I direct that the bell be rung for 10 minutes.

Hon. Members, I think we now have a quorum.

Order, Hon. Members.

I direct that the Quorum Bell be rung for a further five minutes.

I direct that the Quorum Bell stops. Let us proceed.

Order, Hon. Members.

Order, Hon. Wamaua! Order, Hon. Members.

Order, Hon. Dorothy Ikiara. Order, Hon. Members.

Order, Hon. Members. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Hon. Wamaua, take your seat.

Order, Hon. Kalasinga.

Hon. Members, let us proceed.

Let us get started.

Hon. Members, take your seats.

Hon. Members, the matter shall be resolved. Okay, proceed.

Hon. Members, the matter shall be resolved. You are prematurely protesting. Like I said, you will have an opportunity to raise that matter.

Let us start.

Order, Hon. Members!

Hon. Kimaiyo, you are prematurely reacting. Let us start the Sitting and then you will have an opportunity to give your voice legitimately. Right now, the Sitting has not started and so, your protest is not on record. Let us start.

The Deputy Leader of the Majority Party, Hon. Owen Baya.

The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Hon. Members, you are protesting on a premature matter. When we get to that Order, you can legitimately lend your voice. Whatever you are saying is not on record. Allow us to proceed. We will get to that contentious Order. Proceed, Hon. Baya.

Hon. Members. Please, let us have order in the House. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to lay the following Papers on the Table. 1. Legal Notice No.175 of 2023 relating to the Public Finance Management (Ulinzi Prime Health Services Fund) Regulations, 2023 .

Hon. Members, allow me to finish laying the Papers and then we will come to that Order. 2. Reports of the Auditor-General and Financial Statements for the years ended 30th June 2021 and 30th June, 2022, and the certificates therein in respect of: (a) Khasoko Boys Secondary School; (b) St. Anne’s Kisoko Girls High School; (c) St. Stephen’s Aluor Mixed Public Secondary School; (d) Githunguri Girls High School; and, (e) Nyamathi Secondary School.

I thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, reading the mood of the House, I request that we defer this Motion so that we allow further consultations. We need to get every Member’s view before we move to the next step. With utmost respect, I request that we defer this Motion. I thank you.

Thank you, Hon. Members. Is it the mood of the House that it be deferred?

Yes!

Next Order.

The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to move the following Procedural Motion: THAT, this House resolves to exempt the business appearing as Order No.11 in today’s Order Paper from the provisions of Standing Order 40(3), being a Wednesday Morning, a day allocated for business not sponsored by the Majority or Minority Party or business sponsored by a Committee.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, the House is on fire today, but that is the sense of being elected Members of Parliament. You are mandated to protect your constituencies and the resources we have. That is the reason why we are in Parliament. Today being Wednesday, we usually debate Private Member’s Motions but because of the debate on the State of the Nation Address and other matters, I request that we allow Order No.11 and then proceed with the Private Member’s Motions during the day.

I request Hon. Kaguchia to second.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, I second.

Put the Question!

Hon. Members, since the Procedural Motion has passed, it means that Order No.9 falls automatically. Let us move to the Next Order.

Hon. Keynan had a few minutes left. You may proceed.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. Now that that issue has been resolved, I hope there will be some semblance of order.

Hon. David Kiplagat, Hon. David Ochieng’ and Hon. Musa Sirma, you will have an opportunity to consult on the matter later on. Kindly take your seats. Hon. Members, let us be orderly.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. The State of the Nation Address is a constitutional obligation of the President in line…

Hon. Members, kindly consult in low tones. Proceed, Hon. Keynan.

The State of the Nation Address is a constitutional obligation of the President in line with Article 132(1)(c) of the Constitution, which mandates the President to report to the nation through Parliament, on measures taken and progress achieved in the realisation of national values. From an economic front, the President’s Address to the nation has addressed many issues that we need to internalise. First are the challenges facing the country.

I do not know why there are still a lot of loud consultations.

Hon. Member for Kesses and Hon. Muriu, kindly slow down your consultations. Hon. DK, you will have an opportunity to consult on this matter during lunch break. Hon. Kitany, let us proceed. We are in a different matter altogether. You will start again, Hon. Keynan. You may proceed.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to contribute to the President’s Address to the nation through Parliament. This is a constitutional requirement. As Members of Parliament and representatives of the people, pursuant to Article 1 of the Constitution, we need to internalise this address in line with the expectations and the aspirations of the people of Kenya. The President has tried to The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

address almost all the issues - from the economy, education, infrastructure, security and agriculture. I will address the El Nino floods later on. We must face the realities. This Address, second after the Kenya Kwanza Government came to power, addresses the salient issues we have been avoiding. The salient issues include the role of independent institutions like the Judiciary. I remember we were in the past told that we have three Arms of Government.

There is still a problem. I do not know what we are going to do.

Attention, Hon. Muhia and Hon. Kandie. Proceed and ignore them because we can hear you.

We were in the past told we have three Arms of Government. That is when we were in school. They were the Judiciary, the Legislature, and the Executive. These days, we have many other Arms of Government. We have independent institutions, which have taken over many roles of the other three Arms. We also have members of the Fourth Estate and the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). One thing that we must address as a nation is the role and the independent mandate of the Judiciary. This is one thing the President has over the last few months attempted to solidify and address. We are glad that the role of the Judiciary is being addressed without demeaning and downgrading it. The Judiciary is being funded. That is meant to provide a neutral arbiter to the other Arms of Government. Therefore, that is commendable.

The other bit is affordable housing. We are aware that there have been challenges. A few years ago, two things were foreign where I come from. Tarmac roads and decent housing. Luckily, because of devolution, we have seen elements of a tarmac road. Things may be better because of the affordable housing concept we have been told. We have huge chunks of land. We hope and pray that our region will get facilities through this affordable housing.

The other issue is national security. Kenya has been a responsible member of the international community. It is not only responsible but also a frontline state. Kenya has been an infrastructural hub. Kenya has also been a security hub. Kenya has been a conferencing hub. That means we enjoy a special status as a country. Leadership must appreciate this unique position. Without prejudice and without anticipating debate on the issue of Haiti, the President said something. We need to understand how Kenya's image has been projected. First, we have been a member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) over the last one year. That is a coveted position that many African countries or many Third World countries have been struggling to realise. We achieved it. Therefore, our position as a responsible member of the international community must, at all time, be projected, protected and promoted. This can only come if we really appreciate that dynamic role of Kenya. I am glad the President has alluded to this.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, on defence and security, Kenya is in the midst of many countries that are bedevilled by security challenges. Look at our neighbours. Look at what has happened in Ethiopia recently. Look at what is happening in Sudan, the Democratic Republic Congo (DRC) and Somalia. It is because of this that every effort must be made to protect our international borders, both internal security and international borders. This is another area that the President alluded to. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Provision of affordable healthcare is something that all of us are yearning for. Recently, we passed a number of legislations. I hope these will inject professionalism, efficiency and efficacy so that Kenyans can get service.

I think today is a bad day for Members. Members are still consulting loudly. What we are saying may not even make sense. Affordable healthcare is a constitutional requirement. The President alluded to that.

There is the issue on national debt. I am glad you know that you have taken a bit of my time. I hope you will consider.

Kindly add him some time because he has been interrupted. Give him another five minutes.

On national debt, this regime inherited a struggling economy. We must say the truth. I am glad that yesterday, the Leader of Majority Party emphatically said that Kenya is not going to default and join the league of many countries that have been degraded. This is a reality. One thing that has given us leverage over the years as a responsible nation is our commitment to our international obligations. The Government should do everything possible to make sure Kenya does not default in our international obligations. Without this, even the little that we have been enjoying will be eaten away once we default. That includes what has remained from high inflation and the high cost of living.

The other bit the President alluded to is digitisation of Government services. This is also critical. We are living in the era of the digital world. This must be felt in the villages. It is one thing that every Kenyan yearns.

I was recently taken aback by the conflict by the Meteorological Department and the report they gave. We the people of northern Kenya have had a very challenging history. Our area was affected by drought recently. Now we are suffering because of El Nino . We expected the President to include El Nino floods in his Speech. As we speak today, 90 per cent of our region is completely cut off from the rest of Kenya. I know we do not have time and the provision to amend this. However, we hope and appreciate that the Government has declared

floods a national disaster. That is yet to bring in any meaningful gain and assistance to the region. We hope the ministries and offices concerned - the Ministry of East African Community, Arid and Semi-Arid Lands, Regional Development, the Office of the Deputy President, Office of the President and the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure - will put their house in order. That is to ensure the people of northern Kenya who have been completely cut off by the El Nino floods get assistance. I know we will be talking about the outbreak of cholera, dysentery and other diseases very soon.

As we speak, the main road from Nairobi to Mwingi to Garissa and Wajir is cut off completely. Even the little tarmac we had has been washed away completely. We hope and pray that the Government will take the El Nino floods seriously. Now that they have declared this area a disaster zone, necessary Government services should also be provided to villages so that people also appreciate the presence of the Government.

In conclusion, time for politics is over. I ask those who are still determined to rubbish everything that the Government is doing to give it an opportunity to do its mandate. When the time comes, they will get an opportunity to interrogate and evaluate the performance. In the African culture, the way people decide to vote in a particular way through elections must be respected. This is why we are saying the Government should be allowed to function. If they do not perform, you will have an opportunity in 2027. For now, this Government has been duly elected. Allow them to function. Allow them to do their work. Allow them to operate. Let us undertake our responsibility as a responsible Opposition if they do not perform. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, if we rubbish everything that the Government does, I can assure you that there will be no need for elections. Allow them to function. Critique or evaluate them both summatively and formatively. If they do not perform, you will have an opportunity to lead. This is their platform now. They are using it to do what they said. I support the President’s Speech. Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

Member for Laikipia West, Hon. Wachira Karani. Are you ready?

I am ready. Is it the debate on the President’s Speech?

Yes.

Thank you very much, Hon Deputy Speaker. I will start by applauding His Excellency the President for his fantastic Speech. This is one example where I have seen him doing something good.

For the first time, I have seen discipline in the promises that were given. For example, when he was campaigning, he promised that he would appoint the six judges of the Court of Appeal. True to his word, the first thing he did after being sworn in was to call for the swearing in of the six judges. At the same time, the Judiciary had requested for more funding which he agreed to. He asked this House to add them Ksh3 billion, which we did. The other thing which I appreciate in the President’s Speech is the issue of fertiliser. I come from a constituency that does a lot of farming. This is a programme that has been applauded by the farmers. The 5.5 million of them who had registered received their fertiliser at a reduced price, from Ksh6,500 to Ksh2,500. I am one of the farmers who benefited from the programme which is helping us. With those remarks, I support the Motion on the Debate on the President’s Address, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

Member for Navakholo, Hon. Emmanuel Wangwe.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I rise to appreciate the President’s Speech as detailed in this House. I am thankful because he took his one hour and six minutes and used it to address the nation within the provisions of Article 132(1)(c) of the Constitution which gives him the mandate to highlight what he has done and what he intends to do.

I have two or three observations to make on the President’s Speech that was delivered in this House. Firstly, I appreciate him on the issue of teachers. My constituency is full of graduates and primary school teachers. He took an initiative to employ more than 56,000 teachers. I appreciate him because it is a good thing. We saw the employment of very many teachers who had not been employed before from my constituency.

