Hon. Members, there is no quorum. Serjeant-at-Arms, ring the Quorum Bell.

Hon. Members, order! We now have quorum to transact business. Clerk-at-the-Table, call out the next Order.

Hon. Members, you will recall that on Wednesday, 12th June 2024, the House rejected the Senate’s amendments to the National Rating Bill, (National Assembly Bill No.55 of 2022). Consequently, the said Bill was referred to a Mediation Committee in accordance with Article 112 of the Constitution and Standing Order 149. Hon. Members, Article 113 of the Constitution requires that whenever a Bill is referred to a Mediation Committee, the Speakers of the Houses of Parliament appoint an equal number of Members of each Houses to attempt to develop a version of the Bill that Houses will pass. In this regard, having consulted with the Leaders of the Majority Party and the Minority Parties, I have appointed the following Members to represent the National Assembly in the Mediation Committee: 1. The Hon. Joash Nyamoko, MP; 2. The Hon. Jayne Kihara, MP; 3. The Hon. Josses Lelmengit, MP; 4. The Hon. Joseph Gitari, MP; 5. The Hon. Mathias Robi, MP; 6. The Hon. Paul Katana, MP; 7. The Hon. (Eng.) Thuddeus Nzambia, MP; 8. The Hon. Zamzam Mohamed, MP; and, 9. The Hon. Fatuma Jehow, MP. 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, we shall await the appointment of senators to the Mediation Committee for the Committee to be fully constituted for purposes of commencing the mediation process. Once I receive a message from the Senate to that effect, I will convey the same to the House. Thereafter, the Mediation Committee will embark on an attempt to develop a mediated version of the Bill in accordance with Article 113 of the Constitution. The House is accordingly guided. Next Order.

Leader of the Majority Party. Chairperson of the Public Debt and Privatisation Committee.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I beg to lay the following Paper on the Table: Report of the Public Debt and Privatisation Committee on its consideration of the Consolidated Funds Services for the Supplementary Estimates I of Financial Year 2024/2025. Thank you, Hon. Speaker.

Leader of the Majority Party.

Hon. Osoro!

Do you have any brief for the Leader of the Majority Party? We will come back to that. Leading Clerk-at-the-Table, call the next Order.

Hon. Speaker, I beg to give notice of the following Motion: THAT, this House adopts the Report of the Public Debt and Privatisation Committee on its consideration of the Consolidated Funds Services for the Supplementary Estimates I Financial Year 2024/2025, laid on the Table of the House on Wednesday, 24th July 2024. I thank you, Hon. Speaker.

As we wait for the Leader of the Majority Party, let us go to the 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. Osoro, do you have the Papers to lay?

Yes, Hon. Speaker.

Go ahead and lay them.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I beg to lay the following Papers on the Table: Reports of the Auditor-General and Financial Statements of the National Governments Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) for the year ended 30th June 2023 and the certificates therein, in respect of the following constituencies: 1. Tiaty; 2. Malava; 3. Funyula; 4. Lurambi; 5. Moiben; 6. Tinderet; 7. Emgwen; 8. Turbo; 9. Lugari; 10. Mt. Elgon; 11. Kabuchai; 12. Matungu; 13. Chesumei; and, 14. Laisamis. I, thank you, Hon. Speaker.

Next Order.

Member for Konoin, Hon. Brighton Yegon. He seems not to be here. Next is the Member for Kisii County, Hon. Dorice Donya.

Hon. Speaker, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order 44(2)(c), I rise to request for a statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Communication, Information and Innovation regarding compensation to customers by internet service providers during internet outages. Hon. Speaker, in today’s digital era, reliable internet access is no longer a luxury but a necessity as was exemplified by the remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic. Internet access has become intrinsically linked to fulfilling fundamental human rights and needs such as quality healthcare, education, professional networking and social interaction. However, when 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.

internet service providers (ISPs) fail to deliver consistent and uninterrupted services, customers face significant inconvenience, productivity losses and disruptions to their lives. Notably, internet outages result in customers being unable to utilise their internet bundles, which are in most cases non-renewable upon expiration. This invariably occasions undue benefits to internet service providers from the customers who have purchased data and yet, there is neither accountability nor compensation for the huge financial losses incurred during the outages. Hon. Speaker, it is against this background that I seek a statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Communication, Information and Innovation on the following: 1. Measures that are in place to ensure that ISPs such as Safaricom, Telkom and Airtel compensate their customers adequately during prolonged internet outages. 2. Clarify on the implementation of broadband compensations and rebates by ISPs to their customers in the event of service disruptions. 3. Steps being taken by the Ministry of Information, Communication and the Digital Economy to enhance the accountability of ISPs and protect the rights of consumers, especially in light of the increasing dependence on internet services. I thank you, Hon. Speaker.

Hon. Irene Mayaka, Nominated Member. No! Hold on. I will refer the request for statement by Hon. Dorice to the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Communication, Information and Innovation. Who is that? Hon. KJ, can you bring the response in two weeks’ time?

Hon. Speaker, this is a very serious issue that has been raised by the Member for Kisii County. I can assure this House that the Committee will deliver a response to this statement request.

Thank you very much, Hon. Speaker.

Hon. Dorice, two weeks. Next is Hon. Irene Mayaka.

