that are doing what is happening in Garissa. So, is being an alien a crime?

Leader of Majority Party, respond to those ones then I will give you another round.

Hon. Speaker, Sir, I am here as the Leader of Majority Party under law, to represent the Government including the Head of State. Coincidentally, I am also the Member of Parliament for Garissa. I will start with hon. Shidiye’s concerns. For the new Members, I will seek your indulgence that when a Statement is made, you seek clarification. You do not debate, but I am sure the Speaker has given that guidance, so that more Members can seek clarifications. I want to assure this House that the operation going on in Garissa is being done within the confines of the Constitution and more specifically, within the confines of the Bill of Rights, Article 37. Two, the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) Forces are there with the approval of this House. The KDF are not in Somalia for honeymoon. They are there after what happened, namely the same terror networks that are going on in this country. We decided to secure the region in Somalia that is very close to our borders in order to

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Hon. Speaker, Sir, it is the sole and primary responsibility of any Government worth its name to protect the lives and property of its people. These operations are well targeted, well calculated and systematic. These things take days. They even assemble very sophisticate weapons to kill and maim Kenyans. This Government has national security intelligence services which are able to gather information necessary to safeguard the lives of Kenyans. Where are our men and women who are serving us in terms of our security intelligence? Is this Government not consuming and using intelligence information to safeguard the lives of Kenyans?

Hon. Speaker, Sir, it is true that these incidences have been happening in Garissa constantly for two years now. The people who are being maimed and killed are non-Somalis. The place called Kwa Chege has been hit many times before. It is only 200 metres away from Garissa Police Station. What difference is the Government going to make now? Sacking and transferring officers is not answer to those things. I am seeking another clarification. The police deserted the town. They have refused to mount road blocks; and they have refused to patrol simply because they are

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Thank you, Hon. Speaker, Sir. I want to comment on this issue of Garissa. It is not an issue we should be--- It has been happening. Last year such a thing happened, I think four times. Policemen and the locals there were killed. I do not understand what happens. Whenever there is a serious issue in the country, that is when you see all the Government systems going there instead of making arrangements to protect Kenyans. It is not only people from North Eastern Province who stay in Garissa. We have people from all other tribes there. The Government needs to be ready and prepared fully. At the Coast Province, they have deployed the GSU and army personnel. If you visit Mombasa during the night time you will realize that the ocean is really protected. The arrangements in a place like Garissa are normally that the police go there to do operations. They leave, say, five of their own there and after sometime they are recalled. The police there are working with dangerous people. You cannot take the Al Shabaab for granted; they are too sharp. We propose that you deploy army personnel there. As soon as the Al Shabaab will be through with that place, they will start moving towards Nairobi. They will come to Mwingi, then Thika. Very soon, in hon. Kamanda’s constituency they will be there. Last year we read of a case where they even tried to penetrate Parliament. We are requesting the Government to take this issue seriously this time by deploying the Kenya Army there permanently. The Government should not wait for people to be killed and then rush there to do operations and investigations.

Seek your clarification. Please, hon. Members it is not an opportunity for debate. The hon. Member who has just spoken--- (Technical hitch) --- not just at Kamanda’s. Hon. Members, I think it is only fair that we regularly ---

Hon. Speaker, when you were not around, he welcomed us to this House and said that this is his constituency.

It is not done that way here! Let me hear from hon. Letimalo.

Thank you, hon. Speaker, Sir. While I appreciate the Statement given by the Leader of the Majority Party with regard to insecurity in Garissa, insecurity is not only confined to that county. The situation in Baragoi is equally bad. The Chair is aware that last year we lost over 40 security personnel and 20 Kenya Police Reservists due to insecurity. I would like to know from the Leader of the Majority Party what plans the Government has to ensure that it contains insecurity in Baragoi and the entire Samburu County.

Thank you, hon. Speaker, Sir. The issue of security is contained in the Speech the President made in this House. I would like the Leader of the Majority Party to respond after I finish because my view is that without security, you cannot talk about Vision 2030 or taking Kenya to the next level.

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Who are you seeking the clarification from?

Hon. Speaker, Sir, that clarification will come from the Leader of the Majority Party. I would like to get answers from what I have raised.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker, Sir. My name is Fatuma Ibrahim. I am the Women County Representative for Wajir. It is unfortunate that we are discussing the operation in Wajir this year. It always happens in northern Kenya. It seems as if the Government of Kenya has not understood the complexities of those areas and the kind of security operation that goes on. The Leader of the Majority Party has said that the State is committed to protecting life and property of Kenyans. We know that the President is new but the people who are carrying out the operation are not new. The security agency officials are not new because they are the same ones. The kind of abuse which has happened throughout will happen again. When the Leader of the Majority Party toured Garissa, the Inspector-General of Police sacked some security officers who were conniving or who were involved in the smuggling of sugar into the town. The impression he created was that the security officers were aware when a kilogramme of sugar was brought to Garissa Town, but when a lorry full of arms came in, the security officials were not aware. Could he clarify that?

The other issue is that everybody is running away because of the operation. You cannot change the mind of the people because they are used to being tortured, abused and raped. Are the school children going to school or everybody has fled including school children? If the children have fled, what has his new Government done? Let the Leader of the Majority Party clarify that

Hon. Speaker, Sir, I will start with the issues which Hon. F.I. Ali has raised. I want to assure her that as I speak for the Government, I am the area Member of Parliament and there is no excessive operation going on in Garissa.

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That is right!

The Government of President Uhuru Kenyatta – the Jubilee Government – will not allow impunity. It will not allow situations where you steal, kill, maim or defraud; whether it is in Tana River, Samburu, Wajir, Baringo or Baragoi. The Members of Parliament for Baringo South and BaringoNorth have not rested since they

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Can you correct my name? I am the hon. Member for Kilome Constituency. I am Regina Muia.

Member for Kilome, you repeat that and you will be shown the door. You are in august House. You cannot just be rising in your place and making statements.

Thank you, Member for Kilome. She asked about Government systems. She asked: Why are Government security systems not going there? That was during the past Governments. You will see the security systems of the Jubilee Government under the able leadership of Uhuru Kenyatta moving to every corner, village and district in North Eastern, once we have the Cabinet.

Hon. Barre Shill sought for a few clarifications. He asked: Why was the percentage of the people killed in my constituency more on the non-Somalis? That was known. The people who are doing that wanted to create ethnic disharmony. They wanted to win the war on terror using ethnic divisions. They went out and killed innocent worshipers in a church. I think, as a country, we are not going to fall into that trap. We are going to unite our people regardless of their ethnic and religious affiliation. I think the leadership must turn to that. They have played that card in other parts of the world but we cannot embrace that. All other religions will live in harmony in our country.