I also thank the President for highlighting farming issues, particularly on the step he took to release the debt of very many sugar factories. An amount of Ksh117 billion is not a walk in the park. It takes somebody to put his foot down to do it. Having taken that bold step of releasing Ksh117 billion debt, I request that we let him complete the journey by pushing on the issue of leasing. This will make the balance sheet of those five factories to be good enough to attract investors to put in money, take them over and run them.

The only issue that I did not see is the reprimand. I want the Government to explain how Ksh117 billion came about, who incurred those losses and how did it happen? When you are selling sugar-cane, you must sell or deliver it to the factory. You either have to produce sugar or be paid. There is no sugar in the stores and farmers do not have money in their pockets. Who took way that money? Whereas we appreciate the President’s Speech very much for releasing Ksh117 billion, we want the institutions charged with the responsibility to help him reprimand those who stole it. They should find out how it was misappropriated. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

I also thank the President in the manner in which he reported to the House the repayment of national debt of more than Ksh500 billions of Eurobond, which is a good move. When our country is put in the red, it does not only affects our country, but also those in the private sector. We have business people who do offshore trading and invest using foreign banks. When our country is in the red, definitely, individual rating also comes down. Therefore, it is important to thank the President for taking an initiative to tell the country that he will pay the Eurobond. In the same footing, we should ask if we spent the money well. How did the money from Eurobond proceeds come into the country? These are issues that the relevant agencies must help the President address. Henceforth, what are we likely to see? Let us see good use of public resources as and when the Government borrows.

The President also addressed farming issues. He talked about subsidised fertiliser or subsidies in the farming process, which is a good thing. Fertiliser was retailing at Ksh7,500 recently. However, the Government has brought it down to Ksh2,500 per bag. It has a replica. If you go to my constituency, you will see a change. Most of the people afforded it and invested into agricultural sector. I am a farmer who was able to access it. We should encourage it to go on because it is a good thing. Let us also ask the Government to go farther than the county headquarters. We were only able to collect the fertiliser from Kakamega County Headquarters. Some of the stores which were supposed to go down to the sub-counties were not available. Let us ask the Government to ensure that we now move down to the people and deliver fertiliser or any subsidy as close as possible, and not to end up at the county level. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I appreciate and thank the President for that Speech. Thank you. I support the Motion.

Hon. David Kiplagat, Member for Soy. Next is Hon. Dorothy Ikiara. Somebody should pull out Hon. DK’s card.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I appreciate and laud the President for his very elaborate message to Kenyans, one year after getting into office.

Hon. Bartoo, you have pressed the button and then you are leaving now. That is fine.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, the Kenya Kwanza regime aims at addressing three primary challenges: external shocks, physical distress and structural imbalances. The national revenue is Ksh2.4 trillion and our debt redemption is Ksh1.2 trillion, which is half the revenue. The interest is around Ksh600 billion which is a quarter of the revenue. Part of the measures taken are to subsidise production to ensure agriculture transformation and allocating money to those at the bottom of the pyramid. I am saying this because when the President was campaigning, he did it on the platform of the Bottom-up Economy. Increasing the velocity of money into the market is what will revive our economy. If we look at what happened in other countries like Eastern Asia, industrialisation took place alongside green revolution. Additionally, the Government aims at addressing the forex risk as an important driver of the micro-economic instability. Having listened keenly to the address by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Kenya, I noted that he is very keen on three areas. One, is on the issue of job creation for our youth. It is not a myth but a reality that His Excellency the President has tried to address that. As we speak, we all appreciate the 56,000 jobs that are already in existence, courtesy of what the President promised when he was signing the Education Charter during his campaign. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Other than the 56,000 teachers, the President has gone ahead to give Kenyans hope in an education system that they were not sure if it will succeed. The President came into office amidst a lot of disquiet. People were not sure if the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) will succeed and the President, in his wisdom, ensured that 56,000 teachers were employed. Thereafter, he went ahead and made sure that the stalemate that had lasted for three years on allowing our children to go to teachers training colleges is solved. Today, we have a total of 20,456 teachers being trained as diploma teachers to handle the CBC. Apart from teachers, I take note that investing in the substantive blue economy is now critical for the survival of our world and humanity. The Kenya Kwanza Government and the President of the Republic of Kenya are very keen to ensure that we invest in our waters and oceans. Therefore, I am proud to be associated with what the President is currently doing in investing and bringing up 22,000 new fish landing sites. These sites will not only create an opportunity for our youth to be employed, but will also be a source of revenue for this country. Fish production is very critical in our country. I want to end by saying that, in the education sector, his Excellency the President has made sure that every person in this country has the opportunity to be in a credible institution.

Give her one minute to finish her point.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. That is the reason why I laud His Excellency the President. The promise of the Open University has become a reality. By January next year, we will proudly have 1,000 students who will have registered, thus fulfilling Article 43(f) of our Constitution. In addressing corruption, as a House, we can greatly assist the Government by finalising on the Conflict of Interest Bill, 2023, to further tighten the anti-corruption policy framework, eliminate space for corruption and achieve the bottom-up transformation agenda. Thank you.

Member for Naivasha, Hon. Jayne Kihara. Hon. Kibagendi, you are number four on the intervention list. I am following the list. Proceed, Hon. Kihara.

Thank you very much, Hon. Deputy Speaker for giving me this chance to talk about the President’s Address. I was not in the House when the President delivered his Address to the nation. I was out of the country. However, being part of the Kenya Kwanza Government, I know whatever the President said is in line with what he promised Kenyans. As a staunch supporter of Kenya Kwanza Government, I support the issues he said. On the deliverables that I have seen, especially on education, the highest number of teachers has been employed since we got Independence. The reduction of the price of fertilizer from Ksh6,500 to Ksh2,500 tells me that Kenyans will have food security and employment. We know that agriculture is one big employer. As it has been said on the CBC, some of us did not understand what it was. However, when the President took office, he restructured it to our understanding and now we know that its benefit is to address the talent of students. The challenges that we got from COVID-19 and drought have taught us many lessons. On Monday, we had a public holiday to plant trees. The President talked about the environment and climate change. I want to thank him for giving us that day for tree planting. We saw everybody out on that day planting trees. That tells us that we are addressing the climate change challenge and we will have more forest cover. That is what the President was talking about. On economy, yes, it has not picked up but we are optimistic that, that will happen. We need to give the Government a little more time. My biggest worry is corruption. There has to be a splendid way of addressing corruption because this is something that has not come out The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

clearly. We do not want the President to be seen addressing corruption without taking action. We would like action to be taken against those who are pulling him down when he is addressing the economy of this country. Having not been around, I am just looking at the print out of his Speech. From the sub- headings, I can tell that this country is headed for greater heights. With those remarks, I support.

Hon. Racheal Nyamai, Member for Kitui South. If you are not ready, let us have Hon. Wakili Muriu, Member for Gatanga. After him, we shall have Hon. Charles Ngusia and then Hon. Kibagendi in that order.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I rise to support the President’s Address to the nation that was done in compliance with Article 132 of the Constitution. I have two issues stemming out of the President’s Speech that I would like this country to understand. One, we need to appreciate that the 2010 Kenya Constitution came with an expanded Government. Therefore, it added expenditure that was not matched with revenue generation. During the first two terms, from 2010 to 2022 when this Constitution began to be implemented, it meant that the then Government had to borrow tremendously to a tune of Ksh10 trillion to ensure that they cover the huge expenditure of running a bloated Government. The President critically addressed that issue. He clearly said that although the previous Government borrowed heavily – close to Ksh10 trillion – this country cannot afford to continue borrowing to support consumption. He also addressed the issue of what the country is doing to ensure that we do not go in the direction of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana, Greece and even Sri Lanka, which have defaulted on their national debt obligations, therefore, bringing down their rating in the international financial institutions. Debt is an existential danger to this country. The President addressed that issue succinctly in the sense that we need to raise our revenue collection and keep a close watch over our debts so that we are ready to pay when they fall due. The Eurobond will fall due soon, and the President assured us that the Government is ready to pay that debt. The danger of not paying is that we will lose our sovereignty in the eyes of the international financial institutions. We are currently complaining about high taxation but the consequences of defaulting on our debts are that the inflation rate will spiral, our shilling will be devalued and our credit rating will be downgraded internationally. The President’s suggestions that we need to digitise our revenue collection so that there is no revenue leakage, and ensure that our debts are paid on time, are steps in the right direction. The President also addressed the issue of education, which is the equaliser between the rich and the poor. A country can only progress if it has a well-educated population. Allocating Ksh600 billion to the education sector in this financial year and employing 56,000 new teachers under the TSC to educate our children are steps in the right direction. I also want to talk about food. We can talk about many things but a hungry man is an angry man. The President addressed that issue by ensuring that our people can access cheap fertilisers. Finally, youth unemployment is a big problem in this country. The President talked about interventions such as digitisation, Export Processing Zones (EPZs) and housing programmes, which are addressing issues of unemployment I support the President's Speech.

Member for Mwingi West, Hon. Charles Ngusya.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to add my voice to the debate on the President’s Speech. His Excellency President William Samoei Ruto is one of the smartest politicians that I have ever seen in this country. If I can rate the President, he scores 100 per cent politically, below average economically and below average socially. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Let me engage on the Speech. I appreciate his expressions in regard to agriculture. He ensured that farmers have access to subsidised fertilisers. I still need to stress that majority of this country’s agricultural inputs do not rely much on fertilisers. A lot more needs to be done in arid and semi-arid zones. Water provision instead of fertilisers could boost our agricultural productivity. His Excellency the President touched on expansion of post-harvest storage facilities, which has been done. They should be equitably distributed across the country. Only a few areas have experienced the benefits. Post-harvest storage facilities should be established all over the country without discrimination or favour. Community health workers, who have been deployed across the country, are a positive. That is the one thing that I love our President for. The programme should be enhanced to ensure that it is sustainable. There are also issues in education. We have implemented a new curriculum and employed 56,000 new teachers. We need to interrogate the employment of those teachers in terms of ethnic and regional balance, and many other things. There is still bias in employment. There are also stalled infrastructure projects. I recall Cabinet Secretary Murkomen stressing the need to complete stalled projects in this country when he was on the Floor of the House. My constituency is one of the most adversely affected by stalled projects. The Kibwezi– Mutomo–Kitui–Kabati–Migwani–Mbondoni Road, which is supposed to connect eight counties, is among them. The President should come out clearly and explore a good strategy of how to complete stalled projects. I know that this does not only affect Mwingi West Constituency, but the whole country. The previous administration started many projects and if we do not complete them, we will be wasting public resources. We should follow the Vision 2030 Project, which was initiated by President Mwai Kibaki. The President should have clearly explained how we will deal with issues of blackouts. Every Kenyan should be connected to electricity. I did not hear that being mentioned. I agree with the President that we must admit that we have been living large and way beyond our means as a country. Time has come to retire the false comforts and illusionary benefits of wasteful expenditure and counter-productive subsidies and consumption, which have led us to dig ourselves deeper into the hole of avoidable debts.

Allow him one more minute to complete his sentence.

I acknowledge what the President said. I empathise with this country. We need to pay all our debts. I am praying for our country’s success. Kenya’s success is everybody’s success, whether you support the Government or not. Let us pray for Kenya’s success for the benefit of Kenyans. Let us pay our debts.