Hon. Speaker, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order 44(2)(c), I rise to request for a statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee of Sports and Culture regarding the eight Kenya Under-17 Women National Team players who are scheduled to travel to the Dominican Republic to represent the country at the Under-17 Women’s World Cup in November. This prestigious event is an exceptional opportunity for our talented young women to showcase their skills on the global stage and bring honour to this country. Additionally, the exposure enhances the Competence Based Curriculum, which seeks to recognise the diverse talents and abilities of learners. With this in mind, it is unfortunate to note that the Kenyan players (Under-17) are yet to report…

Order, Hon. Members. Order, Hon. Ng’elechei. Take your seat. That excitement should be exhibited out there. Allow the Member to prosecute her request for statement.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker, for intervening. It is unfortunate to note that the Kenyan players (Under-17) are yet to report to camp whereas teams from other qualifying nations, including Zambia and Nigeria, are already at 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.

camp. Furthermore, it is important to note that the timing of this event coincides with the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE). This poses a significant challenge to our players. It is imperative that we support our young and ambitious players in their dual pursuit of academic excellence and sporting success, just like the renowned player Yamal, who played in the Euro Cup. He had finished his final examinations three days before the tournament kicked off, carrying his books and attending online classes while in Germany. Our own students are capable of meticulously following this great example. Hon. Speaker, it is against this background that I seek a statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Sports and Culture on the following: 1. Plans that the Ministry of Sports, Arts and Culture, in consultation with the Ministry of Education, has made or is making to ensure that the players have an opportunity to take their exams at a time that does not conflict with their participation in the World Cup. 2. The measures being taken by the Ministry of Sports, Arts and Culture and other stakeholders, including FIFA, to ensure that the team goes back to the camp for preparations. I, thank you, Hon. Speaker.

Thank you, Hon. Irene. Chairman of the Departmental Committee on Sports and Culture. Wapi Mhe. Dan Wanyama? Is there any member of the Committee in the House? The Clerk-at-the-Table will communicate for him to bring a response in two weeks’ time. Hon. Brighton Yegon. In the norms of Parliament, you must first apologise for coming in late and then proceed to request for a statement. We have called you twice.

Thank you very much, Hon. Speaker. I apologise for coming in late. Hon. Speaker, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order 44(2)(c), I rise to request for a statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Administration and Internal Security regarding the mysterious disappearance of Ms. Frenda Chepng’eno. Ms. Frenda Chepng’eno of Identity Card Number 38184308, a 4th-year student at the Catholic University of East Africa, was reported missing at Ongata Rongai Police Station under OB No.72/28/11/2023. All search initiatives to trace her through the Directorate of Criminal Investigations have not been successful as of now. The circumstances surrounding her disappearance are alarming and her family, friends and the academic community are deeply worried about her well-being. It is the duty of the Government to make every effort to locate and ensure the safety of our citizens, especially the young students who are pursuing their education. The mysterious disappearance of Ms. Chepng’eno without a trace continues to cause her family distress and anxiety regarding her whereabouts and safety. It is against this background that I seek a statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Administration and Internal Security on the following matters: 1. What is the status of investigations into the mysterious disappearance of Frenda Chepng’eno, which was reported at Ongata Rongai Police Station under OB No.72/28/11/2023, and has the family of the missing student been informed of the circumstances surrounding her disappearance and whereabouts? 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.

2. What steps has the Ministry taken to ensure that the missing student is expeditiously traced and reunited with her family? 3. What security measures has the Government taken to guarantee the safety of all students and school-going children in order to protect them from potential incidences of kidnapping and other forms of violence? I, thank you, Hon. Speaker.

Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Administration and Security. Hon. Tongoyo, is that your Committee? When can you bring a response?

Hon. Speaker, you may need to guide me. Such statement is normally signed by the Cabinet Secretary and, at the moment, we do not have a substantive one. Hopefully, Parliament will be able to vet them…

Order, Hon. Tongoyo. There is a Principal Secretary in that Ministry. This is about the disappearance of a student. It is not like any other request for statement that we have been requested to give. I give you a week to bring a response.

I am well guided, Hon. Speaker.

Yes, Hon. Oundo. Give him the microphone.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. Before we went for recess and the fires that happened on the 25th, I had requested for a statement from the Departmental Committee on Defence that is chaired by Hon. Tongoyo. We had agreed that he would submit the statement once we resumed sittings yesterday. I have patiently sat here, but did not hear anything. I hope that, as you have directed him to bring the other one in the next one week, you will also do me a favour so that he responds to my statement request so that I can also remit it to the people of Funyula Constituency to appreciate that this is a Government in perpetuity? Even in the absence of a substantive Cabinet Secretary, the State Department has not ceased operations. Thank you, Hon. Speaker.

Was your request directed to the Departmental Committee on Defence or Internal Security?

It was directed to the Departmental Committee on Administration and Internal Security, Hon. Speaker. I am sorry.

You had said ‘defence.’ Hon. Tongoyo, attend to that one as well. Yes, Hon. Mule.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. Before we went on recess, I had requested for a statement from the Departmental Committee on Transport and Infrastructure regarding the bridge connecting Thika East and Matungulu Constituencies that was washed away during the floods. Until now, we have not received a response and yet, very little work has been done. I can assure you that the connectivity between Kiambu and Machakos counties has been impossible for traders, school-going kids and the public. If the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Transport and Infrastructure has a response from the Ministry, I would kindly request him to submit it to the House so that we can reassure the people of Matungulu. As of now, I am the acting Leader of the Minority Party.

I have no such communication. Where is Hon. GK of Ndia? The Clerk-at- the-Table will communicate that to the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Roads and Public Works. We will now move to responses to statement requests. Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Administration and Internal Security, are you ready? 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.

Yes, I am, Hon. Speaker.

That is a statement that was sought by Hon. Dorice Donya.

