Order Members! We have confirmed that we have quorum within the Chamber and in other holding areas. Therefore, business will begin.

Under that particular Order, we have the Member for Kilifi South, Hon. Kiti Chonga, who wishes to present a petition. Are you ready? I am trying to see whether you are within the Chamber. Is Hon. Chonga within the House? I cannot see him. So, we will proceed to the next Order. The Leader of the Majority Party.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to lay the following Papers on the Table of the House: Legal Notice No. 82 of 2020 relating to the SACCO Societies (Non-Deposit Taking Business) Regulations, 2020 and the Explanatory Memorandum from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives. Legal Notice No. 85 of 2020 relating to the Public Health (COVID-19 Restrictions of Persons and Related Measures) (Mandera County) (Extension) Order, 2020 and the Explanatory Memorandum from the Ministry of Health. Legal Notice No. 89 of 2020 relating to the Public Health (COVID-19 Restriction of Movement of Persons and Related Measures (Nairobi Metropolitan Area) (Extension) Order No.2 of 2020 and the Explanatory Memorandum from the Ministry of Health.

Very well, next Order.

Now, on this particular Order, we have several Members who wish to request for Statements from chairpersons of various committees and for good order, I will mention all of them so that they will be within reach. We have the Member for Malava, Hon. 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

Malulu Injendi. I want to confirm whether he is in the House. I also want to confirm whether the Member for Lamu, Hon. Captain Ruweida Obo, Member for Wundanyi, Danson Mwashako and the Member for Bomet Central, Hon. Tonui are in the House. Let us start with the first one. Hon. Malulu Injendi, is he in the House?

Yes.

With your mask, it is very difficult to… Is that Hon. Malulu?

Yes, Hon. Deputy Speaker. Hon. Speaker, before I raise my question, I request that you allow me to congratulate Hon. Wangwe for his appointment to the current position. I also congratulate the Leader of the Majority Party and the rest of the persons who have been confirmed to their positions. I want to request Hon. Wangwe to serve in his new position diligently, but he should also remember where he comes from. He should remember what we, from western Kenya, went through in Jubilee. So, as he climbs up, he should not forget us. Particularly, asinisahau mimi.

Hon Injendi, obviously, your target was your neighbour. Would it not have been easier if you would have consulted with him quietly and asked what you require from him. Proceed. It is good, you have had your moment.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order No. 44(2)(c), I wish to request for a Statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Lands regarding tribal conflicts over land along Nandi Escarpment at the boarders of Nandi and Kakamega counties. Hon. Speaker, there have been persistent conflicts over boundaries of individual farms along the Nandi Escarpment, which boarders Malava and Mosop constituencies. The latest conflict was on 29th May 2020 and tension has continued to date. Further, there have been conflicts since 1982, 1992, 2014 and 2017 over the same matter. It is against this background that I seek a Statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Lands on the following: 1. What measures is the Government putting in place to ensure that there is clear demarcation of boundaries of farms and lands of persons owning pieces of land touching the boundaries of Nandi and Kakamega counties or both? 2. When will the relevant Ministry settle this matter with an everlasting solution considering that the conflict has persisted for many years? Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

Very well. I will be okay if there is any Member who wants to make an addition so that when it is referred to the Committee, they could consider slightly more than what the Member has requested. I do not see any intervention from the Members. We will proceed to the next request by the Member for Lamu, Captain Ruweida Obo.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. Hon. Deputy Speaker,

ursuant to provisions of Standing Order No.44 (2)(c), I wish to request for a Statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Energy regarding 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

flooding in Lamu County occasioned by release of water in a reservoir managed by the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen). Hon. Deputy Speaker, over the years, perennial floods have continued to ravage Garissa County along the areas of the Tana River Basin occasioned by heavy rains and the continuous act of negligence by KenGen of releasing excess waters from its reservoirs. These floods have resulted into loss of lives, displacement of people and destruction of property in various areas in Lamu County, especially along the Tana River. Hon. Deputy Speaker, it is against this background that I seek a Statement from the Chairperson, Departmental Committee on Energy on the following: (i) What measures has the Government put in place to address the plight of residents and what is the status of compensation due to flooding occasioned by spillage from Masinga Dam into the Tana River thus affecting the Tana River Basin and Lamu County as a whole? (ii) What permanent solution is underway to prevent the frequent spillage from the Masinga Dam and the Seven-Fork Reservoirs? (iii) When will people in the affected areas be assisted to resettle and what are the long- term plans to assist the flood victims in Lamu County?

Hon. Members, that request is referred to the Departmental Committee on Energy while the previous one is referred to the Departmental Committee on Lands.

We will move to the next request by the Member for Wundanyi.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, there are Members who want to speak on that.

Sorry. I can see there is a Member who wants to add something. He has removed his card again. Is that Hon. Kathuri Murungi? I can see it is Hon. Wario of Garsen. The problem is that you have not placed your card in the intervention slot. What is the number of your seat? You can proceed.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. In addition to what the Member for Lamu has said, the issue of floods is now a disaster in the three counties, namely, Garissa, Tana River and Lamu. We petitioned this House on flooding caused by KenGen and the House passed a resolution that the victims be compensated. Three-quarters of my constituency is now submerged in water. People are in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps. There is no tangible assistance from KenGen. They just give short notices. Farms have been affected and livestock have been swept away by water. Settlements and schools are flooded. This keeps on happening and it is not normal flooding. I urge this House to compel KenGen to compensate our people. They are doing a lot of destruction. Hon. Pukose, together with the Members of the Departmental Committee on Energy, came to witness the destruction happening in our area. Their Report is with the Committee on Implementation and I would like to urge the House to compel KenGen to compensate our people.

Let us have Hon. Pukose.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, as a Departmental Committee on Energy, we visited his constituency…

Hon. Pukose, just a minute.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, I want to support the request for a Statement by the Member for Lamu. 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. Pukose, just take your seat. I have a good reason for that. Let us start with Hon. Sankok because he will probably raise some issues. You will be the last to contribute on this.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, we can understand natural disasters, but we cannot understand or forgive disasters caused by human error. Whatever is happening in those three counties is a disaster caused by human error. The victims must be compensated. This House must come up with a legislative framework to ensure that anybody who causes loss of human lives is treated as a murderer. They are murders. If by omission or commission you cause such a disaster, then you should be prosecuted!

Hon. Pukose, please, take your seat. I do not see any name other than that of the Member for Garsen, who has already contributed. Let us have Hon. Pukose.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. The request for a Statement by the Member for Lamu is timely. It has, however, been dealt with by the House. Hon. Wario petitioned the House regarding floods that affect the lower Tana up to Masinga Dam that generates hydro power to KenGen, which supplies power to this country. Whenever water levels are high during the rainy seasons, floods affect Garissa all the way to the Tana. People have been displaced and their livelihoods seriously affected. Their houses are flooded and they have been forced to move to higher grounds. This issue has to be dealt with, with finality. Our Committee made several recommendations that are with the Committee on Implementation. They include compensation, people to be moved to safer grounds, the Government to construct more dams down all the way to Masinga and the Tana and Athi Authority to erect dykes to control floods. As we look at the Budget, this House can allocate money for compensation of the affected people.

Hon. Members, that is committed to the Departmental Committee on Energy. I will not take any other intervention because you can take those concerns to the Committee.

On a point of order.

Hon. Ruweida, what is it? You have sought a Statement and you will be answered at the Committee.

Naibu Spika, nina Hoja ya nidhamu. Mheshimiwa amesema kuwa suala hili limejadiliwa hapa lakini Kamati imetaja tu Tana River na Garissa. Nimeisoma Ripoti yao na Lamu haikutajwa popote. Sijui Lamu mwataka twende Somalia; kwani Lamu si Kenya? Katika Ripoti yenu mumeweka only Garissa na Tana River, na Lamu kuna mafuriko kila pahali. Hii ni shida kubwa munatuletea. Hamuhesabu Lamu, sijui munatupeleka wapi.

Okay, that you will argue strongly, just as you have done, before the Committee. Hon. Muthama, what is it?

Hon. Deputy Speaker, I wish to make clearer what Hon. Captain Ruweida has said - that we are normally forgotten. Lamu West Constituency is where the county borders Garsen Constituency. All the water that comes, instead of being channeled to the former channels that directed it to the ocean, it floods and spreads all the way to Lamu West Constituency affecting areas like Moa, Chalaluma, Dide Waride and Pangani. So, when it comes to implementation, I urge the Committee on Implementation to consider that the negative effects of the floods are felt in Lamu. It does not stop in Garsen as they thought. 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

Member for Lamu West Constituency and the County Woman Representative for Lamu, this matter has been referred to the Departmental Committee on Energy not the Committee on Implementation. What it means is that since you are the one who asked the question, the question will be directed to the effect the floods have on Lamu. There is no reason why the Committee cannot expand its thoughts back to Tana River County, but this is specific. Therefore, the question will be specific to Lamu, but it can also have a general policy issue on the effect it has in Tana River. So, on this question, there should be no issue. You are the ones who have asked, you will be responded to in the relevant committee and you will raise all those other concerns there. However, since there are Members from your neighbouring county, like Hon. Wario for Garsen, who have also raised concerns, I believe when the Committee will be responding to your question, they will also include the neighbouring constituencies and generally the republic. Thank you. Let us proceed with the Member for Bomet Central. Ooh Sorry! Member for Wundanyi first. You have the microphone. I think there is a problem with that microphone. You are now okay.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to present a Statement regarding mining royalties. Pursuant to Standing Order 44(2)(c), I wish to request for a Statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Environment and Natural Resources regarding the share of royalties from mining activities of large-scale miners. In the mining activities of large-scale miners, the Mining Act establishes a ratio of sharing royalties of 70:20:10 and the Community Development Agreements (CDAs) Committee as a means to better define and manage relationships and obligations between mining companies and impacted communities. The CDAs play a valuable role in managing expectations of the broad range stakeholders. There has been a push and pull in the development of regulations to operationalise the 70:20:10 share of royalties. The National Treasury and the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining have been blaming each other for the inordinate delay since the passage of the Mining Act of 2016 and the subsequent adoption of the Mining Regulations of 2017. It is disheartening to see a lot of mining activities going on yet the host communities are still underprivileged and have the poorest of infrastructure. The people of the Coast, more so Taita Taveta, Wundanyi Constituency, where I come from, have seen no benefit of the resources God has bestowed on their land. It is on account of this concern and general disappointment of this section of our people that I seek a Statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Environment and Natural Resources on the following: (i) Could the Committee provide a list of all large-scale mining companies operating in the Coast region and the amount paid by each as royalties since the enactment of the Mining Act, 2016? (ii) Were royalties being paid prior to the Mining Act, 2016 and how much had each company paid by then in the Coast region? Will the community ever get a share of these royalties? (iii) Could the Ministry provide a tabulation of the actual share of royalties in shillings going to the three main beneficiaries as per the Mining Act, namely, 70 per cent 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

the national Government, 20 per cent to the County Government and 10 per cent to the host community? (iv) Could the Ministry give a clear roadmap and actual date that we shall operationalise the share of these royalties, more so when we expect the community and the county allocation to be released from the central account at the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK)? (v) What quantities of iron ore has been extracted annually in Kishushe Location, Wundanyi Constituency for the last 10 years? (vi) Could the Ministry inform us of the quantities moved/transferred by Wanjala Mining/Sangani after obtaining a court order and how much royalties have been paid on this particular consignment? (vii) How is the 1 per cent community share of total annual revenue safeguarded by the Ministry as stipulated in the Mining Act? How much is due to the people of Kishushe, Wundanyi Constituency, since the Act came into force? (viii) Which CDAs have been gazzetted and which ones are outstanding at the Coast? When do we expect inauguration of the ones gazetted? Thank you.

