Hon. Members, I have a Petition which is No. 17 of 2018, to convey to the House according to Standing Order 225(2)(b). I wish to inform the House that my office received a Petition sent by one, Mr. Njoroge Waweru of P.O. Box 287, Kikuyu.

The Petitioner avers that there have been numerous challenges facing the higher education sector in the country ranging from administration, recruitment of vice-chancellors, appointment of university council members, academic programmes and facilities, research outputs and publications among other aspects.

The Petitioner further contends that these challenges have far much affected the access and realisation of higher education in the country. Further, he is concerned that if the challenges are not addressed, they would lead to collapse of public universities and, in the long run, jeopardise Kenya’s higher education system. The Petitioner, therefore, prays that the National Assembly:

(i) Deliberates on the crisis facing higher education institutions and forms a commission of inquiry to investigate among other things, the administration of universities, criteria for recruiting vice-chancellors and other administrators, appointment of university council members, formation of regulatory framework to oversee universities and management of resources; and,

(ii) makes any other order or direction that it deems fit in the circumstances of this matter.

Hon. Members, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order No. 227, this Petition is, therefore, committed to the Departmental Committee on Education and Research for consideration. The Committee is requested to consider the Petition and report its findings within 60 days in accordance with Standing Order No. 227(2).

Hon. Members, I am aware that the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill (National Assembly Bill No. 12 of 2018), which is before the various Departmental Committees, makes specific proposals regarding appointment of vice-chancellors of universities. The Committee is encouraged to hear the Petitioner as it considers the provisions and is at liberty to incorporate his prayers in their proposed amendments to the Bill.

I thank you. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Before the Chief Whip lays the Papers - because it looks like he could be a victim of what I am just about to communicate - let me do so to inform him.

Let the Member for Taveta take her seat.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. For your information, I am among the 235 Members who had already registered by 1.30 p.m. I was advised to use the previous Personal Identification Number (PIN). Unfortunately, the previous PIN is not working and it applies to all the other Members. It is important that the officers charged with the new technology are informed that the PINs they have given us are not working, except for the Leader of the Majority Party.

Hon. Speaker, I beg to lay the following Papers on the Table of the House, Tuesday, 5th June, 2018: Report to Parliament on new loans contracted by the Government from 1st November 2017 to 28th February 2018 from the National Treasury. The Cabinet Memorandum on Kenya’s Accession to the Intergovernmental Convention on International Hydrographical Organisation (IHO) and annual contribution. The Addendum to the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) Regulations as follows: The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

(a) KDF (Board of Inquiry) (Amendment) Regulations, 2018; (b) KDF (Constabulary) (Amendment) Regulations, 2018; (c) KDF (General) (Amendment) Regulations, 2018; (d) KDF (Internal Grievance Mechanism) (Amendment) Regulations, 2018; (e) KDF (Missing Persons) (Amendment) Regulations, 2018; (f) KDF (Retired Officers & Service Members) (Amendment) Regulations, 2018; and (g) KDF Rules of Procedure (Amendment) Regulations, 2018. The Kenya 2017 General Elections and the Historic Fresh Presidential Election Observation Report from the Elections Observation Group. The Kenya 2017 General Elections and the Historic Fresh Presidential Election Observation Report from the Elections Observation Group. Annual Corporate Report for the Financial Year 2016/2017 from the Office of Auditor-General. The Third annual Report for the Financial Year 2014/2015 from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Economic Survey Report for the year 2018 from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. The Reports of the Auditor-General and Financial Statements in respect of the following institutions for the year ended 30th June 2017, and the certificates therein: (a) Kenya Maritime Authority. (b) Kenya Accreditation Service. The Report of the Auditor-General and Financial Statements of Kenya National Shipping Line Limited for the year ended 30th June 2015, and the certificate therein. Thank you, Hon. Speaker.

Chairman, Budget and Appropriations Committee.

Hon. Speaker, I beg to lay the following Paper on the Table of the House Tuesday, 5th June 2018: The Report of the Budget and Appropriations Committee on the Budget Estimates for the Financial Year 2018/2019 and the annexures: A compendium of Departmental Committee reports of their review of the 2018/2019 Budget Estimates and the summary of recommendations. Compiled Reports on the National Public hearings held in 12 counties across the nation and a summarised Report of the same public hearings. Thank you, Hon. Speaker.

Next Order.

Hon. Ichung’wah.

Hon. Speaker, I beg to give notice of the following Motion: THAT, the House adopts the Report of the Budget and Appropriations Committee on the Budget Estimates for the National Government, the Judiciary and Parliament for the Financial Year 2018/2019, laid on the Table of the House on Tuesday, 5th June 2018 and pursuant to the provisions of Article 221(3) of the Constitution of Kenya, Section 39 of the Public Finance Management Act, 2012, and Standing Orders 235 and 239, approves the issuance of a sum of Kshs1,742,291,667,908 from the Consolidated Fund to meet the expenditure The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

during the year ending 30th June, 2019, in respect of the votes as contained in the Schedule.

Hon. Speaker, on that note, when the House Business Committee meets this evening and gives us time for this Motion tomorrow, I beg to remind Members that the House, being the budget-making House, tomorrow then becomes the budget day for the Republic and not 14th June 2018 when the Cabinet Secretary will be in the Chamber to give us his highlights on the revenue raising measures. Therefore, I seek your indulgence that we consider this Motion and being the Budget day that you allow the Chair of Budget and Appropriations Committee tomorrow to move the Motion from the Dispatch Box considering that these PINs are not working. I am yet to register unlike the Majority Whip who has already registered. I beg to re-emphasise that, indeed, this is a budget-making House. It is not right that the Cabinet Secretary gets an opportunity to only read the revenue raising measures from the podium up there, and we read the Budget itself from our desks. Therefore, I seek your indulgence to be able to do that from the Dispatch Box. As you can see, despite the fact that I have no briefcase, these documents are too bulky. There is no space for them. I beg that tomorrow you allow me to do that from the Dispatch Box for Members to appreciate that; indeed, this House is the one that makes the Budget for the Republic of Kenya. All that the CS will be coming to do next week is to just give highlights of the revenue raising measures for the next financial year.

Obviously, the Member for Kikuyu who is the Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee should be encouraged to buy a briefcase. Even as we consider the request made as a legitimate one, we want to encourage you to come with a briefcase as you address the rest of the House from the Dispatch Box.

Hon. Members, if you have looked at the Order Paper, there is a Procedural Motion to be moved by the Leader of the Majority Party. If you make certain decisions on that Motion, then some of the issues raised by Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah will be addressed and I will give some guidelines on how we will proceed.

Hon. Members, I just wish to alert the House that in keeping with the practice and tradition, today at 6.30 p.m., we resume the Zero Hour statement period. That will be to allow Hon. Ruweida Obo, the Member for Lamu County, to make a statement on the mismanagement of the wildlife sector in Kenya. I believe all of us have acquainted ourselves on that Zero Hour period that some of you call the Happy Hour. It is not; it is Zero Hour. It is from 6.30 p.m. to 7.00 p.m. I hope the Hon. Member is in the House. Is she in the House? Now this is the problem. You inform the entire leadership that you have something serious. How does she know that she will have the chance to make the statement? The Whip, Hon. Washiali, will take The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

the responsibility of hunting and fishing her out from wherever she may be and making her available to the House. Let us move to the next Order.

Hon. Speaker, I beg to move the following Procedural Motion: THAT, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order 97(4), this House orders that each speech in a debate on the Report of the Budget & Appropriations Committee on Budget Estimates contemplated under Standing Orders 239 and 240 be limited as follows: 1. General Supply Debate:- A maximum of three (3) sitting days with thirty (30) minutes for the Mover in moving and fifteen minutes (15) in replying; a maximum of ten (10) minutes for each of the Chairpersons of the Departmental Committees and a maximum of five (5) minutes for any other Member speaking, except the Leader of the Majority Party and the Leader of the Minority Party, who shall be limited to a maximum of ten minutes (10) each; and that priority in speaking be accorded to the Leader of the Majority Party, the Leader of the Minority Party and the respective Chairpersons of the Departmental Committees in the order that they appear in the Second Schedule to the Standing Orders; and, 2. Committee of Supply: A maximum of six (6) sitting days for the consideration of the proposed allocations to the respective Votes/Programmes in the order specified in the Schedule submitted by the Budget and Appropriations Committee. Hon. Speaker, I move this Motion in accordance with Standing Order 97 read together with Standing Order 239. As all Members are aware, the National Assembly is the budget- making House. In this regard, it is expected that we thoroughly scrutinise and debate the Budget Estimates and, where necessary, make changes to the Budget before the approval of the House. In the 11th Parliament, we were not strict in following the budget-making procedure as contained in our Standing Order Nos. 235 to 245. I am sure my colleagues who served in the 10th Parliament will be aware of that. In the 11th Parliament, that was not followed to the letter. Those Standing Orders require that the House takes a maximum time possible to have a general debate on the Estimates similar to the Second Reading of a Bill and dissolve into the Committee of the whole House to consider each programme for each Ministry, Judiciary and Parliament, both recurrent and development expenditure. Question is to be put for all the votes one by one. The Budget for the Financial Year 2018/2019 has a total of 24 votes. This was the procedure followed until the 10th Parliament, but which the 11th Parliament did not follow strictly. Members who have served in the previous Parliaments, including Hon. Kimunya, Hon. Angwenyi, Hon. Cecily Mbarire, Hon. Maoka Maore, Hon. Kioni, Hon. Mbadi and many others are familiar with the process which used to take place in about 21 days of the budget-making process. Currently, and indeed in the last Parliament, the Budget Estimates were approved in a day or two. This Motion seeks to increase the approval period to nine days so that we, the The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

people’s representatives talk about the budget and criticise it. We will be in a position to move if necessary, any relevant amendments to the Budget Estimates. So, the Motion is increasing that period to nine days. Those nine days will be split into two: three days for the general debate and six days for the supply process in the Committee of the whole House similar to the procedure carried out when considering a Bill. Hon. Speaker, this Motion will be doing two things. The first and fundamental is that it is proposing a structural manner on how Members will speak during the debate. It will begin with the Chairperson of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, then the Chairpersons of Departmental Committees, then the leadership of the House and, lastly, the Members. I want Chairs to listen to me. If the House Business Committee decides that debate on the Budget will begin tomorrow afternoon, after the Chair of BAC, the next chance will be given to Chairpersons of Departmental Committees – 10 minutes each. They will speak about their departments and sectors on how much was allocated, how much is in the Budget, the reasons cuts were made and the reason increases were made. It is only after the Chairs have finished that the leadership will take the Floor and then other Members of the House. That is how this Motion is proposing. Secondly, this Motion will be increasing and allocating the speaking time to Members during the debate. It will give opportunity to more Members to speak to specific items of the Budget. Allow me say that this will allow the House a chance to do a second scrutiny and make firm decisions on the Budget. What the Chair of BAC said is very true: the most important day of the budget-making process is when the Chair of BAC moves the Budget Estimates for the 2018/2019 Financial Year. What the CS is coming to do on 14th is just to tell us how he is going to finance the Budget; what his tax measures are in terms of raising and reducing tax collection and how he is going to fill the deficit in the financing of this Budget. It is my sincere hope that Members will support this Motion. I urge you, Hon. Speaker, to guide this House on the process for general debate, the Committee on Supply and how to introduce and process amendments to the Estimates. I urge the House to conclude with the debate on the President’s Address today. We must finish it today. It is going to be the third day. I am sure we must have said each and everything about the President’s Speech by the rise of the House at 6.30 p.m. That is so that we begin and pave way for the consideration of the Budget Estimates and thereafter the Committee on Supply tomorrow morning or afternoon. It ought to be concluded by the time the CS is presenting his Budget highlights next week on Thursday. The Budget highlights which will be given by the CS on the 14th are not a Kenyan affair only. It is an East African Community (EAC) affair. So, it is not only anchored to our scenario or our Kenyan Budget. We cannot alter that date, which is going to be 14th Thursday, next week. Between tomorrow and Thursday next week, we must finish the process of debating the Budget and the process of dealing with the 24 departments in the Committee of Supply. I beg to move and ask my colleague, the Leader of the Minority Party, to second.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I want to agree by seconding this Motion on limitation of debate on the Annual Estimates and Committee of Supply. I want to start by saying that the budget-making process is the single most important responsibility of Members of Parliament or any legislative body. That is why the people of Kenya decided that there will be no taxation without representation. They have elected their representatives, 290, 47 plus 12 specially nominated representatives to be speaking on their behalf and represent them in terms of Budget scrutiny. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

I want to put some clarity on what the Leader of the Majority Party has said regarding the changes that took place in terms of the budget-making process from what happened previously – from the 10th Parliament going back, what we saw in the 11th Parliament, and now where we have reached. The reason we have changed the system is because, before the new Constitution, the budget-making process was majorly a function of the Executive. Parliament’s role was limited, more or less to what one would call “a rubber stamping responsibility”. We were not expected to make major changes in the Budget. With the new Constitution, we completely changed the budget-making process and gave a Committee of Parliament that power, through the Constitution. In fact, the only Committee that is mentioned in the Constitution is BAC. It is said that, that Committee will sit, address, look at the Budget and scrutinise it, listen to Kenyans and propose amendments. We thought that would do away with the traditional Committee on Supply as we were used to while transacting the budget process. However, you will realise that having tested and experimented with this, it is coming out clearly that the plenary of Parliament also requires more time to engage and interact with budgets of specific ministries, departments and State agencies. Therefore, it is important we set aside the time. That is why these six days are good for us. It is so that each and every ministry is interrogated. You can see a lot of corruption being unearthed in the country of late. A lot of this corruption is engineered or orchestrated through the budget process. One, these corrupt elements start their corruption by putting money or voting the estimates in the budget. I urge my colleagues in this House to take advantage of the six days so that we interrogate each and every ministry’s budget. We should look at the health budget because a lot of us who were in BAC were not very comfortable with some of the provisions in the budget of that ministry. We need to look at the budgets of Youth, Sport and Labour where the National Youth Service is residing and even the defence budget and all the others. In fact, the budget of security is something that we, as a country, need to discuss. It is whether the way we interact with that budget is sufficient enough for us to be sure that the amounts being allocated are for the benefit of Kenyans. Regarding the time limitation, it is logical. This House is big in terms of numbers. We have 349 MPs. We want as many as possible to make a contribution to this House. Remember that just a few days ago, there was uproar in the country. It was from my colleagues who, probably inadvertently or genuinely, were cited by some group or NGO as having not contributed. The picture that gives the electorate is not very good. It is not very nice. We need to allocate enough time so that all Members who want to make a contribution could do so. I would be hesitant to appreciate when an individual who wants to contribute and has not found time to do so is listed among those who have limitations in contributing. We need to provide enough time for Members to contribute and speak on areas where you think you can make better argument or value for the time you are allocated. With those many remarks, I second.