Yes, Hon. Speaker. I have a response to the statement that was requested by Hon. Dorice Donya, Member for Kisii County, regarding the death of two persons, Lucas Nyangau Miruka Ombui and Obure Makabe. Hon. Speaker, the body of the late Mr. Lucas Nyangau Ombui Miruka was discovered at a roadside in Nyabiore Market within Magenche Ward on 30th March 2024, at around 4 p.m. as per OB 02/30/03/2024 of Magenche Police Station. According to a post-mortem report from the Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital, the deceased died a natural death which was caused by anaemia and hypoglycaemia in respect of hepato splenomegaly associated with asyncopy. The second victim, the late Mr. Obure Makabe, died at his home and not at the marketplace as stated. The deceased fell ill at his home in Nyabiore, Magenche Ward on 29th March and went to a private clinic that is referred to as Richcom within Nyabiore Market. He was complaining of abdominal pain and gastritis as per the police (DCI, Kenyenya) statement that was recorded by a clinician (Mr. Richard Osoro) and the mother of the deceased. The clinician had referred him to Kenyenya Sub-County Hospital for further treatment but he - the deceased - never went to the hospital. Instead, he stayed at home and died on 31st March 2024. The body was then moved to Lenmek Hospital Mortuary. The death was neither reported to the police nor a post-mortem conducted. Hon. Speaker, that is to say that both deaths were due to natural causes, and not as a result of insecurity as it was stated by the Honourable Member. Thank you, Hon. Speaker.

Hon. Dorice.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. It is a blatant lie that it was a natural death. He has just lied!

Lie is not a parliamentary language.

They have not told the truth. They have given the opposite of what happened. The Statement is not true.

Hon. Tongoyo, are you telling Parliament untruths?

No, Hon. Speaker. It is according to the report that was given by the officers. There is a post-mortem report and we will furnish the Member with a copy.

Hon. Dorice, if you have any issues, when we resume having cabinet secretaries coming to answer questions, you are at liberty to file a question to interrogate the cabinet secretary, if you are not satisfied with the response to the request for statement. Next is the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Transport and Infrastructure. Do you have the response? Go ahead. That is a response to Hon. Mishi Mboko’s statement request. Is she in the House? Hon. Mishi Mboko, I received a letter from you seeking to be away yesterday and today. Go ahead, Hon. Komingoi.

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. Speaker. First, regarding the question by Hon. Mule, I want to communicate that we will be meeting the transport agency and the Ministry of Roads this Thursday. We will then respond to the question next week. Hon. Speaker, on Thursday, 18th April 2024, the Member for Likoni Constituency, Hon. Mishi Mboko, requested for a statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Transport and Infrastructure regarding the commencement of the Mombasa Gate Bridge Construction Project. The Member specifically requested for details regarding the following issues: 1. Details on the loan agreement between the Japanese and the Kenyan governments for the Mombasa Bridge Construction Project, and particularly the total funding provided and repayment terms. 2. When the construction would commence, noting that there were timelines for commencement by the year 2021 and for completion to be within 36 months. 3. Clarification on whether the Mombasa Gate Bridge Project loan agreement was among the recently restructured mid-term loans and if so, provision of details on the restructuring. Hon. Speaker, the Committee has since received a response from the Ministry of Roads and Transport, which I now wish to present to the House. With regard to the loan agreement terms, the Ministry submitted that the total cost of constructing the bridge was approximately JP¥180 billion, out of which Japanese JP¥120 billion was to be paid for by the Japan International Co- operation Agency (JICA), whereas the rest was to be paid for by the Government of Kenya as counterpart funding. Further, the Ministry submitted that, at the completion of the detailed design phase, the project cost was appraised to be a total of JP¥284.4 billion, which comprises of Japanese JP¥194.532 billion of eligible cost and JP¥89.843 billion for counterpart funding. The implementing agency, Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), has, through the Ministry of Roads and Transport, sought for commitment of funding from the National Treasury regarding: 1. A formal commitment from JICA on the release of subsequent tranches of the loan as signed on 5th December 2019 and an appraisal of the loan from JP¥120 billion to JP¥194.532 billion to adequately cover for the eligible component of the project. 2. Additional budget in the subsequent years to cover for the counterpart funding amounting to JP¥89.843 billion, with an immediate release of land acquisition funds amounting to Ksh19.4 billion and provision of right of way land acquisition and relocation of utilities as a prerequisite condition of contract that should be fulfilled prior to commencement of works. The Ministry provided an assurance that a commitment of funding from the National Treasury was received on 19th January 2024. The Government of Kenya is, therefore, responsible for covering a counterpart funding portfolio totalling JP¥ 83.843 billion, which includes payments for: 1. Land acquisition and compensation. 2. General administration expenses. 3. Taxes and duties. With regard to the expected project commencement date, the Ministry submitted that the earliest possible commencement date for the construction of the works is projected to be October 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.

2025. It is projected that construction of the cable-stayed bridge will take 84 months, which is approximately seven years. Further, the Ministry submitted that a consultant has since commenced preparatory works, which are necessary prior to the commencement of the construction works. The preparatory works include geotechnical investigations of the seabed for construction of cable- stayed bridge at Pier 3; procurement of an accredited checker, and establishment of the operations and maintenance entity and toll system that is scheduled to be completed in January 2025. Thereafter, tendering for the construction works will commence. Due to the complexity of the project, the Ministry observed that it is projected that the tendering period will be approximately 10 months, which includes bidding, evaluation, seeking of no objections from the co-financier, contract award and commencement of works. On the issue relating to clarification of whether the project was among the recently restructured mid-term loans, the Ministry submitted that it was not among the restructured project loans. Thank you, Hon. Speaker.

Hon. Komingoi, have you finished? Mheshimiwa Mishi.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I appreciate the response which has been given by the Chairperson of the relevant Committee. Can I ask a complimentary question to get some substantiation and clarity?