Member for Kitutu Chache South, Hon. Anthony Kibagendi.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to also contribute to this Motion. While we appreciate that Kenya is a work in progress, we must also do things in the right way and use the right terminologies. The President’s statement that the Government has employed close to 60,000 teachers was inappropriate because only 10,000 teachers have been employed. The rest are on internship programmes. The President did not address matters of national cohesion and integration.

On a point of order, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

What is your point of order, Hon. Baya?

Hon. Deputy Speaker, this is a House of records that relies on data. This is a House of truth. For Hon. Kibagendi to rise in his place and claim that the number of 56,750 teachers that the President said have been employed is incorrect, lowers the dignity of this House because the statistics are there. The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) can provide the statistics. Intern teachers are different from permanent and The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

pensionable ones. The information is in the public domain and to disparage the President’s Speech to say such things, as he does, is out of order. Unless Hon. Kibagendi substantiates, it is good manners to withdraw untruths. I request him to get data from the TSC that indicates the number of permanent and pensionable as well as intern teachers and present it to the House. If that is not done, what he has said should be expunged from the record of the House. He should also apologise. Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

Hon. Kibagendi, do you have confirmation from the TSC that no teachers were employed and that only intern teachers were employed? Yes or no?

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I am one of the youngest Members of Parliament. From research, it is factual that 9,100 teachers were employed on permanent and pensionable basis. The rest are interns. That is the truth.

Hon. Kibagendi, if you make that allegation, you have the duty to substantiate.

That is the truth, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

I am not asking you to say your truth. You should have an official document or data from the TSC website to show that.

That information is on all websites and newspapers.

What we need is an official document from the TSC. Do you have one?

Hon. Deputy Speaker, these are the facts.

I ask you to withdraw that information. You have an opportunity to re-introduce it later once you have the document.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, I can provide the document to the House later.

Okay. But for now you have to withdraw that unsubstantiated information.

Okay. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I withdraw.

Proceed.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, while at it, when they say 56,750 teachers, they did not substantiate the claims because even that figure is a claim but let me proceed. The President did not address the issue of national cohesion, inequitable distribution of national resources and job opportunities. There is a committee in Parliament that demonstrated that the few jobs that were created at the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) were unfairly distributed amongst a few communities. I thought that is a national issue that the President should have addressed. The other point is about the President being misinformed by those who give him data. An example is on the issue of the gentleman by the name Mr Harrison Karisa from Mombasa County who has accessed Ksh714,000 from the Hustler Fund and wants to be given more money so as to purchase a tuk tuk . With Ksh714,000, that gentleman can buy two tuk tuks that he can use to generate income. Another issue is that the Government has not given clear indicators on job creation for the youth. When the President talks about 50,000 jobs created in the construction industry, not all youth are fundis . Most young Kenyans hope to get job opportunities far beyond the The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

construction industry. The President ought to have spoken about job losses in the steel, banking and various industries.

On a point of order, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

What is your point of order, Hon. Nyamai?

Thank you very much, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I have interrupted Hon. Kibagendi on a matter of facts. When I look at the President’s Speech on pages 12 and 13, the President specifically talked about different cadres of the youth. He talked about the jua kali sector and further explained about engineers, architects, quantity surveyors, among other professions. Is it in order for Hon. Kibagendi to only focus on the negatives while ignoring all the positives? For example, on pages 12 and 13 all the positives have been clearly stated.

On a point of order, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

What is your point of order, Hon. Dawood?

Hon. Deputy Speaker, Hon. Kibagendi has misrepresented the President’s Speech. This is in reference to where the President talked about Mr Karisa accessing Ksh714,000. This money was accessed in bits. Hon. Kibagendi said that with Ksh714,000, he could have bought two tuk tuks but that Ksh714,000 was not accessed at once. Therefore, it is not possible for Mr Karisa to buy two

. Hon. Kibagendi should correct those facts on page 11, paragraph 40.

Hon. Kibagendi, do you want to make reference to the Speech? Have you looked at it?

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I have read the President’s Speech several times. I also listened to the President, so I know what I am talking about. On what Hon. Nyamai has alluded to, it is around the construction industry. That is what I clearly stated. The job opportunities that young people in Kenya need are beyond the construction industry. When you talk about quantity surveyors and engineers, it is purely in the construction industry. On the issue that Hon. Dawood has raised, up to this point Mr Karisa has accessed Ksh714,000. That amount was not received at once. But it is at this point that he should be given access to guarantee him an opportunity to buy two motorbikes.

Hon. Kibagendi, if someone accesses some amount of money, it is for them to decide what they shall buy with it. It is not for you to tell them what a better idea is, because you are not in his business. You are over speculating on that issue. Proceed and stick to factual issues in the Speech. Avoid speculations.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. The problem is that you accept speculations from those who support the President but disagree with the facts I am presenting but let me proceed. The Government is late on its promises and bills. It is time that the Government transformed its lofty visions into actual projects and services to the people of Kenya who gave it an opportunity to serve. Despite all the interruptions, I thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

Hon. Rachael Nyamai.

You will be the next one to contribute, Hon. Murugara.

Thank you very much, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I also thank you for your indulgence earlier on. First of all, I congratulate the President. It is not easy to lead a country; it is a difficult task. On the other hand, it is easier to The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

oppose and say no to everything being done. I take this opportunity, as Member of Parliament for Kitui South, to congratulate the President for the first one year. From where he started and the situation that the country was in, thus far, he has managed to push the country. The President spoke about matters ranging from health, security, agriculture to everything that pertains this country, in only one hour and six minutes. On matters that touch on my constituency directly, I will start with the issue of employment of teachers. I thank the President because teachers have been employed in my constituency, both in primary and secondary schools. Teachers were employed in schools in Ikutha and Mutomo wards, Kitui South Sub-County. Teachers were also recruited in the newly registered junior secondary schools. I would like to appeal that when another opportunity arises, whether for teachers being employed on permanent or part-time basis, my constituency is considered. I welcome the employment of all teachers in my constituency on whatever basis. This is because my constituency, just like many other constituencies in rural areas, is highly understaffed. I will also touch on the matter of reduction of the cost of fertiliser. We are aware that about a year ago, fertiliser in this country cost Ksh6,500, but the cost has now gone down to Ksh2,500, courtesy of the President. This is a reduction of Ksh4,000. I also want to congratulate the President because of working in collaboration with counties. This is because previously, farmers purchased fertilisers for themselves but this time round, the Government is purchasing and the President is using county governments to distribute. With the current rains, we look forward to increased production of maize especially in Kitui County.

We have also seen a reduction in the cost of unga, which was Ksh250 per packet when we were campaigning and it was too high. It has dropped to an average of about Ksh150 and we cannot take this for granted. I believe it can go lower and so we are asking the President to further reduce the cost of other household goods.

As the Member of Parliament for Kitui South and various committees in this House, I thank the President for giving us products of his travels abroad. There is no way he can make multilateral and bilateral agreements while seated here. We have seen the agreements made and look forward to seeing an increased growth of businesses in this country. The businessmen and women look forward to seeing the agreements made on taxation and other issues.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, another product of travel is there. There is no way the President can sit down and not engage the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Department for International Development (DFID) and Asian Development Bank (ADB). Through these travels he has been able to engage, come-up with agreements and signed loans which are useful so that this country can develop. As I finish, the housing sector will give us various houses; social and affordable houses and market rate house. It will also provide jobs for our children; those in the jua kali sector and also the highly educated like engineers and others who have done high level degrees. So, it is taking care of the jua kali sector and the highly educated. Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker, for the opportunity.

Hon. Sir George Murugara.

Thank you, very much, Hon. Deputy Speaker. Last Thursday, we heard the State of the Nation Address by His Excellency the President. We are required to debate this Speech for the next three days. I know many people are saying that we are giving His Excellency the President accolades where they are not due. I started by saying that the Speech was given in a timely manner because Kenyans were expectant and wanted to hear what this Government has done in the last one year. It is not just the Government but we as Members of Parliament are also being called to book, and tell our constituents what we have done in the last one year. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

His Excellency the President gave a statesmanship address while composed and allayed the expectations of Kenyans on negativity and gave us hope. He spoke on a wide range of issues including the high cost of living. He confirmed that the only way we can reduce the cost of living is by subsidising production and emphasised on fertilisers and seeds for planting. He also spoke on the high debts the country has and which ones are increasing without borrowing. This is because our shilling is losing value against the international currencies including the dollar. We have to repay these debts otherwise if we default everybody will rank Kenya as a failed state. He spoke on petroleum products whose prices should come down. We expect this to happen in spite of the fact that the Government has no control on prices at the international level. It is important to say that he is a caring and listening President. This is because as he gave his Speech, we had just seen the legal notices from the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration, my constituent, Prof Kithure Kindiki. Kenyans were up in arms and there was hue and cry regarding the cost of services to Kenyans. We are happy to see that the Government listened to this and published recommended reductions which had to be subjected to public participation. This is what a listening and caring Government should do. There was a paragraph or two on employment, which is very important. Employment in the country as initiated by the President cannot come in any other way save through investments. This is why he has been visiting foreign countries so as to attract investments for our country and ensure our youth who are languishing in unemployment are able to secure jobs. It was important to speak about teachers, and he clearly mentioned that we have employed over 56,000 teachers whether interns or permanent and pensionable ones. These are young trained teachers who are going to classrooms to teach. Hope for the interns is that as soon as they complete their term of internships, they are able to secure jobs which are permanent and pensionable. The President mentioned about housing and we have all seen the edifices coming up across the country; beautiful houses which will be sold to Kenyans so we can move towards modern living. This is very important. He also mentioned about the Financial Inclusion Fund or Hustler Fund. It is doing wonders in the country and people are borrowing and repaying so the Fund is revolving as required. As Members of Parliament, we should encourage Kenyans to borrow this money, make prudent use of it and repay so others can benefit. We heard about health and we do not have to go very far. Let us talk about the Community Health Promoters (CHPs) who are extremely important. This is a milestone in the way we are doing things because the CHPs are required at the grassroots level to attend to minor ailments afflicting our people there. There was a paragraph on foreign relations which is very important because we live in a global community where we must relate very well with other countries in the universe. We have heard some Kenyans complaining that the President has made too many trips abroad. We must make friends in the globe and attract other countries to invest in our country. This way we grow our economy and jobs. I submit it is welcome for the President to be visiting these countries. A little bit offline is the issue of Haiti where our police officers are supposed to go and bring order to that country. This has been debated in all quarters and levels. What clearly came out is that Kenya has not volunteered itself but the international community asked us to send our police officers to Haiti so they can help that country to get law and order. Our police officers are more than willing to go there. We are not incurring any expenses but training them and we have done so before. They have gone to other countries to provide the required peace. We have had our forces go to other countries and they have done a fantastic job including in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Europe and everywhere else. We were in Bosnia and Herzegovina and now as we speak, we are back in Somalia and DRC Congo. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

I cannot finish my speech without talking about the expectations of Kenyans on our Government. We cannot say much than what we have said that every Kenyan is expectant and the only message we have for the country is let us be patient. Let us repay the debts and let us see money growing so that we move to development. My constituency, Tharaka, is equally expectant. It is important to point out that being a marginalised area in the eastern region, we have high expectations. The roads are not good. We are experiencing El-Nino . The blame is on the Government. The blame is on me as their Member of Parliament that the Government is not going down to work on those roads. We really have to inform the Government. As soon as the rains subside, let us move down to the entire country, fix our road network so that our citizens can enjoy communication. Electricity supply is in short supply in Tharaka and everywhere else in the country. We have to improve connection to the national grid, Tharaka topping this. Like now we should be harvesting water. There is a lot of water that is draining into the Indian Ocean. In another one year, we shall be crying when drought comes. It is high time we put into place means and ways of harvesting water that will be used in North Eastern Kenya, in my region with the constituents of Tharaka and water that will be used everywhere else it is needed. For my constituency, I call upon the Government for affirmative action in the matters of development. Tharaka is marginalised, arid and semi-arid and therefore requires to be considered in a totally different perspective.