Hon. Members, before I allow debate, allow me to recognise the presence of students from the following institutions in the Speaker’s Gallery: Pioneer Girls High School, Gatanga Constituency, Murang’a County, Mayori Secondary School, Mbeere South Constituency, Embu County and Stephen Kisilu Secondary School, Mbeere South Constituency, Embu County. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

In the Public Gallery, we have the following four institutions: Christ the King, Kirwara Boys High School, Gatanga Constituency, Murang’a County, Jason Secondary Adventist School, Kilgoris Constituency, Narok County, St. Catherine’s Nthagaiya Girls High School, Embu East Constituency, Embu County and Ndanai Girls High School, Sotik Constituency, Bomet County. They are all welcome to observe the proceedings of the National Assembly.

Hon. Members, I beg to propose the Motion as moved by the Leader of the Majority Party and seconded by the Leader of the Minority Party. Should it be the desire of the House, debate may commence.

Is it the desire of the House that I put the Question?

Yes.

Hon. Members, I wish to give this guidance. Now that the House has passed the Procedural Motion limiting speaking time during general debate and Committee of Supply on the Estimates, I wish to guide the House on the way forward regarding the debate and introduction of any amendments to the Estimates.

First, may I request all Chairpersons of Departmental Committees to be present tomorrow morning during the moving of the debate on the Estimates that were tabled this afternoon. As the Procedural Motion indicates, respective Chairpersons will be required to be the next to speak after the Question is proposed in the order the committees appear in the Second Schedule in the Standing Orders, beginning with the Committee on Administration and National Security. The debate will continue for three days. This first stage of the process is similar to the Second Reading of a Bill. Secondly, may I remind the House that amendments to the Annual Estimates may be considered at the second stage which is the Committee of Supply Stage as ably explained by the Leader of the Minority Party in seconding. However, I must caution the House that any amendments proposed to the Estimates will be subjected to the provisions of Article 114 of the Constitution regarding Motions with a money Bill effect. As such, proposed amendments must be presented to the Budget and Appropriations Committee, which will guide the House on how to proceed in keeping with the provisions of Article 114 of the Constitution. Further, the same deadline of 24 hours required for submission of amendment to Motions and Bills will apply to any proposed amendments to the Estimates. Members should also note that pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order No.30(2) as read together with Standing Order No.237, the House may be required to sit for longer hours during Committee of Supply. I, therefore, urge Hon. Members to acquaint themselves with the relevant provisions of the Standing Orders so as to familiarise themselves with that process. As explained, we must have an opportunity to scrutinise votes of every Ministry. The House is accordingly guided.

I thank you, Hon. Members.

Before we move to the next Order, allow me to make this further communication that the Member for Lamu County, Hon. Ruweida Obo, who had put in a request for zero hour from 6.30 pm to 7.00 pm, is unavailable today. She is reported to be in her county representing her people. Therefore, there will be no zero hour. The House will continue up to 7.00 p.m.

The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to speak on the Presidential Address. Before I speak to this Motion, I wish to convey my sincere condolences to you. News that you lost your mother came to us while on recess. Therefore, I wish to convey sincere condolences from myself and the people of Kilifi North on the loss of your beloved mother. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

I would like to contribute on the Presidential Address and focus particularly on paragraph 109 where the President emphasises that when he shook hands with the former Prime Minister and leader of Opposition in this country, he ushered in a new dawn, a dawn where this country needs to come together in unity and strength and inclusivity, so that this country will continue to be glued together and become one. Every citizen in this country, despite his political party and political aspiration, will be considered as a member of this country without any prejudice. I would like to speak on the matter of appointment to State corporations. You realise that State corporations, which are littered across the country have, for many years, been dominated by leadership from the regions where they operate. I see an opportunity for this country to come together in presidential appointments to those corporations. But as I speak here, out of the many corporations and parastatals that exist in this country, the region that is called Coast - especially the Mijikenda people - have been left out in State corporations appointments. If you go to the Coast today, we have around six State corporations based in that region and whose resources are managed by people from the region. Suffice to say, Coast has the Kenya Ports Authority, Kenya Maritime Authority, Coast Water Services Board, Coast Development Authority and the Kenya Ferry Services, but none of the people from the region manages those organisations. The only parastatal that was being managed by a daughter of the Coast is Kenya Ports Authority (KPA). But as I speak now, she was forced out of office on allegations of inefficiency. We have had State corporations mismanaged in this country and yet, those people still stay in office. When they are replaced, they are replaced by people from the region. Today, Coast Water Services Board, which is a corporation that manages water in the region, is managed by somebody from another region who does not even understand the geography of the area. Kenya Maritime Authority is managed by someone who does not even know how to dive in the ocean. Coast Development Authority, which manages the development of the Coast itself, is managed by individuals that are not from the region. As a people from the region, we feel that the unity and cohesion that we talk about and which the President addressed in this Chamber, is only important in certain regions but not in others. In other words, George Orwell said that others are more equal than other people. In the spirit of national healing and reconciliation, in order to bring dignity and integration and inclusivity in this country, I call upon the department that manages State corporations to review appointments to those corporations so that sons and daughters of certain regions are given the opportunity to manage those corporations. I thank you, Hon. Speaker.

Member for Igembe North.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to the Presidential Address. I wish to remind Members, those who wanted to speak on those general issues for which they were asking for adjournment, this is the best opportunity. I want to speak only on two points that were raised in the Address. Most important of them all is the issue that engulfed the country for more than a year, that is, the issue of national unity. I wish to register my congratulations to President Uhuru Kenyatta and the former Prime Minister for the move to shake hands and also invite the country to embrace the unity that we need. I want to remind the whole country that we do not have a spare country where, if we mess the one we have, we can go to. You will note that if you were to move forward in any development project, you need peace. You need that unity. You do not need commotion when you are about to engage in legacy projects that the President has put forward to initiate as the landmark for his legacy in the next four years. I know in the fifth year, it will be difficult to The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

initiate any projects. We will be in the electioneering period. I also wish to state that we need as a country to go slow on politics, specifically the one leading to what should happen in 2022. We are far away from it. All of us got our mandate the other day and we are supposed to be happy that we got the mandate and start delivering on what we promised. The second point in that Address is the issue of corruption. We know how this country has been running for quite a long time, especially with regard to the issue of corruption. I am glad the former PM has also been very keen and willing to give a helping hand to the commitment of the President in order to address the issue of corruption in this country. For those of us who have ever worked with the President, we know his heart. I can tell you he is very committed 24/7 to leave a legacy in this country as a more prosperous country than any other. For that reason, we all know corruption will eat into that dream of the President. That is why he is very keen to dismantle the pillars that make corruption thrive in his country. You can see in one strike of a pen, he managed to have a new Attorney-General, a new Director of Public Prosecutions and a new person at the Directorate of Criminal Investigation. We pray that this country is not sustained as a mafia state. A mafia state is where many countries would have their

, but in our country, the mafia have the country. We want the dragon of corruption to be addressed and not yesterday. For that reason, Hon. Speaker, I support.

Member for Alego Usonga.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. I begin by passing special condolences to you and your family following the passing on of your dear mother. Hon. Speaker, I would like to support the President’s Speech. I have identified two areas which the President touched on. He highlighted some of his administration’s successes. One is the expansion of infrastructure where a lot has been done. But, he pointed out that his administration has used “The Last Mile” programme to expand access to electricity from 23 per cent in 2013 to 71 per cent this year.

I have doubts on this statement regarding the commitment. This is because in my constituency, as we speak, we are yet to hit 20 per cent access to electricity. Therefore, I would like to use this forum to urge the Cabinet Secretary in charge of energy to ensure that access to electricity is fast-tracked across the country and that all constituencies, especially those that did not benefit in the previous programmes following the politics of last term, are given this opportunity. I would like to urge the Minister for Energy to visit my constituency and assist us push this percentages to levels that have been attained nationally.

The President touched on corruption. Following his statements in this Chamber, we have seen a lot of action on his part. Right now, many Government officers and businessmen have been arraigned in court facing charges, but some of us have been apprehensive about the approach that the Government and agencies in charge of corruption are taking towards addressing this dragon. I would like to use this forum to propose to the President that the best approach he needs to employ urgently is to appoint an anti-corruption czar in his office. What we have seen are small fish arraigned in court and charged with corruption while I believe corruption cannot be addressed only when “small people” are arraigned in court. We need to see the big fish and whales being apprehended and charged in court. I would like the President to borrow what President Kibaki did in 2002. He had an anti-corruption czar in his office who pursued even the CSs and other officers who were considered to be big fish or whales. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Otherwise, we support the recent actions by the President. I believe that the only person who means well and who is ready to fight corruption is the President. I do not trust any other officer in the Government. Therefore, I would like the President to appoint another Mr. Githongo in his office who will pursue the big fish and the whales and ensure that no stone is left unturned as far as corruption is concerned. Right now, we have corruption cases involving humongous amounts of money in hundreds and billions of shillings. Some of those resources would have been used to transform our country. The resources that have been stolen by a few people would be used to change our country in various sectors. Thank you.

Let us have the Member for Kajiado North.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker, for giving me this chance to contribute to this Motion. The President came out clearly to show the direction that he wants the country to go. He emphasized on the handshake and he is actualising that. Now, the country is moving towards stability as far as the hardline factions are concerned. The Speech was more on that. He emphasized forgiveness and why people should live together as brothers and sisters as they develop their country. He also emphasized on the need for the Big Four Agenda. He identified the pillars of bringing development to this country. He set a realisation that it is unacceptable at this age for some Kenyans to continue living in pathetic conditions while others are not. He urged the need for improving the manufacturing sector so that we can improve employment in this country.

On food security, it is absurd that at this age, after so many years of Independence, we are unable to feed our people properly. We are struggling to feed our people. Sometimes in 1978, when the founding father of this nation died, it is like he went with the trajectory of this country because we were doing very well at that time. Our economy was then equated to countries in the East. But when he died, it is like he went with the mission of this country and we lost it. In the nine days that we have been given to deliberate on the current Budget, we should ensure that the money goes to where it will improve the lives of Kenyans. The President also emphasized on the importance of fighting corruption. It has become a menace. Every one of us should be proud of Kenya as a free country. We should fight corruption and ensure we develop. Members of Parliament (MPs) normally move out of this country and we see the way developed countries have moved. It is upon us to bring that foresight to other Kenyans to ensure that we fight this vice so that all the money that is collected in form of taxes develops this country. Otherwise, we are going to struggle going up and down and, at the end of the day, we will not develop. At times, you will find many people in the Government such as MPs going out to benchmark and when they come back, they do not implement what they see outside there. It is, therefore, very important we have a common approach to fight corruption.

He said that he has signed the second phase of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) which is passing through my constituency. If he continues with it to its destination, it will open those areas for development. He emphasized on the Huduma Mashinani Programme which has done great good to most Kenyans. You can go to a Huduma Centre and get all Government services in one spot. That is the way to go. He has accepted the idea of devolution and has made resources available to devolved units throughout his period - which is a good gesture.

On corruption, the country is going towards the computer system where the interaction between the service provider and consumers is limited. They are not interacting physically and The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

that is the way to go in this country. In the long run, we may succeed in fighting corruption if we appreciate Information Technology and Communication (ICT). Thank you. I support.

Let us have the Member for Suba North.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker for giving me this opportunity. I wish to support what the President said in his exposition that, indeed, the handshake is good for this country. I hope through it, we will get the Rusinga-Ring Road and Mfangano-Ring Road in my constituency done as the President promised us during his campaigns. I want to be very brief on the issues which the exposition relates to. On the issue of the Report on the Measures Taken and Progress Achieved in the Realisation of National Values and Principles of Governance, the President talked about his commitment to fight corruption in this country. I happen to have been trained on issues of governance and anti-corruption. It does not matter what we do, as I have said before in this House and I will repeat, unless we have political goodwill, we will never slay corruption. It is indeed, good that the President has taken very stern steps and actions towards dealing with the issue of corruption. I do not know why the President is looking for legacy. The legacy he can give this country, in my view, is only two things. One is dealing with corruption and the other is uniting this country. The handshake is one step towards this, but we need to unite this country beyond the handshake. Slaying corruption is the only way to unite this country. I sit in the Budget and Appropriations Committee. From what I can see in terms of resources which go to different projects in this country, if this money was properly utilised, Kenya would be another United States of America (USA). Many people would want to come and dwell in this country instead of having a lot of human resource flight to other countries. I am hoping that the President stays firm and on course on the issue of corruption. But I would want to urge him that if he wants to deal with corruption, he must tell the people around him to keep off public resources so that he is set free to deal firmly with corruption. On the Report on the Progress Made in Fulfillment of the International Obligations of the Republic, I want to say that Kenya has done extremely well in terms of ratification of treaties. For me, especially of interest are the ones concerning human rights, focusing on women, children, persons with disabilities and marginalised people. My concern though is that recently, we have seen a crawl back in terms of implementation. Kenya was clearly on course but of late, we have crawled back. I want to speak specifically on the issue of violence against women and extrajudicial police killings. I would want to urge that, as a country, we get back on course and not crawl back where we had already made progress. The next item was on national security measures. I was shocked just as much as most Kenyans when I saw the reported case of Moi Nairobi Girls High School where some people were brave enough to walk into the school and rape girls. The same morning, we got information from a school in my own constituency that somebody attempted to do the same thing. He walked into the school, but he was discovered hiding under a bed. Fortunately, no girl was harmed. Even as I was sharing this, I was told of a school in Murang’a were girls left the school and walked all the way to town. There is a very serious security breech in relation to our girls. I want to urge that police be deployed in our schools to safeguard and protect our girls. There should be clear protocol for those who are care givers for girls and women. Hon. Speaker, with those few comments, I support. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Member for Igembe South.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I beg to talk on the President’s Address. I understand there is a very…

Sorry, Member for Igembe South, you have already contributed to this Motion and you cannot do it twice. No! The cards are working. Hon. Kimani Kuria, Member for Molo.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker for…

Member for Imenti Central, what you are doing could land you in a lot of trouble. So, never repeat it! You cannot purport to address me while you are seated and have not been given permission to do so. That amounts to misconduct. Member for Molo, proceed.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I want to start by condoling you and your family for the loss of your mother, which happened while we were on recess. I would like to contribute to the President’s Address, which was delivered during the month of May. I will start by recognising what he said in paragraph 13. He said he was aware that there are people in his office who are using public funds for their own benefit. This giant and devil called corruption has been in our headlines, minds and hearts. As Kenyans, we are saying enough is enough.