You can seek clarification on the Statement given.

From the second response, you indicated that the possible commencement date for the construction is October 2025. How do you explain the discrepancy that the loan was first disbursed in 2020 and the project will begin in 2025? In addition, the loan term was 40 years, with a grace period of 12 years from 2020, which means the first repayment will be due in 2032. We are in 2024 and the commencement date for the project is October 2025. Can the Ministry give a solid commitment that the project will begin in 2025? How is the Ministry planning to recover those slots since the project is off-schedule? Are we going to have some challenges in terms of funding, because we are a bit late? The other question is whether the Ministry can tell us whether we have the Ksh19.4 billion for land acquisition that has been budgeted for in the current Financial Year 2024/2025? Can you confirm that we have those funds? Thank you, Hon. Speaker.

Hon. Komingoi.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. It is imperative to note that while we discussed this with Hon. Mishi Mboko, we agreed that the earliest commencement opportunity we have is 2025. What we put before the Ministry is to make sure that the works are expedited to make sure that they are completed within the eight-year window. Secondly, in the next meeting, we will respond on whether the National Treasury will approve the Ksh19.2 billion for land acquisition with regard to the current Supplementary Estimates that we are processing. We can give that information in the next meeting on Thursday for the purposes of confirming whether it is included in the Supplementary Estimates I that we are currently processing. Thank you.

Hon. Mishi, are you satisfied?

Hon. Speaker, I am satisfied but I also want to know who the consultants on the ground are so that key stakeholders like myself who is representing the people of Likoni can get to know them and understand what they are doing on the ground. 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. Speaker.

Yes, Hon. Komingoi.

Let me assure the Member that we can get those details as soon as they are made available to the Committee and submit to her for the purposes of proper engagement with the stakeholders and the leadership within Mombasa County, specifically Likoni Constituency. Thank you, Hon. Speaker.

Next is yourself again, Hon. Komingoi, on the Statement Request by Hon. Amina Mnyazi. Are you ready?

Yes, Hon. Speaker. On Tuesday, 30th April 2024, the Member for Malindi, Hon. Amina Mnyazi, requested for a Statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Transport and Infrastructure regarding the status of issuance of Seafarers’ Identity Document (SIDs). Hon. Amina Mnyazi specifically requested for details regarding the following issues: 1. Status of the processing and issuance of SIDs. 2. The number of applications received by the Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) and the number of SIDs issued from 2022 to date. 3. The challenges that have hindered the processing of SIDs. 4. Plans that have been put in place to ensure that processing of SIDs is fast-tracked. The Committee has since received a response from the Ministry of Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs, which I now wish to present to the House. With regard to the status of processing and issuance of SIDs, the Ministry submitted that the State Department for Shipping and Maritime Affairs, in collaboration with KMA, has been diligently engaged in advancing the implementation of the issuance process. However, the Ministry acknowledged setbacks in the rollout of the document since it was fairly new and not many countries had implemented and issued the SIDs. The Ministry submitted that their efforts are concentrated on expediting the processing and issuance of SIDs to eligible seafarers. Further, the Ministry submitted that the process is at the procurement stage, with KMA being the procuring entity. The Ministry stated that the procurement of the SIDs was facing challenges due to non-responsive tenders.

Order. Hon. Jehow, this is not a public baraza . Go on, Hon. Komingoi.

Hon. Speaker, the Ministry stated that the procurement of the SIDs was facing challenges due to non-responsive tenders, with the initial phase of tendering having been closed due to the following reasons: 1. Concerns over tenderer pricing, which exceeded the market rates. 2. Impracticality of the proposed implementation period, which would have resulted in the issuance of the document in the year 2025. The Ministry submitted that the tender had to be re-issued and the process was on the second phase of the tender process, with prequalified suppliers identified. The document was slated to be dispatched to the bidders before 20th May 2024. 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.

With regard to the number of applications received by KMA and the number of SIDs issued from 2022 to date, the Ministry submitted that KMA had not received any applications for the SIDs, although it acknowledged that there is a huge demand from seafarers for this document to be issued. Further, the Ministry submitted that plans were underway to extend the SIDs issuance to all eligible seafarers once the processing and issuance procedures are finalised. The Ministry is focused on completing the necessary groundwork to facilitate a smooth and efficient rollout process, thus enabling eligible seafarers to obtain their SIDs without undue delay once the process is finalised. On the challenges that have hindered the processing of SIDs, the Ministry submitted that the implementation of the issuance of the identity document presents unique challenges due to its stringent security requirements that are set by international regulatory bodies such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). Those regulations necessitate attention to detail to ensure compliance. The Ministry observed that many countries had been quick to issue the SIDs and got it wrong, resulting in wastage of resources, a path they are trying to avoid. Regarding the plans that have been put in place to ensure that processing of SIDs is fast- tracked, the Ministry submitted that the following measures have been instituted: 1. Engaging in consultative meetings with ILO, conducting market surveys, and reviewing the implementation strategies adopted by the few countries that have successfully implemented SID. This has provided insights and best practices, thus informing the Ministry’s implementation process. 2. Streamlining procedures to enhance efficiency and reduce processing time by optimising workflows and eliminating unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles, aiming to expedite the issuance of SIDs without compromising on security standards. 3. Collaborating closely with relevant stakeholders, including the Ministry responsible for immigration, to address technical challenges and enhance overall process efficiency. This collaborative effort ensures that all pertinent issues are addressed comprehensively, fostering a conducive environment for swift SID processing. 4. Implementing a robust system of continuous monitoring and evaluation of the SID issuance process. This enables identification of any potential obstacles and bottlenecks promptly, allowing for timely intervention and resolution. The Ministry submitted that the targeted timeline for issuance of SIDs is June 2024. Thank you, Hon. Speaker.