With those remarks, Hon. Temporary Speaker, I congratulate the President. This Speech was balanced. This Speech tried to touch on all spheres of life in the country. Let us wait with the hope we were given by His Excellency, the President. I support.

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Thank you very much. Hon. Andrew Okuome, Member for Karachuonyo.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me an opportunity to put my word on the Presidential Address to the nation. I know and I acknowledge the fact that Kenyans are proud people. They want to see the best for this nation. They are crying out for good lives. When the President was giving his Speech, in my mind I was analysing and seeing the benefits and advantages we were going to get from it. I had in mind what Kenyans are facing as we move along today and relate that with a Speech I expected the President to make. The key issue Kenyans are talking about and which is extremely important is the cost of living. If you do not address this adequately, the value of your Speech, however good it may be, goes down. It is my opinion that the President did not fully meet the expectations of the Kenyan population on the cost of living. People are suffering. I do not need to elaborate on this although he said the cost of maize has gone down. If it has, then this is not the reality on the ground. If I check what is happening in my own area or the region I come from, the cost of living in terms of needs is still as high as it was earlier after we had passed the Budget of the Financial Year 2023/2024. I, therefore, expected not just some good wishes and intentions but the President to tell us strong methods he has taken to reduce the prices. I know this is caused by the high cost of fuel. Unfortunately, the President avoided to talk on this and yet it is fuel which is igniting the suffering of the Kenyan population. Yes, the President has said and it is the policy of the Government that we cannot subsidise consumption but subsidise production. That might look The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

very good but using this wholesale is not addressing the interests of Kenyans having in mind the same fuel I am talking about. It is a very essential commodity that Kenyans need. In fact, this is where the President should come up with full control so that people do not suffer because once this goes out of the way, the lives of Kenyans go out of the way as well. The last regime used to subsidise petrol. I was told if you do this you are not going to make Kenya competitive yet at that time when subsidy was being given for petrol and the Kenya Shilling was also supported, we remained competitive a lot more than we are today. If somebody wants to challenge me why am saying this, this is why: Uganda, our neighbour here, which has been with us all along, has left us. They are now importing their own fuel directly and the price they are paying is now lower. Why are we pricing ourselves out of the world market by weakening the Kenyan Shilling? The Kenyan Shilling should be supported by the Government.

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Hon. Gladys Boss, Member for Uasin Gishu.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to speak on this very important matter. It is a matter that is clearly provided for in Article 132 of our Constitution that requires the President to report through a State of the Nation Address or an address to the nation all measures taken and the progress achieved in the realisation of national values. These particular measures in the report and the progress in the report are required by the same Article 132 to be gazetted in the official

. So, for those, such as Hon. Kibagendi who are alluding that the facts in the report are not accurate, must understand that this is a legal document. It is a gazette notice which means should you have any challenge about it, you can legally challenge the publication in the Gazette and then request for an order that an addendum or a corrigendum be put in the official Kenya Gazette . It cannot be by simply raising superfluous statements here in the House. It must be factual. I dare those to do that. Hon. Temporary Speaker, as I rise to lend my voice to this debate, I wish to use this opportunity to congratulate the Head of State for this exemplary Speech. He was honest on the fact that he took over a Government that was having fiscal challenges, a sinking economy, fraught with unemployment, and challenges in the education and health sectors. He was honest about it. He did not say that it was a rosy picture.

He also indicated, and we know for a fact, that there were two choices: either the Head of State buries his head in the sand and decides to be a popular leader and continue subsidising petroleum and food for everyone to clap and cheer on... However, that was not going to be sustainable and eventually, the country would have sunk. There was the other choice that he has taken: to undertake serious interventions and focus on certain programmes that may be painful in the short run but will pay off in the long run with a complete economic transformation of this country.

Hon. Temporary Speaker, what is positive about the report is that it addresses the challenges Kenyans had. Kenyans have had challenges in education, both its funding and their own ability to pay. Kenyans have had challenges with affordable credit, affordable housing and housing in general, health care, agriculture sector which is the backbone of our economy and services, and many others. In setting out the measures taken, the President has given us the interventions undertaken by his Government on the education sector. The shortage of teachers has been addressed by employment of 56,000 teachers or thereabouts and the training of 8,200 others. On university education, we all know that our universities were going bankrupt…

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Please give her three more minutes.

I thought I had ten minutes. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Please give her the microphone.

Thank you for that. With that, we knew that our universities had debts. Universities are now being funded because the funding methodology is student-centred. The funding follows the student, and not funding even when you do not have students. The establishment of Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) has also ensured we have a central admission system that ensures students get full access to scholarships to study and access to education by having the Open University of Kenya being chartered. Affordable credit has been resolved by establishment of the Hustler Fund and by putting pressure on various Fintech companies which have since reduced the interest rates. Affordable housing does not only create employment, but also ensures that we realise Article 43 of our Constitution that says every Kenyan has a right to housing that has proper sanitation and is affordable. The revolution of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to ensure universal health care by establishment of the Social Insurance Fund, the Facilities Fund, and the Digital Fund will go a long way in ensuring that every Kenyan has access to healthcare. The establishment of the Kenya Health Human Resources Advisory Council will help curb inequality that exists in the human resource of the health sector. Hon. Temporary Speaker, agriculture has been revamped through rescuing of sugar companies, the Cherry Coffee Advance Revolving Fund, coolers and driers being put there for farmers and the fertiliser subsidy. Improvement of services through digitisation to wananchi has also been welcome.

Lastly, we have the fiscal policy interventions by ensuring we normalise our relations with the IMF. On Eurobond, for the first time, we have paid a quarter of the amount instalment and the promise that we shall retire the Eurobond by June, next year.

Thank you for the opportunity.

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Hon. Members, on my list, numbers one to 12 are on the left side. I will purposely pick a few Members from my right. Majority of those who have indicated interest almost from numbers one to 12 are on my left. I will go to Hon. Parashina Sakimba, Member of Parliament for Kajiado South. Is he in the House?

I am here.

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Alright.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I also stand to make some comments on the President’s Address.

First, I was impressed with the issue of making the Inspector-General of Police an Accounting Officer, and making the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) independent.

On a point of order.

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): What is out of order, Member for Garissa? Is that the Member for Garissa?

Yes. I am the Member for Garissa, Hon. Dekow Mohamed.

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Garissa Township?

Correct. Hon. Temporary Speaker, while I respect your ruling that you will be giving some Members from the other side a chance to speak, who have just come into the Chamber, I think it will be unfair to those of us who have been here from 9.30 a.m. You should consider that some of us have been here since 9.30 a.m., waiting for the same chance. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Thank you.

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Member for Garissa Township, you are not out of order. You are in order. I will tell you I am going to consider that. I was just sensitive to the fact that all the interventions I am seeing are on my right. I will endeavour to do what I have said. I will stick to what I have said, but will take into consideration what you have said. Hon. Parashina Sakimba, please proceed.

Let me proceed, Hon. Temporary Speaker. Like I had said, I support the President’s Speech. One of the issues that caught my attention was making the Inspector-General of Police an Accounting Officer and making the NPSC fully independent. Secondly, the repayment plan of paying debts to a tune of Ksh500 billion is very much welcome. It is my plea that once that one has been executed, we consider areas that are still disadvantaged. For example, in Kajiado South, because of the heavy rains now, we have seen a lot of damages on our roads which will make them impassable and our people will not be able to transport their food and other produce.

We are very happy for the creation of 400 markets across the country. This will enable our people to transact their businesses well. We understand some of them are selling their goods in the kibandas, making them not to take advantage of the market because of the challenges posed by the weather changes. The President also talked about the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) hub centres. These centres will make our country more digital and encourage our youths to take advantage of ICT because the world is moving towards that area.

The other issue is about the recruitment process of men and women in uniform in the security sector. The President said 75 per cent of opportunities will be given to recruits from the National Youth Service (NYS). That will encourage our youths to participate in NYS programmes. Sometimes they say that there is nothing they gain from there apart from going through some small training. The other advantage of that programme is that it will discourage corruption. Sometimes people are asked to give money and do other things during recruitment. People are given jobs based on whom they know. With selection being done in Nairobi and after giving priority to NYS recruits, we will pick the people who are interested in that job. Recruitment of teachers is also very welcome. We have seen it bring much impact to our constituencies. This is very much welcome if more chances are available.

We also need to comment on the housing project. Making sure that every person is given an opportunity to own a house is a good idea. However, some of us are from disadvantaged areas or far from mainstream cities like Mombasa, Nairobi or Nakuru. For example, those from Kajiado South, need to know when they will access the housing programme. That will also help our people.

I can assure you that community health workers are very happy with getting money, the 50-50 arrangement where county governments give 50 per cent and the national government gives 50 per cent. We need to encourage those programmes. We are very happy.

I will not take much time because I see that many Members have an interest in this. I support the President’s Address to the nation. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

(Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Hon. Mary Maingi, Member for Mwea Constituency.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity to comment on this very important Speech. During economic downturns, large corporations often lay off employees to cut down on costs and maintain profitability. Small-scale businesses play a critical role in promoting economic resilience and stimulating economic growth. In his address, the President mentioned The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

the exemplary performance of the Hustler Fund. It has a disbursement of Ksh36.6 billion, Ksh2.3 billion in savings, Ksh7.5 million of repeat borrowers, and an overall repayment rate of up to 73 per cent. He also mentioned the passing into law of the Universal Health Care Bills that constitute the Primary Healthcare Act, the new Social Health Insurance Act, the Digital Health Act, and the Facility Improvement Financing Act. These are to provide healthcare to all Kenyans. This will see all Kenyans access quality healthcare in our health facilities. A majority of Kenyans cannot even afford to get themselves to a health facility because they cannot afford the fare. If we talk of promotive-preventive healthcare, we will see community healthcare workers go to people’s doorsteps and attend to people with minor ailments. That will result in a very healthy workforce. Unhealthy people cannot go to work. The President also mentioned the employment of 56,750 teachers. This will reduce the deficit in our teaching staff. As a result, we will have an improved teacher-student ratio. Overall, we will have improved quality of education in our learning institutions. Allow me to congratulate the President for his Speech. It was full of inspiration and hope for all Kenyans. With that, Hon. Temporary Speaker, I support.

(Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Thank you very much. Hon. Aden Mohammed, Member for Wajir East Constituency.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity. I stand to support the Speech of His Excellency the President. There were very many good things in that Speech: digital transformation, more teachers for our schools, universal healthcare, fertiliser for agriculture, and reprieve for coffee farmers, and all that. However, I come from a region called Northern Kenya. That region has been marginalised for very many years. I am cognisant of the fact that there was Sessional Paper No.10 of 1965, which prioritised development along the railway line. Many of the things that were in the President’s Speech looked like a duplicate of that Sessional Paper. Three-quarters of this nation is arid and semi-arid land. Livestock is the mainstay of three-quarters of the nation. I have not heard any mention of the livestock industry in the President’s Speech. That was omitted yet it should be of importance to this nation. Our President is very strong on climate change. He is a global ambassador and champion on matters of climate change. Our country is synonymous with our President’s very eloquent elucidation of the vagaries of climate change. Unfortunately, one of the big manifestations of climate change in our country right now is the El Niño phenomenon. Again, in the President’s Speech, I have not heard or seen any mention of the El Niño phenomenon that is ravaging our country. I implore the President and his team to take this phenomenon very seriously. Parts of my constituency and major parts of Northern Kenya are now under floods. Unfortunately, over 50 people have lost their lives because of floods. Our nation is paying about Ksh1.871 trillion in debt this year. Debt is the biggest burden this country faces. While I applaud the efforts of His Excellency in reducing our debt burden and paying off at least a quarter of the Eurobond in advance before its maturity date of 30th June next year, I have not seen a corresponding reduction in our appetite for expenditure. For every Ksh100 we collect, we are paying Ksh81 to service our debt. As a country, we are still gobbling up expenditures in things that are not necessary. I would also like to see a reduction in our expenditure so that we can, at least, keep our debts at sustainable levels. Other than those few remarks, the Speech was full of good things for this country. I support the Speech. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

(Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Thank you very much. Hon. Rahim Dawood, Member for North Imenti Constituency.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. First of all, I congratulate His Excellency the President on the State of the Nation The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Address. When he was sworn in, he appointed six judges of the Court of Appeal who were pending in the other administration. He also increased the Judiciary Fund by Ksh3 billion. My sister, Chief Justice Martha Koome, is doing extremely well. Secondly, he made the Inspector-General of Police, Japheth Koome, the Accounting Officer of the NPS. This made them independent from the Ministry of Interior and National Administration, so that they can run their affairs properly. We have seen the expansion of agriculture because of the intervention that was done by reducing the fertiliser cost of one bag from Ksh6,000 to Ksh2,500. This has resulted in an extra 18 million bags of maize. More than 200,000 acres of land are under maize production. This has gone further to reduce the price of unga from Ksh250 to between Ksh145 and Ksh165. I am really surprised because the Minority Party has not acknowledged the reduction of price of

which is the intervention of His Excellency the President.

Hon. Temporary Speaker, we have the affordable housing programme. Over 746,795 affordable houses are in the pipeline. They will not only create jobs for the jua kali sector but also give decent dwellings to the downtrodden. The ones who will buy them at the social housing will do so at 3 per cent, affordable housing at 6 per cent and the market rates at 9 per cent. This shows how much the President has thought about affordable housing. Ordinarily, anybody who goes to a bank does not get less than 12 per cent interest on loans.

The President talked about Universal Health Coverage (UHC). I thank this House for passing the four health Bills. The national Government and county governments look forward to the Community Health Promoters. We will employ over 100, 000 of them who will nip diseases in the bud. They will go to each and every village. Instead of people covering long distances to go to hospitals, they will be getting interventions, so that diseases do not get worse. His Excellency the President’s Government has invested heavily in the ICT sector. We will have 1,450 digital hubs and over 25,000 free Wi-Fi hot spots. My constituency already has between four and five free hot spots which assist people in our markets and residents in doing digital business. The Government has very ambitious 100,000-kilometre fibre optic cables. The pensions’ money that we have at the moment is Ksh1.4 billion. However, after the effect of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) enhancements, we have Ksh6.5 billion. The other things are markets and aggregation centres which this Government has brought forward. I have one or two market aggregation centres in my constituency. I believe that is the way to go. We thank the President. In the digital space, we have more than 13,000 services which are now on the E-citizen platform.

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Hon. Richard Yegon, Member for Bomet East.

Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I rise to contribute to this State of the Nation Address by the President. I support his Speech. When he took over office, there were many challenges which this administration faced. He is still trying to do his best. First of all, there was the issue of the COVID-19 Pandemic which ravaged the whole nation and globe. This contributed immensely to making the country a net importer of food. It also depleted the country’s revenues. When the President took over office, he made the Inspector-General of Police to be the Accounting Officer of the NPS, thus, giving them their financial autonomy. The cost of living is very high. This is something which not only affects our nation but also affects all the other countries. We have travelled to other countries and they are all talking about the same thing. The President has subsidised fertiliser which has given us a niche of trying to improve these hard economic times. The cost of 90 kilogrammes of maize has come down from Ksh6,500 to Ksh3,500 or Ksh4,000 in my area. Thus, this is the reality of subsidising production. There is an issue of distribution of this fertiliser. The subsidy was for The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

5.5 billion bags of fertiliser. The President talked about devolving these distribution units further to the local levels which will help our farmers get it. He also talked about coolers which will be supplied to the farmers in all our areas, including my constituency. There are some areas which have been pointed out where they will be installed. He also talked about Universal Health Coverage (UHC) which will make all our people access health facilities in all our hospitals. It will not allow people to conduct harambees in order to access health facilities.

The President also talked about clearing the pending bills before we start the new ones. There are also issues of infrastructure which are ongoing. When the President talks, it becomes a reality. I like it when he speaks about all these things and makes them a reality because he takes the bull by the horns. Lastly, some people are pointing fingers at the President. I would like to ask some of our Members who are very critical of this Government to tell us what they have really done in their constituencies. Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Hon. Members, this morning, we have students from Riara International School from Dagoretti South Constituency, Nairobi City County, who are seated in the Public Gallery. You are welcome to the National Assembly. The next opportunity, Hon. Members, will go to Hon. Gideon Ochanda, Member for Bondo.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. The President carried out a very critical national duty last week in this House. It should be understood that it was a serious national duty. I only want to make two or three comments, which I ought to have made when the Leader of the Majority Party was here. First, is the issue of the environment in which we make our statements. Second, is how we package public information. Last, is the huge support that is going to counties from this financial year onwards. The environment that we operate in results in some public statements not being properly understood by the citizenry. We have a citizenry that wants immediate results. If you talk about fertiliser, they want it in their farms today. They want products immediately. The section of the Government that packages public information should be aware that we are communicating to a public that wants immediate results. Information on long-term projects should be packaged in a manner that does not make it seem like those projects are being introduced tomorrow. Some of the information that is dispensed is not clearly understood. Who packages information? The Government should look into that matter. A lot of public information is released crudely and it becomes difficult to correct it on time. Certain segments of the Government are insensitive. Our country’s current situation dictates that nobody should be talking about adding levies or taxes on the citizenry. Certain segments of the Government, which are fully aware of this, are very insensitive to the extent that they still come up with proposals and ideas to increase monies for obtaining identification cards and marriage certificates. We live in an environment where some of these things are taken literally. News on social media moves very fast and exaggerates most of the things that we do. The public only hears the exaggerated bits. Segments of the Government that are responsible for public communication should not quickly release confusing information to the public. They should “brew” and “cook” things properly to ensure that the end product is ready to be “eaten” by the public. I wanted to bring out that critical point. Second, is the support that we are extending to counties, which was indicated in the President’s Speech and the Budget that we passed. We need to re-look at it because it will be a problem in future. The national Government is committing Ksh2,500 to each public health The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

promoter, an amount which will be matched by county governments. What if a county government fails to match that amount? When will that programme be implemented? County governments are supposed to match the Ksh250 million allocation to industrial parks. What if they fail to do so? The national Government will support a number of markets. There are five markets in my county. County governments should manage markets. How will they do it? These are things that the Government needs to look at afresh, otherwise, there will be problems later on. The national Government may end up paying for certain services, yet county governments may not match those contributions. The national Government will be blamed at the end because county governments are closer to the people. When the national Government releases its Ksh2,500 allocation to each public health promoter and county governments fail to match the amount, they will say that it is the national Government that failed. They will get to communities much faster than the national Government. The Government needs to take a serious and fresh look at this.

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Hon. Hilary Kosgei, Member for Kipkelion West.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I rise to add my voice to the debate on the President’s Speech. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Americans were faced with serious economic challenges. The then President Franklin D. Roosevelt came out with a speech to calm an anxious nation. He said that their values had shrunk to fantastic levels, their taxes had risen and their ability to pay had fallen. He said that the Government found itself with serious curtailment of income and the means of exchange was frozen in all fronts and areas of trade. He finally told them that the American people had nothing to fear but fear itself. Americans realised the enormous task that their President had and decided to rally to a man to assist the President to get America out of the Great Depression in response to their President’s Speech. Our country’s situation is not unique. Kenyans must remember that the Kenya Kwanza administration took over power when the economy was in the “Intensive Care Unit” (ICU). The President, being the surgeon that he is, started work immediately to remove the economy from the “ICU” to the “High Dependency Unit” (HDU), and is now stabilising it in the “wards’. He started by cutting excessive spending by Ksh300 billion in the First Supplementary Estimates. He also moved the country away from subsidising consumption towards subsidising production. That is why we see successes in agriculture, where we subsidised fertilisers to Ksh2,500 per bag. Kenyan farmers went to their farms and produced 200,000 more bags than in previous years. The President informed Kenyans in his Speech of the current economic situation and the measures that he is adopting to ensure that the “patient”, which is the economy, is removed from the “ward” and released. As we contribute to debate on the President’s Speech, I call on Kenyans to trust their President to remove them from economic hardships. These economic hardships were put on us by the excess spending of the previous Government. It is known all over. Social media recently reported on leaking roofs at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). The current Cabinet Secretary for Roads, Transport, and Public Works, Mr Kipchumba Murkomen, is blamed instead of blaming the “tender-preneurs” who had captured the previous regime and implemented that project. We need to be candid and tell people that the President is cleaning up the mess that was created by the previous regime. That will form the foundation for progress of the Republic of Kenya. I assure Kenyans that this country shall rise and it shall be good. The President touched on certain areas in his Speech. First, we passed four healthcare Bills that will transform the health sector and remove cartels, who are used to reaping Kenyan The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

money from the NHIF scheme, and enable Kenyans to get free medication funded by their taxes. Second…

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Give him one more minute. Hon. Hilary Kosgei, please conclude.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. Second are reforms in the coffee, dairy and sugar sectors, where we have waived over Ksh117 billion non-performing loans for Kenyan farmers, and sent a warning to cartels that were used to occupying that space that it is time for them to get out of the space so that Kenyan farmers benefit from the present Government.

On NYS, the President promised that moving forward we will take 40,000 cohorts from every village, which will be the basis for recruitment to the forces to avoid situations where Kenyans are forced to pay money to be recruited into the disciplined forces. The speech was good and it had a lot of things that time cannot allow me to talk about. Hon. Temporary Speaker, I beg to support.

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Next is the Member for Trans Nzoia, Hon. Lilian Siyoi.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me this chance to also contribute to the speech by His Excellency the President last week. As a farmer and a Member of Parliament for Trans Nzoia County, which is a food basket for this country, I appreciate the President for the fertiliser subsisdy. He found it wise to subsidise fertiliser instead of the price of unga . He has killed two birds with one stone. The cost of maize flour has reduced after the fertiliser subsidy. I am sure the people who were on the streets demonstrating the prices of unga have calmed down.