I am very happy for the progress made in terms of arrests made and the many files that have been taken for further investigations. However, that having been said and done, as a country, we are tired of situations where we celebrate because public officers resign once a theft has occurred. Whether someone resigns 10 or 50 times, the fact remains that public money has been lost and the gains we should have made with that money in our economy is forever lost. Moving forward as a country, we want to celebrate not because people have been sent to jail, but because the money is taken back to the hands of Kenyans. The fight against corruption is not just going to be achieved by Members of Parliament (MPs) or the Executive. As a country, we need to revisit our cultures and virtues and totally change them and say no to gratifying thieves. I watched in dismay as those suspects were arrested and driven off in Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) with sirens. We were treating them like heroes as if they had done very well by stealing our public funds. They need to be treated like the criminals they are if found guilty. The Judiciary will play a very vital role in the fight against corruption. For example, we saw a case recently where a former Principal Secretary who sold the Machakos Cemetery for over Kshs.230 million was jailed for only three years. For many Kenyans, if given a choice of stealing Kshs.230million and going to prison for three years, they would choose the jail. On the same note, we saw a lady who was accused of taking a bribe at Huduma Centre of Kshs.2,500 being fined Kshs500,000 - which is 200 times – and three years in prison. There is no equity in the way we are treating the big and small thieves. It seems like the Judiciary is pocketing some of this loot and making sure that the people who steal the most are left scot-free and only - as my colleague has said - the small fish are left to go to jail and pay for what they have done. In the National Youth Service (NYS) scandal, it is alleged that Kshs.9 billion was lost. I serve in the Public Accounts Committee and when we were looking at the Auditor-General’s Report of the 2014/2015 Financial Year, we were dismayed that some of those files have been held by the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) since 2014. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

I am asking, if the police had the files of that theft in 2014, why did they have to wait until it came out in the media so that those people are aligned in court? In as much as we are supporting the President’s fight against corruption, there are people who are sleeping on the job instead of investigating. Further, the President has directed that all finance officers, accountants and procurement officers be sent home. Around 1,000 of them had their files forwarded for questioning and prosecution. We stand a risk. In as much as I support this move, because it has to start since as a country we must start somewhere, I am also disappointed that we might be discouraging professionals from joining the Government. This is because we have innocent people who are qualified and who, while doing their job, will be embarrassed being accused of doing shoddy deals that they never did. As a country, we are saying eventually that we need to move from being reactive to proactive in our fight against corruption. Thank you, Hon. Speaker.

Member for Nyaribari Masaba.

Thank you very much, Hon. Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to the Presidential Address that was given here on 2nd May 2018. First and foremost, the President did cover the key areas that his Government was able to achieve during the first term in office, that is, 2013 to 2017, right from infrastructural development to food security and all the other areas including security. The most important area is the implementation of the Constitution that was promulgated in 2010. I think the 11th Parliament and the Executive did commendable work in ensuring that various provisions of the Constitution were actually implemented. Among them was devolution which was a new concept in this country. Up to now, we know that devolution has become a reality in this country. When we started in 2013, the allocation that was made by the national Government to the various units of devolution was Kshs210 billion. We note that this has been progressively increasing such that by last year, we had Kshs327 billion going towards the devolved units. With the kind of programmes and support between the national Government and the county governments, it is our expectation that those particular units will work for the betterment of this country. The President highlighted is Big Four Agenda and one of it is manufacturing which, indeed, is quite key because we know the contribution that manufacturing is making to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). As of now, it is at around 7 per cent. The President has in mind that this has to increase to about 15 per cent. If this has to be done, there should be deliberate policy direction and an enabling environment for investment and also for manufacturing in order for us to achieve that particular target. The President, in his agenda of proper health care, came up with various measures that can only be realised once the county governments also come out strongly in support of this. On food security, unless we are food sufficient in our country, we cannot achieve the kind of development that we want to achieve, particularly in the various sectors when our people are still depending on relief food that is supplied by the Government. So, it is necessary that we come up with tangible measures in agriculture such that our people in various parts of this country can be food secure and self-sufficient as far as food is concerned The President also said that our GDP in 2017 was 4.9 per cent compared with sub- Saharan Africa, which was 2.6 per cent. However, still, that is not good enough because, as we know, if we have to achieve the various goals as envisaged in Vision 2030, then our GDP has to be over 10 per cent. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Finally, corruption has to be fought from all angles because whatever we decide to do as a country, we can never be able to achieve it unless we fight this great enemy and greatest cancer that we have ever had since our Independence. So, we support the President in this and it is our hope that he will achieve the Big Four Agenda and the other aspects of development. I support.

Let us have the Leader of the Minority Party.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker, for giving me an opportunity to contribute to the President’s Address to the nation on 2nd May 2018. First of all, I think we all appreciate that this Address was given in compliance to Articles 132 and 240 of the Constitution. As a matter of fact, Article 132 requires the President to address the nation every year, and spell out measures that are being taken to actualise, realise or implement the values and principles as enshrined in Article 10 of the Constitution, and also the steps being taken to realise the international obligations or the steps that the country is taking to achieve international obligations. Article 240 of the Constitution gives the President mandate on behalf of the National Security Council, which he chairs, to spell out the steps that are taken to address the security of the country. I appreciate what the President said on 2nd May in terms of bringing cohesion in the country, in terms of promoting patriotism and national unity and in terms of realising justice and the rule of law. I want to specifically address two areas that the President talked about. Number one, the President talked about the unity of the country. I am happy that the President actually publicly… In fact, when the President started his speech, I was a bit worried when he started by thanking the security organs for doing a good job during last year’s elections. I think the President corrected it by going ahead and further to apologise publicly for any mishap or mistakes that could have happened. I take it that when a president of a country apologises, he does not just apologise for himself, but also for state organs which probably could have not have done their work in accordance with the requirement of the law. The other issue that I appreciate is the fact that the President recognised that the coming together which we witnessed on 9th March 2018 between him and Raila Amolo Odinga, who is the leader of the National Super Alliance (NASA) Coalition and also who has been the Prime Minister of this country, means business and they are serious about that unity. This country needed healing and progress. I am also glad that the President mentioned that unity is not equal to unanimity. I want to just be clear that as the Minority Party, there are areas where we will agree with the majority, but there are also instances where definitely we will find our points of departure. However, we will have our departure with decorum. Hon. Speaker, allow me to spend the rest of the time that I have been allocated to address the issue of corruption that is now being discussed in the country. I want to say and put it categorically clear that, as the Minority Party and as the leadership of Parliament, we want to guarantee the President that we will support his fight and the war on corruption. We have previously called upon the leadership of this country to come out and slay this dragon. Hon. Speaker, you will remember when we were in the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) and even recently before what has now become popularly known as the “handshake”, we have previously asked the President to lead the war on corruption and demonstrate willingness and the will and zeal and the determination to fight corruption. The President has previously said that he has done his bit and asked us what we expect him to do. We have called upon the President to use the organs which are under his control like the Directorate of Criminal Investigation, the National Intelligence Service and the Director of Public Prosecutions, and that is exactly what he has done. The President has indicated very The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

clearly that he does not have confidence in the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission. He shares that feeling with many of us. The EACC has let down Kenyans big time. We support the President for bypassing this body and using the DCI. As Parliament, we guarantee the President that we will do all that it takes to give capacity to the DCI, the Office of the DPP and other offices, even through budgetary allocation. In fact, in the current Budget Estimates, we have increased and enhanced allocation to the Office of the DPP so that we can see a renewed effort in fighting graft. The EACC has failed Kenyans big time. In that context, I urge the President not to stop this war at the national level. I know the DCI might have limitations in terms of personnel and capacity to go to all the 47 counties, but I would be glad to see the DCI sending officers in some sampled counties to serve as an example. I was telling another friend of mine that if we send this team to Lamu County, before they reach Mombasa, the corrupt elements in Kwale would have reached Tanzania. They will run away. We need to also target the counties. What we see happening in counties is a shame to this country. The EACC cannot continue to investigate one county forever. Action must be taken against counties.

Sometimes I ask myself whether the commissions that we created are in sync with the thinking of Kenyans. Just the other day, I noticed that one of the commissions which we formed to help cut public expenditure - the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) - has been trying to raid Parliament and ensure that the salaries of Members of Parliament are contained. The same Commission went ahead to write a letter to counties asking them to allocate Kshs150 million for construction of the Speaker’s residence. Their argument was that it is more expensive to pay rent for houses. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sorry, I did not even realise that the Speaker’s gender has changed. Hon. Nyikal is now applying medicine to it. The SRC is trying to give the excuse that it is more expensive to pay rent for county speakers than to provide residence to the tune of Kshs150 million. Even if you give the Speaker of Homa Bay County Assembly Kshs100,000 per month for rent, you cannot rent any house in Homa Bay County for Kshs100,000. It will take you 125 years to exhaust the Kshs150 million. Why would anyone in his or her right senses imagine that a speaker of a county assembly requires a residence of Kshs150 million, unless we do not know the value of Kshs150 million. That is a clear demonstration that some of those commissions are just playing public relations with the people of Kenya. The President has asked those who are heading finance and procurement departments in various ministries, departments and State corporations to step aside so that they are vetted. I only accept this initiative because Kenyans had reached a point where we were now desperate. We are desperate and will appreciate any effort that is made towards this. I also want to ask the Government to be cautious so that we do not scandalise and pass judgement on some professions. I am an accountant by profession. I would hate to see a situation where children of Kenya think twice before studying accounts because when you become an accountant, you are automatically branded a thief. I do not think accountants are thieves. Kenyans, in one way or the other, are thieves. A lot of theft is promoted by those who work in finance and procurement. I The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

expected that this vetting could take place without asking those officers to step aside. Having told them to step aside, I hope the process will be fast-tracked so that only those Kenyans and officers who have been corrupt are dealt with. I also wanted to talk about Kenyans in general. Even as we whine, complain, ask the President and other senior officers to act and call for people to step aside, Kenyans are also to blame because they glorify theft. Kenyans roll out red carpets for thieves. If you go to a church function or fundraiser, thieves walk into those functions with loads of money, are given preferential treatment and those Kenyans who work so hard are seen to be lazy people. Kenyans even go ahead to elect thieves. You find that when you want to run for a seat, people will come to ask you: Mbadi, you want to run for the Office of the Governor of Homa Bay County, do you have money? You look at this person and ask yourself what money you are expected to have to run for the office of governor of a county. Which money do you want? In fact, I tell people that we get what we deserve as a country. We do not even appreciate the roles of the various positions that are in the Constitution. Members of Parliament have a responsibility. They are supposed to legislate, oversee and represent people. You elect someone because he attends funerals or gives people unga, then you expect them to deliver. Once you elect “ unga ”, expect to receive “ unga ”. You cannot expect a county to be run, garbage to be collected and roads to be improved by someone whose quality is to give out unga . Kenyans must also ask themselves fundamental questions. What role do we play in promoting graft? Why do we start glorifying people who have acquired wealth through dubious ways? There is now no shame. Look around the counties. You find someone who is working in a finance department earning Kshs94,000 as gross salary. In three years, this person is able to put up a hotel worth Kshs100 million and they do not even have any shame. They do it in front of everyone to see. They compete. I do not know who told these people that the best business is putting up a hotel. Every one of them is competing to put up a hotel. Every one of them is competing to buy a four-wheel drive vehicle. You find a very junior officer in the county owing three four-wheel drive vehicles. He drives around with a leading car, a chase car and another one. This is someone whose salary is below Kshs100,000. You do not even need to look anywhere. That is a clear case of someone who is a thief and should be arrested and charged. I have also mentioned this to the Office of the Auditor General when he appeared in the Budget and Appropriations Committee seeking more funds to give his office capacity. The Office of the Auditor General has done very well. It has also failed. There are many officers who work in the Office of the Auditor General who have become very corrupt. You find that they go to the counties, are bribed, go back home and corruption continues. Some of the auditors from the Office of the Auditor-General who audit counties do not even spend a day there. I expect all the funds from the Consolidated Fund, whether it is money going to ministries, parastatals, counties or to constituencies through the NG-CDF or the Affirmative Action Fund, must be audited properly. The people who are embezzling public funds at whatever level should be arrested and dealt with because they are making people in this country suffer. They are making us suffer. I can see that many people are coming up with very crazy suggestions like we should pass death penalty upon corrupt people. There is no need for that. If we deal with the current legal framework, we do not need the death penalty or life sentence. We need to implement the law as it is.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, my last contribution is on the Judiciary. The people of Kenya made it independent for good reasons. I support the independence of the Judiciary. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

However, we want to ask the Judiciary to speed up the corruption cases. There is no logic in trying a case for 15 years. Even if you convicted someone, people will have even lost interest in that case. So many people will have forgotten about the case. Just the other day, the former Clerk of Nairobi City and others were convicted. If you ask majority of Kenyans whether they remember the case which made these people to be convicted, they will tell you that they forgot about it. Such conviction cannot deter corruption. We want a timeline. If we can have a timeline for election petition cases, we can have a timeline for prosecuting corruption cases.

If there is no evidence, let that person go home and live his or her life. If someone is corrupt, he should be jailed in a record time. We will discuss with the Majority Party a legislation that should come up with a time frame within which corruption cases are supposed to be tried. If we say that a corruption case is supposed to take six months, it will be deterrent enough because those who get involved in corruption will know that investigation will be expedited. Two, they will know that once you are taken to court, the court process will also be expedited. Therefore, one will not have time to enjoy the loot. Therefore, who will take the risk of getting involved in corruption? Even before we come up with timelines for prosecuting corruption cases, the Judiciary can still achieve it administratively. I want to talk to the Chief Justice. Let him come up with a system where they administratively put timelines within which to try these cases. We want to see in record three or four months that this case of the National Youth Service has been disposed of and people are kept behind bars for years or fined handsomely. They should also be forced to return the loot that they got from the people of Kenya illegally. We want to see people working in the affected parastatals being prosecuted. The Ministry of Health should be the next target for proper investigation and auditing.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, with those many remarks, I support the President’s Speech.

(Hon. (Ms.) Tuya): Member for Isiolo County, Hon. Jaldesa.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute. From the outset, I support the President’s Speech. I will speak on three issues.

Firstly, I want to speak about the national values that the President spoke about. He has proved to be committed to them. A good example is patriotism, which has been clearly demonstrated by the famous handshake and which has now brought the country together. We are enjoying more peace. We have a friendly country. Even when you look around in Parliament, we do not have a lot of hostility like it was in the beginning when we came here. Everyone is supporting each other now. Therefore, I want to highly commend the President for that. On the same strength under the national values, we have issues of equality from the gender lens and we are not doing very well. The women of this country are not fully represented especially in national appointments. Therefore, as the President is getting committed to those other national values, he should also try to be committed to equality. In the spirit of cohesion, togetherness and the handshake, I want to urge my colleagues, especially the male Members of Parliament, to support the two-thirds gender rule when it is brought to the House for debate.

I also want to congratulate the President for ensuring the successful implementation of devolution which began during his first term of presidency. It is a success. I want to congratulate the President for signing the Division of Revenue Bill. That is one of the legacies that the President will leave when he exits office at the end of his term. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Thirdly, I want to speak about corruption. Time and again, the President gives his assurance and personal commitment to fight corruption. However, much needs to be done because the rate at which corruption is eating this country is worrying. I fail to understand why every time the President gives his personal commitment, you hear about mega corruption scandals like the NYS and the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC). I humbly appeal to the President to go further in his fight against corruption. It is usually said that leadership starts from the top. When we go for the small fish and leave the big fish, it makes us wonder whether the commitment to fighting corruption is really serious.