Hon. Amina, are you satisfied?

Hon. Speaker, I have no further questions.

Thank you. Next is a request for statement by Hon. Rael Kasiwai.

Is it Hon. Komingoi again?

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. On Thursday, 2nd May 2024, the Member for West Pokot County, Hon. Rael Kasiwai, requested for a statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Transport and Infrastructure regarding the state of Kapenguria-Lodwar Road. In the request for statement, she sought to establish: 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.

1. The immediate measures the Ministry of Roads, Transport and Public Works is putting in place to rehabilitate the Kapenguria-Lodwar Road. 2. The long-term measures the Ministry is taking to ensure the safety of residents during heavy rains. The Committee received a response from the Ministry of Roads, Transport and Public Works, which I now wish to submit. They submitted that Kapenguria-Lodwar Road is part of the national road network which is managed by the Ministry through its implementing agency, the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA). On 29th April 2024, a flash-flood washed away a section of the road pavement in the vicinity of Lous market in West Pokot County, which disrupted traffic flow at that location. Hon. Speaker, the following remedial measures were taken immediately to reinstate traffic movement and repair the road. 1. KeNHA immediately mobilised an emergency framework contractor to construct temporary diversion around the damaged road section. It allowed vehicles to bypass the affected section and enabled resumption of traffic movement. The diversion was completed and made operational approximately six hours after the wash-out occurred. 2. Once the temporary diversion was reconstructed and traffic flow was reinstated, the road maintenance team completed the installation of culverts and rebuilt the embankment and pavement which had been washed away, thus repairing the damage that was caused by the floods. The repaired section was opened to public traffic on 13th May 2024. With regard to the long-term measures the Ministry is taking to ensure the safety of residents during heavy rains, the Ministry stated that it has been progressively reconstructing sections of the Kapenguria-Lodwar Road in the last few years. This process includes replacing all drifts with bridges, installing culverts with high drainage capacity, widening the road cross section, installing a stronger and more durable pavement and gradually making the road more resilient to flood damage. The reconstruction, therefore, provides a permanent long-term solution to the disruption of traffic and risks of the safety of residents that are caused by flash-floods from time to time. The Ministry submitted that, as of May 2024, the road section between Lokichar and Lodwar, together with a stand-alone bridge section at Kainuk, had been fully reconstructed. The road section between Kapenguria and Lokichar is awaiting the commencement of reconstruction. Additionally, the Government has secured support from development partners towards reconstructing all the road sections along the Kitale-Kapenguria-Lokichar stretch. The German Development Agency (KFW) will support the reconstruction of the Kitale-Morpus section. The African Development Bank will support the reconstruction of the Morpus-Lokichar section. Reconstruction of the Kitale-Morpus section is anticipated to commence in July this year. The reconstruction of the Morpus-Lokichar section is anticipated to commence in the second quarter of the 2025 calendar year. Thank you, Hon. Speaker.

Hon. Kasiwai, Member for West Pokot. Is she here? You have heard the response. Give her the microphone.

Hon. Speaker, the answer is okay even though I am waiting to see it in action. Thank you. 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.

On a point of order, Hon. Speaker.

Thank you. Next Order. Hold on. Yes, Hon. Clive.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I rise to follow up on a statement that I sought on 2nd May regarding the status of the Kenya Digital Economy Acceleration Project. I sought it from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Communication, Information and Innovation. This is a follow-up on what happened with the World Bank component of US$380 million disbursed in 2023. When I sought that statement on 2nd May, I was informed that I would get a response two weeks later. I am not sure whether Hon. Kiarie is still counting the two weeks or he meant two years.

Is he here?

Yes.

Hon. K.J.

Hon. Speaker, it is true that we had given a commitment of two weeks. The Committee is considering the matter. But because of the disruptions that have been there, in terms of workings of our Committee, it has taken a bit longer than we expected. In a week and a half, we shall present our response on the statement that had been sought by the Hon. Member. We give him our assurance. Thank you.

Next Order.

Hon. Members, on the request of Leader of the Majority Party, I will re- arrange the Order Paper a little so that Order No.10 precedes Order No. 9. Leading Clerk-at-the- Table, call out Order No.10. When we will be done with it, we will go back to Order No. 9.

This is to the Hon. Members whose names are on my screen. If you had logged in to speak on Order No.9, you may log out so that we have new interest on the Motion on the Senate Amendments to the Conflict of Interest Bill. Proceed, Leader of the Majority Party.

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

THAT, the Senate amendments to the Conflict of Interest Bill, (National Assembly Bill No. 12 of 2023), be now considered. Hon. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 48…

Hold on a bit, Leader of the Majority Party. Take your seat. Order, Hon. Members. I will take you back to Order No. 3.

Those Members who are on your feet, take the seats nearest to you. Hon. Muthoni, take the nearest seat. Hon. Millie, do the same.

Order, Hon. Members. Hon. Farah and Hon. Mukunji, take the nearest seats.