Secondly, I want to speak on the issue of health. Food, health, education and shelter are basic needs which the President touched on individually. He has already worked on them. He thought it wise to come up with primary healthcare because having preventative measures for diseases will help in cutting costs of medication. He has acted and we have to apply his actions. I am aware of criticism, which is normal, but the kind we are putting across is not worth it. When this Government took over, the price of unga and fuel were already high. The people are pushing for a subsidy on fuel, but it is not possible because it will kill other ministries. This is not the mandate of the President. He has tried his best and is working on ensuring that Kenyans’ basic needs are met. I also want to urge Members, especially from the opposition, to say the truth. Our electorates depend on us for leadership and truth about what is happening in this country. When we stand here and lie that the President is increasing the prices of fuel, it is wrong because we are misleading electorates.

I applaud the speech by the President and congratulate him for what he is doing. When you come into a new house, it is difficult to work things out as fast as people expect. During courting in relationships, we think marriage will be a bed of roses. Afterwards, we come to the realisation that it is harder than expected. When the President was elected, he did not think the country was in the ICU. He realised later that things were worse than expected. He is really trying his best to grow Kenya’s economy. As Members of Parliament, we pray for him to achieve the agenda he promised Kenyans. In concluding, there is one issue that has been caused by employees of the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB). There are cartels that are buying subsidised fertilisers and selling to farmers across the country. I urge the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development to check on this and ensure that farmers get fertilisers at the subsidised price. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Hon. Dekow Barrow, Member for Garissa Township. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I rise to support the speech by the President and appreciate his wisdom and charisma in presenting his report. If you read the speech and report by the President, there is a connection with his speech last year and the Manifesto of the Kenya Kwanza Government. While he was campaigning, he made promises and pledges to this country. In his first speech, he laid a foundation. After one year of presidency, he is giving us a report of what Kenyans should look forward to. As a leader of a country like Kenya, sometimes you are forced to make hard and painful decisions for the betterment of tomorrow. The President had pledged and promised Kenyans but some issues required legislation and policy changes. That is what Parliament has worked on in the last one year. For instance, the President pledged on a number of issues like education. Currently, there is a new model of funding for university education where almost 45,000 students will benefit from an average of 80 per cent fees reduction. There are 56,000 new teachers who were recruited to cover the gap that has been there over the years. Currently, there is JSS funding, for both infrastructure and capitation. If you sum up all that has happened in the education sector, a burden has been lifted from parents who are not able to pay for their children’s education. According to the report by the President on food production, the subsidy has resulted in reduction of prices of unga from Ksh265 to Ksh170 per 2-kilogramme pack. That means the programme he put in place has worked. The second-highest importation in this country after petroleum is edible oil. Currently, there is distribution of subsidised sunflower seeds to encourage farmers to grow. This means that in the next address by the President, we will have information on production of sunflower. There is also value addition in agricultural production. During his campaign, the President promised and signed a charter to put up industrial parks in every county. I want to report that my county has already started that project, which will cover post-harvest losses for farmers. The President also talked about affordable housing, social housing and market housing programmes. All these were not only intended to create decent housing for our people but also employment for the youth. The other issue was on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and we have talked about it in this House. The National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) contribution will be reduced from Ksh500 to Ksh375 per family. One Hundred Thousand UHC workers will also be employed. All that will reduce the cost of living for the people of this country. On the Hustler Fund, it is very encouraging that 73 per cent…

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): You spoke very well. Actually, you have concluded very well. Hon. Zaheer Jhanda, Member for Nyaribari Chache.

Hon. Jared Okello, you are disturbing. I observed you crossing the Floor and decided to leave it out because I did not want to interfere with the Member who was on his feet. So, I encourage you to please take your seat and give Hon. Zaheer Jhanda, Member for Nyaribari Chache, an opportunity to be heard in silence.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I rise to support the President's Speech because he undertook to ensure urgent transformation of our economy when he assumed office last year. We have seen the progress that has been made so far in enhancing food production, creating employment, and taming inequality. In fact, construction of 400 markets complete with water, electricity and other amenities is ongoing across the nation. For example, in my constituency, we have three new markets coming up; Keumbu, Birongo and Amariba which is a very great progress. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

I come from Nyanza where the Government is restructuring the sugar sector. Recently, we saw the President fighting cartels in the sugar industry. With the approval of this House, the Government will pay about Ksh1.8 billion to the farmers in this country before the end of the year. I want to ask my countrymen and women to give the President time. This man, His Excellency William Ruto, is working extraordinary hard to ensure that he revives this economy. As Kenyans are aware, we inherited a dilapidated economy that had collapsed, but today we are doing well. The economy is not so good but the President is doing all he can, to ensure all is well. He is on the right trajectory and he said before the end of June next year, the Ksh500 billion Eurobond debt will be repaid. Lastly, my fellow citizens let us support this Government. The President is doing well and I support his Speech. Thank you.

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Hon. Ali Wario, Member for Garsen.

Asante sana, Mhe. Spika wa Muda kwa fursa hii. Ningependa kumpongeza Rais kwa Hotuba nzuri. Ninakata kuongea kuhusu usalama wa nchi. Inashangaza sana wakati Serikali inatia bidii ili usalama upatikane katika nchi yetu ya Kenya, jamii zinazidi kuzozana. Inafaa tutafute kiini kinachosababisha jamii kukosana. Labda Serikali haitumii mbinu mwafaka, ya kusaidia jamii kuishi kwa amani. Kwa hivyo, ninasisitiza jamii kwanza. Wazee, ambao ni kitengo muhimu sana, pamoja na viongozi wahusishwe katika mambo ya usalama. Haiwezekani mtu katika ofisi ya Serikali kuamini kwamba kuleta usalama ni kutumia nguvu, mabavu ama unyanyasaji. Hivyo, hatuwezi kusaidika. Ninampongeza Rais kwa hiyo Hotuba kuhusu mambo ya usalama. Kwamba jamii ihusishwe na hasa wazee na viongozi. Ni ajabu sana kwamba waziri anaweza kuzuru sehemu fulani kuangalia usalama bila viongozi waliochaguliwa kuhusishwa. Hiyo haiwezekani. Ndiyo maana amani haipatikani katika sehemu za Rift Valley . Hata serikali ikipeleka jeshi kule, hawawezi wakaleta usalama. Jambo lingine kuhusu usalama ni kwamba vijana wanapotezwa kwa kusingiziwa mambo ya ugaidi; labda na viongozi wa dini... Lazima serikali ibadilishe mbini na kujua vijana wanaoshukiwa kuwa wagaidi. Ni nini inasababisha ugaidi? Labda hawahusiki na wanasingiziwa tu ama ni mambo ya food insecurity na njaa. Lazima haya mambo yaangaliwe. Jambo lingine ni kuhusu subsidised fertiliser . Wengine wetu ni wafugaji. Serikali inasisitiza kuhusu ukulima wa kahawa, majani chai, mahindi na kadhalika. Huwezi kula ugali bila mboga na nyama. Kwa hivyo, Serikali iangazie ufugaji na iweke pesa sawa sawa ili ufugaji uendelee. Hii ni kwa sababu, ufugaji unahusiana na culture na kuchangia pakubwa katika uchumi wa nchi yetu. Ufugaji lazima uangaliwe. Wakulima wamelima na mafuriko yana waathiri pakubwa kwa sababu mimea imetoa mazao na sasa inabebwa na maji. Kwa hivyo, ninaomba Serikali ifikirie mbinu za kupatia fidia kwa jamii zilizoathirika ili watu wawe na moyo wa kulima zaidi. Hiyo ndiyo njia pekee ya kuwasaidia kutokana na dharura ya mafuriko. Kuhusu Housing Programme, inafaa waanze na watu walio kule mashambani kwa sababu wanahama kutoka huko kuja town . Lakini, wakijengewa kule mashambani, watabaki huko wawekewe maji, wapewe usalama, barabara na kadhalika ili wawe encouraged kuishi huko. Asante sana, Mhe. Spika wa Muda.

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Mhe. Hon. Bernard Shinali, Member for Ikolomani. He seems to have withdrawn from the chamber. Hon. Joseph Kahangara, Member for Lari.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me an opportunity to also contribute to the President’s Speech. We all know he was discharging his responsibility as per Article 132 of the Constitution, where he has to give the The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

state of the nation to Kenyans. He has to tell them what has been done and what he intends to do so as to bring economic transformation in this country. This Speech came at the right time for reasons that the President took over a country with a dilapidated economy. Kenyans out there are crying because of the high cost of living. They have been asking themselves whether this was the right Government. As politicians, we have been out there trying our best to explain to Kenyans that the President means well and he has a lot of plans for this country. When the President spoke, he reminded us that when he took over Government, the cost of living was high and there were pending bills. Many contractors had not been paid. If you go back to my constituency where we are beneficiaries of Mau Mau roads, there are contractors who have moved out of site simply because they have not been paid. The escalating debts and stalled projects in the country have been a thorn in the flesh.

The President has been telling us that the plan in his campaign manifesto was not just written on paper, but it is something that was meant to be implemented. We have already seen that the plan is being actualised from the speech that he gave us. Looking at the cost of living,

price had risen but he has ensured that he subsidises fertilizer. You will recall that he said that he does not find it reasonable to subsidise consumption. He decided that he is going to subsidise production so that we have enough food. We can then let the market force play where the demand and supply determine the prices. From the production that we have in this country, we have actually seen that the cost of food has gone down. The President also talked about creation of jobs for our young people. One of the ways that he intends to do that is through the construction of affordable houses. As much as the houses are going to help the working class in the urban areas, many jobs will also be created. There are many youths who will be employed. They will be engaged in construction and that will mean that the issue of unemployment is going to be taken care of. In Lari Constituency, where I come from, we are going to have construction of a smart city under the affordable housing. We are going to have 5,000 units which means we will create job opportunities for our people. The creation of ICT hubs in every ward will enable our people to work from home, and also create employment. The Export Processing Zones (EPZ) and markets are going to be built in our areas. We come from an agricultural area and ‘Soko Mjinga’ is one of the markets that is going to be constructed. It is going to be ‘Soko Mwerevu’ after this.

Introduction of the Hustler Fund has ensured that many people who could not access credit from the banks access money from the Hustler Fund and are able to utilise many opportunities in terms of job creation for themselves and their families. With that, Hon. Temporary Speaker, I wish to congratulate the President and support his speech. Thank you.

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Thank you. Hon. Liza Chelule, Member for Nakuru County.