Lastly, I want to take about issues of peace, which the President talked about within and outside our borders. I want to commend the President again for the effort towards the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM). However, there is an escalating insecurity within our country which targets schools. The issues affecting Muslim girls are still very fresh in our minds. I read something about Nyeri County this morning and the other day in Suba. So, that needs to be emphasised. I am happy because the Cabinet Secretary for Education dissolved the Board of management of Moi Girls School and the Principal has resigned. However, it should not stop there. The culprit should be brought to book.

Thank you so much.

(Hon. (Ms.) Tuya): Chief Whip of the Minority Party, Hon. Wamalwa.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to salute the President’s Speech. We know very well that he did this as obligated under Articles 132 and 240 of the Constitution. We know very well that on such a day, the President is obligated to talk about three items, one of them being our international obligation. We know very well that all the treaties that Kenya is signatory to have been ratified by Parliament and are part and parcel of the laws of this country. On that front, we know very well that there are many laws. I am happy to note that what he said is, indeed, true. It is important that international obligations that we are supposed to subscribe to are followed to the letter because this country does not exist in isolation. There are many treaties, vide the United Nations, which are very critical like the Rome Statute and I am happy to note that the matter is being followed properly.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the second issue is on the national values and the principles of governance as outlined in Article 10 of the Constitution. The issue of fighting corruption is critical and I salute the bold decision by His Excellency the President that officers in charge of procurement and accounting must step aside. I sit in the Public Investments Committee (PIC) and when you listen to proceedings, big corruption takes place during the evaluation process. The procurement law is very clear on the three main methods of procurement. We have direct procurement, restricted and open tender. You find sometimes in a situation that requires open tendering, somebody goes for restricted tendering without any justification yet the law is very clear. These are the people who should step aside. It is not the first time officers are stepping aside. In the famous radical surgery by Justice Ringera, many judges stepped aside. People were vetted and those who passed the mark were taken back. I appeal to procurement and accounting officers not to take it negatively. Let them step aside and once the vetting is done and they have not been involved in corruption, they will be called back.

Look at the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB). I come from Kiminini Constituency, Trans Nzoia County, whose farmers contribute immensely to food security in this country. They spend a lot of money to buy fertilisers, but when they harvest and take their produce to the NCPB, where a bag of maize costs Kshs3,200, their maize is not bought. Instead, The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

unscrupulous people rush to Uganda where the production cost of maize is very cheap and buy a bag of maize at Kshs1,500. They then collude with accounting officers at the NCPB and are paid ahead of a poor farmer who may have supplied 20 or 30 bags of maize. How do you explain someone delivering 10,000 or 20,000 bags of maize and getting paid within a week yet the poor farmer, who has been waiting for two or three months and whose children have been sent away from school, has not been paid? These are the accounting officers that His Excellency the President has said should step aside to be vetted.

It is not just an issue of stepping aside. If they are found culpable, they should be prosecuted. I am happy to note that during the prayer breakfast on Thursday last week, the Chief Justice mentioned that we should count on the Judiciary when it comes to fighting corruption. I salute the collaboration we are having among the three arms of Government. This country is bleeding and for us to move forward, we must call a spade a spade.

The NYS is being used like an automated teller machine. We saw Kabura, a salonist, walk away with millions. We have seen other people going with billions. Things should not be the same.

I salute the handshake between Raila Amollo Odinga and His Excellency the President. The President is going to leave a positive legacy of uniting the country and fighting against corruption. We want the handshake to be devolved to the counties and villages so that we can have a peaceful country.

I salute the Speech and thank you.

(Hon. (Ms.) Tuya): Hon. Naomi.

Asante sana Mhe. Naibu Spika wa Muda kwa kunipatia nafasi hii niongeze sauti yangu kama wenzangu walio tangulia kuzungumza juu ya suala la Hotuba ya Mhe. Rais aliyohutubu hapa Bungeni na nchi nzima. Ukweli ni kwamba suala hilo lipo ndani ya Katiba. Alikuja kuhakikisha kuwa amewakilisha Hotuba hiyo ambayo ni muhimu kulingana na Katiba yetu. Tunatarajia kila wakati tukifungua Bunge jipya, Mhe.Raisa atahutubia nchi.

Ningependa kuangazia masuala mawili. Suala la kwanza ni kuhakikisha kuwa Wakenya wanakaa kama kitu kimoja. Mhe. Rais mwenyewe alitutangulia kwa kuomba msamaha kwa Wakenya wote ili watu wasameheane baada ya kutoka kwenye siasa ambayo ilikuwa kali na ya kivumbi mno. Alianza kwa kushikana mkono na kiongozi wa Upinzani mwezi wa Machi. Alipokuja hapa pia alisukuma mbele suala hilo kwa kulizungumzia na hivi majuzi kwa maombi ya kitaifa, vile vile aliangazia suala la umoja na undugu wetu na umuhimu wa Wakenya kuwa kitu kimoja na kujua maana ya msamaha.

Jambo la pili ni kuhusu ugonjwa wa ufisadi. Mhe. Rais ameamua kukabiliana nalo. Hapo awali, alianza vita hivi lakini vikapata misukosuko hapo katikati. Lakini sasa inaonekana kuwa vita vimeshika kasi. Ni lazima tupigane na ugonjwa huu na tuushinde, la sivyo, utaangamiza Kenya. Hivyo basi naunga mkono Mhe. Rais kwa kazi nzuri anayofanya na vile vile kuhakikisha kuwa pesa ambazo zinazotumika zisifujwe ovyo ovyo. Naona ameingilia kwa upande wa wafanyakazi wa Serikali kuwa ni lazima wafanye kazi vile inavyotakikana haswa wale wanaohusika kwenye shughuli za kuhakikisha kuwa kandarasi zote zinazopeanwa katika idara mbali mbali tofauti za Serikali ziweze kufaidi wananchi.

Kama wenzangu walivyotangulia kusema, jambo hili lifanywe na amelianza vizuri lakini watu wengine wasilitumie kama njia ya kuwaondoa wenzao kazini ama kuumizana kikazi ama kwa kulipana kisasi. Tunaomba kuwa suala hilo lifuatiliwe kabisa kwa kihakika na kila mtu apate haki yake. Lakini wale ambao watakaopatwa wamefuja pesa za umma, haswa wenye The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

kupeana kandarasi kiholela holela ama kiovyo ovyo, ni lazima wapate adabu. Adabu yenyewe ni kupelekwa kortini na kuhakikisha kuwa mahakama pia imefanya kazi kwa upande wake. Vita hivi haviwezi kushindwa na mtu mmoja. Ni lazima zote tuungane pamoja tumuunge Mhe. Rais mkono, haswa sisi Wabunge wa Bunge la 12 na tumpe motisha ya kuendelea na vita hivi. Vita vya ufisadi sio vita vyepesi. Ni vita vizito. Vinahitaji sisi zote kushikana na kiongozi wetu ili tufanye kazi pamoja.

Nampea pongezi na hongera zangu Mhe. Rais kwa sababu sasa hivi tumepata habari kuwa akina mama wawili, Binti Kanze Dena pamoja na Munira Mohamed wamepatiwa kazi kwenye cheo cha juu. Binti Kanze Dena amechaguliwa kuwa naibu mzungumzaji mkuu wa Mhe. Rais. Nawapongeza na kumpa hongera Mhe. Rais. Asante sana kwa kutupatia nafasi hiyo kama akina mama tuweze kufanya kazi hizo.

Naunga mkono.

(Hon. (Ms.) Tuya): Hon. Member for Wajir East, Amin Kassim.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to make my contribution on the important President’s Address in the august House. I commend the Head of State for giving a very exclusive Address to the nation in regard to a number of issues. I would like to commend him on the issue of unity among Kenyans and the way he has enhanced and facilitated the handshake between him and the Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga. One important thing is that it has brought sobriety and consensus among Kenyans on the issue of security in the nation. The economy was not doing well because of the hostility and the political temperature at that time, but these two gentlemen, who appear to have come together in this regard, have set a centre stage and the direction of where the country should be, so that we can live in peace and tranquillity and continue to drive our economy forward. That is the commendable direction which His Excellency the President has indicated. The Head of State has shown humility by apologising to Kenyans in areas he may have let them down. That shows that he is a statesman. He has indicated that he is indeed a statesman. He is clearly focused and he wants to leave a legacy so that he can contribute to the development of this nation. That was commendable. One thing is clear that he has apologised to Kenyans. He has apologised to locals. That is an indication of humility which we, indeed, expected from His Excellency, Hon. Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta. One thing is important. Having a handshake between two individuals is good, but we want those peace initiatives to be cascaded to Kenyans and to all followers of the respective political divide in the country so that every Kenyan can embrace peace and tranquillity and we can forge forward as a nation.

The issue of security has been properly addressed. We realise that security is not being handled properly by the State organs. Quite a number of individuals particularly those who profess the Islamic faith, have been arrested arbitrarily. A number of them have been arrested from my constituency in the last one or two months. None of them has been arraigned in court. That is total disregard of the provision of this country in terms of arraigning individuals in court and having them innocent until proven guilty in court. We urge that the people who have been arrested and are being held incommunicado should be taken to court, so that they can be charged. Holding them for months without taking them to book for offences they are suspected to have committed contravenes human rights. Every Kenyan has the right to be heard. Every Kenyan has the right to be respected for who he is. He should be innocent until confirmed guilty. We urge that those who are being held by State organs be taken to court. The police should do that. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

On the issue of corruption, the Government has taken initiative. The Head of State has taken a bold step in trying to fight the menace that has existed and has destroyed the economy of this country. This initiative should be brought further. More steps should be taken to realise it. Trying to tell procurement officers and accounting officers to step aside may not be sufficient enough if the memory lines serve me right. Many Kenyans are constantly aware that in 2,000, Hon. Nyachae and the Head of State at that time compelled all procurement officers to step aside and be vetted. They were vetted and quite a number of them went back to the public service. This should not be the same.

(Hon. (Ms.) Tuya): Hon. Muturi, Member for Kangema.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. Whereas I fully support the President in his exposition of the national values, perhaps we should add three other matters that were not emphasised. The first one is war against corruption. We have spoken about it. This should also form a pillar of our agenda.

The second matter that should also be a pillar is the environment. The third one that perhaps has already been talked about is unifying Kenya. I was surprised when a Member, I think the Member for Kilifi, spoke very retrogressively about Pwani na bara. We appear to have been vindicated because momentarily, Kanze Dena was given a job. But this is not a small war. Perhaps we should benchmark and borrow a leaf from the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad. Within a month, he has done what we have never done or attempted to do. Fifty judges are gone. Practically all ministers are in jail. He came to power on 10th May. Do not forget that Malaysia is a democracy and within a month, they have demonstrated that the war against corruption can be fought. We have two animals that are anti-corruption. One is the anti- corruption agency itself. It has been so moribund that I do not even remember its proper name. But that is an animal that should be dissolved straight away. The second institution which I do not want to call an animal, because it is a friendly animal, is the Judiciary. Dr. Otiende, the Member for Rarieda, and I, know that 15 years ago we were doing matters in court related to corruption. Those matters to date - 15 years after - are still pending there. Extradition matters, eight years ago - one court to another - people I do not want to mention have fought, gone to the Court of Appeal and back to and fro, that the courts now appear also to be moribund. The Hon. Chief Justice should walk the talk. Without a working Judiciary that is efficient, swift and expeditious, the war will not be won. Nevertheless, the President again has awoken two institutions that were in a long slumber, namely, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations. I commend those two institutions and hope that they will live again the talk. Thank you.

(Hon. (Ms.) Tuya): Hon. (Dr.) Nyikal.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity also to express my appreciation and laud the Speech by the President. I say this because one, the President’s Speech was in the spirit of the handshake. I am amazed, maybe I have not been a politician for long, to see the power of the handshake and what it has done to the country. I will tell you that the first persons to express to me the power of the handshake were my bankers who told me the inflow of money from outside the country and the loans that people were now taking to do their businesses has increased. So, this is something for which we must appreciate the two statesmen that got it going. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

I also support and laud the Speech because it is in line with the Article 132 of the Constitution, which is about the national values. That addresses our biggest problem of corruption. It is also in the fulfilment of our international obligations that require us to live as a nation amongst nations and as one of them. We know the President’s Speech can be summarised as one of good intentions. We believe that there is support behind it. We need to do more in the area of security. What has happened or is happening in our schools is something we need to address. The Speech also touched on devolution. This is an important item. It is the biggest reform that this country has undergone since Independence. Therefore, support for devolution and county governments is extremely important. We need to realise that the problems we have had with devolution is because the transition from a centered Government to a devolved one did not go through the transition in line with Schedule Six and the Transition to Devolved Government Act that created the Transitional Authority. We did not do what we needed to do. Therefore, we must, as a country, go back and do what we needed to do, namely, create systems that will support county governments. We must also, at the same time, facilitate the flow of funds to county governments. I am particularly concerned about this during the budget process. We often have disagreements between the House and the Senate. In my view, this is because of the budget process which brings county governments late into the process, which is after we have gone through the Budget Policy Statement (BPS). We should look at all this and facilitate the flow of funds to the counties. Also, the national Government must, in agreement with the county governments, always use Article 187 and support county governments. Whatever we say, county governments still need strong systems. They have not developed systems. I noted, in our county, for example, our governor wanted to audit a huge pending bill of nearly Kshs3 billion. When he put a task force to audit this, he found that the county government system could not do it. He had to call on the national audit office. With that, it was reduced to a mere Kshs500 million. On corruption, I appreciate the actions that have been taken and are going on now. But we are a bit hesitant because of past history. We had the Anglo-Leasing scandal, Goldenberg scandal, the NYS 1 and we are still going on. I support the sending away of the procurement officers. Since it has been done in a blanket way, we need that facilitation, work fast and get facts so that those who need to be dealt with are dealt with.

Let me summarise by saying that unless we tame tribalism and corruption, particularly corruption, the Agenda Four will just turn to four pillars of corruption.

(Hon. (Ms.) Tuya): Hon. Akai, Member for Turkana. Just give her the microphone. Please, use the one next to you.

Thank you Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this chance to commend the President for his Speech and talk to a few items on it. Looking at the progress made in fulfilling the international obligations in one of the reports from the President, we are proud that the relationship between Kenya and international organisations has been enhanced. That includes membership to regional and international organisations like the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development ( IGAD ), the East African Community (EAC), the New Partnership for Africa's Development ( NEPAD) and many others. Being a Member of the House Committee on Regional Integration, I am particularly excited about the progress in the EAC integration. Looking at the vision of the EAC, we are looking at our Customs Union, the common market, the political federation and the monetary The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

union, which is kind of a culmination of what we are looking at in the EAC. We are happy that in 2017, a law was passed by the EAC Summit on Elimination of Non Tariff Barriers. It is going to help in regional cooperation. Besides that, regional cooperation has also increased regional trade, infrastructure and free movement of persons, labour, goods and capital. This is a big milestone in our relationship with the world and our partners. I also want to touch on the state of national security, which is in one of the reports. The President has put a lot of effort in border security. Being from Turkana where we are on three international borders with Uganda, Ethiopia and Sudan, the Government has disbursed funds for developing some of the border points, one of them being Lokiriama. I am really looking forward to seeing the infrastructure, the immigrations and the customs offices at these border points. I urge security agents at the border points to support the President by not harassing the local people who are doing cross border trade given that we have had these protocols of free trade and free movement. As it is, we still have a little bit of a problem at the border points. Many people have spoken to the issue of corruption. I looked at the Report where the Government has digitised key services to address corruption and seal loopholes. I urge the counties to emulate what the national Government is doing and digitise revenue collection. This is where a lot of money goes through. Just to mention a few of the items that the President talked about, when he took office in 2013, he gave a promise of 10,000 kilometres of tarmac. We have already done 3,000 and 5,000 are in progress. I look at the possibility of achieving that target. It attests to this because Turkana is one of the biggest beneficiaries of tarmac roads. We also want to congratulate him for disbursing the Kshs2 billion from the Equalisation Fund to the Arid and Semi Arid Land (ASAL) counties to contribute to development projects. Finally, although this is not in the President’s Speech, I would like to commend the President for what happened over the weekend.