Hon. Members, I have a Message to convey from His Excellency the President. It is on the nomination of persons for appointment to offices of cabinet secretaries. Standing Order 42(1) relating to Messages from the President provides that the Speaker shall read to the House any Message from the President that is delivered to the Speaker for communication to the House. In this regard, I wish to convey to the House that I have received a further Message from his Excellency the President this afternoon notifying me on the nomination of various persons for appointment to the offices of cabinet secretaries. The names are in addition to the ones I conveyed to the House yesterday. In the Message, His Excellency the President conveys that, in exercise of powers conferred on him by Articles 152(2) of the Constitution, as read together with Section 3 and Section 5 of the Public Appointments (Parliamentary Approval) Act of 2011, he nominates various persons for appointment to the aforementioned offices. For clarity, Article 152(2) of the Constitution states that: “The President shall nominate and, with the approval of the National Assembly, appoint Cabinet Secretaries.” The names of persons submitted to this House for approval for appointment as cabinet secretaries are as follows: 1. Hon. John Mbadi Ng’ongo, EGH – Cabinet Secretary, the National Treasury and Economic Planning. 2. Hon. Salim Mvurya Mgala, EGH – Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Investments, Trade and Industry. 3. Ms. Rebecca Miano, EGH – Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife. 4. Hon. James Opiyo Wandayi, EGH – Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Energy and Petroleum. 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. Hon. Onesimus Kipchumba Murkomen, EGH – Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports. 6. Hon. Hassan Ali Joho, EGH – Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs. 7. Hon. (Dr.) Alfred Nganga Mutua, EGH – Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Social Protection. 8. Hon. Wycliffe Ambetsa Oparanya, EGH – Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Co- operatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development. 9. Hon. Justin Bedan Njoka Muturi, EGH – Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Public Service and Human Capital Development. 10. Ms. Stella Soi Lang’at – Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Gender, Culture, the Arts and Heritage.

Order, Hon. Mayaka. Hon. Members, in view of the foregoing and pursuant to the provisions of Section 8 of the Public Appointments (Parliamentary Approval) Act of 2011, as read together with Standing Order 42(3), I hereby refer the Message from the President, together with the curriculum vitae of the nominees, to the Committee on Appointments. Section 8 of the Public Appointments (Parliamentary Approval) Act of 2011 provides that, unless otherwise provided in law, the Committee to which such nominations are referred shall consider the matter and table a Report in the House within 28 days. It is, therefore, imperative that the Committee on Appointments consolidates the names contained in the two lists and immediately commences the process of consideration of the nominees. The Committee is expected to immediately notify the nominees and the public, commence the necessary approval hearings, and table its Report in the House soonest. That is to enable the House to consider the nominees within the stipulated timelines. Thank you. Call out Order No. 10 by the Leader of the Majority Party.

Hon. Speaker, I beg to move: THAT, the Senate amendments to the Conflict of Interest Bill, (National Assembly Bill No. 12 of 2023), be now considered. Hon. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 48, allow me to move this Motion in an amended format.

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Hon. Speaker, protect me.

Order, Hon. Members.

Hon. Raphael Wanjala, recess quietly. The Members who are on your feet, take your seats. Hon. Sirma, you are a senior. You should be the last one to interrupt the proceedings this House. Members who wish to walk out of the Chamber, do so with order. The Bill that is being moved has tremendous consequences on many of the things that this country is doing. I would expect you to listen to the Leader of the Majority Party, contribute where you can, or vote when the vote is called. It is not fair for you to vote on a Bill whose debate you have not listened to.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I think Members are a bit excited by the Communication that you have just made, considering that a number of the nominees are Members of this House. It is premature of us to get excited because we are expected to vet those nominees. I could only take this opportunity to congratulate my good friend, Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona, who has already taken over an important seat that is being left vacant in this House. It is not a position. By the way, any Member can sit anywhere.

Hon. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 48, allow me to move this Motion in an amended form. I beg to move: THAT, the Senate amendments to the Conflict of Interest Bill, (National Assembly Bill No.12 of 2023), be now rejected.

Hon. Speaker, under normal circumstances, the Chairperson of the relevant Committee, under whose mandate the Bill falls, moves such a Motion to consider the Senate amendment to a Bill that originated in the National Assembly. In this case, it is the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs. In the present case, I have decided to move the Motion as the Sponsor of the Bill to expedite its consideration owing to the peculiar circumstances of the positions taken by the two Houses on the Bill.

Hon. Speaker, thank you because you have pointed it out to Members that this Bill has huge implications on the conduct of business for both public and State officers. Therefore, it is important that Members pay attention to all the amendments that are proposed by the Senate, and that were communicated to the House on 4th June 2024. The amendments were committed to the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs for consideration and reporting to the House. The nature of the amendments received from the Senate have largely informed my decision to move this Motion to catalyse the Bill’s inevitable referral to mediation. As I said, the Senate made amendments that would necessitate us getting into mediation. However long the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs team takes, the end result will be the same - getting into a mediation committee that can unlock the extremely divergent views of the two Houses on the contents of the Bill. I will highlight them shortly.

When I introduced this Bill, it sought to repeal the Public Officer Ethics Act of 2003 and establish a framework for managing conflict of interest in the discharge of public duties under 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.

general supervision of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC). Currently, the Public Officer Ethics Act establishes various entities as being responsible for various State and public officers. For instance, the Committee of Powers and Privileges of the National Assembly is responsible for Members of the National Assembly, who are not listening. The Parliamentary Service Commission is responsible for all parliamentary staff. The Bill, as published, sought to change this by making the EACC responsible for all State and public officers. When this House considered the Bill, it made various…

I shall not repeat because you were asked by the Speaker to pay attention.

We are paying attention.