Very well. That is referred to the Departmental Committee on energy. Is that the Committee you are interested with?

No, it is the Departmental Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.

This is mining?

Yes

Ooh yes! It is referred to the relevant committee, which is the Departmental Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.

Thank you.

Next is the Member for Bomet Central, Hon. Tonui.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. Pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order No.44(2)(c), I wish to request for a Statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Transport, Public Works and Housing regarding the status and utilisation of funds allocated for construction of Bomet Town-Kapkoros- Litein Road, Tenwek Hospital Road and the recently re-carpeted Bomet Town roads to bitumen standard in Bomet Central Constituency. Considering the measures the Government has put in place to ensure road contractors undertake projects as per the set standards, including blacklisting of contractors who fail to implement projects within the set standards, roads in Bomet Central Constituency are impassable and in dire need of repairs and maintenance. It is against this background that I seek a Statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Transport, Public Works and Housing on the following: (i) Is the Cabinet Secretary aware that the Bomet Town-Kapkoros-Litein Road, Tenwek Hospital Road and the recently re-carpeted Bomet Town roads are currently in deplorable state and full of potholes? 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

(ii) What plans has the Ministry put in place to repair the roads noting that transit trucks picking cargo from the Naivasha Inland Container Depot are using the mentioned road? (iii)Was the contractor who re-carpeted Bomet Town roads paid for the shoddy work? (iv) Will the Cabinet Secretary clarify which Government road authority is in charge of these roads?

Thank you.

We will now go back to Order No.4 and give opportunity to Hon. Kiti Chonga, the Member for Kilifi South, to present a petition.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I rise to present Petition No.10 of 2020 regarding historical land injustices committed against the indigenous people of Vipingo community. I, the undersigned, on behalf of the indigenous people of Vipingo community in Kilifi County, draw the attention of the House to the following: THAT, the community land in Kilifi County is home to many indigenous residents as they know it as their ancestral land; THAT, since 1913, indigenous people of Vipingo community have been squatters following compulsory acquisition of their land by the British colonial government purportedly for public use; THAT, the Vipingo community was forcibly moved out of their ancestral land, but was neither compensated nor resettled, thereby rendering them vagrants and squatters on their own land; THAT, upon attainment of Independence in 1963, various communities across the country that had been displaced from their ancestral lands by the British colonial government were resettled and henceforth benefitted from the restoration and retribution policies of the post-independence Government; THAT, on the contrary, the Vipingo community never regained its ancestral land, but instead lost the land to private entities on leaseholds obtained under irregular circumstances, with subsequent Governments failing to address the community’s plight to date; THAT, most of the leases under private hands recently expired, but have subsequently been renewed and the lands subdivided and sold off once again to private individuals and companies instead of reverting back to the community; THAT, the marginalisation of the indigenous Vipingo community with regard to ownership of their ancestral land has taken a toll on members of the community, most of whom live in abject poverty due to lack of access to land for direct utilisation or as collateral to secure credit facilities to uplift their livelihoods; THAT, efforts to address the matter with relevant authorities, including writing formally to the Principal Secretary in the State Department for Lands as well as the National Land Commission (NLC), have not borne much fruit; THAT, the matter in respect of which this Petition is made is not pending before any court of law or constitutional body. 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

Therefore, your humble petitioners pray that the National Assembly, through the Departmental Committee on Lands— a) inquire into the circumstances that led to the irregular dispossession of Vipingo community land from its indigenous owners by private entities with a view to reverting ownership of the said land to the indigenous people of Vipingo in Kilifi County; and, b) make any other recommendations it deems appropriate in the circumstances of this Petition. And your petitioners will forever pray. Thank you.

I can see Hon. Kositany is interested to speak to the Petition. Something slightly different. Hon. Members, when you speak into that particular microphone which Hon. Chonga has just used, you must ensure that you cover your nose and mouth because it is used by many Members. You can see I am doing very well with my mask fully and properly put on. So, no Member will be allowed to use that particular microphone with the nose outside the mask. We will not accept it. If we are to exercise caution, the extreme caution will be to start from that particular microphone which many Members use.

Hon. Dawood has made a valid inquiry. For those Members who are particularly blessed with reasonable face physiques like the nose and others, try and get a mask that fits well. In the yesteryears, when you had big feet, you would be asked to go to the Bata Company in Limuru and take measurements. I am not so sure about the face masks company. I believe it is the one in Kitui – Kitui County Textile Centre. It can produce face masks that can cover any nose size. Let us move to the next Order, but be very careful. We will be very keen on the Members who will be using that particular microphone. Next Order.

Order Members. Having confirmed that we have the requisite numbers, I put the Question.

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 Vice-Chair of the Budget and Appropriations Committee is the one moving the Motion, and I have information that you want to move it in an amended form. If that is the case, which I think it is, you need to really clarify the issues that you want to move in that particular manner. Hon. Lessonet, proceed.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker, for this opportunity to move the Report of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, like you said, in an amended form. Pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order 48, I beg to move the Motion in an amended form as follows: THAT, this 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 2020/2021, laid on the Table of the House on Thursday, June 4, 2020, and pursuant to the provisions of Article 221 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 Kshs.1,887,470,995,757 from the Consolidated Fund to meet the expenditure during the year ending 30th June 2021 in respect of the Votes contained in the First Schedule, and further makes the policy resolutions contained in the Second Schedule to the Order Paper and further (i) THAT, the First Schedule contained in the Order Paper be replaced with the new Schedule comprising of adjustments that have since been made by the Committee and laid on the Table on Tuesday, June 09, 2020; (ii) THAT, the Schedule contained in the report referenced as the Second Schedule and which contains Financial recommendations be replaced with the new Second Schedule comprising of further adjustments that have since been made by the Committee and laid on the Table on Tuesday, June 09, 2020 ; and, (iii) THAT, the necessary consequential amendments be effected in the Schedules, for consideration during the Committee of Supply:

0505000 Technical

Vocational

0504000 University

Education

0501000 Primary

Education

0508000 General

Administration,

0102000 Housing

Development and

1001000 General

Administration,

0101000 Land

Policy and Planning

0207000 General

Administration

0207000 General

Administration

0111000 Fisheries

Development and

0107000 General

Administration

0908000 Social

Development and

1013000 Integrated

Regional

0606000 Legal

Services

0611000 Ethics and

Anti-Corruption

0612000 Public

Prosecution Services

0622000 Policing

Oversight Services

0722000 Senate

2041 Affairs

Ministry of Water Irrigation and Land

2,600,000,0 Addition on & Sanitation and Reclamation 00 account of Irrigation Programme Community based Water harvesting and irrigation under storage for irrigation the programme (Irrigation and Land Reclamation Programme). Out of the

Ministry of Lands Land Policy and

50,000,000 Construction of and Physical Planning land registries Planning project.

State Department

287,000,000 A provision of for Crops

for Fall Army Worm. An addition of development allocation of

for Cotton Industry Revitalization project, which is meant to provide cotton seeds and inputs to farmers to increase cotton production.

form the development allocation towards Diseases Free Zones Program. A reduction of

for Construction & Refurbishment of Facilities – Livestock Inst. Wajir.

State Department

State Department

Qurdobo dam in Mandera North

Qarsasimi ti dam in Saku constituency

Malkamar i dam in Banisa Constituency

for NG- Planning CDF to upscale it to 41.7 billion, as opposed to the proposed KSh. 32.7 billion, which is below the statutory requirement.

to be used for roads in Wundanyi Constituency). Wundanyi sub county Hospital Road Ksh. 10 million Old Bridge construction Ksh. 10 million Werughe- Mghrmbonyi Road Ksh. 10 million Masumbsunyi Road Ksh. 10 Million Huduma-Mbela Road Ksh. 10 Million

State Department Road Transport

State Department Information and (61,000,000)

Reduce KSh 61 of Broadcasting Communication

million net and Services exchequer under Telecommunicatio the Government ns Advertisement Agency (GAA), under the Recurrent Sub- Vote.

to Telecommunicatio Kenya ns Broadcasting Corporation, to meet funding shortfalls towards Covid-19 interventions including budget enhancement for migration from medium wave to FM radio broadcast under Recurrent Sub Vote

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 Media and Services Council of Kenya Telecommunicatio to scale up Covid- ns 19 awareness and appropriate support to community radios stations and countering fake news for the FY 2020/21 as well as operationalizing outreach offices in Meru, Kisumu and Eldoret, under Recurrent Sub Vote.

Independent Police

110,000,000 Payment of Oversight

Pending bills Authority related to partitioning of Eldoret and Nakuru regional offices regional offices and cater for PE and O&M where there was a shortfall.

Other Support Services Operating Expenses.

State Department

100,000,000 For Trade for Trade promotion and related activities to support economic recovery post Covid-19 (including posting of Trade Attaches in Kenya missions abroad)

Ministry of Health Health Policy (2,340,000,000)

Ksh. 2.34 Billion Standard and was provided in Regulations FY 2019/20 supplementary on account of COVID-19. It was a World Bank funded project

State Department Power Generation (519,000,000)

Reduce

from 220 KV Turkwel- Ortum - Kitale Transmission Line. Reduce

under 132 kV RabaiBamburiKil

ifi Transmission Line. 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 Electrification of Public Facilities under Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (REREC), under programme of Power Transmission and Distribution.

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 Menengai Geothermal Development Project under Geothermal Development Company, under the programme of Power Generation. This is towards steam gathering works and drilling to achieve 105 MWe in Phase I and 60 MWe in Phase II.

to and Gas. Petroleum Exploration in Block 14T under the programme of Exploration and Distribution of Oil and Gas.

Senate

113,051,250 Increase allocation to County offices

Registrar of

200,000,000 For political Political Parties party’s fund (Payment of court awards)

Hon. Milemba, what is it? Order, Hon. Lessonet.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. With due respect to the Chair of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, I do not intend in any way to scuttle this very important process. Would I not be in order to…

Who is this Member coming in between the Member given the Floor to speak and the Speaker? Proceed, please.