(Hon. (Ms.) Tuya): Hon. Members, I want to remind us that we have a new biometric registration system going on. I notice that many Members do not have their cards. You might be having a grace period right now. Once it is out, you might just be locking yourselves out of the opportunities to contribute. We have up to Tuesday, 12th June. Please, make use of that opportunity. Do your biometric registration so that we do not have a lot of problems to have your time to contribute. Let us have the Member for Yatta, Hon. Kilonzo.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for allowing me to contribute to this very important debate. I must say that the people who wrote the Presidential Speech did a good job, but we need to know whether what is in the Speech is what is on the ground. To start with, the Speech in Paragraph 50 talks about a lot of extensive work that has been done to bring access to quality and affordable health services. I went to a rural primary school where there was cholera. Over 40 years after Independence, as late as this week, people are still dying of cholera in my constituency. The reason being most Level 4 hospitals lack basic facilities. The Matuu Level 4 Hospital lacks drugs, reagents and simple things like gloves, yet we have a very nice Presidential Address. The intentions of the President are very good. Is it possible that public officers are sabotaging the good will and the intentions of the President?

I would now want to move on and talk about the elephant in the room; corruption. It has become the subject every day in social media, print media and electronic media. The President appears committed to fight corruption, but are public officers committed? I remember during the Kenya African National Union (KANU) days, there was the feeling of we are putting our person so that we can steal. We have seen what has happened at the NYS and the NCPB. We wanted to The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

see a ball move. We are not against the vetting of the heads of procurement and accounting departments, but those are small fish. The President said that he is committed to fight against corruption. He is hunting and doing so with the lion. I have seen the lion say that he is going to support the Government. We expected to hear that every public officer, be it a Member of Parliament, Cabinet Secretary or CEO of a State corporation should go through the same process and not the smallest people. In organisations where money is lost, the CEOs or the Cabinet Secretaries join politics. They use the same funds to get elected and yet we go for the small people. We never used to have cases of corruption in the NYS for many years. The minute they brought civilians as director generals, corruption started. The moral story about the NYS is that we should not have civilians leading it and we should leave it to the disciplined forces. Anybody running the NYS should either come from the NYS or from the disciplined forces.

On the NCPB, there has been a feeling that if you put our people to run organisations, we will benefit. The NCPB has proved otherwise. We can get anybody to run it and it can work. Let us not count on putting tribesmen to run organisations. Why Kenyans are stealing is because we have failed in the Judiciary. It has taken almost eight years to prosecute a matter on the cement factory in Athi River, which came to the 10th Parliament. We have seen Chickengate where officials were bribed at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC). In the UK, the culprits were jailed, but in Kenya the culprits are walking free. A lot needs to be done to fight against corruption in this country.

With those few remarks, I support.

(Hon. (Ms.) Tuya): Hon. Iringo Kubai.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity to contribute to the Presidential Speech which was made before we went for the long recess. From the outset, I want to commend the President for the Speech, which was different in a big way from other speeches that he has been giving in this august House. He dwelt so much on peace and unity for our country. The President was fulfilling his constitutional requirement of addressing the House to give us highlights on issues of development and the direction in which the country is going as far as growing our GDP and other issues are concerned. However, most part of his Speech was centered on unity, peace and living together. He highlighted why he decided to meet and agree on the way forward for this country with Hon. Raila Amolo Odinga, whom he was competing with. Without peace, there would not be any development. Without unity, there would not be any investment. Foreigners would shy away from coming to our country and I believe at the moment, we are getting a great change and foreigners are coming into our country to do business with us. The President, without specifics, touched on the issue of corruption, but after his Speech, monsters in the form of corruption have erupted. I pray that after the handshake and the many speeches which he has done in this country in several other places including the Madaraka Day celebrations in Meru, the boomerang bounces on every person found culpable of corruption. We are waiting as Kenyans to see. Since the President has the goodwill and has declared in public, nobody can say that they will be hiding under the President’s ambit. Let the law enforcement officers in the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government and the Judiciary play their part. The Chief Justice said that he will not have sacred cows as far as corruption is concerned. Kenyans are waiting to see people in jail and their ill-got properties sold so that the money is returned to the Exchequer. Kenyans are waiting The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

to see the people who have been asked to step aside and are found culpable not returning to their offices. Let us walk the talk and have everybody involved jailed for others to learn a lesson. National security is a thorn in the flesh in this country especially when it comes to cattle rustling. This should also be taken seriously. Those who steal other people’s animals should be declared criminals and/or robbers. What hurts most is that when animals are stolen by these criminals, some of them are recovered and others are never recovered yet nobody is prosecuted. The Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government should wake up and assist the President. He said the same when he was in Turkana. He said that thieves who steal people’s cows should be treated like any other robber. Let us support the President and this country will move forward. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker.

(Hon. (Ms.) Tuya): I do not think Hon. Passaris is here. Let us have Hon. Otiende.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I stand to support the Motion and the Speech by the President and to note that under Articles 132 and 240 of the Constitution, what is expected of us is to critically examine the Speech and debate. Therefore, we do not just agree. We must also disagree. I want to discuss three aspects. One, the President addressed the question of inclusivity, the question of public service and reconciliation. I join colleagues who have lauded the President and His Excellency the Prime Minister for the handshake, because it sets a good foundation for reconciliation. I trust that in future, we are going to set a foundation for reconciliation not just of the leaders, but of the citizenry as well because this country still remains divided. I trust that that handshake will form a true foundation for inclusivity and equity which we still do not have as we speak. One of the unintended consequences, as I come to the second issue of corruption, is the fact of inequity and non-inclusivity which have led and will lead to an unequal distribution of culprits of corruption, for to those whom much is given, much will have to be taken. The renewed political impetus to fight corruption is a good one. It is my view that the focus should even be more on impunity, for it is impunity that is fuelling corruption. The way to fight impunity must be ability to report wrongdoing, to investigate and to punish. I challenge us in Parliament to play our part by independently and robustly focusing on what else we need to do. This, in my view, would include reviewing the regime of legislation and the framework for fighting corruption. It must include reassessing our ability to impeach or censure those State officers who are involved in wrongdoing, a role I must say we have not done very well. It must include our independent ability to approve the right appointees for certain State offices. And it must, in a different context, allow us to examine this animal called “stepping aside” for it is a concept we have adopted, but it is not based on any legislation. It is a concept being practised and bandied out there. The Speech of the President is meant to cover three things, namely, national values, national security and international obligations. I think on the second one of security, the Speech commendably underscores the improved status of security in this country. Unfortunately, the Speech at the same time commended the actions of the disciplined forces, particularly the police. That is a commendation I do not share for the police caused the deaths of many people and many others were maimed. I do not think they need a commendation in that respect. On the question of international obligations, the Speech did cover a host of matters that have been covered, including relations with neighbouring countries. The one thing it did not The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

cover, as I close, is what has been known as the right of return. It is the right that talks of your entitlement to return to your country. I hope that in the coming days, this right, which is enshrined in various treaties, will see Obama come back to this country as it sees Dr. Miguna and others also come back. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker.

Member for Nyandarua County.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this chance to contribute to the President’s Address. Of importance, I want to commend the President for the handshake that has stabilised this nation. I want to congratulate our President for putting this country first and embracing our brother Hon. Raila Odinga. The handshake has healed what has ailed this nation for a long time, namely, the enmity and tribalism. Today, I can visit Kisumu and any other part of this country without fear of intimidation. Before this happened, these two leaders had pounded hard on the direction the country was headed and their wisdom to front the good of this country before their personal interests is highly commendable. This handshake is now cascading downwards and it is just a matter of time before the whole country gets reconciled. I humbly request all leaders in this country to embrace the reconciliation spirit. It is laudable that the Government’s interest is to bring services close to the people, hence it has taken seriously the issue of devolution. Once the implementation of the Big Four Agenda has been achieved, Kenyans will have accessible healthcare services, increased healthcare facilities, expanded NHIF coverage. They will have access to retroviral drugs and other programmes including mosquito nets. Senior citizens and persons living with disability will all be given NHIF cards. This, indeed, is commendable. The issue of food security was tackled by our President. Starting the hunger safety net programme, indeed, is commendable. Housing has been a big problem to every Kenyan and introduction of a cheap housing scheme is laudable. Value addition to our crops through manufacturing will see a majority of job-seeking youth getting formal employment in the manufacturing industries. The President clearly indicated that he will put his machinery in place to ensure corruption is dealt with once and for all. The issue of the NYS and other institutions are very retrogressive, hence the desire of the President to get to the root of this menace. The fact that arrests have already taken place attests to this. Furthermore, the President has ordered all procurement heads and accounting officers in parastatals and ministries to be vetted afresh. This will go a long way in dismantling all the cartels that have wreaked havoc in this country. On matters security, the President has empowered the national administration services, namely, county commissioners and chiefs to supervise the security operations of this country. It is with this that we have seen a reduction of terrorist attacks in many parts of the country. I wish to commend and appreciate the men and women in uniform for their excellent work. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I support. Thank you.

Member for Kibwezi East.

Thank you. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, let me go on record to advise other Members that the new cards are working. I noticed that most of the Members are using the old cards. I am not on a point of information, but I found it important to state that because my immediate neighbour was using his old card. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I rise to support the State of the Nation Address by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Kenya. I remind myself, Kenyans and the House that The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

this was one of the constitutional functions of the President. He is required to address a special sitting of Parliament once every year.

During the sitting, His Excellency Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta, CGH, President and Commander of the Kenya Defence Forces, addressed the House and submitted reports on the status of three issues. Firstly, it was on the implementation of Kenya’s international obligations which he did very well. He talked to Kenyans through their representatives, Members of the National Assembly and Senators.

Secondly, it was on the implementation of national values and ethics. He expressed Kenya’s position as far as the implementation of national values and ethics is concerned. And thirdly, as a requirement, was the state of national security.

The President’s main focus on the Big Four Agenda was very welcome even though this time round as he is serving his second term, he was very keen not to promise a lot. He did not have much to say on the achievements he has made within the time he has been in power. We could all address this and understand because of where we are coming from. After the elections, the country is aware of what we have gone through, thanks to the handshake.

I support value addition and raising the manufacturing sector to increase the GDP to 15 per cent by 2022. This will accelerate economic growth, create jobs and reduce poverty in this country.

On initiatives to guarantee food security and nutrition, there are parts of this country that the President is head of including my county, Makueni. We have no food. There is drought. We did not get rain and I thought with the voice of the President, the people of Makueni, including my constituents, would benefit as far as the Big Four Agenda is concerned.

In provision of universal healthcare, the President guaranteed all Kenyans quality and affordable healthcare. I come from a county where all governors are coming to learn from and copy. It is led by Hon. Kivutha Kibwana who is also the chairman of the Wiper Democratic Movement that sponsored me to the House together with the people of Kibwezi East. I have seen the benefits and the impact of universal healthcare. Allow me to state in this House that every person in Makueni County is covered. We only pay Kshs500 per household to get medical care. I call upon other governors to adopt this programme. Of course, I know they have initiatives that are relevant to their counties, but I am aware Narok County also has a very great leader, Hon. Soipan, the first Chairperson in the Speaker’s Panel. You are doing a very good job. In our discussions, I am aware of the plans you have for your county and what you have done. Allow me from where I sit to congratulate you and the people of Narok County.

(Hon. (Ms.) Tuya): I give her an extra minute, but not because she has talked about Narok.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. In general, the people want to see the implementation of the agenda from the State of the Nation Address by the President.

It is very important to fight against corruption. I am a Vice-Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee and we are treating corruption as a disease in this country. We will not entertain public funds to be misappropriated.

The handshake and building bridges in Kenya are welcome. Inflation and high cost of living have to be addressed. Lack of employment, poor leadership, poverty, hunger, tribalism, The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

poor infrastructure, terrorism and crime must also be addressed. With the handshake, we will address them. Let Kenyans get value for the money they pay as taxes.

I support. Thank you.

(Hon. (Ms.) Tuya): Member for Kamukunji, Hon. Abdi.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. I support the President’s State of the Nation Address. I would like to particularly focus on three aspects of his Speech which touched on reconciliation and cohesion, fighting the culture of corruption and impunity and finally, on his agenda to develop equity and social justice.

As a young country, we are faced with serious problems. We are a diverse country that is multicultural, and multi-ethnic. Therefore, issues of tribalism, sectionalism, bigotry, hatred and intolerance somehow have come to the fore as some of the enemies that face our country in moving forward. I congratulate the President for his humble apology and I thank him for showing an extraordinary example in leadership by pulling our country back from the brink of a crisis. In particular, the handshake of 9th March 2018 created harmony between him and the leader of the Opposition, the Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga. On 31st May 2018, the handshake was, in fact, upgraded to a hug at the national breakfast prayers. That has changed our country for the better. It is important for us to forge national unity and cohesion. I support the President in that.

If we do not address disunity, as the President has taken that important step, we could get into conflict and war and that could make us fail to achieve our dreams of creating a strong and a modern country.

The other element the President touched on and is working very hard in leading the country is the fight against corruption. The President should leave no stone unturned. We must be very supportive as Parliament and pass the necessary legislation to empower institutions like the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. I congratulate the President for appointing a hardworking and an effective DPP and a new Chief of the Directorate of Criminal Investigation. We are already seeing the result of their work. There should be zero tolerance to corruption. Heads must roll and the President must go beyond that and make sure that he cleans up the board and puts in place reliable people with integrity who can work to make sure that he not only implements his development agenda, the Big Four, but also make sure it happens during his term of office.

Members of this Parliament can also lead by example in fighting against corruption and the culture of impunity. When a person is arrested for corrupt practices or removed from office for corrupt reasons, we should not stand with that person because he is one of us or he is a member of our tribe or ethnic group. We should let the law take its course in the fight against corruption and impunity. We can also teach the public the need to fight impunity. Finally, we need to have social justice, equity, affordable housing and clean water. We should make sure that all agents of Government, namely, the Executive, the Judiciary and Parliament work together to ensure that we create favourable conditions for this country to fight impunity, corruption and make a great country that we are all proud of.