Ahsante sana, Spika wa Muda kwa kunipa fursa hii nichangie Hotuba ya Rais wetu. Alikuwa Bungeni na akatueleza mambo mengi ambayo amepangia nchi yetu ya Kenya. Ninachukua nafasi hii kumpongeza. Tunapozungumzia maendeleo nchini, sisi sote tunaelewa jinsi mambo yalivyokuwa Rais aliposhika hatamu ya uongozi. Tunaelewa kulikuwa na changamoto katika uchumi wa nchi hii. Rais angechukua mkondo wa kuomba madeni kutoka nchi zingine, angependwa sana na watu wengi. Lakini kama kiongozi anayewajibika kwa wananchi wa Kenya, ameamua kushughulikia mambo ya Wakenya. Ningependa kuchukua nafasi hii kumpongeza kwa kukataa kuchukua madeni. Madeni sugu nchini yalichukuliwa bila ya Wakenya kujua. Nainmpongeza kwa kufika Bungeni na kutoa taarifa yake. Mambo ya affordable housing yameanzishwa na yanaendelea. Ningependa kumjibu Mbunge wa Bondo aliyesema kuwa Rais wetu huongea mambo mengi bila utekelezi. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Ninashangaa sana kwa nini Mbunge mzima anaweza kusema kuwa Rais husema mambo mengi bila kutekeleza. Ametekeleza mambo ya affordable housing na subsidized fertilizer. Wananchi wa Kenya wamechukua mbolea, wamelima na wana chakula kingi hivyo kutatua shida ya njaa katika nchi yetu. Nilifurahia sana aliposema anataka kuaibisha njaa katika nchi yetu ya Kenya na kusema ukweli amefanya hivyo kwa sababu ametupea mbolea ya bei nafuu. Kama Mbunge, mimi pia ni mkulima, na nimefurahia hiyo fertilizer kwa sababu imeniwezesha niwe na mavuno ambayo yamenisaidia kwangu kwa mambo ya chakula. Sitaenda tena madukani kununua vyakula. Watu wengi pia walipata mavuno mengi na hata wakauza mengine.

Jambo lingine ni lile la Hustler Fund ; akina mama na vikundi vyao ndio wamechukua pesa hizi kwa wingi. Hizi ni pesa ambazo zimehesabika kwa mabilioni na ninafurahi sana kwa sababu watu wamefaidika. Hakuna mtu ambaye amekaa tu kiholela nyumbani kwa sababu ya kukosa pesa. Ni ukweli kwamba tuko na ugumu kidogo katika mambo ya uchumi katika nchi yetu ya Kenya, lakini hatuwezi tu kuketi na kulia. Tumesikia mambo ya Rais wetu. Wananchi wachukue fertilizer na loan ndio waendeleze biashara zao. Ningependa pia kugusia jambo la ommunity health promoters, watendakazi wa serikali ambao watakuwa wakilipwa na County Government na serikali kuu kutembea nyumbani kuangalia afya za wananchi ili waweze kutatua shida za wagonjwa mapema. Mtu akionekana mapema kwamba ana tatizo fulani, anaweza kutibiwa kwa wakati unaofaa. Haya ni mambo ya kutatua matatizo ya afya katika nchi yetu. Afya, chakula na uendelezaji biashara ni mambo ya maana sana. Ningependa kumpongeza Rais wetu kwa kuzingatia climate change . Jumatatu tulifanya upanzi wa miti katika nchi yetu. Ninaamini tulipanda miti zaidi ya billioni moja. Hiyo ni hatua maalum ya kuhakikisha kuwa tunatatua mambo ya climate change na mazingira nchini. Ninampongeza sana kwa kusema heko. Mungu akusaidie. Tuko nyuma yako. Ahsante sana, Mhe. Spika wa Muda.

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Mheshimiwa John Waluke, Mbunge wa Sirisia.

Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me an opportunity to contribute to this important speech by the President of the Republic of Kenya. This is just like when footballers are in the field; it is very easy for spectators to criticise and say everything about the players, but unable to show that they can play when inside the field. The President has tried. In his speech, he mentioned too many things that are good for our country. If these ICT hubs are built all over the country, they will help Kenya to become digital, and our children will even be able to search for jobs outside the country. The President took over this country when it was completely down; the economy of this country was in the ICU. Many of us, including me as a Member of Parliament, thought that we will not be receiving our salaries. This is because our economy was completely down at that time. The President is trying to improve the economy of this country. He touched on many aspects that made us feel happy. The President is, indeed, trying. As leaders and Members of Parliament, for example, we need to be patriotic to our country whether one is in the Minority Party or the Majority Party. This country is ours. It belongs to all Kenyans. There is nowhere else we can go. Some people even went abroad and came back. Kenya is here to stay. As Kenyans, we need to support the Government of William Ruto and Rigathi Gachagua because it was voted in by us Kenyans. What we need to do is to give this Government time and support because it is barely one year in office. Things are changing. Things are going to change. The President talked about the Office of the Inspector-General of Police being independent from the Office of the President. Police officers were not being managed well by the Office of the President. Being independent, I am sure that police officers out there are feeling good that the Inspector-General is going to take care of them. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

He gave the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) the Ksh3 billion it has been asking for since Independence. The backlog of cases in courts is going to be settled on time and our people are not going to stay in custody due to a lack of judges and magistrates. The JSC has been given money.

Thank you very much. Hon. Julius Taitumu, Member for Igembe North.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. Let me also take cue from the rest and congratulate His Excellency the President of this country for his candid and informative speech that he delivered last week. Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures. The President enumerated various successes of his nascent Government. I want to single out one key sector that has benefited immensely under this Government. It is the education sector. One of the Members said that teachers have only been employed as interns and not on permanent and pensionable terms. I want to state categorically that this is wrong. We should give credit where it is due. I have been a teacher. For the last 10 years, the only number of teachers that have been employed in a particular year due to lack of funding was 5,000. This Government has employed a massive 56,000 teachers to serve either on permanent and pensionable terms or as interns. This has a great impact. Some do not understand that most of these employed teachers have been out for 10 years since they completed their teaching courses. This has immensely reduced the burden of paying teachers employed by the Board of Management (BoM) or Parents Teachers Association (PTA), which parents used to carry. This money will now go to other issues. In the same sector, about 8,400 teachers transitioned from one grade to another. They moved from their previous grade to junior secondary schools. This year alone, 36,000 teachers are destined for promotions due by January next year. The agriculture sector has also benefited greatly. Farmers have got subsidised fertiliser. They have also been able to get many milk coolers to cushion them from the vagaries of weather that lead to their milk going bad within a short time. Registration of farmers has been conducted and payments to farmers of coffee were good this year. Another area is the fishing industry. We have seen the President roll out 22 landing sites - even to those challenging his speech - in all the nine counties of Nyanza region. If you look at health, this House has enacted various laws to make sure the sector is streamlined. Some of the areas already done include the Social Health Insurance Act, the Digital Health Act, and the Primary Health Act. Above all, there is the rolling out of 100,000 CHPs in our areas. This is to make sure our population is healthy for the betterment of our economy and their lives. Finally, I implore His Excellency the President of this country to make sure that the barbaric act of cattle rustling in this country is brought to a halt. The pastoral community and areas that do this kind of farming are suffering a lot due to the heinous act of cattle rustling.

Thank you. Hon. Rashid Bedzimba.

Ahsante sana, Mhe. Spika wa Muda, kwa kunipa fursa ya kuchangia Hotuba hii ya Mhe. Rais iliyokuwa hapa Alhamisi iliyopita. Kwa kweli, Wakenya wengi walitegemea kusikia ni vipi hali ya gharama ya maisha itashuka ama kupunguzwa makali yake. La kusikitisha ni mizigo mizito ya kodi kwa Wakenya. Hatupingi kodi lakini mapato ya Wakenya yanazidi kupungua. Hivi sasa watu wananunua unga robo. Tujiulize sisi hapa: Ni vipi tutakunja sera ya kodi bila kuvunja migongo ya Wakenya? Mhe. Spika wa Muda, Kenya si Ulaya wala Marekani. Sera ya kodi yafaa kuzingatia hali ya uchumi. Ifahamike kwamba uchumi wetu hutegemea wengi ambao mapato yao ni ya The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

chini. Bila shaka, hustlers hawawezi kulipa kodi kama ilivyo katika nchi zilizostawi. Ndiposa ninasema tukunje bila kuvunja mbavu za Wakenya. Kushusha bei ya mbolea ni jambo muhimu sana Mheshimiwa Rais amefanya. Hii ni kwa sababu hili linakata gharama ndogo za wakulima. Lakini, shida bado iko palepale. Gharama ya mbolea imeshuka lakini mkulima lazima ataenda dukani kununua ile mbolea ilhali anatumia chombo kinachotumia mafuta kumletea mbolea ile katika shamba lake.

Mhe. Spika wa Muda, anapofika shambani, lile tingatinga linalolima linatumia mafuta ambayo ni gharama vile vile. Akimaliza, mazao yanakuwa ni mengi kweli. Lakini, kuyasafirisha mpaka viwandani anatumia tena vyombo vya mafuta. Akifika viwandani vile vile, kama ile bidhaa ni ya kusagwa, inatumia mafuta tena kusaga ambayo bado ni gharama. Akitoka pale kupeleka sokoni, bado anatumia gharama tena kubwa zaidi. Cha muhimu ni tuangalie vipi tutashukisha bei ya mafuta kwa sababu ndiyo inachangia kila jambo ambalo linafanya hali ya maisha kuwa magumu. Mbolea ni sawa lakini bei ya mafuta lazima iangaliwe vipi itashukishwa. Watu wengi, hasa wa Kisauni na pwani kwa jumla, wanataka kunufaika kutokana na rasilimali zilizo katika sehemu zetu kama bahari, mbuga za wanyama pori na madini. Katika Hotuba ya Rais, hakuna chochote kilionyesha vipi tutafaidika na rasilimali zetu.

Suala la kulaumu Serikali iliyopita lazima likome na liishe kwa sababu tangu Serikali hii ichukue mamlaka ni mwaka mzima. Vipi tunakaa na kulaumu ile Serikali iliyotoka? Hata watu wamewasahau waliotoka. Vipi nyinyi mko hapa bado na mnawalaumu? Kaeni chini muone mna mipango gani ya kuweza kuboresha hali ya maisha badala ya kulaumu Serikali iliyopita. Kuhusu ajira ya walimu 56,000, kwa kweli inatangazwa tu lakini wengi hatuoni. Kama ingefanywa kihaki, kila eneo bunge lingepata walimu 193. Angalau, kila mtu angeona walimu wameajiriwa. Ukija katika Eneo Bunge la Kisauni, ni walimu wawili pekee ambao wameajiriwa. Hatuhisi kama walimu wameajiriwa. Lazima kuwe na usawa. Ikiwa ni ajira kwa Wakenya, ni ajira ya Kenya nzima. Hata kama tunataka kukamua ng’ombe, tumbakishie ndama wake pia apate. Tusimkamue ng’ombe mpaka atoe matone ya damu. Wakenya wengi hawakutegemea yale ambayo yalizungumzwa. Walitegemea mengi ambayo yangewanufaisha. Wananchi wanaumia. Hali ya uchumi ni mbaya. Hakuna fedha mifukoni. Mtoze kodi mtu aliye na pato. Kwa hayo, Mhe. Spika wa Muda, wacha nipatie wengine fursa pia wachangie. Asante sana.

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Hon. David Kiplagat, Member for Soy.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. On behalf of the people of Soy, I support the President’s Address to Parliament. He managed to cover quite some ground in only one year. In agriculture, the Government has done well to support our farmers, especially the maize farmers, with subsidised fertiliser which it reduced from over Ksh7,000 to now Ksh2,500. We have increased the amount of acreage as a result of that by Ksh200,000 acres. We have increased production of maize by 18 million bags. I can assure you that we shall have enough produce to last us for one financial or fiscal year without importation of maize. As a country, we have a lot of challenges beyond our control. Fuel is being controlled by external forces which is a challenge on our economy. We have the depreciation of the Kenyan shilling that is also bringing a lot of problems. The only way we can strengthen it is to increase our exports and reduce our imports. Because the weather conditions were not good for the last one year, we were importing nearly everything: maize and rice which were duty-free, sugar and edible oil. In terms of the loss of revenue to this country, it is a lot. Secondly, it requires a lot of foreign exchange – dollars - to purchase food from other countries. The President stated that by the year 2025, there will be no importation of any food The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

product. If we can do that, I can assure you that the balance of trade will change by the country being a net exporter. This will strengthen our Kenyan Shilling to where it was. If we have factors depreciating the Kenyan Shilling and rising fuel prices, they will affect our economy. We support him on that.