Having correctly moved that the Motion is being moved with an amendment to the Schedule, which he would be tabling, would it not be in order that that Schedule is tabled? If possible, he should also highlight the changes because last Friday, when we suspended this debate, it was because we were given the Schedule as we had it originally. We looked at it over the weekend, including the notes that we got from the Table Office, and we were armed with those documents. Could he then bring those changes, table and highlight them, so that we can be in tandem with him as he moves forward in moving? Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

What is it, Dr. Otiende Amollo?

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. Not only do I support the sentiments by the Member for Emuhaya, but I notice that this is a practice that has sometimes eluded us. When a Motion is tabled on behalf of a Committee, an amendment that is said to have originated from the Committee ought to reflect that fact. It ought to bear signatures of Members of the Committee to avoid the danger of having Chairs or Vice-Chairs moving Motions or amendments in the name of the Committee, which may not always reflect the views of the Committee. Thank you.

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Let us hear from Hon. Lessonet. What do you have to say on that particular one?

Hon. Deputy Speaker, regarding the fears of the Members, and specifically the fears of Hon. Otiende Amollo, you know that before we table any Motion and particularly in an amended form, it requires the approval of the Speaker’s Office. This has been approved by the Speaker. The Speaker has interrogated the fears of those Members. In fact, it is for the same reason that we did not table the amended schedule on Thursday. We needed concurrent of the Members, which we were able to obtain yesterday. We had a meeting yesterday and copies of the Schedules and minutes showing concurrence of all the Committee Members are here with us as well as in Room 8. In terms of the issue raised by the Member for Emuhaya on the details of the Schedule, the new Schedule has been tabled. The Member should pay attention on the new Schedules 1 and 2, which amend and replace the original Schedule as it appears in the Report that was tabled here on Thursday. So, what the Member can do for now, and because of time, is to rush to Room 8 and pick a copy of the new Schedule.

Leader of the Majority Party, kindly have the Floor.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, last week we had a Report tabled with a Schedule. The Committee, according to the Vice-Chair, met and have already complied with the procedure. It is now for you to order the Table Office and the Clerk’s Office to circulate the new Amended Schedule. The Member is just talking about having tabled the new Schedule. I also need to see the new Schedule arising from the amendments of the original Schedule by the Committee on Monday.

It makes a lot of sense. Really, I think the issue is no longer with the Budget and Appropriations Committee because they seem to have done their bit. The Members who have raised concerns also have their rights. Really, they want to know that the Committee is on board. I am just interested to know whether the Member for Emuhaya is a Member of the Budget and Appropriations Committee. If he is not, then his concerns are valid. He wants to know that the Committee is on board. Now that we have confirmed from the Mover that actually, the Budget and Appropriations Committee has been involved in this particular amendment, it is the responsibility of the administration of Parliament to make sure that we have the amended Schedule, so that they can be up to speed. For now, the easiest way that Hon. Lessonet could go about this is to clarify on his end since Members will eventually get the list of the amendment as we also confirm that the Committee was involved, which I am sure it was. Hon. Lessonet, please, proceed.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker for that direction and clarification. The amendment to this Schedule - and as you know, these are extremely difficult times for this country and the world at large - is very important. We reached an agreement with the National Treasury on any projects which were not funded. When we received reports from committees, they convinced us that certain projects need funding and in our First Schedule, we thought we could agree on where we could get funding for such projects. For example, the National Treasury could not see where they could raise additional revenue to finance an additional Kshs500 million to Soin-Koru Dam, which we thought needed a billion shillings to actualize. So, we had to do a Second Schedule to reduce that amount to the second amount proposed by the National Treasury of Kshs500 million and many others. We needed a cardiac catheterisation machine for 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 Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), but there was no funding for that. Therefore, that too had to be reduced. However, I want to invite Members to pay particular attention to the Schedule now as tabled. Therefore, Hon. Deputy Speaker, the members of the Committee have done a wonderful job as I mentioned, led by Hon. Kimani Ichung'wah - a wonderful Chairman. I have had the privilege to sit in the Budget and Appropriations Committee since its inception in the 12th Parliament. I had been a Member of the Committee in the 11th Parliament and even including this one. I really want to pay particular attention to the leadership of Hon. Kimani Ichung'wah. For the last two years, he has done a brilliant job. Chairing the Budget and Appropriations Committee is a very difficult job. Hon. Kimani Ichung'wah has been able to coordinate the membership of the Committee, the interests of other committees including the very difficult task of sharing revenues between the national Government and county governments. You know we have always had a push and pull between ourselves and the Senate and Hon. Kimani has led that process nicely and without injuring either the national Government or county governments. Part of the membership includes Hon. John Mbadi, the Minority Whip, and you can imagine when you are leading a committee in which you have the Minority Whip, the Chairman of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). We have Hon. Richard...

Now we need to clarify some of these things, Hon. Lessonet. You know when you talk about the Minority Whip being Hon. Mbadi, I think you are treading on very dangerous grounds.

The Minority Leader.

Just to help you, Hon. Lessonet, Hon. Mbadi is the Minority Leader. You could attribute the leadership of a party to him and also some accolades about the institutions he went to and I am sure that one is easier because you might have interacted with him.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. The membership includes Hon. Richard Onyonka, Hon. Samuel Moroto the Member for Kapenguria, Hon. (Ms.) Odhiambo-Mabona, Hon. Twalib Bady, Hon. Gideon Ochanda, Hon. James Gakuya, Hon. (Dr.) Makali Mulu, Hon. Moses Kuria, Hon. Bernard Shinali, Hon. John Muchiri, Hon. Jude Njomo, Hon. Korei ole Lemein, Hon. (Ms.) Sarah Korere, Hon. (Ms.) Naisula Lesuuda and Hon. Sakwa Bunyasi

Hon. Lessonet, recognise the whole membership of the Committee, but if you go to the details, then you take a lot of your time for dealing with the substance.

Eldama Ravine, JP): Hon. Deputy Speaker, those Members are part of the wonderful membership and I really want to thank the Majority and the Minority parties for giving this Committee such a strong and committed membership. During this budget-making process, Members need to know very well that the biggest mandate for this House is to write the Budget. Therefore, even as we sit here today, we are performing the most important role of this House, which is to write the Budget and agree on spending. That is the role of this House and they have done that job nicely for the last 10 years. During this budget-making…

What is it, Hon. Junet? Order Hon. Lessonet. 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. Deputy Speaker, I am a bit lost about the information the Vice-Chair is giving the House and myself. He is saying the biggest mandate of this House is to write the Budget. I do not know whether that is Tugen language because I am unable to understand what "writing a budget," is. I am unable to understand, honestly speaking.

Well, it is your business, Hon. Lessonet, to find Hon. Junet, but looking at that particular term, it looks to me like it is the right one. You know it all depends on the background institution. For example, yourself, I know the national school that you attended and I believe that is why it gives you some English that is at times confusing. Now, find Junet somewhere.

Eldama Ravine, JP): Thank you, Hon. Speaker, I agree.

What is it, Hon. Otiende Amollo?

Hon. Deputy Speaker, the Honorable Vice- Chair is a seasoned Member and, therefore, I am sure he will sit down when I am on my seat. I truly respect the Committee, the membership and the various accolades given to it and its Members. Obviously, there might be a reason for that and we will come to that. However, I am listening to the Vice-Chair move this amendment to the Motion and the most important aspect in Standing Order 48 is that he is supposed to demonstrate to us that, that amendment does not materially alter any principle contained in the original Motion. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I am still waiting for that demonstration not the accolades and the individual standing of the Members.

Hon. (Dr.) Otiende is absolutely right. Remember I had asked you to do that. It is easier for you to do all the rest after you have shown this particular amendment. Looking at it myself, I see that from what you are moving and what is on the Order Paper, there is a difference of slightly above Kshs5 billion. I am not so sure if that is the position and that is also what I have been waiting for because when you mentioned about the figures, there was some amount which was on top or something like that. Therefore, I want you to go straight there, so that as the Members internalise this, they will be able to debate that Motion with full knowledge. I think Hon. (Dr.) Amollo is absolutely right. Therefore, Hon. Lessonet, please, go to that particular bit.

Eldama Ravine, JP

Hon. Lessonet, your time is over. I kept adding you more minutes. I think you should leave the next bit to your Seconder.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. Let me leave the next bit of this wonderful document to the Seconder. With those remarks, I beg to move and ask Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah to second.

Leave that to your Seconder because you have taken your seat. The membership of the House is very interested in getting some explanation on the amended line items. This will resolve the issues raised by Hon. (Dr.) Amollo and the Member for Emuhaya. If the Seconder does that well, probably I will add him a minute or two.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I wanted to request you to add me five minutes just to…

On a point of order, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

What is your point of order the Member for Mogotio? He has not even started.

On a point of order, Hon. Deputy Speaker. For those who have been participating in budgeting, we know that every Ministry is supposed to factor in pending bills at the first instance…

I think you are anticipating debate. I do not want you to go that direction. If at the end of the day he will not have captured issues you really think he should have, you will have your day in Parliament and say it and probably make those kinds of observations.

Let us hear it from the “donkey’s mouth”.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I want to ask you to add me five more minutes.