Thank you so much, I support the President’s Address.

(Hon. (Ms.) Tuya): Member for Kwanza.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I also want to make some remarks on the President’s Speech. First and foremost, on corruption and particularly concerning the NCPB, I want these people named because they are known. I am a Member of the Departmental Committee on Agriculture and Livestock and I come from the traditional food The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

basket in the North Rift. I think the President is doing very well and he has changed his style of talking and I support him. While I appreciate the renewed effort in fighting corruption, I want us to borrow from China where if someone is found guilty of corruption, he or she is taken by family members and possibly relatives to a firing squad. This can change the habits of Kenyans and is the only way we are going to fight corruption in this country.

On food security, the Government is right and I want to criticise it on the same. The army worm invaded the crop in North and South Rift and other parts of this country and the Government was very slow in fighting the worms. The Government should prepare for food shortage in this country because I know this year’s harvest is going to be poor. The army worms invaded the North Rift and particularly Trans Nzoia and Uasin Gishu regions which produce maize. Therefore, there will be food shortage.

The President mentioned our overreliance on rain-fed agriculture. I want to commend the Government for investing money and a number of resources on irrigation. This country has relied on rain-fed agriculture and because of erratic weather patterns and long droughts we are now investing in irrigation. I want to commend the Government and the President for investing heavily in irrigation. On transport, something needs to be done. The President noted with concern the increased road accidents. I think another thing we should have done like yesterday is redesigning the country’s road network. I think we passed a Motion in this House on having designated lanes specifically for pedestrians, motorcyclists and ambulances. That will help us sort some of the problems we are facing. Therefore, I agree with His Excellency the President on this. We have heard about five cases in western Kenya where even as we talk, tractors are transporting sugarcane after 6.00 p.m. This House talked about this and passed a Motion providing that transportation of sugarcane in western Kenya should not be done after 6.00p.m. This Motion should be followed-up and fast-tracked so that anybody caught transporting sugarcane at night is fined heavily. Many people in western Kenya have lost their lives as a result of this.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Hon. Muhanda Busihile, Woman Representative for Kakamega County.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for granting me an opportunity to support this Motion. I think today is a happy day for every Kenyan especially because of the handshake. I come from Kakamega and that handshake has done miracles. If you visit the area, you will find that regardless of ones’ tribe, we are living as sisters and brothers. Looking at the President, he seemed humbled when apologising. When he asked for forgiveness, I saw our country moving forward. As I support the President’s Address, as a mother, I am pained by the rape cases affecting various schools in this country. As legislators and following what the President has said, we need to have stiff penalties for culprits doing these evil deeds. Corruption has denied Kenyans funds which would have supported the Big Four Agenda. The funds which would have been used to The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

improve facilities in our schools, housing and employing more teachers are lost. We need stiff penalties on those who are corrupt. They should be punished heavily. I also empathise with housing. A mother is the backbone of a family and the President spoke about housing. I am pained because of what happened in Huruma. As legislators, we need to enact stiff penalties against those who construct houses which collapse and kill our people. We need to enact legislation to punish them heavily because year in, year out, houses collapse in Kenya. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Well said. Hon. Members, just a remainder, if you are having your new cards, just use your old PIN numbers, which you have been using. I have seen some Members being unable to use their new cards. The Member for Suba North, Hon. (Ms.) Odhiambo-Mabona. These are the Members who are leaving their cards inserted and this is very unfortunate. Hon. Kingi, you are one of the Members playing with their cards. Please, give him the microphone. He has two cards. Ignore your old card if you have the new one. Of course, I know a communication will be done by the Speaker.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this important debate. First, I remember the President reminded us of the Constitution. He said it is a tool which guides us to free, fair and inclusive Kenya and all this is not happening. This House has been creating laws that have come with departments and commissions knowing that such commissions or departments will be able to address challenges that are facing Kenyans. As we speak, corruption talk has been going on in Kenya. We talk of money being lost but there is big corruption that is being experienced within the Coast region. We have entrusted people within the department of lands to handle land matters in the country. However, some of these officers that we have entrusted to take care of land that belongs to some communities in Kenya have been colluding with wealthy and rich people and issuing title deeds. Instead of issuing title deeds to the communities which it is their ancestral land, you see some of the officers have been issuing title deeds to the wealthy people in this Republic. That is a big challenge and this is corruption of the highest calibre. So, I urge the Government, if possible, as they pursue areas where money is being lost, they should also focus more on whatever is happening in the department of land.

This House established the National Land Commission (NLC) which looks at the historical land injustices, but this has not been happening. The Commission is not doing enough, especially in the Coast region. It is high time we extended our catch not only to money lost but even to areas where community land is being lost and given to the wrong people. The other thing the President talked about is the issue of food security. I remember the Government initiated a very wonderful project – the Galana Kulalu Irrigation Project – which borders Kilifi and Tana River counties. However, because of corruption, more resources have been availed to make sure that that project is a success but that is not the case. Money has been lost. Nothing has come out of that project. I urge the relevant authorities to investigate whatever is going on in Galana Kulalu. The other thing that the President addressed is tourism. We know most parts of the Coast region, especially north coast depend on tourism. However, as we speak today, most of those hotels are ghosts. We depend on local tourism. There are no international tourists. The Government needs to do more to make sure that more tourists come to our country as it used to happen before. This will create job opportunities for our youth. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

For those few remarks, I support.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Next is Hon. Chepkut Chirchir, Member for Ainabkoi.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. The President gave his Address pursuant to Article 132(1)(b) and (c) and outlined the national values and principles of governance. I support the Presidential Speech. During the 12th Parliament’s First Session and opening of Parliament, in his last remark, the President said we must all love Kenya. In his Address on 2nd May 2018, he talked about the four pillars but most importantly is the handshake. Therefore, I want to thank His Excellency the President because the handshake has brought a lot of changes in our country, for instance, international obligations like the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC), elimination of trade tariffs and so on. I subscribe to Article 131 (e) of the Constitution that the President is the symbol of national unity and I subscribe to unity and diversity, all-inclusiveness and, of course, you must be prepared at all times to serve this country with dedication and determination. Article 1 of our Constitution says that the people of this nation are very supreme and that is why President Uhuru Kenyatta took the oath and sword to protect this country against both internal and external aggression. I am saying this because recently seven military officers were killed and Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) officers in Somalia were killed by terrorists. I condemn and at the same time appeal to His Excellency the President because he is the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces of the Republic of Kenya that I want us to adapt a new strategy of using satellite and digital infrastructure to tame the vice. At the same time, the second president of the Republic of Kenya, President Moi, used to say peace, love and unity. I appeal to all Kenyans to love one another. Let us work day and night to fight the war against poverty, corruption and protect this nation. In the four pillars, I first support food security, housing, healthcare and, of course, infrastructure. It is indeed going to open opportunities for our university students and those school leavers. As I finish, I thank him most for the technical training institutes that will be built so that artisans, plumbers and so on will be trained. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Hon. Members, we have four requests on the screen. We also have Members that have not carried their cards. Please take caution as Hon. Soipan did say very well and that is the position of the Speaker that please register. We have the new registration and please have your cards. Otherwise, you will not be allowed to speak if you do not have your card. Next is Hon. Jonah Mburu, Member for Lari Constituency.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, thank you for that chance to address this Parliament on behalf of my people of Lari. I wish to talk about the Presidential Address that was made on 2nd May without forgetting the great breakfast that we had in Safari Park Hotel. From the outset, I support the Speech by the President. The handshake was great. It has developed many relationships that are making our country Kenya work. Our businesses are doing well and we congratulate the President for the initiative. I also want to congratulate the President because our uniformed forces are doing a good job. The handshake has extended to Somalia. The President of Somalia was here during the National Prayer Breakfast and that is good for the East African Community (EAC) and the Horn The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

of Africa in general. After the very hotly-contested elections, we now see a good way of living, working and articulating issues together. We are with our brothers from the NASA side. I believe from now on, when Jonah tables a Motion, it will be looked at objectively except my friend, Sossion, who is opposing it just by virtue of his being in NASA. The handshake has worked marvelously… After the handshake, we also have the Big Four Agenda which includes universal healthcare. I want to take this opportunity to encourage the people of Lari to go out of their way to make sure that they have their National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) cards because universal healthcare is a reality. With your NHIF card, you are able to access healthcare easily. There will be no more bills or harambees. You will access this, courtesy of our President and the Jubilee Big Four Agenda. There is also the food security issue which the President talked about. We are also trying to lobby the President so that as the Government buys maize from farmers in the Rift Valley, they should also consider the fresh produce in the central parts of Kenya. In Lari, we produce a lot of carrots, cabbages and sukuma wiki. At times, our prices go down to Kshs50 per bag because the market is full. I support the food security issue. We should have cold rooms, cold stores and factories to process this fresh produce so that during drought - like what Madam Speaker said happens in her constituency - we can transport the fresh foods from Lari to Kibwezi. We should not just focus on the maize. I am looking at a situation where a hungry woman in the village is only taking dry maize. That is why for purpose of food security, we should have cold rooms and cold storages for our constituencies to benefit from good pricing by the Government. There is also the issue of good housing. When we look at our metropolis; Nairobi is congested. We are looking at ways of getting cheaper housing as we expand our city. We are also looking at areas of Ukambani, Machakos, Makueni, Kiambu and Lari to ensure a good environment, better standards of living and improved economic standards of the people in those areas. The issue of housing should be fast-tracked so that everybody can benefit from it. Regarding the issue of jobs there are so many youths, especially in my constituency, who just go to the streets and do nothing. We fully support the President on the manufacturing issue so that we can create jobs in ICT and in manufacturing to benefit our people. It seems like my time is up.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Let us have the Member for Bondo, Hon. Ogolla Ochanda.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. It is not very easy to fault the utterance of the Head of State. It is expected of leadership. It is an indicator that any person…

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Order! Hon. Chirchir, do not walk away. I know today is our first day back from recess. Ordinarily, we do not just cross the Floor without bowing. Carry on.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, you have taken my two minutes. It is not very easy to fault the Address by the President. It is expected; it is historical; it is required by law. This has been happening over a period of time. One thing that we need to remind ourselves The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

of is that none of the Addresses have ever missed touching on issues of what the President is planning on doing in the area of corruption. This has never missed in any of those Addresses from time to time. This was mentioned again this time round. If you look at the history, every single time this is done, the figures in terms of the funds that are lost keep rising. It means that even this time round, in as much as there was this Speech that number is still on the rise. What is missing in a big way is the issue of action being taken. Last time, the President brought a list from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) of people who should be prosecuted. That was the last time that list was seen. We believe that is what is happening. Even right now, we have had the issue of procurement officers in the history of this country. Towards the end of the 1990s and the beginning of 2000, there was a big reshuffle of procurement officers in the whole country. Some were moved and some lost their jobs but they were taken through various transfers. We have seen this. The repercussions in terms of the end result of that is that we have just been seeing a lot of funds being lost. Something must be done beyond that. There is the issue of the Big Four Agenda. It is critical, good and an indicator that we want to go somewhere. The most critical thing about the Agenda is what to do. The means of how to do it is another matter. Those agendas are listed. There is the issue of food security. There is a Budget Report in front of us today from the Committee. If you try to match those agendas against resources allocated, a lot is left to be desired. You will realise that agriculture did not get much. Industrialization and microfinance sectors are big losers. What are we talking about? Sometimes one has to look at these things very critically in terms of which direction we want to go with them. There is the issue of reconciliation and inclusivity. We have not looked at the cause. We are looking at it in terms of two or so great gentlemen coming together and saying that we can heal the nation based on that. We are glossing over the real issues. The real issue is: What brought us to that level? It is the issue of elections. What are we doing to fix elections? Elections are a big problem in this country. As we keep glossing over it and focusing on the leaders coming together and hugging - which is good for the nation - we are not fixing the issue of elections. This country will face two critical things in the next two or so years. We will hold a census and re-organise constituencies legally, which is critical. We are also talking about the referendum. There are also issues of inequality. Currently, Siaya County is only getting 17 out of the 8,000 teachers that will be recruited in the whole county. If we do not address issues of how to fix elections and how to fix inequality in terms of resource distribution, the issues of reconciliation and inclusivity will be off our mark. We are burying our heads in the sand and forgetting that there are bigger things that we are supposed to be…

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Your time is over, Hon. Member. Let us have the Member for Ruiru, Hon. King’ara Ng’ang’a.

Asante sana Naibu Spika wa Muda kwa kunipatia nafasi ya kuchangia Hotuba ya kiongozi wa nchi.

Kwanza, ni kumshukuru kwa sababu aliheshimu Bunge kama eneo la kutafuta uwiano wa kimaendeleo katika Kenya yetu tuipendayo. Mengi yametajwa na Wabunge wakichangia Hoja hii ambayo nimesimama kuunga mkono. La muhimu ni kujua hata kama Kenya inaonekana iko na shida, kuna mengi yamepewa kibao mbele na kuhitimu hasa ile ya uwiano. Najua kama vile wengi wamechangia, nchi yetu ilipitia wingu mbaya sana na likaleta utengano kati ya Wakenya. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Wakati viongozi, hasa Rais Uhuru Kenyatta na Mhe. Raila Odinga, waliketi na kukubaliana kuleta uwiano katika maendeleo, tulipata nafasi ya kuendelea vyema. Kwa hivyo, tunawashukuru. Ni vizuri sisi viongozi tuwaige ndiyo Kenya yetu iweze kupiga hatua za haraka kimaendeleo.

Lingine la kuvutia ni wakati kiongozi wa nchi aligusia pendekezo la viongozi kuunga mkono ugatuzi. Nchi yetu imeenda njia ya ugatuzi. Nakumbuka alisema ya kwamba kiwango kikubwa cha pesa cha Ksh372milioni kilitengwa cha kuleta usawa kwa ugatuzi katika kaunti ambazo zimewachwa nyuma. Hilo ni jambo la kuonyesha kwamba kiongozi wa nchi anapenda Kenya iendelee katika maeneo yote.

Kiongozi wa nchi hakuacha nyuma magonjwa yanayotukumba. Kama vile mnakumbuka, alisema kwamba ugonjwa wa malaria ni janga ambalo lilikuwa linaumiza Wakenya sana. Serikali imechukua hatua na kuona hilo limepungua. Vile vile aliongea juu ya akina mama kujifungua bure. Alitaja kuwa kiasi cha Ksh5.2bilioni kilitumika na kitaendelea kutumika kuona akina mama wanajifungua bure. Hilo ni jambo la busara hasa kwa wanasiasa kwa sababu tunapenda wapiga kura. Kama hatushughulikii wapiga kura, basi tutaumia. Wakati afya ya wapiga kura inadumishwa ni jambo la kuvutia na kupewa kipaumbele.