Hon. Shill also asked: “Why are there more police officers in Garissa now?” That is because there is a new Government in town. With regard to hon. ChachuGanya’s query, yes, the Constitution that we passed gives the Government the sole responsibility to protect its citizens and their property. We are up to that challenge. You talked about the National Intelligence Service. I think, as a country, we must appreciate that the intelligence services have done a commendable job. You remember when our forces went to Somalia, there were a number of bomb blasts in Nairobi and other main cities. We expect NSIS to do more across the country. We expect them to do more in Garissa, Mandera and Wajir. That way, the people of Garissa, Baragoi, Baringo and urban areas will feel safe.

Hon. Speaker, Sir, that is all I have to say. I think I have covered what my good friends, the late Prof. Saitoti and Orwa Ojode, used to do from this side. With time, I am going to improve.

Thank you.

Very well. Next Order!

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Hon. Speaker, Sir, I beg to move the following Motion:- THAT, pursuant to Standing Order No.28, this House approves the Calendar of the House (Regular sessions) for the First Session of this Assembly is contained in the Schedule attached in the Order Paper. I would like to speak on behalf of the House Business Committee (HBC) that you chair. This is the law. This is provided for in the Standing Orders. We have to approve this calendar. It is your calendar, time-table and your document. Once the House approves it, as per the law, we need to gazette it, go further and put it in the two dailies and the parliamentary website. If you look at this calendar, we will only have a break of 11 days. I want to make it very clear that those 11 days is the period that Members of Parliament are supposed to create public participation in the budget process. You have to go to your different counties and different parts of the country and take lead in making sure that the public participates in the budget that this House is going to pass. I am sure the Budget Committee will facilitate that. This is for those out there who say Members of Parliament in this country do not work. We are telling them: “This is our programme. This is our job evaluation.” We are going to put it in our papers so that Kenyans, including the good gracious lady Sarah Serem, can see that Members of Parliament work.

Is she gracious?

The word “gracious|” is very relative and subjective. But this is our calendar and I urge the House to approve it, so that the world out there knows that we, as Members of Parliament, have work plans on how to move as per the period shown. I beg to move and ask my able friend, the Deputy Leader of the Minority Party, to second.

Hon. Speaker, Sir, I rise to second.

Thank you, hon. Speaker, Sir. I rise to support the Motion. As I support this Motion, I wish to say that this is the first time for the public to see that Members of this House engage in serious business. If you look at the calendar, we will be having six running weeks. We will have a break for 11 days. We will proceed for the next 15 weeks and then have only 11 days. That is really very serious business for the House. Hon. Speaker, Sir, the new Constitution has introduced very transparent and clear operations in our institutions of governance. This House is now open to the public. Even as we discuss the issue of security--- I had a very serious issue! In fact, the Inspector- General was in my place on Thursday and he promised to undertake an operation this week. I was to ask the Leader of Majority Party on when he is going to do that. Hon. Speaker, Sir, this is really nice. Kenyans can now know that you are not here. They will know you are engaged in serious business for our country. I would like also to say that when we are in this august House, there is a general feeling that the public is, sometimes, misled and do not understand our roles.There is a general feeling by the public that we do nothing; that we are actually here to spend taxpayers’ money. But when you look at the calendar, we have very pertinent issues concerning the budget, where we are going to determine the expenditure of Kenyans So, I want to support and say: “This is

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Hon. Speaker, Sir, I thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to support the Motion. I want to tell hon. Members that we remain committed, so that we can cover a lot of business; we are expected to do so much since we were elected by our respective constituents. In fact, even when we go into recess, we are actually working. Members of Parliament do not rest. We work 24 hours, seven days a week. I want to thank the House Business Committee for coming up with this calendar, because first of all, this shows the whole world that the Kenyan Parliament can determine its own legislative calendar without interference from outside Parliament. There are people out there who are purporting to limit the work of Parliament by saying that we should sit three or four times in a week, or once in a week. It is very important that Parliament determines its own business calendar.

With those remarks, I beg to support.

Yes, Member for Laikipia East.

Hon. Speaker, Sir, I rise to support the Motion. Hon. Members will realise from the Government’s policy, as enunciated by the President, that this House has a lot of work to do. There are many Bills to be passed. So, the work of this House is really cut out. It is evident from our legislative calendar that we have our days full. Even when we are not here, as the Leader of Government Business said, we will be in our constituencies discussing the Budget with our constituents. So, I believe that those out there thinking that Parliament is a place for people to come and while time away should realise that Parliament has a lot of work to do. I am sure that when they come here to assess the productivity of Parliament to determine how much Members of Parliament should be paid, this calendar will give Madam Serem and her team quite some work to do.

With those remarks, I beg to support.

Hon. Members, do not press the buttons before I recognise you. I appreciate that there are two ladies standing. Please, proceed, hon. Member.

Thank you, hon. Speaker, Sir. My name are Khamisi Mishi, the County Women Representative for Mombasa. I stand to support the Motion.

Hon. Speaker, Sir, I want to tell my colleagues that we need to be committed and attend all the sessions of this House as set out in our legislative calendar because we want to pass very many Bills. We want to show Kenyans that we are really reformists. We want to reform this country; we have an agenda for our people. This country should transform from the current level of development to a higher level of development. Everybody in the continent is now looking at Kenya. Since we said that we are digital, we need to demonstrate that we are, indeed, digital. We should not just say that we are digital and then when it comes to attendance, we see scenarios similar to what we used to see in the last Parliament, when most of the time the House did not have quorum.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker, Sir.

Yes, hon. Odhiambo-Mabona.

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Thank you, Hon. Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to congratulate you on your election. I also take the opportunity to thank the people of Mbita for electing me as their first migogo in the history of Nyanza.

Hon. Speaker, Sir, I want to say at the outset that I do not support the Motion, because this is not a legislative calendar but a summary of the Standing Orders. Indeed, I have heard that we are saying that this is a digital government. Looking at the Membership of the House, I appreciate that it is fairly digital. We have very young and dynamic people. Unless we keep them busy, we will have problems.

On this calendar, I would like to give an example of what I mean. On the calendar, it is indicated “morning sitting, afternoon sitting, afternoon sitting” and “Majority, Minority, business not sponsored and Majority”. Under week 28, we have the same information copied and pasted.

I expected a digital House to tell us that in week one, we will have before us the Agriculture Bill and the Fisheries Bill that was pending before the last Parliament, the Victim Protection Bill and a Motion on this and that matter. The so-called “calendar” is merely a summary of the Standing Order. It is actually a calendar that is analogue. So, I want to urge the Leader of the Majority Party to, please, conform. Some of us can train him on how to be digital. This is very analogue.

With those few remarks, I beg to oppose.

Yes, hon. Sumra.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker, Sir. We are being given a calendar even before we have been allocated offices. Most of us do not have offices. Where will we go and study the calendar? I do not mind supporting it. It is our job but give us offices first. Thank you, Hon. Speaker, Sir.