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. Ichung’wah we want to ensure that whatever you say is captured because it becomes part of the record. I think you are now audible.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. If you look at the First Schedule which we tabled last week, and the one we have just tabled some of the key changes to note are in the security sector. This is because the Committee did reallocations especially in relation to the National Integrated Management System (NIMS). The Huduma Namba question of about Ksh500 million has since been ploughed back into the budget. Further, there are reallocations from operations and maintenance of the headquarters of the Inspector General’s Office to the Director of Criminal Investigation (DCI) to help in operations and other areas. Under Agriculture, there is Kshs650 million related to (Electronic Voucher (E-Voucher) which has also been ploughed back and these are reallocations from the Ministry. There is an additional Kshs2.6 billion that came under the Ministry of Water of Irrigation money. This will go towards irrigation projects and part of this is also Kshs500 million, which as the Vice-Chair has referred, will go to Soin-Koru Dam to help in the mitigation of floods. The Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) budget has also been affected. We have been appreciating this in view of the dire circumstances the economy is under the strain of falling revenues and challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. We appreciate that many MPs and, indeed, many people in Government will not travel this year and in the next financial year. Therefore, we took measures to sacrifice from the Parliamentary budget, a figure of about Ksh2.5 billion for foreign travel appreciating that the world is on lockdown and people will not travel. We ploughed back this money to help reduce the deficit. Also, because of the effects of post-COVID-19 in our own constituencies, Members have a 10 per cent increment in terms of salaries and wages for their staff in the constituency offices and also to support office operations at our constituency level. These captures most of the changes that will be reflected in the Schedule. This answers the questions raised by the two Members. As I second, first allow me to appreciate the support I have received in the last three years as the Chair of the Budget and Appropriations Committee. My Vice-Chair has had an opportunity to move this last budget as part of succession planning. Any Member of this House is capable and has the capacity to lead a Committee and shepherd us through a budget process. I want to assure you that even as I leave office as Chair, we have a very able Committee. I must immensely thank the Committee Members who have supported me over the last three years, and also this House. I had the opportunity to interact with a majority of Members of this House through their Departmental Committees and we were able to balance the needs and resources available to us. I must thank the House for the support I have received over the last three years. I will still be in this House, will support and continue supporting the incoming Chair and the leadership of the Budget and Appropriations Committee and all other committees of this House. As the Vice-Chair has mentioned, this House is charged with a singular mandate of budgeting for this country. This is what the Minority Whip could not understand about writing budgets. It is good English to write a budget because this House is charged with the responsibility of doing this. As the representative of the people and elected leaders we hold the power of the purse. It is our duty and responsibility to provide strategic guidance and direction for the distribution of resources in a time like this when we are faced with a health pandemic that is a huge humanitarian and economic crisis. We need to distribute resources in a manner that mitigates the effects of COVID-19 on the economy and the livelihoods of the people we represent. 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. Deputy Speaker, you will remember that when the Budget Estimates were tabled at the end of April this year, I made a Statement that raised concerns since the national Government had tabled Estimates of a very ordinary Budget under very extraordinary circumstances. We took issue with the fact that the Estimates tabled then did not reflect the realities of our economy and country today. I am glad that following this, robust engagements between MPs and members of the public through our various Committees and other fora... The National Government, through His Excellency the President, was able to come back to this House and present an amended version to the Estimates. This created an economic stimulus package of about Ksh53 billion which is a good thing for a start. It is small for an economy like this, but it is a good start. Therefore, the challenge we are faced with as a country today is to be able to utilise the Kshs53 billion to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 on our economy and the humanitarian and economic crisis that this pandemic has caused. Secondly, is to be able to use this package to stimulate economic growth. I appreciate what the Member for Mogotio is asking about – the pending bills. The Member for Mogotio, if you read the Report you will see at point number 15 we are speaking about the question of pending bills, appreciating as a Committee, that this is a matter that none other than His Excellency the President pronounced himself on as early as June 2019, and directed all MDAs of the national Government including county governments to settle pending bills. It is in our statutes that pending bills are the first charge to our Exchequer. That has not been honoured, and indeed, in Clause 15 of this Report, we are proposing that maybe it is time. The Member for Mogotio took the challenge from this Report and proposed legislation that will criminalise the non-payment of pending bills by Government officers.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, you are aware why we get into these things. People are hesitant to pay what is owed and are very quick to get into new deals because of what comes with the procurement processes in this country. If we are intent on fighting corruption in this country, it must begin from the procurement process and in the payment and settlement of pending bills in the Government. We have a challenge as a House to help the Government and the people of Kenya especially the business community to deal with the question of pending bills. The economic stimulus package has come in handy. Part of that economic stimulus package is some Kshs10 billion that has been provided towards the payment and settlement of pending bills. I think almost Kshs6 billion will go towards settlement of VAT claims that are owed to the business community in this country. There will be challenges in the next financial year. Our revenues have been badly battered and will be battered by this pandemic and the humanitarian crisis that has created a situation where people are not able to work. I am glad that with the partial opening up of the curfew, people now can have a full day’s work up to 5.00 p.m. However, you must also appreciate that there are people like mama mbogas, mama chapatis and mama githeris who cook githeri and go to vend around our shopping centres in the evening up to about 9.00 p.m. or 10.00 p.m. and those people are not able to engage in economic activities. Therefore, our economy and revenues will be badly battered by this epidemic. Therefore, we must as a budget-making House, rise to the occasion and assist where we can, in being creative to ensure that our economy is opened up and our people are back to work and that our revenues are not as beaten as they would be. In the economic stimulus package, Kshs3 billion goes towards the tourism sector in terms of the Tourism Finance Corporation being able to advance loans to our hospitality industry. It is a good start, but it is not enough: Kshs3 billion is not enough in that sector with hotels closing down. 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

We need much more and, therefore, we must be more creative in how the Government will raise revenue. That brings me to the subject of our public debt. We have said it in this report that it is time the Government of Kenya entered into negotiations with our lenders to renegotiate our debt. In this year alone, just on interest redemption alone, we can save up to about Kshs180 billion. If we are able to renegotiate our loans, we will probably be able to save maybe Kshs300 billion or Kshs400 billion out of the Kshs800 billion that will pay and plough that money back to stimulate economic growth for our country. We must also be careful what kind of public debt we enter into. We are confronted with a situation where our National Treasury, as much as I will not tell you, are careful on whether to engage on debt renegotiation especially with the G20 countries because of the kind of commercial debt that we got ourselves into in yester years. We have spoken to this as a Budget and Appropriations Committee in the last almost three to four reports that we have done on the annual Estimates and supplementary budgets. We must have a very good balance between our commercial debt and what is concessional debt. The new Cabinet Secretary committed last year – and we will wait to see whether he will actualise what he said – that increasingly we will move from commercial debt to concessional loans. These commercial debts are what probably are making it difficult for us to go and renegotiate our debt with G20 countries that have already offered to renegotiate debt and allow us some fiscal space. The revenues will also be affected by the depressed private investments in this country with the COVID-19 pandemic. Our public investments in terms of our development expenditure will be reduced. Therefore, our revenues will not perform as well. Therefore, we will be confronted later in the year with a situation where we may have to relook into this budget. I foresee maybe in the next two to three months, we may have to review part of these Estimates and Budget that we have done now. This is because as I said, it was disappointing that from the word go, the National Treasury never reflected the realities of today’s issues like the issue of flooding. I am glad that after we raised that issue here on the Floor of this House, they came back and have provided money for flood mitigation. As the Vice-Chair said in Nyando, parts of Garissa and Tana River areas are flooded and more money has been provided towards irrigation projects that will also help in the creation of dams, especially even in ASAL areas and parts of Migori where they will harvest water that would, otherwise, be flood and ravage settlements where people live. In terms of our challenges, moving forward and providing solutions, it is up to this House to rise to the occasion. We have spoken about fiscal consolidation in the past, but in the next financial year, this fiscal consolidation must go beyond talk. We must actualise real and actual fiscal consolidation to ensure that we continue to reduce on our budget deficit so that we borrow less. You can see where our public debt situation is today and if we are not able to consolidate...

Your time is over! I have actually added you two minutes.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. Let me close with that by mentioning that over time when we did the Supplementary Budget II of the 2019/2020 Financial Year, we raised the issue of abuse of Article 223 of the Constitution. We have raised the same issues in this Report and other reports that we have done before. As a House, we must put our foot down to ensure that every expenditure by the Government is brought to this House and this House is able to oversee each and every expenditure including the COVID-19 funds. We indicated that in this Report. Members who go through the Report will see. We want to ensure that all resources including those from the COVID-19 fund are appropriated by this House. With that, I beg to second and take this opportunity to thank all Members of this House and the Kenyan people and especially the people of Kikuyu who elected me to Parliament and 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

colleagues who show the resource in me to serve the people of Kenya as Chair of the Budget and Appropriations Committee in the last three years. Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

Hon. Members, I hope you saw the difference in terms of the figures. I will give you an opportunity on the basis of your placing of the card here, because it is a bit difficult for me to know who is who. Many of the Members, off course, have longer hair now and have covered their mouths, just like Nominee 001. He never used to have hair; he has it now, like others. So, I can only use the card. Again, we have a problem with the seating arrangements. Members no longer sit where they used to sit before.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, is this to say that I can continue?

No, not at all. Is there anything that was not completed?

Then let me confirm that.

Off course, Dr. Robert Pukose is right. I have done up to a particular area and I will proceed. But even as I proceed, I want it to be confirmed that the tabling date is today, 9th June 2020. So, I will proceed, Hon. Members.

Hon. Members, we will start with the Leader of the Majority Party followed by the Leader --- What is your point of order, Hon. Otiende Amollo?

Hon. Deputy Speaker, I want to seek your direction on a little matter. The original Report at page 20, paragraph 65 (a) (ii) had a certain provision in respect of how to treat the economic stimulus provisions, but in this Report, I see that it is crossed and countersigned, presumably, by the Chair.

Which page?

On page 20 of the original Report, paragraph 65 (a) (ii) is crossed by hand and countersigned. I see that, that particular paragraph is not covered in the amendment. I want to seek your direction as to whether we should take it that the crossing by hand and countersigning means it is not part of the Report or it is a way of seeking to amend that Report. I just want to know what the position is.

If it is crossed and countersigned, that is not in the Report. Those are my thoughts. If it has been countersigned, it means that it is not part of the Report. Which are the issues that you think could have been captured that you probably have an issue with?

Hon. Deputy Speaker, I am asking for your direction to find out whether that crossing and countersigning means it is expunged or it still requires to be moved as an amendment, to be expunged. That is all I am asking.

It is expunged. So, you should ignore it.

Very well, then I am fine with 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

What is it again, the Member for Kikuyu?

Hon. Deputy Speaker, I think Hon. Otiende Amollo has a very legitimate concern. This particular recommendation was anchored on re- allocations that had been done. You will appreciate that the original Report was to be tabled on 2nd June. However, we were not able to table the Report on that day because of particular amendments that we had not agreed on with the National Treasury. Part of those amendments related to funds provided for under the economic stimulus package for purchase of desks for schools and construction of classrooms for 300 secondary schools across the country. The understanding and recommendation by the Departmental Committee before was that these funds would be channelled through the national Government-Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) but the National Treasury came and explained to the Budget and Appropriations Committee that the intention of the economic stimulus package in this instance was to have the funds centrally-managed under the Ministry of Education and deliver a full package of classroom and desks. It was, therefore, not feasible to have that particular amendment reflected in the Schedule. Thus you will not find money going to the NG-CDF for the 300 secondary schools for school desks. That is what necessitated that beautiful signature you see there, Hon. Otiende Amollo, which is my signature.

In addition, the crossing means that it is not part of the Report. As you can see, that is the same signature on the Report.

I have already ruled on the matter. Hon. Member for Kikuyu, remember I had added you two minutes, but you have used Hon. Otiende Amollo’s concerns to add yourself another three minutes through the backdoor. You will not be allowed to do that again.

Hon. Members, let us proceed. I do not want you to talk about the school you went to, Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah, because it is a school which was in your locality. I am not so sure whether you went there by merit or on an affirmative action.