Nakumbuka kiongozi wa nchi aliongea juu ya barabara. Alitaja kuwa Serikali imetenga kiwango cha pesa cha kutengeneza kilomita 10,000 ya barabara. Alisimama mbele yetu akasema tayari wamekamilisha kilomita 3,000. La kuvutia ni wakati aliongea juu ya barabara kutoka Isiolo na kuunganisha nchi yetu na Ethiopia. Kama vile mwenzangu, Mhe. Jonah Mburu, kutoka Lari ametaja, kuna umuhimu mkuu wa kuona nchi ya Kenya inaungana na maeneo mengine ya Africa ndiyo maendeleo, hasa ya biashara na uchumi, yaweze kuenea na kuchukua nafasi iliyochukuliwa na ulimwengu wote.

Ni vizuri kukumbuka kwamba kiongozi wa nchi alitaja maneno yanayohusu utalii. Mungu anapenda Kenya yetu kwa vile hata kama tumeumia kisiasa, alisema tumepiga hatua asilimia 20 kiutalii na inaonekana tukichukua huo mwelekeo wa kuwa na uwiano na kushikamana, tutaenda mbele haraka.

Sitasahau kutamatisha kwa kusema ufisadi uliingia katika Hotuba ya Rais. Alisema asilimia kumi ya pesa imerudishwa na itaendelea kurudishwa tukiiga mwigo wa kupigana na ufisadi.

Nashukuru na naunga mkono Hotuba ya Rais.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Thank you, Member for Ruiru. The representative of the teachers, Hon. Wilson Sossion.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to the President’s Speech. I rise to support it.

It is a Speech that contained many issues and three reports were tabled. It is a Speech that comes against a backdrop of a noble action in the history of our nation of focussing on unity, building bridges and bringing Kenyans together. This was one of the objectives of Independence. It is a nation living in peace where people work in unity and the value of love is strong. The handshake is a landmark step by the President and the Right Hon. Raila Odinga that has changed this nation. I would like to state clearly that the labour movement, not only teachers, which I represent support the spirit of the handshake. It is worth noting that prior to 8th August 2017and even the repeat of the Presidential election, the voice of the labour movement was very strong in urging the two leaders to come together, dialogue and move this country forward. We are so grateful that it has happened finally. The responses have been seen. People are dialoguing and have come together. The economy is beginning to do very well. The President stated very clearly The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

that we have a resilient economy. What then is it in the handshake? What can we do to move forward as leadership? That was addressed by the President. We need to rally Kenyans around the handshake and its objectives. We are very sure indeed that there are a lot of activities which are lined up within the handshake. We wish that this is rolled out, so that the rest of the Kenyans and every citizen can participate in building bridges and this nation.

One issue that the President talked about and which has been talked about by everyone is corruption. The resilient economy has tolerated corruption for many years. This has denied Kenyans critical opportunities to access quality services and life. We are very sure that with the firm address of corruption, aspects in the labour sector of job loss can be safeguarded because salary cuts are a reality. An economy that cannot give promise of employment to the youths of its citizenship shall be real. Kenya has one of the highest unemployment rates. Therefore, the mention and the fight against corruption in the President’s Speech is one element that has come out as a big problem in this country. We cannot talk about it year in, year out. This nation, more than ever before, requires a strong legal framework to confront corruption. The big fish must be prosecuted. We must have very strong laws and administrative systems to deal with corruption permanently. We do not think that the culture of stepping aside is one of the best methods of dealing with corruption. We would like to see those involved in corruption and the State officers serving in Government dealt with through stiff approaches. We would like to see our judicial system enabled through appropriate laws. We hope that this aspect of corruption is a matter the President and his Government will deal with decisively. Parliament has the ability to put in place the correct legal measures to deal with it.

Finally, the President talked about the national values and particularly called on teachers and parents to...

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): You should have planned your time very well. Your time is up just when you want to speak about teachers. Let me give you one more minute.

Thank you for being very gracious. The values inculcated upon learners lead to the good citizens of tomorrow. If we have to deal with vices like corruption, we have to inculcate it in the learners, particularly at the moment when we are talking about insecurity in schools. Matters we have witnessed are a clear indicator of collapse of values and value systems. Issues of sodomy, sexual molestation and school-related gender-based violence are matters we must deal with. As teachers, we would also wish to insist and ask that proper infrastructure security measures are put in place in our schools so that we can nab those who are involved. It is unfortunate that schools are burnt in arson attacks and rapists can walk into schools during the night but we cannot detect them. It is far much cheaper for the State security organs to install the necessary ICT security infrastructure systems like the CCTV so that we can nab any person that walks into schools to engage in arson and other illegal matters. We are happy by the action taken by the Cabinet Secretary today.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): We usually have the father of the House and now we have the baby of the House. Hon. Nyenze.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. Let me contribute to the President’s Address by commending him for the good Speech which was made to fulfil the national requirements on international obligations and also the requirement to report to Parliament on the state of national security. As one of the Members has put it, we support his Speech but we should also critique it for the purpose of improving in the future. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

On the economy, I noted that it was indicated in the Speech that the country’s GDP grew by 4.9 per cent in 2017. This is commendable but the question is who has benefitted from it? Is it all the Kenyans? Is the impact being felt in the country?

On matters of health, the President indicated that maternal mortality has decreased to 362 deaths per 100,000 from 488. This is commendable. But the figure is still high as the UN estimates 100 deaths per 100,000. So our figure is still high.

On electrification, the President indicated that the Government has increased connectivity to 71 per cent of all households, but there is a survey which shows that it is only 58.4 per cent of homes which are connected. I come from Kitui West Constituency where connectivity is very low. Not all schools have been connected. Actually, our connectivity is less than 30 per cent. So, I request the Cabinet Secretary in charge of energy to send his people to find out what is happening not only in Kitui West, but also in other areas. As one of the Members has said, now that there is the handshake, the areas which did not benefit before should now benefit.

Concerning infrastructure, it was indicated that the Government has completed 3,000 kilometres of roads and another 5,000 is underway. This is good but in some areas like where I come from, we only have one tarmacked main road. So, while I appreciate what is being done, marrum roads were washed away by the rains. I urge the Government to repair them especially the ones which are not tarmacked because we have a lot of problems.

On matters of national security, I will comment on security in schools. Being a mother, it is very frightening to see what is happening in secondary schools. I have been a teacher. It is real very pathetic. I do not understand how a matron would be so far from the girls. I wonder what her role is and was because when the girls needed her most, she was nowhere to be found. This should be a wake call for all boarding schools. They should take care of the girls and have fences and as one Member has said, CCTV cameras should be installed. We should all be alert because this is very frightening especially to the girls. It will actually affect their studies.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Hon. Omboko Milemba, Member for Emuhaya. He is consulting. The Member for Kitui Central, Hon. Makali Mulu is next on my request list.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this chance to join my colleagues in noting the President’s Address to the nation. As I listened to the President make his Address, I experienced humbling moments more so when the President apologised to the nation for anything wrong he might have committed against Kenyans. To me that was really in line with what the Bible says that we should forgive those who have committed things against us 7 times 77 times. When I heard the Head of State telling the nation that he is apologetic of any wrong he might have done wrong to the country, it was a very humbling moment. I thank the President. I have seen him repeat at the breakfast prayer meeting.

Looking at the Address, there are some things you realise that one of the things the President was supposed to report on was the realisation of national values and governance principles. As I look at that report, this is one area where as a country we have performed below expectations. Even as we look at the Address, it is important as Kenyans we seriously do internal or personal evaluation and find out where the rain started beating us. I believe there is something we are not getting right more so in the area of national values. Issues of corruption in the country that are escalating day and night, if we got it right in the area of national values, I can for sure tell Kenyans we would have solved almost three times problems to do with corruption. So, I join my colleagues to say that this is an area we want to look at and critically ask ourselves where we are getting it wrong. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

On the area of food security, we and the President can make statements, but to me there are three key areas unless we address and focus resources to, we are not going to get it right. The first one is irrigation. We must provide resources for irrigation. I call on Kenyans to look at areas where food can be produced through irrigation to feed this nation. I have in mind the Ukambani area. It can give the nation three harvests of maize and beans every year if irrigation is properly structured.

The other area is farm inputs. The Government must come out strongly and support farmers in provision of farm inputs if we have to get it right in the area of food security.

The last one is the use of technology. If we run away from technology, we will not get it right. In the area of manufacturing, we are targeting 15 per cent growth. Unless we address the three things I am going to mention, we will not go far. The first one is that we would not be able to achieve manufacturing target if we are using raw materials from outside Kenya. We are not going to achieve that if we overlook the issue of value addition chain. If you overlook the whole issue of value addition chain, we are not going to achieve that. The last one is that we must focus on export promotion so that we are able to achieve that growth and also allow Kenyans to make money. As I conclude, in the area of corruption, time has come. We have legal framework but time has come. Kenyans must stop worshiping illegally-acquired wealth. If we do that, we will get it right and this country will grow but the moment we start praising and electing people who have acquired wealth illegally, corruption will continue and we will not go far. With those remarks, I support by noting this

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Hon. Halima Mucheke.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this chance to speak on the Presidential Speech. His Excellency the President, in his speech, said and I quote him: “Never again should life be lost for politics sake. We must make amends as leaders to ensure that we preserve the unity of this country”. We have seen that His Excellency the President is very serious and sincere about the unity of all leaders as demonstrated recently during the national prayer day where we saw our Deputy President, His Excellency William Ruto, shake hands with former Prime Minister, Hon. Raila Odinga and the former Vice-President, Hon. Kalonzo Musyoka. Again in Meru County over the weekend, we saw the President extend the call for unity where the Governor of Meru, Hon. Kiraitu Murungi shook hands with the former governor who is now the CS, Hon. Peter Munya. Also, former Tigania East MP, Hon. Mpuru Aburi and Hon. Gichunge Kabeabea shook hands. Where I come from in Meru, political enmity is real. In Meru, you find that animosity continues for a long time after elections and therefore I commend the President for bringing together our leaders. The President in his

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Your time is over. Next on my request list is Hon. Emanikor Akai but on my record she has already spoken to this. As a matter of procedure, we cannot speak twice to either a Bill or a Motion. Hon. (Ms.) Passaris.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I apologise, I was called while I was away. I had already spoken to this Motion.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): I thought you were on a point of intervention. I thought something was out of order in the House. Thank you for realising that we cannot speak twice.

I wanted to contribute to the next Motion but I see that we might not get there today.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Hon. Angatia Savula, Member for Lugari.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute on the Presidential Speech. I would like to contribute on various sectors in regard to the Presidential Speech. The first sector is the overall environment of the country as pertains economy, especially in line with the issue of corruption. What happened yesterday where all the procurement officers and principal accounting officers of various ministries or all ministries were thrown out of the offices is unnecessary. I have seen a circular from the Head of the Public Service. What they are trying to do, if you look at the circular, is purely looking at the wealth and how they can subject the officers to explain how they acquired the wealth. This is a lifestyle audit. For you to carry out a lifestyle audit, you do not need to bundle all officers out of the office at this crucial period when we are completing a financial year. The implication is that the Kenya Revenue Authority will not meet its tax obligations because they are supposed to process payment including payments that are due to it. It will incur some shortfall in revenue collection. The solution to that is to target individual officers. Do not put a blanket or subject all the officers under lifestyle audit at the same time. Within 30 days, you cannot carry out thorough work. The President is surrounded by hyenas who do not advise him; they misadvise him. How would you investigate all these officers within 30 days? The best thing the President should do is The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

to dissolve the Cabinet and put in serious characters who can advise him on how to run the country. At the moment, the President is running the show alone. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I also suggest that we cannot put prosecution powers under one office, with regard to what has happened in the National Youth Service, the Kenya Pipeline and other institutions. I will bring a Motion before this House so that we amend the procedure on prosecution to give the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) some powers. This is my proposal. I will bring it under a Bill as an amendment to the Director of Public Prosecutions Bill so that the Directorate of Criminal Investigation investigates and prosecutes cases directly and directs court cases where suspects are involved in corruption worth below Kshs500 million. For cases between Kshs500 million and Kshs1 billion, let us give them to the EACC to prosecute directly instead of all those files going to the Director of Public Prosecutions. Then, the Office of the DPP should handle files of Kshs1 billion and above. This way, we will be helping the Kenyan society to fight corruption. Lumping together all those files in the Office of the DPP is improper. He has no legal capacity. The budget provision in that office is too limited, yet we have two other major offices – the EACC and the DCI which can assist in that area. We also have another problem in this country. I sit in the Departmental Committee on Transport, Public Works and Housing. Money allocated to repair roads alone is only Kshs18 billion. If you divide Kshs18 billion between 290 constituencies, we will be looking at less than Kshs15 million per constituency. What will Kshs15 million do with all these rains and emergency factors? We need also to amend the National Government Constituencies Development Fund Act to increase the amount of money allocated to Members of Parliament so that they can do roads under emergency because of the effect of the rain. Lastly, it is a sad day for this country. Sugar has landed in Mombasa; 200,000 metric tonnes of sugar from Brazil which is a non-COMESA country. Who cleared these imports? The price of sugar has dropped from Kshs3950 to Kshs3200 today. It is because of cartels. Brazil is not a COMESA member country. It is supposed to meet an industrial shortfall of less than 150,000 metric tonnes of sugar annually. Who gave the permit to these importers? They are killing the sugar sector.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Your time is over. Hon. Members, I am aware of some Members who have tried to use their cards again and they are not working. I have only two requests on my request list. Hon. Emanikor has already spoken. The next one is Hon. Mutinda Mule. I am aware that Hon. Eve Obara indicated that you have already tried using your card. Maybe you can redo it. Any other Member who has such an issue can address it from the desk of the Clerks-at-the-Table so that we can be able to move. Yes, Hon. Mutinda Mule.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I want to add my voice to the debate on the Presidential Speech and welcome Members back to the House after a long one month session with their constituents. I want to squarely dwell on one issue which is really hurting the country. It is the issue of corruption. We can see some efforts being done to make sure we deal with this issue of corruption squarely. But, I want to pick from where Hon. Savula has left. It is high time this House sat down to see how we are going to help the country fight corruption through laws which are applicable. I know the courts have today barred or refused to grant bail, which is clearly a fundamental right enshrined in the Constitution, to the 43 NYS suspects. I know some people will start arguing that the constitutional right of these 43 members is being interfered with. My The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

question is very simple: These people have interfered with money meant for the future of this country. Among ourselves as Members of the House, we have resolved and put it very clear that we are going to relook at the laws which can deal with corruption precisely. I agree with Hon. Savula that we also need to differentiate who does what, at what level and what capacity they need. Corruption in this country is like cancer. For you to deal with cancer precisely, you either diagnose it at stage one or diagnose it at stage four and the patient dies when you are on treatment. We must relook at all the laws dealing with corruption in this country to make sure that we detect corruption at stage one. The President has set the pace by sending officers and the accounting officers on a suspended leave. But, I am also perturbed. How do you evaluate the wealth and do a lifestyle audit of all those staff within a month and come up with a concrete result for this country? I want to propose to the President that, if he is listening to us from the Chamber, we cannot fight corruption in a month. We need to dedicate ourselves to fighting corruption 24/7, 365 days in a year for six years so that we can root out the entire mess. This House also needs to look at the procurement law in such a way that contracts are scrutinised and procured at different levels. We procure at the constituency level for the NG-CDF and I can assure you it is very difficult to manipulate that little money. But, if we allow procurement officers to procure a pen and at the same time a chopper, they will be tempted. He is not bothered when he is procuring a pen because it is Kshs10. There is nothing to steal from there. But, when he is procuring a chopper, he is only looking at the final figure and he will be tempted. We need to have a serious agency to procure on behalf of the Government and other agencies and we remove procurement from the ministries. The moment we have it in the ministries, that is where the cartels are formed. It is better if you have a clear agency to do procurement today. I will beg for one minute to explain this because I think we must come up with an injection to deal with this cancer. If we have a national procurement agency where ministries will send their requests for procurement and the Government… (Off-record)

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Hon. Mule, I will be biased to the other Members if I do so. Maybe I will give you one minute because you have used the word “please”. Only one minute.