Finally, may we hear the indomitable hon. John Ng’ongo?

Thank you, Hon. Speaker, Sir. I stand to support the Motion. I share the concerns raised by hon. Odhiambo-Mabona, but after adoption of the calendar, we can still go ahead--- (technical hitch) ---because I do not think the House has been able--- (technical hitch) ---to want to transact. So, I would urge the Leader of the Majority Party and the House Business Committee to go and be proactive, look at the Bills that are supposed to be handled during the Session, come up with a breakdown of those Bills and show us exactly when we are likely to debate them, so that whoever may want to even be absent from the House may know on which days he or she must be present in the House. Hon. Speaker, Sir, for those Kenyans who probably do not know why it is necessary for this House to have its own legislative calendar, I would like them to understand that the legislative programme has been to parliamentarians themselves to determine. Previously, the Executive used to determine when Parliament would sit and when it would be prorogued. For the first time in the history of Kenya, we are enjoying the privilege of determining our own calendar. This is a very positive move. It is one of the benefits and fruits of the new constitutional dispensation. Finally, I heard Sarah Serem, the Chairperson of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission, say that she has not determined the workload of Members of Parliament. I then asked myself how she was able to determine our remuneration. This calendar is an

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Thank you, hon. Speaker, Sir. I rise to support this Motion. I want to assure the Members, particularly the new Members, that this is a very positive departure from the business as usual before. These people are educated enough. They are digital. If they are not digital yet, we are going to introduce laptops to our Standard One pupils and they can learn from them, so that they appreciate what we do here. The Leader of Majority Party should put it to the Government that the budget coming to this Parliament for all commissions must be accompanied by calendars for each one of them showing what they will be doing during this financial year. If they do not bring those calendars, we will not approve their budgets. I also wish to ask the Leader

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Thank you, hon. Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to support this Motion. The matter of our calendar is very critical at this time. Parliament as a whole, namely the National Assembly and the Senate, are being treated with extreme contempt by the members of the public. So, the first thing that we must do is to campaign so that Kenyans understand what we are doing. It is not enough to publish this. Most Kenyans have no access to our website. So, they really do not know what we are doing on a day to day basis. We need a lot of public participation in what we are doing. I wish to suggest that for the next ten weeks we should, on a weekly basis, have a media support by knowledgeable public relations officer and Members of Parliament, to explain to Kenyans precisely what we are going to be doing in that particular week. We also need to invite Kenyans to submit their contributions to their Members, so that we can capture the interest and imagination of all Kenyans in what we will be doing on a week by week basis. This should continue until Kenyans know what Parliament is doing. They see us in terms of big cars and some calling us greedy, yet children want to come to this House. So, you wonder what they are up to. They talk of education. The legislation that we made is for all Kenyans, namely, the least and the most endowed intellectually. Every Kenyan must be represented in this House. So, you cannot ask the Members of the National Assembly to account for their education. We are not making laws for PhD holders. We are making laws for hawkers as well. We must have Members who understand Kenyans of every walk of life before we can pass the right laws that apply to them. So, I suggest that for the next ten weeks, we must have an exercise to educate Kenyans on what we will be doing week by week. They need to understand all our activities in committees. We also need to invite them to participate with us until we are satisfied that they understand us before we tackle Serem the second round.

Hon. Speaker, Sir, I rise to support this Motion. I wish to thank my colleagues for electing you Speaker. Out there, people do not understand what Parliamentarians do. They think that Parliamentarians are noise makers. So, I suggest that Parliament forms a public relations committee which will be briefing Kenyans, probably every end of the week, on what Parliamentarians have achieved. We are the watchdog of our constituents and they need to know what we are doing in Parliament. Out there, they are saying that we make noise and we want more salaries. They need to be educated on what Parliamentarians do. This can only be done through a PR committee of this House. Every Friday, through television and radio people can know that Parliamentarians are people of dignity. They are people who support the Government of the day and they are elected to come and do business here for the Government to run. I support the Motion.

Thank you, hon. Speaker, Sir. My name is Ms. Ghati, the lady Member for Migori County. I wish to support the Motion. Even as we try to sensitize the people out there, the new Members - because as you are aware, many are new - there are

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(Microphone off)

Your microphone does not appear to be working.

Thank you, hon. Speaker, Sir. I rise to support this Motion. (sound technical hitch) ---packaging the same information, consistently disseminating the same information to the public, so that it is easily understood what loads of work and achievements are attained. I say this with humility and understanding that the majority of the Members in this House now are new; Perhaps, because of that, you may appreciate the sort of criticism that went to their predecessors, that is those whom you unseated because of propaganda perpetrated mostly by civil society – I do not mean all of them. They get facilitated by powers that have no undertaking, commitment to the sovereignty of, or patriotism to, this country. Therefore, it is very encouraging to see the Leader of the Majority Party rising to give a summary of a programme which will be followed; it has details of exactly what this Government will achieve. If there is any House that achieved milestones, then it was the Tenth Parliament. For us to match its achievements (sound hitch) will require a lot of synergy, co-operation and even planning. We are, therefore, supporting this Motion not simply because it has been moved, but because it is going to ease--- (sound hitch) ---by making our constituencies, the Republic of Kenya and all stakeholders be with us in a journey of taking this country to new heights of development. How many Kenyans know that the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) has removed pension for individuals who have left other disciplines and professions in order to enter into the very unpredictable arena of politics? This is a simple way of appreciation of a worker. When this country is talking about expanding the National Social Security Fund we are saying that the representatives of the people of Kenya shall not be entitled to a pension, even if they want--- (sound hitch But we must say that as one House we will appreciate the elected legislators of the Republic of Kenya in the right way. How many Kenyans really know the professional qualifications of the women elected here? How many appreciate what it took a county woman representative to move from on village to the other in order to come to this House? How many Kenyans know that--- (sound hitch) ---lawyers, bankers, engineers, philosophers, political scientists and so on? How many Kenyans appreciate that hon. Kajwang was a pioneer of the freedoms of the student movement in this country and I succeeded him. In conclusion, this Motion calls for the strengthening of the public relations and communication department of this House. Many weeks after the elections the IEBC was still on air telling Kenyans to appreciate the results, and to maintain peace. Every evening we see a State corporation giving one communication or the other. In the last week we have seen every parastatal buying space to congratulate the President and his Deputy for

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Hon. Members, as you know this is not a very contentious matter.