Let us have the Leader of the Majority please. The Leader of the Majority has 10 minutes, same with the Leader of the Minority, while the rest of the membership will have five minutes each.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I will not go back to the schools issue. Hon. Deputy Speaker, let me, at the outset, support the Report of the Budget and Appropriations Committee on the Estimates of Expenditure and Revenue of the National Government, Judiciary and Parliament. It is good for the people of Kenya to know that we are doing this in compliance with Article 221 of the Constitution and Section 39 of the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act, where the Cabinet Secretary must present to Parliament the Estimates of Expenditure and Revenue by 30th April of each year. Again, Section 39 says that whatever we do, this Report must reflect the Division of Revenue Act and the resolutions that this House adopted in as far as the Budget Policy 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

Statement is concerned. What does that mean? It means that if there will be an increase in expenditure in any proposed appropriation, it must be balanced by a reduction in expenditure in another proposed appropriation. So, this Budget must balance, and I think that is where we are headed. Today is the beginning. I am sure we will discuss the Budget the whole day. Based on the approval of this Report by the House, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance will give the highlights of the 2020/2021 Budget to this House and the country on Thursday afternoon. First, I thank the Budget and Appropriation Committee, and the Departmental Committees. I also thank the Budget Office, led by Mrs. Makau, who spent a lot of time in the production of this Report. This is a unique year, and this is a unique Budget. This Budget has been prepared against the backdrop of the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, the floods that are ravaging our country in the Western part of Kenya, in the lower parts of Garissa, Tana River and Lamu, as well as many other parts of the country. The Budget has also been prepared in the backdrop of the locust invasion. This Budget is being prepared against a backdrop of economic challenges. The economy is stressed and is facing a lot of challenges. Drafting the Budget 2020/2021 was, therefore, to comprehensively respond to a crisis whose timeline and depth is unknown. We do not know when this COVID-19 will end. We at least know when the floods will subside. I am sure the Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries must be fighting the locusts and the eggs that they usually lay. Kenya is part of the global economy. Both globally and domestically, economic activities have been significantly disrupted. That disruption has led to uncertainty and instability affecting key parameters of any economic growth. Parliament looks at the overall economic performance. Tax collection by the Taxman has significantly reduced in the last quarter. Both public and private investments have slowed down. The current account balance is not looking very good. The personal incomes of our people are at their lowest. There is unemployment in our country today. This ripple effect of the health pandemic on the Kenyan economy has been visible in terms of reduced export earnings because we are not exporting anymore. We have very few business operations. We thank the Government that with the new adjustment to the curfew, companies and Kenyans can, at least, work from early morning at seven o’clock all the way to five o’clock in the evening. There is increased unemployment. Many people have been laid off. This House must speak to companies like Fairmont Hotel who because of no fault of the workers, are sending Kenyan employees home. They are sacking them. There is declining consumer demand. When you put all those factors together, you see that the Financial Year 2020/2021 does not look very good.

We had a 2019/2020 Supplementary II Budget which attempted to address COVID-19- related expenditures. The interventions were not comprehensively addressed. The only reason was that there were no available resources. There was a revenue shortfall as well as little time left before the end of this financial year. We must address the economic, social and health effects of COVID-19. That is why the Jubilee administration, under President Kenyatta in particular, has developed a comprehensive stimulus package totalling Kshs53.7 billion which is geared towards 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

addressing and taking care of our vulnerable groups during this difficult moment. I am sure the Kshs53.7 billion will not be stolen. Accounting officers must listen to the House. The people who need it are at the most critical moment of their lives. We are sending the Kshs14.3 billion to enhance the liquidity of businesses, cover the VAT refunds owed to local business men and the payment of pending bills. The Budget and Appropriations Committee and this House must speak to pending bills. Whether it is to the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) or to corporates, VAT refunds and pending bills must be paid so that there is money in our small businesses. There is Kshs10 billion allocated under the Emergency Comprehensive Stimulus Package that is supposed to empower the youth and create employment under the Kazi Mtaani Programme in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru and Eldoret among others. There is Kshs6.5 billion allocated towards improving educational infrastructure in our classrooms. Some of my colleagues will agree with me that some of the schools in western Kenya, Nyanza and parts of eastern and north eastern have been hosting victims of the floods. Priority must be given to them and those in the slums. There is Kshs5.4 billion allocated towards the rehabilitation of access roads and foot bridges. This Kshs53.7 billion of the President’s administration in addressing and developing a comprehensive stimulus package to take care of the vulnerable groups and the economy as a whole must be supported by this House. I thank the Budget and Appropriations Committee because they made sure that outside the money allocated to the Big Four Agenda items, namely, universal healthcare and manufacturing, they created some money for this stimulus. The pilot programme which has been tested in Kisumu, Nyeri, Machakos and Isiolo has further been allocated Kshs50.2 billion which must help the remaining 43 counties. We must call upon the Executive and the Government to do their job. I am sure Cabinet Secretary Kagwe is up to the task. He must deal with the governance issues at the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF). The inadequate number of health workers must be addressed. The quality concerns in terms of stocks of drugs and other medical supplies at the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) must also be addressed. When all those challenges are addressed, I am sure we shall succeed as a Jubilee Government in delivering our agenda to Kenyans. Each and every Kenyan will benefit. The manufacturing sector has been allocated Kshs18.1 billion towards enabling it. It will be spearheaded by the private sector while the Government only facilitates. The private sector is the lead agency in making sure that we achieve the 15 per cent growth in the manufacturing sector that we anticipated before COVID-19. On food, Kenya is a net importer of food despite the abundance of resources we have in our country. To reverse that trend, the Budget has committed to ensure that we are food secure by the end of the medium-term. It is against this backdrop that the Government has allocated Kshs52.1 billion towards enablers of food security. I commend the National Treasury, the Judiciary and the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) for providing a detailed 2020/2021 Programme-Based Budget for the first time. It is noted that some of the agencies have not fully complied with the tenets of a programme- based budget as highlighted by some of the departmental committees. If a country is to fully enjoy the benefits of a programme-based budget and increased efficiency of expenditure as well as its effectiveness; ministries, departments and all the other agencies must always review their outputs and targets in their programme-based budgets. I also hope that the departmental committees of this House will not just sit down. They must follow each and every penny that this House allocates so that the accountability that President Uhuru Kenyatta has spearheaded is actualised. 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

As I said, we want to give every Member an opportunity to contribute to this Budget. So, today in the morning and afternoon sittings, we will deal with the Budget, so that the Cabinet Secretary (CS) can use the approved Report to prepare his highlights on Thursday. Once that is done, we will start the Committee of Supply next week. Once we finish that, we will deal with the Appropriation Bill and Finance Bill. That will complete the whole cycle of the Budget-making process of Parliament.

I beg to support the Motion.

That is a very solid contribution from the Leader of the Majority Party which is appreciated. We shall now have contribution from the Leader of the Minority Party, Hon. Mbadi.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to make my contribution to the Report of the Budget and Appropriations Committee on Budget Estimates for the Financial Year 2020/2021.

First, let me start by thanking and congratulating the Budget and Appropriations Committee, which I am a Member, for a job well done. A credible Budget is prepared through a process that is considered transparent, accountable, comprehensive and faithful to the political direction. If I put it in simple terms, a credible Budget is one where the Government, through budgetary allocations of resources, tries to actualise what it says so that it is done to the citizenry. We are all aware that the Constitution 2010 gave more powers or conferred the power of the purse to this House, unlike previously when this House had limited powers in the Budget-making process. In fact, Parliament before 2010 was a rubber stamp. However, right now, we have a Parliament that has the power of the purse. It discusses the Budget Estimates and makes changes or amendments in line with the priority objectives of the country and after consulting extensively with the Executive. This power is enshrined under Article 221 of the Constitution. If you like, you can read Chapter 12 of the Constitution on Public Finance.

This Budget was prepared at a time that we consider very difficult. When we were passing the Budget Policy Statement (BPS) in February, no one imagined that we would discuss the Budget Estimates under the kind of environment that we are in where we face multiple challenges. I do not think that there is any time in the history of this country that we have ever prepared a Budget with the kind of challenges that we have today. We not only have the challenges of the COVID- 19 pandemic or health crisis, but also have challenges of flooding which have never been seen in over 50 years, locust invasion and many others. If you listen to Kenyans, they talk of two things. They want food and jobs. It is through Budget that a nation or Government can provide food on the table for its citizens and help create employment opportunities for the people. Therefore, we expect this Budget to provide food and jobs. In terms of giving more money to the agricultural sector, I want to say candidly that what is in this Budget is still largely business as usual. The same sectors that consume the largest chunk of our budgetary allocations are still the same ones which are consuming even at this moment of crisis.

Jobs need to be protected for those who already have them. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Kenyans were facing high rates of unemployment. With the health crisis, we expect more people to be unemployed. Therefore, it is the duty of the Government to ensure that jobs are protected. When the Budget Estimates were tabled here, for the first time, the Budget and Appropriations Committee engaged with the National Treasury from the word go. We quickly picked the failure or limitation of that Budget in addressing the current challenges. We realised 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 the Budget was prepared in a business as usual manner. We invited the National Treasury and we discussed the issue. I am happy because after that discussion, at least, some funds have been specifically provided targeted towards economic stimulus package. However, this is not enough. SMEs must still be protected further. I know that there is some little money that is provided in the Budget for the same but we still need to do more.

There is something that we must also address at this stage in time. We have provided money for Value Added Tax (VAT) refunds and payment of pending bills. However, we need to make sure that all pending bills are paid and mopped up at this time of crisis. We need to make sure that all VAT refunds are made. We need to provide more money to the pockets of Kenyans by protecting and creating jobs. I know that there is a provision of little amount of money for kazimtaani where people will be engaged to provide labour in implementing some projects but it is still not enough. Through our discussion with the National Treasury, we are alive to the fact that this COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing and we do not know its final effect. Therefore, you cannot predict with certainty how much economic stimulus package you may need. Going forward, it should not come as a surprise to this House, when we will be called upon to re-align budgetary resources towards more economic stimulus interventions.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, there is my pet area that I have talked about for a very long time. Allow me to repeat it because I really do not know whether the National Treasury listens. The issue of public debt is now an emergency in this country. We need to be bold and candid and tell the Executive that we need a day to have a national dialogue on public debt. If you listened to the Mover of the Motion and the Seconder, this is what they said. This is what the Budget and Appropriations Committee is saying. Out of the projected revenue collection of Kshs1.62 trillion which is down from Kshs1.64 trillion, Kshs904 billion will be used in debt repayment or servicing out of which over 51 per cent is just servicing interest. This means that only 49 per cent of Kshs904 billion will pay the principal debt borrowed. If you take Kshs904 billion from our projected revenue collection and add to it other recurrent expenditure…. In fact, the total recurrent expenditure, including debt servicing, is Kshs1.8 trillion which is already more than the projected revenue collection which is Kshs1.62 trillion. I want to be cautious. What does that tell you? It tells you that over Kshs200 million will be borrowed to pay recurrent expenditure. That is the reality which is a blatant violation of the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act and the Constitution. We cannot continue like this. A time has to come when we have to stop this. By the way, Kshs1.8 trillion still excludes the transfers to counties. We all know that the largest percentage of a lot of money that we take to the counties goes to recurrent expenditure but not development. If the whole of it goes to development expenditure, we would be happy. We, as a country, have reached a point where we are unable to service our debts and we must sit down and discuss it.