The Government has done well in trying to support our universities. They were declared technically insolvent by the amount of huge debt that they had. However, the President has come up with a formula in the education sector of giving money to our institutions through student-based programmes. Every course is cost and it is supported by the Government. This will go a long way in making our universities function well by doing away with the current debt that they have.

In summary, for the last one year, the President has tried to keep our economy afloat. He has done a lot. As Parliament, we will support him to make sure that by 2025, all the factors that are bringing challenges to our economy will be addressed and the economy will fly again.

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Hon. Moses Injendi, Member for Malava.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I rise to laud the State of the Nation Address by the President of this country. I listened to his speech and he touched on many key areas that are important for this country’s development. I urge Kenyans to give him time and believe in what he tells us. When I was young, I saw what this President did when he was the Minister for Education. At that time, most of us were suffering joining university after staying at home for three years, which was a long recess. When he took over this Ministry, all that changed. He fast-tracked admission of university students and reduced the number of months we would stay at home. When he was the Minister for Agriculture, he also did a lot of reformation in this country. He is a person we have learned from in the past performance. Therefore, we can trust him with this country. I want to focus on agriculture and what he is thinking about this sector. I had an opportunity to interact with him at a very personal level. He is my neighbour. This is a person who sees far much ahead more than what some of us are projecting. He focuses so much on the agricultural sector. We are aware that most of these developed countries were agricultural countries. When you look at their history of development, they began by investing so much in the agricultural sector. Most of them were predominantly agricultural. They invested so much in the agricultural sector. Out of this, they sprang to the high levels they are in now of industrialised or first world countries. If we have to move to that direction, we have to take the road of investing so much in the agricultural sector, which will spur growth in our economy. Why am I focusing on agriculture? Majority of Kenyans work in the agricultural sector. Investing in that sector benefits them and ensures that they contribute to the economy in terms of taxes, hence reducing poverty levels.

All Kenyans, including myself, can only be productive if they have eaten well. Food is critical in our country. The President's speech focused on agriculture to ensure that we are a healthy nation. No food means that most of us will be weak and sickly because of malnutrition. Also, we will not have the capacity to perform as required in terms of productivity. Most of a person’s income will be spent on purchasing food if he has none. We are also aware that most of our population works in the agricultural sector. When we improve our agricultural sector...

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Hon. David Kiplagat, I know you are still learning the rules of the House, but you are not supposed to stand between the The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Chair and the person who is speaking. You can take that lesson home so that you do not repeat it. Hon. Malulu, you will have one more minute to contribute.

(Malava, ANC)]: Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. We are aware that the agricultural sector employs 40 per cent of our nation’s population. It employs over 75 per cent of the rural population. We will improve the lives of many if we focus on developing that sector.

Finally, there are high dependency rates among uneducated and unskilled persons. We will reduce the high dependency rates if we focus on agriculture because those people will find work and contribute to the economy in terms of taxes and savings.

I liked the President's State of the Nation Address.

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Hon. Caroline Ng’elechei, Member for Elgeyo Marakwet County.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for allowing the people of Elgeyo Marakwet to contribute to the debate on the President's State of the Nation Address. Let me laud the President for choosing a very unpopular path to save this country. Many people would prefer to fool wananchi and become very popular, but the President has chosen to be truthful.

On a point of order, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): What is out of order?

Is Hon. Ng’elechei in order to say that the President has chosen an unpopular path? Which path is unpopular?

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Hon. Adams Kipsanai, this is a House of debate. She has just started. Give her an opportunity to debate. You may proceed.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. Kindly forgive my colleague because he feels that he should have exhausted his allotted minutes of debate. The unpopular path that I was explaining is that many people would like to be told lies or hear sugar-coated information. The President has chosen not to subsidise consumption, rather subsidise production. He will be unpopular to some in the beginning, but in the end many will enjoy the fruits. It will be a truthful way of dealing with Kenyans. People wanted him to subsidise the cost of unga in the beginning, but he chose to subsidise production by ensuring that farmers were empowered to produce more food. I am happy that this year, we will realise a bumper harvest in the country and provide food to our people because of fertiliser subsidies. I appreciate the President’s decision to subsidise fertilisers for farmers which ensured that fish farmers also enjoy farming. The President told us in his speech how the Ministry of Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs is setting up 22 new fish landing sites in nine counties in Nyanza and in the Coast region. This will not only ensure that we produce food, but we also provide farmers with income. Some people used to depend on fishing but fish farming went down because of lack of support from the previous Government. I can attest that the President has tried to ensure that there is security in the North Rift. I come from Elgeyo Marakwet, where we have been crying. I have constantly talked about banditry, but for the past six months we have started realising that we have a new Government in place. The people of the Kerio Valley have started living like other people in Kenya. They can now engage in their day-to-day operations without a lot of interference. All that is because of the President’s intervention. He went out of his way to deploy the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) to help police in the Kerio Valley. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

I also support him on the issue of housing. The free housing programme has not only provided employment to our youth, but mama mboga and others who had been conducting business in unfavourable environments. We now have 400 markets across the country to engage in business. Mama mboga, who is the foundation of the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), now has a decent place to transact and conduct business. There is also the issue of the Hustler Fund, which has not only provided for…

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Thank you, Member for Elgeyo Marakwet. Hon. Kitilai ole Ntutu, Member for Narok South.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. On behalf of Narok South, I rise to comment on the President’s maiden State of the Nation Address that he recently delivered at Parliament Buildings on the Government’s interventions to fix the current high cost of living and address other economic issues currently affecting Kenyans. We must live within our means as a country and address our economic issues without false comfort. I agree with the President that the new direction that we are taking might not be easy, but it will eventually work, and it is necessary. The enactment of the Primary Health Care Act, the Social Health Insurance Act, the Digital Health Act, and the Facilities Improvement Financing Act will anchor and guide implementation of the bottom-up economic agenda championed by the Kenya Kwanza Government as a crucial step to achieve universal healthcare for all. The Kenya Kwanza Government, led by our able President William Ruto, has created new jobs for the youth to eradicate poverty and address challenges currently facing ordinary Kenyans. For instance, the recent employment of 56,750 new teachers and re-training of 8,200 primary school teachers to equip them with the capacity to effectively deliver learning and teaching in junior secondary schools has tremendously helped to address unemployment rates in every constituency in this country, including Narok South, which I represent. It has made significant strides towards ensuring every part of this country is economically empowered. The housing plan initiated by this Government has received support from the county governments as indicated by the President. So, it is in the right direction. The housing programme will stimulate and improve the economy of Kenya by rapidly creating jobs for the many unemployed Kenyans and boost businesses of hustlers. Kenyans will get decent homes. Finally, the implementation of the housing project will create markets for our manufacturing companies that deal in cement and timber. There will be jobs for the youth.

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Thank you very much, Member for Narok South. I can see Hon. Zamzam Chimba is requesting to speak, but she already spoke on this Motion. The next opportunity goes to Hon. Jackson Kosgei, Nominated Member.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. From the outset, I take this opportunity to applaud the Speech by His Excellency the President on the State of the Nation. I paid attention to a number of areas he addressed in his Speech. I was encouraged to see that his administration is paying attention to economic matters and how to mitigate the situation in the country. As you know, the economics of a country are very important. This is because you must address creation of wealth, consumption, and transfer of the same. This is not only for those enjoying it, but also in terms of equity and ensuring that future generations benefit from the action taken by preceding regimes. Another area that the President highlighted was education. This matters especially in terms of preparing our young people as a workforce for the nation. We would like them to be competitive in the market place. One of the foreign exchange earners in some countries is export of labour so it brings income not only for their families, but also for the nation. In the The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

area of food, he has made fertiliser affordable and available to farmers. I was very encouraged to see how much we are gaining in the country. I would like to end by speaking on how the President is enhancing national unity for all citizens of this country notwithstanding the political differences. He has made an appeal that as Kenyans, we should have unity on important matters which drive the nation and bring hope for the future. I am making an appeal to Members of the Executive to support the President. He is a symbol of unity in this country. Therefore, anyone articulating policies of this nation should always appear to work towards the direction of uniting Kenyans and making this country a home for everyone. They should avoid reckless comments while addressing serious issues that affect the nation. Whichever way you look at this, everyone in this country matters. Therefore, when the President is guiding towards carrying everyone on board, I think all those who are working with him must read his mind, speech, and body language. They should work towards uniting our country. I support.

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Thank you, Bishop. Hon. Adams Kipsanai, Member for Keiyo North.

Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I rise to support the Speech by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Kenya. He elaborated a number of achievements made by the Kenya Kwanza Government. On issues to do with agriculture, today, if you go to the Rift Valley, you will see bumper harvest courtesy of subsidised fertiliser. This is a huge achievement that will improve and make the lives of Kenyans a bit easy. This is because when food is available, the economy is good. On the appointment of judges, he demonstrated that he respects separation of power. On matters of independence of the police, we see our national security officers, nowadays, operating freely and with ease. This is because they have their own funds to help them in running their operations. The President touched on health matters, which is a primary function of any Government. He has ensured, through this House, that all citizens get a cover. Recently, he launched the CHPs and ensured they are equipped with necessary machinery to ensure they serve Kenyans. I will not forget to touch on education. The Kenya Kwanza Government, through the President, has done enormously good things to ensure that our children get quality education. The resources deployed to support CBC and the junior secondary school are worth celebrating. The President will be remembered for employing the largest number of teachers, who are helping our children by ensuring they get education. The security of a nation is also very important. His Government is doing whatever it takes to ensure everyone is secure wherever they are. He will be echoed for directing that all the graduates of the NYS will automatically join disciplinary forces, going forward. This is a boost to the young people who have contributed a lot by serving our nation. Lastly, I want to thank the President for uniting the nation. It is peaceful. He inherited a delicate nation with a struggling economy but he has ensured the country is united. I urge all Members of Parliament and citizens to know that we do not have another country. So, Kenya is our country and in as much as we are playing politics, let us ensure our nation is united so that we can succeed. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Hon. Michael Muchira, Member for Ol Jorok.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker for giving me an opportunity to contribute on the State of the Nation Address by the President. He was forthright and candid on the status of this nation. He said that it is not so rosy but… The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): What is out of order? Nothing is out of order. Please, proceed. You have 20 seconds.

As I was saying, the President was very forthright and candid on the status of this nation and left Kenyans very hopeful. That left Kenyans with a lot of hope, that he is going to fix this nation.

(Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai): Thank you, very much Hon. Michael Muchira. You have a balance of four minutes. You can choose to come next time when this State of the Nation address will be on. Hon. Members and the time now being 1.00 p.m., this House stands adjourned until today afternoon, November 15th 2023, at 2:30 p.m.

The House rose at 1.00 p.m.

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Clerk of the National Assembly Parliament Buildings Nairobi The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.