Hon. Members, before we begin debate on the next Motion, I want to guide the House. Before we proceed, this House passed a Motion on 17th April, 2013 in the following terms, that on Wednesday morning, being a day reserved for business not sponsored by the Majority Party or the Minority Party or a Committee, speech time would be limited would be limited to a maximum of three hours. The Mover will have a maximum of 20 minutes to move. The Leader of the Majority Party and the Leader of the Minority Party shall have a maximum of 15 minutes each. Any other Member contributing will do so for a maximum of 10 minutes, and 10 minutes before the expiry of the time the Mover will be called upon to reply. Hon. Members, priority in speaking shall be accorded to the Leader of the Majority Party, the Leader of the Minority Party and the chairperson of the relevant departmental committee in that order. The last bit will not apply because we have not yet formed the departmental committees. This rule will obtain in any other Motion which may appear on the Order Paper on a day other than Wednesday morning.

Hon. Speaker, Sir. I beg to move the following Motion

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Thank you, hon. Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to support this Motion. This Motion, hon. Members, touches on life. All of us, whatever we do, wherever we are, what we are pursuing is good life or life at all. It is sad to lose it just because at the time of need, you do not have the money to pay for that service. Good health and, therefore, health care, is high up in the rank of human needs. Article 43(1) (a) and Article 43(2) of the Bill of Rights in the Constitution supports that. In fact, it is now a constitutional right of every Kenyan to get better health.

It is common practice in private hospitals – and even these days in Government hospitals, since we came up with cost-sharing that eventually moved to full payment for services. Indeed, it is unethical for any professional to turn away somebody in need of emergency care. But what is done in hospitals and other institutions? It is to evade that ethical responsibility by placing non-professionals at the point of admission, and who demand that you pay first before you are attended to. I think we should add in this Motion that non-professionals and non-medical people who are working in health institutions must be bound by the same ethical rules of that profession. So, what happens is that it is left to the clerks to decide. So, you cannot take action against the clerk because they are applying the rules of the institutions. If you were to see a medical person, they are bound to see you.

What we really must do in this Motion is to ensure that anybody who seeks medical attention – and that is what should be done in a critical situation – must, first of all, be attended to, whether he or she can pay or not. Then, when they are in a stable condition, they can be moved to other facilities – whether Government ones – where they can get waivers or where they can afford. Hon. Members, this applies to everybody, even those who can pay. Some of us are on insurance, but if you go to a facility where your insurance does not provide a cover, you will suffer the same consequences. So, through this Motion really, we must support that.

It is also important to realize – and even the President’s Speech indicated it – that we are actually taking long term measures that are addressing the needs as we see them. What this country needs is a comprehensive health care that has an insurance that covers everybody and where the

are paid for by the Government. We have no other way around it. Nobody, including us here, can afford – especially with the salaries that are coming – to pay for health care at the point of delivery. Unfortunately, the poorer

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Hon. Members, I know that this is the first Motion by Private Notice that is being debated and, therefore, not all hon. Members may have looked at the Standing Orders properly to know that it has to be proposed but before I propose it, I want to announce that all Members of the Procedure and House Rules Committee are required to go to Committee Room No.9 at the rise of the House at 6.30 p.m.

Yes, hon. Konchela.

Hon. Speaker, Sir, first and foremost, let me congratulate you and your deputy for assuming high office in our land. I also want to congratulate hon. Members for being elected. We all went through very difficult times but with God’s grace, we are here to serve our people.

Hon. Speaker, Sir, I want to very strongly support the Motion moved by hon. Paul Koinange, my good friend and brother for many years. I congratulate him more so for being the first hon. Member to bring a Motion by Private Notice. I would also like to thank him for doing so. This particular Motion is very deep in my heart because when I was an Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Health, I and Dr. Nyikal worked very hard to create a comprehensive medical scheme for the people of Kenya. We even went further to ensure that accident prone areas along our highways - from Voi to Machakos and all the way to Nakuru and other places, have medical facilities to deal with accident victims

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Your time is up, hon. Konchela. Yes, hon. Member for Meru County.

(Hon. (Ms.) Kajuju): Thank you, Hon. Speaker, Sir. I rise to support the Motion. While the Constitution is the supreme law of the land as we appreciate, for the letter and the spirit of the Constitution to be achieved, there must be enabling provisions that assist the Constitution to get to ordinary Kenyans.

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Hon. Speaker, Sir, my name is Bernard Kitungi, Member for Mwingi West. First, I congratulate you for being elected Speaker of this House. I also want to thank the people of Mwingi West for electing me to represent them in this House for five years.

I rise to support this Motion. Some parts of Mwingi West are very remote and medical facilities are far away and unreachable. Those health facilities do not have drugs. As much as we want our people to access medical facilities, the Government should assist remote areas and see how it can help our people. The Constitution provides for that. There is nothing that those people can do because they are poor. Some people die along the hospital corridors because they do not have money. I have seen cases where people are bitten by snakes and die before they reach a medical facility due to lack of quick means of transport. I support the Motion.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker, Sir, for noticing me. I had given myself an ultimatum to make my maiden Speech this week. My names are John Karanja Kihagi. I wish to congratulate you on your election and the entire Membership of this House for being elected to this prestigious House. I also want to thank the people of Naivasha for honouring and electing me as their Member of Parliament. In the morning, it was vogue for people to say how many votes they received. I realized that none of those who spoke got even a half of what I got. I was elected with almost 60,000 votes. This can only tell you that an injustice was committed to the people of Naivasha when the new constituencies were being created. Naivasha was supposed to get two extra constituencies. The population I currently represent is almost 250,000. I hope, by and large, we will get a way of correcting that injustice. Currently, Naivasha has almost 110,000 registered voters.

Our Constitution recognizes the right to life. Indeed, the moment you are almost losing your life is when you have had an emergency – say an accident. For women, it is at the point of delivery. So, it will be a mockery of the Constitution if we do not guarantee that right. At that point, it is criminal for anybody to deny you the right to treatment and more so, a medical practitioner who should save your life as opposed to endangering it. I

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(Hon. (Ms.) Chae): Thank you, Hon. Speaker, Sir, for “catching my eye”. I am Chae Alice, the County Women Representative of Nyamira. I stand to support this Motion with regard to health care. You will bear with me that any kind of sickness is an emergency. Nobody prepares to be sick in order to go to hospital. So, as long as you are alive, when you get to hospital, there is that commercial aspect. When you see one coming to hospital, you see money. Others look at

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Hon. Moindi! There is a Member called Moindi. Is that not so?

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

There is nothing out of order!

Hon. Speaker, Sir, from Wednesday last week, some of us have been standing in this House and when the issues of counties arose--- You know I do not belong to Rift Valley Province; neither do I belong to Western Province. I do not know where I belong. I thought that being an Independent Member, I should be heard.

Hon. John Serut, I am sure that is not a point of order. Most likely, you are trying to draw the Speaker’s attention to your presence. Let us listen to the hon. Member for Nyaribari Masaba.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker, Sir, for “catching my eye”. I have been looking for this opportunity and I feel this is the right time.

On a point of order, Hon. Speaker, Sir. I would like to know whether you are the one who should “catch peoples’ eyes” or it is the Members who should “catch your eye”.