There is something that we need to talk about further, especially during COVID-19 pandemic. The exports have reduced. The diaspora remittances have gone down. What challenge does that pose to the economy? The foreign exchange reserve is likely to reduce. What has helped us is that the price of oil has been down.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, if the prices of oil start rising, then we are in trouble. However, we got help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). We are happy that the IMF gave this country Kshs75 billion to help stabilize FOREX reserves. But for how long will we be relying on the IMF? In a nutshell, what I am saying is that, as a country, we need to talk about our balance of payment level, our debt level, our wage level and our capability as a nation to finance our operations. 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

Allow me to talk about some figures that are in the Budget, in response to a story that was carried that we protested the reduction of funds to National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF). There is nothing like we protested. The point is: NG-CDF is provided through an Act of Parliament which conditions this country to not give in the subsequent year less than what was given in the previous year. Therefore, what we did was to just engage with the National Treasury and point out the law. But again, as I said earlier, the Budget is a negotiated document, especially in a presidential system where the Executive has to negotiate with Parliament. That is exactly what we did and we made sure that the NG-CDF allocation remains the same. As a Parliament, we have also offered something. We reduced Parliament’s budget for the first time with over Ksh2.5 billion at the supplementary stage. I think it is a time to give and take and that is exactly what we have done as a nation. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, as I talk about the transparency in the Budget - and this is my final comment because I can see my time is gone - I want to persuade the National Treasury that going forward, and I know they took advantage that this time we had so many challenges and it was unpredictable because certain things had to be adjusted here and there… But it is very untidy to see the National Treasury coming to us with Budget Estimates, then after two days bring amendments and after three days, they come up with more amendments. This causes a lot of confusion not only to the Committee, but to the entire country because we do not know the policy direction of the country. I know we are waiting for policy highlights and revenue raising measures on Thursday, but we would want to hear how the Government would want to go further in supporting this Budget. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I support.

Hon. Mbadi, I have heard you speak to the issue of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), a provision being made for the SMEs. I have looked at this and the proposal is to only provide Kshs3 billion for the SMEs. And you remember that we were all whipped in this House into removing the interest rate cap because the Government was so caring about SMEs and now are only providing only Kshs3 billion to support this alleged backbone of this economy. We shall have contributions from Hon. ole Metito.

Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I have five minutes. I do not know how much I will say because I will speak on behalf of the Departmental Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations that oversees about five State agencies. Let me begin with our Defence Forces and say that they have really managed to keep at bay the threats from Al Shabaab very significantly. And I think they require an applause, a commendation and also resources to match emerging threats because of the environment that is always changing. Our Defence Forces are, as well, very vital in the fight against this COVID-19 pandemic, thus resources need to be provided to ensure that. Our National Intelligence Service (NIS) has also played a very critical role in the COVID- 19 containment. The agency will use part of its resources to support the Ministry of Health in contact-tracing and surveillance. As they do that, if the curve will not be flattened, there will be need for more resources to be provided to NIS to help in flattening the curve. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a very critical component in terms of our diplomatic front. We have embarked on opening our missions in regions like Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Accra, Senegal, Morocco and Djibouti as well, but we have seen a reduction of 7 per cent in the personal emoluments and that of 21 per cent on Overseas New Missions (ONM) 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

respectively, in our Supplementary Estimates II. We are, therefore, opening up new centers but we are not providing them with resources to match that. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has really embarked on economic diplomacy. As a Committee, we have seen that there is need for commercial attachés to be seconded to those missions because we will benefit economically from those missions as a country. We have also acquired some assets as a Ministry especially in Lusaka, Kinshasa, New York and Washington DC, among others.

Hon. ole Metito, hold on a second. I would like to advise you that you are speaking as a Committee Chairman and, therefore, you have 10 minutes. I have looked at the resolutions of the House and Chairs have 10 minutes while the other Members have five minutes. So, you have 10 minutes.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I am now relaxed. Let me emphasize my point as a continuation on our missions abroad. We have acquired some assets in missions abroad, especially in Lusaka, Kinshasa, New York and Washington DC. However, despite those efforts, there is need to renovate those assets, to keep and maintain them to the required standards. Otherwise, they are going to deteriorate and become very expensive in the long run through major rehabilitation works. Therefore, there is need for the National Treasury to provide some budget lines for the maintenance of those assets. As I said, there is a lot of increased capital flows to Kenya through those missions. Some of those remittances, as the Leader of Minority was talking about, are new sources for our economic diplomatic pillars. Therefore, we need to be competitive globally as a nation and those missions are going to play a critical role in ensuring that. We have visited many missions like Pretoria, Washington, Dubai, Lusaka, Los Angeles and Malaysia among others and, as a Committee, we recommend that the agency responsible for international trade liaises with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to send commercial attachés to some of those missions to enable the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to achieve that role of economic diplomacy. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, on the issue of the East African Community and the Ministry in charge of Regional Development Authorities (RDAs), which we oversee as a Committee, for the regional development, I want to say that there is too little that was provided to the six RDAs. First of all, we recommend that the Ministry fast-tracks forwarding to this House through my Committee, the Regional Development Authority Bill (RDA) that will put all those RDAs under one umbrella, instead of each of them operating under individual Acts of Parliament. This may actually help them in sourcing for funds.

On the East Africa integration front, as one of the states in the East Africa Community (EAC), we are the anchor nation. We will actually take the Summit this year. Had it not been for the COVID-19 pandemic, we would be chairing the Summit by now. But we have not provided enough resources to equal that.

On the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), we need to provide more resources, as a country, to enable our…

Hon. Katoo ole Metito, allow me to remind Hon. Kabinga, the Member for Mwea, who has just walked into the House 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 the rules of the House still apply. He has walked through the door without bowing to the Chair, then walked to the Minority Side and crossed the Floor to the Majority side. Remind yourself of the rules. We have not abandoned them, Hon. Kabinga. Proceed, the Hon. Metito.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I hope my time is controlled. Members of EALA need to be facilitated to the level required for them to represent this country adequately. My last point is on the COVID-19 pandemic. There was a stimulus package of Kshs5 billion that was provided to counties. My concern is the way the money was shared. The Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) - and I would like to have the attention of the House - used the normal index in the allocation of monies to counties. The Kshs5 billion is an emergency fund. Therefore, the Commission should have focused on the relative threats the counties face. I am aware that by yesterday, 38 counties had registered cases of COVID-19 and only nine are remaining. It is our prayer that the remaining counties will not register any case. But the CRA should have divided the Ksh5 billion, which is an economic stimulus for that purpose, based on the relative threat the counties are facing. The CRA should have concentrated on the counties that are on the border from Isebania to Lungalunga, Kajiado, Taita Taveta, Kwale, Migori and Mandera on the other side, among others. I call upon the CRA and the Senate to review the formula that they have used to allocate the money to the counties. This is not the normal revenue allocation to counties, but an economic stimulus because of the prevailing emergency. They need to review the formula used and focus on the threat that the counties face. If you look at the number of infections of COVID-19 announced daily, counties at the border – like the ones I have mentioned - should have been given more resources because they report more cases because of being at the border. So, the CRA, the Senate and this House should review the formula and have in place a formula for sharing the emergency funds. This is because it is a one-off or a short-term issue based on the threats that counties face, as far as the pandemic is concerned. But when it comes to the normal revenue allocation, which is provided for in these Estimates, the normal allocation formula should apply. I beg to support. Thank you very much.

Hon. Members, the next opportunity goes to Hon. Koinange, the Chair of the Departmental Committee on Administration and National Security.

On a point of order, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker.

The Hon. Otiende, what is out of order?

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I am constrained to raise this point of order. I raised it last year around this time. I raise it under Standing Order No.1 for your direction. Last year, I raised it and the substantive Speaker gave some directions.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to confirm to you that this morning, the first Member to enter this House was Hon. ole Sankok and I was the second. This Sitting started at 10.00 a.m. and will end at 1.00 p.m. If we go as per the direction, you realize that 15 Committees appeared and if their 15 Chairs speak, they will take 150 minutes. If we add the Mover and the Seconder’s 20 minutes, plus the Leader of the Majority Party and the Leader of the Minority Party, it comes to 190 minutes. What that means is that all those who prepared this Report and all those 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

who participated - because all the Chairs participate - are the only people who will speak between 10.00 a.m. and 1.00 p.m.

We know given the sitting arrangement, if you sit in the morning, you cannot sit in the House in the afternoon. That means that all of us who are here will only be listening to those who prepared the Report and they will be praising it. That cannot be the intention of budget-making.

I want to urge you to find a modality of allowing other Members to speak to this Report. Otherwise, we will all be reduced to spectators.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker.

The Hon. Otiende, I can see that your sentiments are receiving a lot of favour from the general plenary.

But, Hon. Otiende, you will also appreciate that the hands of this particular Temporary Deputy Speaker are tied because this House operates on the resolutions of the Members of the House. I will, therefore, draw your attention to the Resolutions the House made on 18th February 2020 in regard to this particular matter that is before the House - the General Supply Debate. It provides that: “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.”

So, the hands of this Temporary Deputy Speaker are tied. This is the resolution of the House and it is only this House that can revise its resolutions. So, I will be obedient to the House. Hon. Otiende, as much as your sentiments find favour in my personal estimation of them, the resolutions of the House are superior to my own sentiments. So, therefore, I will follow the resolutions of the House.

On a point of order, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker.

Hon. Member, the Temporary Deputy Speaker cannot be out of order.

Hon. Koinange, proceed.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I want my brother, Dr. Amolo Otiende to know that Chairs of Committees are usually sensitive. So, I will take the shortest possible time to give the Report of my Committee.

The Estimates have come at a time our security environment is faced with a lot of challenges that have been occasioned by the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic and the rising number of crimes in our country that are being reported by the police. The total number of crimes 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

reported in 2019, for instance, increased by 5.8 per cent to 93,411 from 88,268 in 2018. We must work very hard to reverse this trend.

I am happy to note that significant resources have been proposed in this Budget towards reversing that trend. The State Department for Interior will continue to focus on scaling up investments towards the modernization of security systems aimed at strengthening the security of our borders and throughout the country, and to enhance security operations especially in areas that are prone to crime as well as enforcing COVID-19 restrictions.