I have told you that the Public Officer Ethics Act establishes various commissions that are responsible for overseeing the conflict of interest. Under this Act, the Powers and Privileges Committee of the National Assembly is the responsible Commission under the Act for Members of Parliament, while the Parliamentary Service Commission is the responsible Commission for members of staff. I further said that the Bill as published sought to change this by making the EACC the responsible Commission for all State and public officers. I further told you that when this House considered the Bill in the Second Reading and the Committee of the whole House, we made various amendments which sought to do a number of things, including maintaining the existing model of wealth declarations to entities that directly supervise the conduct and ethics of the various categories of public officers. In this regard, the House agreed to repeal the Public Officer Ethics Act and insisted on transferring specific provisions from the Act to the Bill. Secondly, we aligned the Bill with the responsibilities of Members of Parliament, and this is important for Members. When we considered the amendments in the Committee of the whole House, we aligned the Bill to your responsibilities as Members of Parliament on declaration of conflict of interest in parliamentary debate under the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act of 2017. You remember the Bill as was published was creating a conflict of interest even on matters that pertain to your work as a Member of Parliament. We sought to make those amendments during the Committee of the whole House. Thirdly, we expanded the declarations to include previous categories of public and State officers that were not expressly provided for under the Public Officer Ethics Act. For instance, that of the Chief Justice and Cabinet Secretaries. Fourth, we limited the definition of the word ‘relative.’ Those who were here during the Second Reading will recall the very broad definition of the word ‘relative’ in the conduct of affairs of a State or public officer. We limited this definition to the affairs of a State or public officer and his or her dependent children. Fifth, we prohibited public officers from contracting with public bodies in which they are employed. You will recall the Bill as published prohibited public and State officers and their broad definition of ‘relatives’ from conducting business with any entity of the Government. Hon. Speaker, the Senate, through its amendments to the Bill, reversed everything that this House passed. The Senate has deleted the proposed repeal of the Public Officer Ethics Act. This has resulted in the proposed repeal of clauses, including those on functions of the commission, participation of Members in proceedings before Parliament or county assemblies. Therefore, there 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.

is debate that you cannot interact with as a Member of Parliament or as a member of county assemblies on the basis of what the Senate has done. There is the issue of acquisition of interest in partnerships and private companies. On restricted gainful employment, for instance, people who are here and are professional lawyers, professional accountants, etcetera, there is a register of conflict of interest where the register will give prohibitions on State officers after leaving office, having served as a State officer, what other gainful employment can you get into. We have made amendments relating to that. There is prohibition against representing people before reporting entities and declaration of income, assets and liabilities by public officers. Additionally, the Senate has deleted the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission as the administrator of the Bill and deleted all provisions on conflict of interest in the Public Officer Ethics Act, the Leadership and Integrity Act, and the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act. The Senate amendments are the complete opposite of what the National Assembly considered and passed in the Bill. Therefore, I move that the amendments be rejected for those reasons to allow us to proceed to mediation. I have just given the background of what we had done in this Bill and what the Senate has proposed to do in the amendments that I am calling on the House to reject. The amendments that the Senate has passed, besides negating everything that we did to make this Bill become workable… What the Senate has done – without casting aspersions on the other House – must have been informed by a huge conflict of interest in the other House. You appreciate that this is a House that has been unable to impeach even a single governor. I saw them the other day pontificating on issues to do with integrity and corruption in this country. We have restrained ourselves over the last two years from discussing the other House or even the conduct of Members of that House even under extreme provocation. We must stand with the people of Kenya. This Bill is critical in the fight against corruption. The dilution that the other House of Parliament – The Senate – has visited on this Bill makes it completely unworkable. It creates a very fertile ground for corruption and conflict of interest to continue taking root in our Republic. Therefore, we must be the bigger brother between the two Houses. We must be the House that stands with the people of Kenya, who have spoken loudly and told us that matters touching on conflicts of interest, and matters touching on theft of public resources, must come to an end. We must be the House that will stand with the people of Kenya and tell our brothers in the Senate that it will not be business as usual for governors in terms of stealing public resources and getting away scot-free with what they have stolen from the people of Kenya, knowing that they can influence what will happen in the other House and in their respective county assemblies. We must be the House that should stand with the people of Kenya in this regard. This House has the singular responsibility of being the peoples’ representatives, while the other House represents counties. Being the peoples’ representatives, we must be the ones who must today stand with the people of Kenya. Listening to what Kenyans are saying out there, this is one of the Bills that the young Kenyans, and other Kenyans of goodwill, who want a change in the manner that things are done in this country, have asked the Houses of Parliament to expedite. Therefore, we have a national duty to reject these amendments, get into mediation and show our brothers and sisters in the other House that it is only right to do what is good for the greater good of our people, and not what is good for leaders and public officers. I have heard in today’s Communication from the President, who has also alluded to this Bill as important not just for us as public and State officers to protect ourselves from unfair 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.

fair accusations of engaging in corrupt activities, but also in protecting the assets of the Kenyan people against public and State officers and even people in the private sector. This Bill was misconstrued in the other House to be speaking to just public and State officers. The conduct of corrupt activities in this country is also largely driven by the private sector. The Conflict of Interest Bill also speaks to the conflict of interest by the private sector players.

Add him one minute.

h (Kikuyu, UDA): Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I was saying that, for instance, if you look at the rot and the looting that has pervaded the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), it has not come out of conflict of interest by particularly State officers. Private entities have engaged in massive looting and corruption at the NHIF. Therefore, when you run a private hospital and engage with a public entity, it is only a law like the one we are making that will protect the assets of the Kenyan people. I want to call upon this House to reject all the amendments by the Senate to protect the people of Kenya from conflict of interest, corruption and wanton looting of their assets and resources. With those remarks, I beg to move and ask Hon. Mutuse, the Vice-Chair of Justice and Legal Affairs Committee, to second the Motion.

Hon. Mutuse?