I am sure you can look at it in the Standing Orders. But, of course, hon. Members read the Standing Orders and apply them as they choose.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker, Sir. May I congratulate you for your successful election as the Speaker of this House. May I also thank the people of Nyaribari Masaba for electing me to come here to represent them. May I also thank the hon. Member who tabled this Motion because it is very sensitive. Hon. Speaker, Sir, we talk about insecurity in our borders. People lose lives as a result of that. At the same time, people die when they go to our medical facilities. On my

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I am sure the hon. Member who is holding a copy of the Standing Orders may wish to read something from the Standing Orders.

Thank you, hon. Speaker, Sir, for “catching my eye” this afternoon. I rise to support the Motion by hon. Paul Koinange. As an authority within the medical fraternity--- Personally, I am a biomedical engineer by profession. It is high time that this House came up with the Health Insurance Bill.

What is your name?

Hon. Speaker, Sir, my name is Stephen Mutinda Mule, the Member for Matungulu.

I would like to say that it is criminal---

Part IV of our Constitution, Article 26 states very clearly that abortion is not permitted unless in the opinion of a trained health professional--- I do not want to deal with abortion. The article goes ahead to say that there is need for emergency treatment if the life or health of a mother is in danger. It is permitted by any other written law

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(Hon. (Ms.) Wahome): Thank you, hon. Speaker, Sir. I have not made my maiden speech. May I take this opportunity to congratulate you as I support this Motion by hon. Paul Koinange.

While we may have admission without charges, you are aware that most of our health facilities do not have medical supplies. Patients are twinned into one bed – man and man, and woman and woman. Those are things that are actually not supposed to happen even in our homes. Even if you were both suffering from the same disease, I think it is improper and unacceptable for patients in our hospitals to continue sharing beds. That is the order of the day if you visit Thika District Hospital and Maragua Sub-District Hospital.

Dr. Nyikal who seconded this Motion needs to tell us what happened to the medical supplies. A patient will be admitted and the next hour, he or she will go for an X- Ray from outside the hospital. For a simple lab test, you will be sent out of that medical centre. If you inquire further, you will find out that one of the personnel within the hospital is actually the proprietor of the laboratory outside the fence of that health facility. That practice must stop. Medicines are carted out of our health facilities. More often than not, you have a prescription of the same patient you admitted in the hospital. You give them a bed and because they do not have money, they do not get medication or treatment.

From the President’s Speech, it is necessary to have well equipped health facilities, well trained personnel and health workers who are well motivated. How many times have we seen our doctors in their white over-coats with stethoscopes carrying twigs, agitating for increased salaries? I believe that issue has not been resolved. It is still on the desk of our Government. Sometime back, I actually rolled in a car because I happened to be carried by a doctor who was running away from the police. If he were to be caught, he would be thrown into jail. The cases affecting doctors and nurses are long overdue. They work for long hours. They work for 24/7 and yet, they have not been treated properly.

There are other support services for the patients that we are seeking to have admitted without charges. In Kandara, when they fall sick at night, I can assure you that because of insecurity, they will not go out. They will stay until morning. The lack of those support services is contributing to death. They are sick but they cannot go to hospitals. They cannot leave their houses. Recently, I lost a young mother in Kandara because the roads are inaccessible. She delivered at home and started bleeding and, within one hour, it started raining heavily. The road is completely inaccessible. In Kandara, 80 per cent of my constituency touches the super highway, but 80 per cent of our roads are inaccessible. The young mother, who required urgent treatment, died at home because it was raining.

Hon. Speaker, Sir, I would like to support the Motion by hon. Koinange. Thank you.

The hon. Member for Wajir North.

Thank you, hon. Speaker, Sir. I rise to issue my maiden speech. I have come to terms on two issues in this House. First, size is inability. I have been struggling to catch the Speaker’s eye; sometimes standing on my toes and, lastly, I was contemplating standing on the chair for me to get noticed by

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Hon. Members, you will appreciate; everybody will have a chance to say their bit. Let me recognize hon. John Serut. He was an independent candidate.

Thank you, hon. Speaker, Sir. Let me take this opportunity, at the outset, to congratulate you and your Deputy for your election. We participated in lobbying to have you elected because we knew you are up to the task. Secondly, allow me to thank the people of Mt. Elgon for having thought it wise to return me to this House after a leave of five years. They voted for me overwhelmingly without riding on any party. I want to thank them for that honour.

Hon. Speaker, Sir, allow me to say a big “thank you” to hon. Koinange for bringing this Bill to the House. This Bill is about emergency services in our health facilities. As much as I support this Bill, I have been thinking aloud while seated here as to whether we should pass it, or call for a comprehensive medical scheme Bill. I say so because if we are going to pass this Bill the way it is, it will mean that we have so many small pieces of legislation on---

On a point of information, Hon. Speaker, Sir.

Hon. Speaker, Sir---

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On a point of information, Hon. Speaker, Sir.

Hon. Member for Kiharu, you do not insist on a point of information. If the Member speaking is not interested in whatever information you have, you just have to remain with it or you give it to him elsewhere.

Hon. Speaker, Sir, the hon. Member is talking about a Bill. This is not a Bill. It is a Motion.

Hon. Kang’ata, even though that may be the case, that is not the way it should be done. You are a trained lawyer. Please, use our rules.

Continue, hon. Serut.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker, Sir, for protecting me. This Motion will lead to a Bill. There is no way it will become an Act of Parliament without it being transformed into a Bill.

Hon. Speaker, Sir, I remember that a medical scheme Bill was in this House during the Ninth Parliament. It was here again during the Tenth Parliament. I think all that the Bill required was panel beating by this House. This House, having been constituted by Kenyans in the way it is, and with the number of doctors and other professionals that we have in here, it is time the same Bill is re-introduced in this House, so that we look at it instead of dealing with this particular Motion, which might end up becoming a Bill and require us to come up with other pieces of legislation on medical care. If you have listened to hon. Members speak, they talked of issues of transport, emergency services in Government hospitals and bodies of deceased persons not being collected from hospital mortuaries. Looking at this Motion, it is very restrictive. It does not touch on those who die. If we have to deal with issues in the medical sector, including lack of drugs, we need to re-introduce the same Bill that was in this House earlier. Hon. Speaker, Sir, there is a lot within the health facilities that is not very good. Part of it is the issue of retention of identity cards by medical facility administrators, including Government facilities, in the name of cost-sharing. The Jubilee Government needs to come up with a good policy regarding what happens to those people who are not able to pay their bills after treatment. I think the best way is not to retain their identity cards, to ask for their land title deeds or to ask for other documents to be held. Another issue is that of detaining bodies of deceased persons. There is no value in a dead body. To us Africans, especially Kenyan Africans, a dead body is a symbol of many things. If one is poor, unless he is assisted by his or her Member of Parliament, he or she abandons her keen’s body to rot in the mortuary. It is high time the Jubilee Government came up with a policy of ensuring that medical institutions release all bodies to relatives for burial, so that the question of detention of bodies by hospitals ceases to arise. Hon. Speaker, Sir, I want to stop at this point and call on this House to re-think the issue of coming up with a comprehensive health scheme Bill, which was in this House earlier, instead of dealing with small pieces of legislation on health matters. Thank you, Hon. Speaker, Sir.