Specifically, the thematic areas for improving our security will focus on the expansion of the national surveillance control system in major towns with an allocation of Ksh1.5 billion towards communication and surveillance system. The system was initially planned to cover Mombasa and Nairobi. In the next phase, we will cover Lamu, Kajiado and other parts of the country. Secondly, under the police mobility sector, through the leasing programme, with an allocation of Kshs10.7 billion, the Committee noted that the programme had been transferred to the National Treasury to enhance efficiency. We support any policy or measure that is aimed at improving service delivery to the wananchi . Thirdly, we have the modernization of the police service with a proposed allocation of Kshs1 billion. Modernization holds the key to turning our police service to an efficient and effective service with up to date tools and technology towards combating emerging forms of crime such as cybercrime, terrorism and drug trafficking, among others. My Committee noted with concern the dwindling allocation towards the programme. Further, the shortfall in resource allocation to the police modernization programme was a risk to the overall implementation of the policies and programmes of the Government. Without modern equipment such as the use of drones in operation areas, the war on terror may not be won. The evolving acts of terrorism may hinder economic development through direct cost such as loss of labour and capital. We implore the National Treasury and Planning to enhance resources towards the same as soon as normalcy returns. Fourthly, we have the equipping of the forensic laboratory with a proposed allocation of Kshs335 million. The equipping will enable our criminal justice system to resolve cases urgently. Some of the cases may not be resolved without this science. Delay in the completion of this project has led to delayed returns in investment. I want to call upon the National Treasury and Planning and the State Department of Interior to prioritse completion of this critical project. Fifthly, to sustain police welfare, I am happy to note that this Budget has catered for medical and group personal insurance for the police service and the prison service with a proposed allocation of Kshs3.4 billion and Kshs2.3 billion, respectively. National security is an enabler towards the achievement of our priorities as identified in Vision 2030 and the Medium-Term Plan, alongside the economic transformation agenda of the Jubilee Administration. Additionally, the sector is critical towards the attainment of the Big Four Agenda and affordable universal healthcare. The proposed allocation will ensure universal National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) cover through public mobilization. Both the police and prison officers are under the NHIF. The State Department will also enhance issuance of identity cards and birth certificates to facilitate admission into the NHIF scheme. On food and nutrition, the State Department of Interior will sensitize the public through

on the importance of water harvesting, planting of drought resistant crops and provide security to all water infrastructure towers. 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 support manufacturing with the proposed allocation, the sector will install CCTV cameras in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Eldoret and Nakuru to enhance security to enable the implementation of the 24-hour economy. My Committee made the following reallocations that were critical, but not funded: Drug medicine in treating our youth in the Coast Region. It is on this basis that His Excellency the President directed that the Miritini National Youth Service Centre be reopened to rehabilitate the youth affected by drug and substance abuse, particularly during this time of COVID-19, where our jobless youth may be highly tempted to engage in drug abuse. My Committee recommended that Kshs100 million be set aside to go towards the operationalization of the Miritini National Youth Service Centre to assist the youth to overcome addiction, improve their lives and become productive members of the society. We hope to open more such centres in every region of this country as the economic situation improves. The Budget Policy Statement (BPS) of 2020 promised enhanced allocation to fight corruption. Such resources were to be utilised to ensure that all corruption suspects are brought to book and in record time. In acknowledgement of the fact that the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has been in the forefront in fighting corruption, however, the resources proposed towards the directorate were far much below their requirement. It is against this backdrop that my Committee recommended additional allocation of Kshs200 million to enhance their operations. We applaud the programme by the Public Service Commission (PSC) on recruitment of interns which was introduced in the Financial Year 2019/2020. This programme is critical towards equipping our youth with skills necessary for them to contribute towards the economic development of our country. The programme will further allow succession management, which currently bedevils our public service. The interns, upon going through the programme, will be absorbed into public service to address the gaps caused by natural attrition. We noted, however, that the programme is underfunded. Service delivery to wananchi is being hampered by delays in operationalization of new sub-county headquarters. We noted all this. We need more money to be injected to operationalize the sub-counties. I can see my time is almost up. Our Committee also noted with concern that the State Department of Interior still holds the human resource function of the National Police Service Commission (NPSC), including the personnel emoluments budget that goes hand-in-hand with it. This should be taken back to the NPSC for ease of dealing with issues of the police.

Very well. I see no other Chair of a Departmental Committee. I will, therefore, give this opportunity to Hon. Otiende Amollo, who is first to my left.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. We thank God for small graces of most Chairs absconding Parliament.

This is an important occasion for Parliament for it is the budget-making discretion which is based in the National Assembly. The beauty of a democracy is that the organs of Government are each given a specific jurisdiction. The Executive holds the sword; Parliament holds the purse and the Judiciary holds the gavel or the judicial hammer while independent offices hold the spotlight for the people to see what everyone else is doing. When we do this, we do it on behalf of the people. It is important that each of these organs respects the Constitution. It is as important as 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

it is for the Executive not to overreach in respect of the Judiciary; as it is for the Judiciary not to overreach in respect of this House. The tendency by some judges to sometimes overreach and try to fetter the budget-making discretion of this House, or try to fetter the law-making discretion where it is not unconstitutional or try to tie the hands of Parliament when exercising its oversight role, is one to be condemned. I am glad we have come to that cycle when everyone now accepts that the budget-making role is for the National Assembly. However, there is more to be done. I thank the Committee for doing a number of things. One, for being innovative with public participation in this time of COVID-19. Two, for respecting what, for long, had not been realised: restating the requirement that the budgets of the Judiciary and Parliament must be considered independently and alongside the proposals of the National Treasury. But we need to go further. When we make the Budget and approve the Estimates, it means no one has the authority to spend money which is not approved by this House. A practice has emerged and has been in existence for the last seven years where, beyond the Estimates approved, the Executive goes ahead and spends money, only later to come assuming we will rubber stamp what was already spent, thereby abusing the small leeway left by Article 223 of the Constitution. Article 223 is very clear. It leaves a very small leeway through which money can be spent before approval, if it is absolutely necessary. It is not a routine occurrence. And we must sanction that practice where appropriate. The question of pending bills is also important. The Committee has addressed it and some Members have also spoken to it. Pending bills should be paid, but I think, sometimes, we might be in the danger of over-emphasizing this. As we urge payment of pending bills, let us urge the ascertainment of the legitimacy of those bills. We cannot say that a public officer must pay pending bills at the peril of going to jail, without adding that, that public officer must ascertain the legitimacy of that bill and confirm that it is due and owing. We are in a country that is full of corruption. There are many pending bills which are not due and payable. So, I urge that, as we urge the payment of pending bills, let us urge legitimacy. Lastly, I want an assurance on two quick things. One, the Leader of the Majority Party raised an issue here some time back—and I respect all members of the Committee. He alleged - and he did not withdraw - that members of the Committees sometimes pick projects for themselves. I want an assurance from the Mover of the Motion that, that is not the case here. I also want an assurance that, as we allocate money to mitigate the effects of floods, let us remember that there are also other people who have been affected by the rising waters of Lake Victoria, Lake Naivasha and other lakes. I urge that there be a liberal interpretation of the effects of floods so that some of our people, like in Rarieda, can be covered. With that, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I support.

A very good contribution, Hon. Otiende. It is to be noted that if the paying master pays a bill that is disputed, illegal or irregular, then he or she is also liable for prosecution. Hon. ole Sankok.

Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. At the outset, I do support this Motion by the Budget and Appropriations Committee.

On a point of order, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker.

Hon. Makali Mulu, what is out of order? 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. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I just wanted to raise this point of order before my colleague starts presenting his points. You realise that because of the problems we have, there are some Members who are out in the tents and have actually been in the tents since morning and yet, they had registered to be given an opportunity to contribute. Would I be in order to plead with you that even as you consider those who are in here, those who are out there are also given a chance? It has been the tradition of the House.

Hon. Makali, that is true. In fact, I have a list here and you are No. 1 on the list of Members who are outside and are going to speak. It is good that now you are inside the Chamber. We will consider them, Hon. Makali. Thank you for holding their brief. Hon. Sankok, proceed.

Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. As you consider them, also consider my time, which has been eaten into by Hon. Makali. As Hon. Otiende Amollo has put it, as we pay pending bills, let us ascertain which bills are payable. It would not take long for county governments, ministries, departments and agencies of the national Government to ascertain which ones are payable and which ones are not. If there are those that cannot be paid then, let them be listed. However, for the ones that can be paid, they should be cleared. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I support this Budget because it has come at a time when we are faced with a very peculiar situation of COVID-19. I want to thank the Budget and Appropriations Committee members for making sure that they have brought into play the issue of COVID-19. However, we also need to itemise the COVID-19 Fund so that the Executive does not get a leeway of using it the way they want. There are vulnerable members who have been affected by COVID-19 more than others. We know there are manual workers. We know of the ones who work in the hotel industry, but more so, Persons with Disabilities (PWDs). For a long time, PWDs have depended on donations. The whole world is now locked down and it is very difficult for us to get donors from outside. PWDs have also been benefiting from religious organisations – the churches and mosques - but they are now currently closed. The vulnerable members of our society, the PWDs, are suffering the most. I suggest that as we itemise this particular Budget, let us have 10 per cent of the COVID- 19 Fund being set aside to cushion PWDs. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, schools are closed and the education sector does not need the normal allocation. We should channel that money to cushion Kenyans probably, by investing it in the agricultural sector. That is because majority of our citizens who are in cities have not been able to pay house rent and bills and have gone back to their rural areas. If we can transfer funds from the Ministry of Education to the Ministry of Agriculture, we will have a stimulus of agriculture in our rural areas and it would be a solace to the farmers. There is also the pension income for our senior citizens. I hear that it is now being taxed. This Committee should be able to check so that we do not tax pension earned by the senior citizens of our country, whom we are cushioning through cash transfers. I was particularly touched by the speech of the Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah. He was like giving a speech of somebody who is exiting. I deem it as “retirement of a king”. This is because we have interacted with Hon. Kimani 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

Ichung’wah. He has been the best Chairman ever in this particular House especially, when it comes to access to Government procurement opportunities for PWDs. However, there is a lot of balancing between party loyalty and your own decision. I think that is the background which Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah was giving his exit speech. We wish him all the best. However, he was a dedicated and an intellectual Chairman. With those very many remarks, I support.

Hon. Christopher Omulele): Hon. ole Sankok, it is true Hon. Ichung’wah has done a commendable job. We hope and we know he is in that position until the powers that be decide who will be in that position. However, as far as we are concerned here, he has done a good job and we still have him. Hon. Omboko Milemba, the Member for Emuhaya, kindly have the Floor.

Thank you, Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity to support this Budget, and also make my comments. I want to thank the Budget and Appropriations Committee led by Hon. Ichung’wah. As it has just been indicated by the previous speaker, he has, indeed, done a good job and I think he will remain as one of the most respected chairpersons of that particular Committee in the House. I want to thank the Committee because it has highlighted most of the important things, including trying to change the mindset of the National Treasury from creating a normal budget to one that is extraordinary in terms of covering the issues concerning the COVID-19 pandemic in the country and worldwide. On that level, the Budget and Appropriations Committee (BAC) advised the National Treasury on the issue of economic stimulus in the Budget. Economic stimulus is good, as we know, in all recessions. History proves that economic stimuli are good because they support the economy to grow again. It will help, especially post COVID-19. I want to urge that when the Cabinet Secretary will be considering his proposals to the House, he should further include the issue of economic stimulus in areas where it touches on the constituencies and other devolved areas. He should devolve that particular stimulus. For instance, I am happy about Kazi kwa Vijana which is on-going in some areas, but it needs to be devolved in all the other areas. However, I was also disturbed that the good statement which was originally in the budget report here on devolving this particular fund to go to the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) was later on repulsed and the Chairman spoke about it. However, this will be very good so that Kazi kwa Vijana and other economic stimuli that have been given by the Government can go down to the constituencies and even to the local level of administration. I am imagining Emuhaya and all other constituencies having such a plan going on. Because of time limit, I would also like to indicate that one other thing that this Report talked about is foreign debt. It has brought it out very well. It has dealt with our ability to earn from Foreign Exchange, which is based on agriculture, especially floriculture. Moreover, it went ahead to indicate that the sub-sector has been hit hard and we shall lose over Kshs60 billion because of low exports occasioned by the COVID-19. This will certainly affect our ability to pay foreign debts. The Report further indicates the dangers that we have with the foreign debt which has risen to Kshs904 billion, that is, almost Kshs1 trillion. The Report goes ahead to indicate that the debt is currently being serviced. The cost of servicing the debt is higher than the capital or development budget that we have in the country. Therefore, as Parliament, we must talk and walk the talk. Recently, there was a Bill in this House to increase the gap of borrowing. We 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

increased the gap within which we can borrow. We changed it to Kshs9 trillion. Today, I saw the Leader of Minority speak emotionally. I love him though he is not in the House. He spoke as a person who wants to actually oversee the Government. Therefore, we as a House must stand and tell the Executive to stop borrowing. We must explain exactly how it is dangerous. Lastly, I want to assert that the budget for education should not be reduced. Most of that budget is actually going to salaries and other Recurrent Expenditure. Moreover, we should not look at it as a budget that can be reduced because of COVID-19. I want to rebut what the earlier speaker has said; that, that is a budget which we can actually lay our hands on. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this chance.