If we have that one procurement agency and all the procurement is done there, these are people who will be vetted by this House. They will be people of integrity who will not be compromised. The biggest problem in procurement is compromising the procuring agent. We are going to sit down and formulate all these changes. We hope the House will support them once they come here. For the President to show that he is committed, he will assent to them so that we do not have any lacuna when dealing with corruption. I want to say to the Kenyans that we are sorry for the corruption you are seeing daily. We thank the media. Please continue highlighting all of them because we will one day have a calendar of all the corruptions, when they happened and when they were reported to tell our children that we dealt with this cancer in this House. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Thank you. Through my discretion and being a member of Public Accounts Committee, that was very welcome. I was, of course, observant of the fact that we only have some few other Members. The other Member who is on request is going to contribute on the Presidential Address. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Hon. Eve Obara, we are sorry for your card not being captured. Give her the microphone. You have it there.

Thank you very much Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I realise that my card was not working so you were not able to read my request.

Let me take this opportunity to speak on the President’s Speech. At the outset, I wish to state that I support it. First and foremost, let me talk about the handshake that my colleagues have all spoken about and I want to say that I support and I want to appreciate the two leaders for making this bold move of building bridges. You are aware, as much as I am that from that time what we can see even in this House is peace and tranquility. Recently, I went to my bank and my bank manager made a very interesting statement. She said that there were no people in the bank hall before the handshake. Surprisingly enough, after that handshake, the bank halls were full again. Anybody who underestimates or understates the handshake is an enemy of the country. I support those sentiments that across the country we can see that all seems to have been lost. What has happened is not good enough until all of us as leaders in every forum and opportunity speak that common language of peace, stability and that Kenya is greater than all of us.

Secondly, I would like to speak on corruption, a matter that was touched in the Speech. We are talking about mindboggling figures. It has never been like this in this country. For the first time, Kshs10 million is looking like Kshs100 and it is most unfortunate. I want to appreciate the leadership of this country for taking that bold move to confront this menace. I also support the action that has been taken of taking all those suspected to court at this moment. I also support the move of asking those holding positions of leadership in accounts and procurement to step aside, but with the caution that whoever is entrusted with the exercise to vet these people should do it fairly. Each and every person should be given a fair chance to represent themselves or to support their positions and ensure no one in this country is victimised. Corruption is killing this country and each one of us, in any way or the other, in positions that we hold, should go out and make sure that we confront anyone, even within our constituencies through the NG-CDF or even the Affirmative Action Fund.

Regarding gender equality, when we were talking about national values, I would like to say that in my county, we have achieved the gender parity. We have four men and four women. But as a country we are still not doing well enough. We still have a chance to reach the two- thirds gender rule that is enshrined in our Constitution. At the same time we had something to smile about today, when two ladies were appointed to State House; that is Madam Munira and Madam Kanze Dena. We want to thank and congratulate the President and the ladies for being appointed to these positions. I am sure they are not going to disappoint. I can see that my time is up. I support the President’s Speech and encourage each one of us to live with the spirit of peace, unity and be the leading light in this endeavor.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu: I will give this opportunity to Hon. Tandaza, Member for Matuga. I can see you; you are one of the Members who have been affected by the cards.

Ahsante sana Mhe. Naibu Spika wa Muda kwa kunipatia nafasi hii kuchangia Hotuba ya Mheshimiwa Mtukufu Rais wa Jamhuri ya Kenya. Kwanza, lazima nishukuru Maulana. Pili niangazie yale aliyoyazungumzia, ikiwa mojawapo ni lile suala la kusalimiana ambalo limewezesha nchi hii, kama wenzangu walionitangulia walivyosema, kuwa na amani na mioyo kutulia. Lakini mikono hiyo isiwe tu ni ya watu wawili kwa sababu ukweli ni kwamba tukienda nyanjani, hasa kwetu sisi wanasiasa… The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Leo tulikuwa na mkutano na Mhe. Naibu Rais kule Kwale na tumeona bado wale walioko chini hawajakubali kwamba watu wanaweza kufanya kazi pamoja, ama wanaweza kuwa na maono pamoja na wakasaidia watu kwa kauli moja. Jambo lingine ambalo ningetaka kuchangia ni suala la viwanda. Ukweli ni kwamba nchi hii haitaweza kuendelea ikiwa viwanda havitanawiri. Kule kwetu Kaunti ya Kwale, kwa saa hii ndiko kuna madini ambayo yanachimbuliwa kwa wingi zaidi nchi nzima. Lakini la kushangaza ni kwamba katika karne hii bado tunachimbua yale madini na kuyapeleka Ulaya bila kuyafanyia kazi hapa. Hii inamaanisha faida kubwa haitufaidi sisi hapa nchini. Inamaanisha pia kazi ambazo zingetokea na kusaidia vijana wetu bado tunazipeleka Ulaya. Kwa hivyo, kuhusu viwanda ni lazima kuwe na mikakati maalum ya kuhakikisha kwamba sio tu kusema tutakuwa na viwanda wakati rasilmali zetu na mali ghafi bado tunapeleka katika nchi nyingine. Tuhakikishe usafishaji wa mali unafanyiwa hapa ili kuongeza faida na vijana wetu kupata ajira. Jambo lingine ambalo pia ni la msingi kwa viwanda ni bei ya kawi ilivyo hivi sasa. Ukweli ni kwamba katika nchi zote za Afrika Mashariki na Kati, Kenya ndiyo ina bei ya juu zaidi ya umeme. Huwezi kuzungumzia viwanda bila kugusia umeme. Ni jukumu la Serikali na washikadau wote, kuona kwamba kiwango cha bei ya umeme kimeregeshwa chini ikiwa ni kweli viwanda vinatakikana vinawiri. Mwisho ni suala ambalo kila kiongozi analizungumzia, ufisadi. Ukweli ni kwamba tuna tatizo. Mojawapo ya shida zetu ni mishahara ambayo wafanyajikazi wa Serikali wanapatiwa. Niliona tangazo wiki iliyopita kuhusu kazi fulani ya Serikali. Mtu anatakikana awe na shahada ya kwanza ama ya pili lakini mshahara wake wa kuanza kazi ni Ksh30,000. Ukweli usemewe. Je, mtu kama huyo ukimlipa Ksh30,000 unatarajia achunge mabilioni ya pesa? Hakika humtarajii atakuwa na maadili mema. Huwezi kumpatia fisi ambaye ana njaa nyama aibebe eti kwa sababu labda ni mcha Mungu ama umemwombea. Kwa hivyo, tukitaka kupambana na ufisadi ni lazima pia Serikali iwapatie wafanyakazi, hasa wale ambao wamesomea taaluma mbalimbali, mishahara ambayo itawasaidia. Kwa hayo machache, nakushukuru, Mhe. Naibu Spika wa Muda. Pia natoa pongezi kwa Rais wetu kwa Hotuba yake aliyoitoa hivi karibuni.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Member for Karachuonyo, Hon. Andrew Okuome. Again, we are sorry about your card.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. Let me join my colleagues in congratulating His Excellency the President for the good Speech. In particular, let me congratulate both him and the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga for the good handshake. That handshake has really shaken the country into positivity. I congratulate them heartily for that. This also resulted in the excellent Speech the President gave. Let me refer particularly to housing. It is very essential to human life. While on it, I want to refer to the havoc floods caused in Karachuonyo. Many homes and houses have been damaged and people are suffering. Some sleep in schools and it does not augur well for them. I ask the State to come to our aid. We are trying as a part of the community, but the problem is overwhelming. I will be very grateful to the nation if we can be assisted so that these people can have houses to sleep in and have food. On food, the Government has done its best and I congratulate the CS for Devolution. He has done wonders by giving us food but still that is not enough. Because of this, I request for cash transfer to the seriously affected families because, indeed, they are suffering. This goes hand in hand with health. Where you do not have good housing and floods are prevalent, health issues come up. I request that dispensaries and health centres are built in every sub-location. We need them. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, let me go to agriculture. When I was a schoolboy, we were told that Kenya is an agricultural country, but I do not know whether we practise agriculture. Our food is always insufficient yet agriculture can help us to be food-sufficient and even have surplus. But because we are not giving proper attention to agriculture, we have a problem of hunger a number of times. This results in importation of maize and you know what happens when that is done: the monster of corruption rears its ugly head. This must be stopped.

Manufacturing which the President has included in his four pillars can be enhanced by the production of raw materials for manufacturing. This is what we need. I happen to come from near Lake Victoria where water hyacinth is a problem yet it could easily be a blessing. I request that Kenya looks at the hyacinth as a blessing so that we use it as a raw material for fertiliser and for manufacturing cheap boards and other products. We should not take it that it is something we must destroy yet it is something we can…

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Your time is over. Hon. Members, we usually have five minutes to contribute to the President’s Address. Well spoken.

Member for Butula, Hon. Oyula.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to His Excellency the President’s Address of 2nd May 2018. I congratulate the President and the Rt. Hon. Raila Amollo Odinga for the handshake. It was a dream come true and after the handshake, we have seen many changes in this country and people were really relieved from what had happened before.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Order, Hon. Okuome Member for Karachuonyo. I know you have just spoken to this but we do not cross over. You must go behind, bow and come back to your colleague, Hon. Kimunya to continue with the consultation. Now, you are in order. Yes carry on Hon. Member.

Sorry, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. As I congratulate the President for his Speech I want to refer specifically to paragraphs 49-54 regarding medical care. Even though the President indicated that there is a lot of improvement in medical care, I think this is not happening all over the country. We have some areas and particularly Busia County where I come from where medical care is still very poor and a lot has to be done. Mortality rate is very high and we have to send our patients to Kisumu or Eldoret to get proper medical care. I want to plead with the Government to look at health care all over the country seriously. There may be some areas or big cities that have good medical care, but the rural areas still need a lot to be done. I want to urge the Government and particularly the Ministry of Health to look seriously at medical care in this country and especially the areas which are lagging behind should be improved. The other thing which I want to mention as far as the President’s Speech is concerned is food security which is among the four pillars. Agriculture is almost being forgotten in certain areas. The National Cereals and Produce Board gives a low deal to most farmers and particularly those who produce maize. Many farmers have their maize rotting in their stores because NCPB cannot buy and if they buy they do not pay on time. This is a very important area as far as food security is concerned and I urge the people concerned to look seriously at food security. Finally, I just want to mention a little about corruption. Let us look at it beyond the National Youth Service and others. We have some counterfeit goods which are brought into this The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

country and are sold expensively irrespective of their quality. Some of these counterfeits which cost double the price brought by importers are meant to kill the…

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Yes, I will give you one more minute because I used your time while addressing procedural issues according to the Standing Orders.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for the one minute. I was talking about corruption as it relates to counterfeit goods and corruption as it relates to goods being imported almost at double prices and allowing our money to be transferred outside as they pay for these goods. Corruption also is covered in those areas and we have to look at the importation that is done in this country, particularly the counterfeit goods which are going to ruin our factories. With those few remarks, I wish to support the Presidential Speech and thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Hon. Members, the last Member of Parliament to speak on the Debate on the President’s Address as per the request is Hon. Wanjala Sauti, Member for Budalangi.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I also want to start by congratulating the President for his Speech. I also thank him and thank the former Prime Minister, Right Honourable Raila Amolo Odinga, for the gesture they have shown to Kenyans by making a decision that is rare – the decision of the handshake. Since it happened, there is calm in the country and businesses are picking. The only problem we are facing today is that as Kenyans embrace the handshake, there are serious things that Kenyans also need to listen to. Kenyans enacted the Constitution in 2010 but there are issues in the Constitution that are making Kenyans feel unhappy. One of them is that we devolved healthcare. When the President is talking about healthcare, it is nowhere in this country. Outside there Kenyans are dying in a very big way. The number is so high. There is no medicine in hospitals. In most hospitals, x-ray machines and theatres have collapsed, wards are dilapidated and there are no beddings in most hospitals because we devolved healthcare to counties and counties have failed to manage the health institutions. These are some of the things that Kenyans want to look at but the problem is that if some of the politicians who have interest in becoming president hear of some people proposing that they want a constitutional review for some of the things that possibly were passed which should now be rectified, they feel threatened. They only think of prime minister and whatever and they do not want anything to happen to the Constitution. The issue of healthcare especially in rural areas needs to be addressed. Even we, Members of Parliament, are now unable to help our people. Even the national Government and county governments have failed. Those are the issues we are facing on a daily basis when we go to our constituencies. We hear that so and so is sick. He requires money and you have no money you can provide. People are dying. Burials are there. You bury 20 people in a weekend. This is an issue that the Government must look at. Those counties would have gone to benchmark on health issues in Makueni. Maybe they would save other counties, especially Busia where I come from. If in Makueni you just give Kshs500 and you and your whole family is treated, those other counties - instead of going outside the country - should go and benchmark in Makueni and then come up with the same programmes. They can hire some of the officers from Makueni to help them manage the insurance fund in their counties. That is the only way our people will be saved.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): I will add you one minute. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

There is the East African Community. We thought it would help people living at the borders of neighbouring countries. Today, the Ugandan Government is harassing our people at the Lake and nobody is talking about it. When we talk of insecurity, we should also take care of our Lake. Lake Victoria is a natural resource given to us by God. Each one of us has a right to benefit from that resource. The Ugandan Government has decided to deny Kenyans that right, they are using guns, destroying the properties of Kenyans like boats and nets, they arrest them and our people are languishing in Ugandan jails. Those are the issues that as we shake hands, we also need to protect our fellow Kenyans who are suffering at the borders. It is so serious that our people have lorries…

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Your time is over, Hon. Member. There being no requests for any other Member to contribute, this brings us to the closure of the debate on the President’s Address. The Mover not being here - and I know he expected more Members to contribute - I order that the Mover replies tomorrow. I am sure the House Business Committee is meeting after this. Let us move on to the next Order.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Again Hon. Members, the Mover of the Second Reading is the Leader of the Majority. It is a resumption of debate on the Kenya Coast Guard Service Bill. I see no interest to contribute to this.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): There being no other business on the Order Paper, this House stands adjourned until tomorrow, Wednesday, 6th June 2018 at 9.30 a.m.

The House rose at 7.00 p.m.

The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.