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Hon. Members, we will now have to exclude those who spoke on other Motions earlier on. Let us just have those who have not spoken. I will have the lady over there.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker, Sir. I am hon. Dorcas Kedogo, the County Women Representative for Vihiga. Hon. Speaker, Sir, I would like to support the Motion and just say that equipment is very necessary in our hospitals, especially at the dispensaries and health centres. If these facilities are not equipped, it will mean that there is nothing that will happen. Even emergency situations cannot be attended to. The Government should also do something about nurses and doctors. You find that there are many doctors and nurses at one institution and none at others. At some health facilities, even in times of emergencies you find that there is nobody to attend to the patient--- (technical hitch) ---So, it becomes difficult for him or her to operate. Therefore, I would request the Government to ensure that there is enough manpower at dispensaries and health centres. Sometimes you find that even primary school children going to dispensaries for medical attention have to pay, and even after paying, they are told that there are no medicines. Therefore, I would like the Government to make sure that health facilities have sufficient medicines and other equipment, so that school children can be attended to. Hon. Speaker, Sir, an emergency can happen anywhere, including on the road. Sometimes I feel that we need to equip our hospitals in all areas to take care of all diseases because when people go there for emergency, they are directed to other hospitals. That is why I said it is necessary for our dispensaries and health centres to be equipped and also given medicine---- (technical hitch) --- malaria, you may find that there is no equipment for testing a patient’s blood to establish whether he has the malaria parasite. Therefore, doctors end up giving wrong medication to patients. What do they do?

On a point of order, Hon. Speaker, Sir. Is it in order for the Member to mislead the House that doctors will just give you medicine without proper diagnosis? Diagnosis is not just based on laboratory results. It is also based on clinical findings. So, she is not in order to say that doctors prescribe medicines for the sake of it.

Hon. Speaker, Sir, maybe because some of us are not doctors, we assume that doctors will just give us medicines (technical hitch).

On a point of order, hon. Speaker, Sir. Is it in order for a Member to interrupt a Member who is making her Maiden Address?

I have since discovered that she was not making a maiden Address.

Hon. Speaker, Sir, I was just about to finish. I was saying that sometimes you go to hospital and you are given malaria drugs without the proper tests being done and then we assume that doctors have done something wrong. I apologize if I have offended doctors. I support the Motion.

Hon. Speaker, Sir, despite being dressed conspicuously, I did not catch your eye.

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Hon. Speaker, Sir, I wish to make my maiden Address. I congratulate the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker on their election. I also take this opportunity to thank the people of Kipkelion East for giving me the opportunity to become their first Member of Parliament. I join my colleagues in supporting this Motion on medical insurance. Some Members have supported an initial comprehensive medical scheme which was debated by the Tenth Parliament. I hereby support it. We should look at ways of reviving it and making it real. Emergencies have become real even in my constituency, because the highway around there is currently under construction . In this country, road contractors are doing their work without due respect to safety standards. We have had situations where people fall into depressions which are not covered by the contractors. People need emergency medical facilities because of the state of the roads.

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Hon. Speaker, Sir, I am Peter Kaluma representing Homa Bay Town Constituency. Permit me to join other hon. Members of this House in congratulating you on your election as the Speaker of the National Assembly. It was well deserved. Of course, I was amongst those who were whipped by our party to vote against you.

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

He is on a maiden speech!

Hon. Speaker, Sir, the Deputy Speaker is not here, but my congratulations also go to her. I think hers was a historic win in round one. For a person of the female gender who had never sat on the Speaker’s seat, she deserves my congratulations even though she is not here. To all the hon. Members, I say congratulations. I know how difficult it was for you to join me in this House; I know how difficult it has been with activists saying that you should be working for free. Several of you are still struggling to make it, and I hope you will join me in serving the nation in any event. Hon. Speaker, Sir, let me thank the people of Homa Bay Town Constituency for giving me the privilege to stand in this House. Save for, possibly, the Presidential candidates, I am one Member of Parliament who was voted to this House by virtually members of all ethnic communities in this country. I thank the Somali Muslim population in Homa Bay, the Kikuyu and the Meru who made it possible for me to be in this House. Back to this Motion, and very briefly. This is a constitutional right. As a lawyer, you know when a law says that a person shall not be denied emergency treatment the meaning is that anybody who requires emergency treatment gets it as of right. There is a

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Thank you, hon. Speaker, Sir. My name is hon. Julius NdegwaKariuki from Lamu West. First and foremost, I would like to congratulate you for being elected the Speaker of the Eleventh Parliament. I would also like to congratulate our Deputy Speaker, Hon. (Dr.) Laboso. I want to thank my electorate who elected me to the Eleventh Parliament. I would like to let my fellow colleagues know that Lamu is Kenya. This is because they normally ask me how I was elected in Lamu West Constituency. Kenyans live in Lamu and everybody has a right to be elected in that constituency.

I would like to support the Motion by informing the House that life is a constitutional right in Kenya. It is good to make sure that each and every person accesses medical facilities and services irrespective of the size of his or her pocket or whatever is in his or her pocket.

Secondly, I would like the Government to know that we have a structure in Lamu which can accommodate a modern referral hospital but up to now, it is not in use. It is unfortunate to see taxpayers’ money lying idle. This is the case and yet our people could have been referred to that facility because we have sub-district hospitals and other health centres. In fact, we face difficulties when there are referral cases because our roads are pathetic. I really sympathize with the patients who are referred to Malindi and Mombasa because they use very poor roads. I urge the Government to equip that facility which has all the structures required for a referral hospital. That structure has been in place for the last 20 years and it is still not in use.

I understand that our former Prime Minister and the former Minister for Medical Services, Prof. Anyang’-Nyong’o came to Lamu and directed that the hospital should

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Hon. Members, I think it is also not fair that when a Member has not completed his or her contribution, everybody is upstanding. It becomes very difficult.

We want to catch the Speaker’s eye!

You cannot say that you just want to catch my eye.

Thank you, hon. Speaker, Sir. My names are hon. Michael KisoiMunyao, the Member of Parliament for Mbooni Constituency in Makueni County. I want to thank the Chair for taking note of my presence. The rest is history. I have struggled to catch your eye.

May I take this golden opportunity to make my maiden Address in this august House. First and foremost, I would like to start by congratulating you for being elected the Speaker of the Eleventh Parliament. I also congratulate the Deputy Speaker, hon. (Dr.) Laboso for being elected to that position.