Hon. Thuku Kwenya, you have the Floor.

Kinangop, JP

Hon. Thuku Kwenya, you have spoken well. It is true that these public hearings under Article 221 by BAC must be done in a very transparent way so that, we must have a list of all the counties that have been visited, the projects undertaken and their locations. I can see in the Report, they are saying that Vihiga is salivating. We have not been visited since they started. The people there are also hungry for projects. So, it is correct that this should be done as fairly and openly as possible. We shall have contribution from Hon. Maanzo.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me an opportunity to contribute to this very important matter. I am in the Departmental Committee on Trade, Industry and Co-operatives. I am sure at some point my able Chair Hon. Kanini Kega will lay a basis. While this Motion was being moved, it was clear that due to the Covid-19 challenge, one of the most important things happening all over the world, is how to jumpstart the economy post-Covid-19.

From the reports we are getting from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health, it is clear that unless we do a few things in a certain manner, then Covid-19 could be with us for some years. The earliest a vaccine could be found is in a year or so. Therefore, we have to plan early on how we will cushion the economy and what institutions should be supported. Under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Co-operatives, it is clear that we have departments which could be used to jumpstart the economy for example, Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI), which incubates small business which are likely to pay taxes and, therefore, contribute to the Exchequer.

Also, we have Kenya Industrial Estates (KIE), an institution that promotes businesses. Looking at the way the allocations have been done, it is clear that some of those very important institutions, among others, since there are a number of them under that department, have not received sufficient funds. Therefore, when we get to the Supplementary Budget, it will be very important for us to plan on how to jumpstart the economy because it has really suffered. 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

When it comes to public participation, the Committee visited Makueni County and identified a very important project of fruit processing in an area called Kalamba. There is a proposed road which has not been tarmacked since independence called the Emali-Ukia Road. When the Committee visited, the residents there said that, that road is very important and must be tarmacked. I am also aware that the Government is very desirous to complete ongoing projects before beginning new ones. Since the planning and design of the road has been executed, it should be funded. We have engaged the Executive and the National Treasury severally and they are trying to find funds to, at least, begin work because of the importance of that road to the economy. Everybody is looking for fruits like oranges and this is where they can be found. But there lacks a road where heavy trucks can transport that very important commodity especially during these days of COVID-19. I am still pleading with the Committee, the Executive and the National Treasury to find this in their goodness because those are just 42 kilometers which will make a huge difference. Also, on the matter of education, a lot of money has been allocated to schools. Again, due to COVID-19, students may stay at home for a year. What the Government can do because once the schools open definitely there will be social distancing, is to invest through the NG-CDF for construction of classrooms and renovation of schools. Again, they can also do this through the Ministry of Education. I have heard of 300 schools being renovated. So, at least, each constituency should have a school appointed for renovation or considered heavily because we have 290 constituencies. Maybe, for the balance of 10 schools, we could consider areas with heavy population density like cities or a place that has been hard hit like Mombasa, Nairobi or where there is a need. Finally, for the schools or institutions like the Kenya Medical Training Colleges (KMTC) being used as isolation centers, we should allocate funds to ensure proper fumigation is done before students go back to those institutions. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity.

Hon. Kimunya, the Member for Kipipiri, you have the Floor.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. There is not much time. So, I will go straight into the matter. I start by thanking the Committee for preparing these Estimates, the Report and everything, and going through them within very difficult circumstances. It is not the same environment that we usually meet and do everything in relaxation. So, we need to recognize that they actually went out of their way at the risk of breaching the social-distancing protocol and other limitations to do a wonderful job. I also recognise that we are planning under what you have generally referred to as “ vuka” conditions. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, on your added vocabulary today, “ vuka” talks of very volatile situations and certain complex ambiguous circumstances. This is the kind of situation that is underpinning our Budget for this year. These Estimates can only be best estimates based on the current reality. Nobody knows how COVID-19 will pan out. Nobody knows when it will end and when certainty will return on the economy. I have heard comments to the effect that we should not bring another Supplementary Budget so soon. We need to be alive to the fact that there is nobody who can tell where we are, especially given the challenges that we have. Against this background, I would want the Cabinet Secretary, when he comes to give the Budget highlights on Thursday, to perhaps, consider two issues that I want to raise. The Report raises, in passing, the possibility of generating some revenues through divestiture. It is like one line within the Report, but there is 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

much to it yet. To me, it is a very fundamental thing that we could look at given all the discussions we have on our exposure to debt. We are already over-exposed. We cannot borrow more from the economy. We do not know how much revenue we are going to generate. It is something that the Cabinet Secretary needs to consider. How much can we raise by the Government selling part of its stake, for example, in Safaricom? We own 25 per cent of a multi-trillion company. If the Government could just cede 10 per cent of that within the next one year, plus a few others like Kenya Pipeline Company, we could generate close to Kshs300 billion. That money could go towards reduction of the debt exposure that we have and to mitigate some of these expenses. This is something that I just want to flag for the Cabinet Secretary to consider so that. as he comes here on Thursday, he might want to tell us much more on what he wants to do in that direction. The other item I want to flag out is that we have some money that has been pushed for expansion of education infrastructure. I hear Members say that we should remove some money from education and put it in agriculture. However, we have 15 million children waiting to go back to school. The teachers are still being paid, notwithstanding that they are not in school teaching. So, personnel emoluments expenditure is not being saved because the children are not in school. By the time they go back to school, there will be need for social distancing. Currently, one desk is shared amongst three pupils. They will now be required to sit one per desk. So, you will need like three times the number of desks that are currently within schools. So, we need much more investments in education if our children have to go back to school and observe the social distancing norms that are critical for the prevention of COVID-19 in those schools. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, allow me to appeal to the Members that in addition to the money that has been set aside through the economic stimulus package for education purposes, if Members could commit more resources through their NG-CDF to expand education facilities like building an extra classroom or purchasing extra desks, the Government can then provide extra teachers. That way, we will not be just preparing for mitigating against COVID-19, but we will also be preparing for the competency-based curriculum rollout. So, let us work on it together knowing that we will not have all the resources as a nation, but each one of us could help be it through our NG-CDF resources, National Treasury and the extra teachers that will be there. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I do not want to go beyond that, but if the Cabinet Secretary could perhaps consider what we are talking about, which is the divestiture as a source of extra revenue, then it would be good. The last time it took place was when I was in the Treasury in 2008. Since that time, no single parastatal has been divested. I do not know why, but we are sitting on so much resources out there that could be harnessed to come in and help our debt exposures and raising more money to intervene on the current issues. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, with those few remarks, I beg to support.

Let us now hear Hon. Peter Kaluma.

I thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, we have a problem. I have been here since morning listening to my colleagues lamenting about what ought to have been there and what the CS - when he addresses this House as a mere formality - should add to the Budget items. There is a good reason as to why the people of Kenya say in Articles 95 and 96 of the Constitution, that the budgeting authority of the nation is in Parliament. I am saying this, pained that this is the eighth year with that constitutional provision, but this Parliament - including the Senate - are not meaningfully engaging in the budgeting process. 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, we must sit as Parliament, even after this Budget, and see how we can remove those restrictions in laws, which have taken away the power given to Parliament by the Constitution on a Budget. In that law, and I am happy that in the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs, we have formed a sub-committee which I am heading, to see these laws that we can unlock so that the meaning that the people of Kenya had in Article 95 of the Constitution in saying that we budget, is really meaningful. There is a good reason for it. We are the representative of the people coming across the nation. We are the ones who know the needs of those areas. We should be bringing those needs to the table so that when we are at this stage, we are speaking to things which are going to help down there. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, if we come to those legal reforms - and I would urge the House that we take them up so that we can avoid these lamentations, which are like biblical - we will have a situation where we can rationalize the relationship between departmental committees and the Budget and Appropriations Committee. I heard the Chair in charge of the Committee in which I serve - the Departmental Committee on Administration and National Security - talk. This is the Committee under whose charge those sectors are and we understand better where accountability issues are and how the nation can be moved by the right funding to various sectors. But if we do a report and it is all thrown out… Just the other day, we passed the law on Small Claims Courts requiring that we now have small claims courts across the country. But what is the budget of the Judiciary for the construction of courts? The courts that we started building in 2013 are stuck and if you go to Homa Bay, Nairobi or North Eastern, they are all not being built. Yet, a law was rushed here, saying that we are going to have adjudicators across the country. Are they going to work under trees or where are they going to work from? That cannot work in the current legal arrangements undermining the constitutional provisions. The Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs will come and say that we want those courts to be built, but it will end there. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, as we combat COVID-19, we are being told each time that we should wash our hands using running water. I thought, therefore, that the Budget for this year would have a very big allocation for the Ministry of Water and Sanitation. I was thinking of a budget line, which was going to ensure that there is, at least, a borehole in every learning institution around us, as we wait to open schools in September. Across the country, we have areas where you are talking of running water, but they do not even have still water. If you go to Homa Bay Town Constituency, a bay means land bordering a water body. We are halfway into the lake, but we only see the water. We do not have water to wash our hands. We have a budget which has not been contextualised to the prevailing circumstances. We have allowed laws made in Parliament and not by the Constitution to take away the powers Kenyans gave us in the Constitution. Unless we amend those laws and sit to budget as representatives of the people, the Lamentations Book in the Bible will continue. It is something we need to consider. I hope by the time we consider the Supplementary Budget, we will perform our role better.

Hon. Members, I thank those Members who have contributed so far. They have contributed profoundly. I am enriched. The House is enriched. Kenyans are enriched by their contributions. I hope those who will continue to contribute in the afternoon will also add value to this very important process. 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. Members, the time being 1.05 p.m., this House stands adjourned until this afternoon at 2.30 p.m.

The House rose at 1.05 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