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Mhe. Spika, nachukua fursa hii kumshukuru Mwenyezi Mungu. Nakushukuru wewe pia. Natoa kongole kwako na kwa naibu wako. Lakini kwa vile uko hapo leo, wacha niseme kongole kwako kwanza. Mhe.Spika, nachukua fursa hii kumpongeza Mhe. Koinange kwa kufikiria na kulete Hoja kama hii. Lakini mimi nina tatizo na Hoja hii vile ilivyoandikwa. Ni muhimu kuanzisha matibabu ya dharura kwa Wakenya, hasa wale wanaotoka katika sehemu kame katika nchi hii. Lakini matibabu ya dharura yanaambatana na vitu viwili. Moja ni uchukuzi. Kuna uchukuzi wa ubinafsi na uchukuzi wa umma. Uchukuzi wa umma unaopatikana katika matibabu ya dharura ni ambulensi zinazotolewa naSerikali. Hizo ambulensi hupati bure. Mpaka uzilipie.Utaangalia uchukuzi wa umma na uchukue teksi. Kwa sababu ni haki ya kikatiba, tutasema “Beba mgonjwa hapa, upeleke hospitali bure kwa sababu ni haki ya kikatiba?” Hayo yanawezekana? Hayawezekani. Haki ya kikatiba siyo tukio la siku moja. Haki ya Katiba ni mchakato. Ni lazima tupige hatua manake kuna haki nyingi katika Katiba yetu.Hatuwezi kuamka kesho asuhuhi na sote tupige laini tuseme: “Twataka haki zetu!” Haiwezekani. Sisi kama viongozi ni lazima tuwaeleze Wakenya ukweli. Yale yanayowezekana yatekelezwe kwa mipangilio. Hoja hii inakosa nini, Mhe.Spika? Miaka 50 ya Uhuru, nikizungumzia sehemu ninayowakilisha Bungeni ya Bura, ambayo ina eneo la kilomita 16000 mraba, kuna hospitali moja tu.Ukienda kwa hiyo hospitali, utapata dawa aina tatu kila siku, nazo ni panadol, asprin na ORS. Hauwezi ukayapata madawa mengine. Tuliunda CDF na tukajenga zaidi ya hospitali kumi. Wacha hata dawa, kupata daktari hata leo ni ndoto. Zimebaki tupu na zinaishi popo. Sasa tutakapokuja na fikra zakusema tutoe huduma za dharura bure, ikiwa tumeshindwa kwanza na zile hospitali ziko, je, tunazungumza ukweli? Utekelezaji wake uko? Ningemuomba aliyeileta Hoja hii- --

Mhe.Spika, hiki kidude nikama kimeletwa kutoka Korea. Mtu mrefu kama mimi ni lazima ainame sana. Sijui warefu kama mimi tutapata fursa vipi tupate vyombo ambavyo vitatoa sauti yetu bila kuinama. Nikirudi kwa Hoja, kinachokosekana ni bima ya kitaifa. Bima ambayo kila Mkenya, popote alipo, akiwa mashambani au mji mkuu ataipata. Serikali itakapotoa bima hiyo, itatoa kwa uchukuzi na matibabu. Lakini hivi hivi, hoja hii haiwezi ikatekelezwa. Ndiyo ni ya kimsingi na ni ya haki ya kikatiba, lakini haki hiyo haina mbinu ya vile tutaitekeleza. Kwa hayo machache, nasikitika kuipinga. Ahsante.

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Hon. Members, let us be magnanimous to those who have not had occasion to say something on the Floor.

Hon. Onyura): Hon. Speaker, Sir, I have not.

Yes, I have noticed. Please, proceed.

Hon. Onyura): Hon. Speaker, Sir, my names are Michael Aringo Onyura. I am the Member of Parliament for Butula Constituency, Busia County. I take this opportunity to congratulate you and the entire leadership of this House for their election. I also take the opportunity to thank my people of Butula Constituency for giving me the opportunity to serve them in this House. I promise to serve them faithfully and diligently.

Hon. Speaker, Sir, I will be coming to the Motion shortly. Since I did not have a chance to say something about the Presidential Address, I would just like to say a word or two. I would like to thank His Excellency the President very much for his Address. In my view, he captured the challenges that face this country very well. I personally saw it as his performance contract drafted by himself and delivered to us in this House by himself. We, as citizens of this country and Members of Parliament, shall hold him to his word. In my view, he captured the challenges very well. The bigger challenge is going to be the performance. What I can say is that if he delivers in excess of 80 per cent of his promises, obviously, all of us will rate him an “A” performer and I am sure that many of us who may not have voted for him in the last elections will find it easier to vote for him next time. The level of unemployment in this country, particularly amongst the youth, is well over 70 per cent. In fact, saying that it is over 70 per cent is an understatement. At least where I come from, that is the impression I get. It must be getting closer to 100 per cent. As it has been said here, that is a major time bomb which we must deal with very seriously and very urgently. Hon. Speaker, Sir, coming to the Motion before the House, I support it fully. However, the issue of emergency is important. I support it but to me, it is a small aspect of the overall medical policy or medical provisions that should have been made. This is because I believe that no sick Kenyan at this time and age – 50 years after Independence – should go to a medical facility and leave without receiving treatment. It does not matter what the patient may be complaining about. It is immoral to let him leave the facility unattended. In fact, we should make it illegal for such a thing to happen. I also believe that it is the delay in dealing with the ailment of, say, headache or some ailment that may not appear to be very serious that eventually turns into an emergency. Therefore, if we can attend to every medical need, we shall prevent some of the cases that end up being emergency cases. This kind of emergency is different from, say, the kind of emergency that arises from accidents and so on. Therefore, I really want to urge the Government to look into the issue of medical services very urgently. Hon. Members will recall that even when our founding fathers were looking at the major threats to our nation, health care was among the three main issues they set out to address. That is why I said that in this time and age, matters of health care should have been behind us. So, we expect comprehensive health care provision. A comprehensive health care legislation should come to this House, so that we can deal with this matter in the way Kenyans expect us to deal with it.

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I will have the lady over there.

(Hon. (Ms). Ngetich): Thank you, hon. Speaker, Sir. I am hon. Cecilia Ngetich, Member of Parliament for Bomet County. Allow me to join my colleagues in congratulating you and the Deputy Speaker for having been elected to office, and also congratulate all the hon. Members for making it to the Eleventh Parliament. I also wish to take this opportunity to thank the people of Bomet County for overwhelmingly voting for me. This morning, I heard an hon. Member say that he had the highest number of votes in his constituency, with 25,000 votes. I do not know what to say when I had 202,120 votes. So, thank you very much, my people of Bomet! Hon. Speaker, Sir, I support the Motion. However, I have numerous questions that I beg to ask for clarification. I am a teacher and I am very critical on words. First, I want these words clarified. It says one should not be denied treatment when he is on “critical emergency condition”. I would have wished to hear from the doctors which category of ailments fall under this critical emergency condition. Two, the Motion mentions that a person should not be denied admission on grounds that he is not able to pay deposit. On the surface, the patient should be treated without deposit when he or she is under critical emergency condition. So, while the Motion talks about emergency treatment, Members at some point digressed and are talking about the entire health services that are provided in hospitals. We need to look at this and the Mover could reframe the Motion because it is talking about being given emergency treatment without paying the deposit that is required. If we are realistic and honest to one another and also looking at the practical situation, our hospitals, dispensaries and health centres are ill equipment. They are not adequate and do not have medical personnel. So, when we are asking for the entire medical services to be provided, this borders on something that may not be achieved. At one point, I thought the Mover would be saying that he is recommending that every Kenyan should have a medical cover, either in the form of National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) or otherwise. This is happening elsewhere. In the United States, you must have a medical cover, either provided partly by the Government or subsidized, so that when you visit a hospital, you get the health services which will be partly covered by the insurance. This does not mean that the Government can pay for all the medical services that we shall require. This morning, one Member told me that the promised free maternal health care might cost the Government Kshs200 billion per year. We are now extending to other services. Is this attainable? You should not take me wrongly. I am not against free emergency medical services, but I wish to recommend that the Bill that had been proposed to make everyone have a health insurance that will cover outpatient and

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Hon. Speaker, Sir, I take this opportunity to thank you for noticing me. My name is hon. Peter Weru Kinyua. I represent Mathira Constituency in this House. This being my maiden speech, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you and Dr. Laboso for being elected the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker. I also want to take this opportunity to thank the people of Mathira who defied all odds and voted for me. I will ably represent them in this august House. I did not get an opportunity to comment on the Presidential Speech and so, I may mix the two as I support this Motion. When we look at the medical industry and all the stakeholders, it would be prudent if we had a comprehensive medical policy, which this House can look at and make sure that we incorporate all the players. We have seen medical insurance providers going down with people’s money. We have gone to hospitals and we are denied services simply because certain hospitals do not accept insurance covers from certain providers. With all this, it will be prudent to look at this comprehensively, so that all the players are brought on board. Their input should be considered and brought into one framework to support the entire provision of medical services. We have talked of a digital Government. Indeed, we have even gone forward and elected digital leaders including myself. I find it a bit disturbing that most of our medical providers do not have any basic information about Kenyan citizens. For effective discharge of any emergency medical services, it would be prudent to have an online central data base that is accessible to the medical providers, so that when a person is taken to a hospital, he is identified by his or her name and the identity card number. The data should include the name, the blood group and other conditions and allergies that one might have, otherwise, the medical providers would not be able to provide proper medical care to patients in critical condition. We also need to look at the causes of these emergencies. You will realize and appreciate that over 90 per cent of these emergencies are road accidents. It is disturbing to know that we let the people who cause the road accidents go free and we crucify the doctors for not providing the emergency service. An example I want to cite is the road from Sagana all the way to Marwa. This road is a death trap. It has been under construction for the last ten years. This is unacceptable. As we engage in talk about having value for money for Kenyans; and this was entrenched in the Presidential Address, I think, value for money is not just attained by the end result, rather it is through the process of delivering whatever was envisaged when a project commenced. This particular project is a simple stretch of road to be done as per specifications as was provided by the engineers. Any prudent project management does not only look at the procurement process, but also the cost at which the project has to be done. It also looks at the time frame within which that project has to be delivered and the quality of what has to be done.

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Hon. Mwaura!

Thank you, hon. Speaker, Sir.

On a point of order, hon. Speaker, Sir. Hon. Mwaura has spoken before in this House.

Hon. Speaker, Sir, that was my maiden speech. I would want to contribute on this Motion. There are two systems of health care in Kenya. One is for the poor and the other one is for the rich. It is unfortunate that the poor pay more than the rich people simply because the middle class of this country have medical insurance. This country has undergone a lot of debate on this issue since the NARC came into power in 2002.

--- the private sector to ensure that a comprehensive national health service is not implemented. Hon. Speaker, Sir, if you look at developed countries they are able to have higher productivity because of cushioning their citizens from simple ailments. It appears that there is a misconception that emergency treatment is expensive. There could be some life threatening conditions that could be treated using simple medical interventions. It is also true that some people, especially those with disabilities may require constant medical attention. Most times they languish at home for fear of not being admitted into health facilities. I urge this House, over and above this Motion, that refusal of admittance of anybody who requires emergency treatment be termed as negligence on the side of the medical practitioner and therefore, punishable by law. One of the most critical elements of health is infrastructure. If you look at the President’s Speech, there was indication that this country is only able to construct 50,000 house in a year and yet we require 250,000 houses. One of the most critical elements of

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The Member for Gatanga.

Thank you, hon. Speaker, Sir, for noticing me. I have been here all time. I will, however, be brief. I am the Member for Gatanga and I must thank the people of Gatanga for voting me in against all the odds. There was the TNA wave and also the tunaweza make wave, but I still managed with NARC although in Jubilee Coalition. I thank them most sincerely. At Independence, we had noted that the three challenges of our society were disease, ignorance and shelter. However, today we are still discussing diseases. I am a medical practitioner and I would like to share with you some of the experiences that I went through. Indeed, I won the elections because I was in some of those camps. Sometimes the attendance is overwhelming. You have, say, 5,000 patients. This is an indication that the health facilities are lacking in terms of doctor/patient ratio, facilities and drugs. Why would you have such a high attendance in medical camps? At times, patients would be brought on wheelbarrows because of jiggers. There were also so many children being brought to the camp. This is an indication that poverty is a major contributor to these ailments. My contribution in support of this is to define what “emergency” is. Every medical case is an emergency in its own right because it could be pneumonia, but if not treated at the right time, it could be fatal. It could be meningitis and so if not diagnosed early enough, it would lead to death. So, there is need to define what “emergency” is. Every Kenyan has a right to access health care as enshrined in the Constitution. The reality on the ground, however, is that not every Kenyan has access to medicine. I am of the view that we need to come up with a universal health care where we bring all the stakeholders together. This is workable. If you talk of laptops for every child going to Standard One, even a universal health care is doable. I noted that in the President’s Address, he talked of prudent management of our public resources. It is anybody’s knowledge that we lose billions of Kenya shillings every year due to corruption. Like Dr. Nyikal has alluded to---

Hon. Njuguna, you have a balance of five minutes. Hon. Members, it is now time to interrupt the business of the House. This House, therefore, stands adjourned until tomorrow, Thursday 25th April, 2013 at 2.30 p.m.

The House rose at 6.30 p.m.

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