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I second the Motion that has been ably moved by the Leader of Majority Party, proposing that the Senate amendments to the Conflict of Interest Bill that were considered by my Committee be rejected. The amendments that have been referred to this House by the Senate are very retrogressive. They are, in themselves, directly undermining the war against corruption. They are making the Conflict of Interest Bill an empty shell of its former objectives.

All of us in this House agree that the reason as to why we have wanton corruption in the national Government and the county governments is because those who are in leadership are able to, personally or through proxies, transact business with the offices they superintend. The Bill intends to remove that conflict of interest so that Government entities are not corrupted by people who have been appointed or elected into office. The Senate has made amendments that makes it possible, for, example, for a principal secretary to own a company and do business with a State department for which that principal secretary is the accounting officer.

This House must stand firm and say that this cannot be allowed. Out there, Kenyans are saying that we are able to fund our development. That we may not need to increase taxes if we are able to eliminate corruption and wastage. What the Senate is doing through these amendments is to legalise corruption and make it possible for a Member of Parliament, for example, to transact business with the Parliamentary Service Commission, which is even prohibited under our own parliamentary privileges and Standing Orders.

As I second the Motion, I urge this House to reject the Senate Amendments so that, pursuant to Article 113 of the Constitution, the Bill can be referred to a mediation committee of the two Houses for further consideration to ensure that, as Parliament, we do not undermine the war against corruption. That way, we will be bringing on board the resultant law, the spirit and aspirations of Kenyans. With those remarks, I second and urge this House to reject the Senate Amendments and refer the Bill to mediation. I urge the House to do as is required to enable the Speaker to invoke the powers conferred on him by Article 113 to appoint Members to a mediation committee.

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Hon. Members, remember that the Leader of Majority Party moved the Motion in an amended form. So, Hon. Ndindi Nyoro, are you here? Are there no contributors? Hon. Wangari wants to speak. Please, proceed.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I rise to support the Leader of Majority Leader on this Bill. The most saddening thing about the amendments that have been proposed by the Senate is that they are taking us extremely backwards in terms of the war against corruption. Most of the issues we have been dealing with for the last one month or so, generated by Generation Zoomers (Gen Zs) and by the civil society, could be sorted if we dealt with corruption. Every year, we have had issues of pilferage of public funds both at the national and county levels of government. Anything that would jeopardize that fight should be rejected. We should actually support this Bill in the way we had passed it. We should reject the amendments from the Senate and go with what we had passed as the National Assembly. I am avoiding dwelling into casting aspersions on the Senate, but I think the Senate has lost track of what they should be doing.

One of the biggest issues we must deal with is the fact that we have so much money going to the counties, but we do not see the value for it. We do not see the governors being held accountable. In other words, what we have seen is the Senate being obsessed with what we do in this House. I say so because I have been a senator. The senators have forgotten their main mandate of protecting the counties. What we have seen is the obsession by the Senate of calling Cabinet Secretaries to ask them questions. They should actually be calling the governors and the County Executive Committee Members (CECMs) from the county governments to hold them to account. The mandate of oversight at national Government level is vested in this House. We must have a conversation on whether Cabinet Secretaries should be appearing before the Senate or governors and CECMs should be doing so. We are now having Cabinet Secretaries giving excuses that they are not able to come to the National Assembly to answer Questions because in the morning or afternoon, they were in the Senate. Oversight of the national Government has now become a matter of duplication. Therefore, we should be able to deal with it at some point.

On this Bill, Hon. Speaker, even the President alluded to this issue in his earlier address. If we do not deal with matters of governance and corruption, then we will have done nothing, So, I hope that we will do justice to this Bill. I hope the Members who will be chosen under Article 113 to participate in the mediation process will do justice to this Bill, so that we properly deal with corruption. You cannot say that you are taking from the left hand when the right hand is hidden behind. I actually support the Leader of the Majority Party. We should reject the amendments that have been done by the Senate. This Bill should proceed as initially passed by the National Assembly so that we deal properly with the issues that have been raised by Kenyans in the last few weeks. With those remarks, I support the Motion.

Hon. Oundo.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. When we were enacting the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, we were extremely careful. We knew that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. That is why Chapter 6, on Integrity and Leadership, was inserted in the Constitution. Unfortunately, we proceeded to prepare an Act of Parliament that made a mockery of Chapter 6 of the Constitution. We proceeded to have various 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.

anti-corruption laws that do not seem to be biting because out there, many Kenyans believe that it is the political class who are the purveyors of corruption in this country. Hon. Speaker, as Parliament – the National Assembly and the Senate – if we can water down the Bill that we passed here to make it practically impossible to hold accountable elected leaders, then we are taking this country into the abyss. That is why I support the Motion as moved by the Leader of Majority Party. What Senate did was a great disservice to this country.

I think Senate is suffering from inferiority complex. The Senators think that Members of the National Assembly are wallowing in a lot of money. That is why they have got the pettiness of coming to see how many cars are in the parking lot of the National Assembly. They come to see how many new cars or new tyres Members of Parliament have bought. The Senators, including even those who have been here, have the misconception that Members of the National Assembly use the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) to fund their personal lifestyles. We cannot afford to allow conflict of interest not to be called out for redress.

Hon. Speaker, we are in a position of influence. If we allow ourselves to do business with the entities that we oversee, it would mean that no other Kenyan will ever get a contract or any job in this country unless they know somebody. We must wean ourselves off the mentality that you must know somebody to get employed. That, you must be connected to get a tender; and, that, you must bribe to be paid for any work that you have done anywhere. I urge those who will be appointed to sit in the mediation committee to be very firm. I have previously sat in mediation committee. The Senators can bully ordinary Members into accepting their way. In this instance, we should go to mediation with the irreducible minimum, which is the Bill that we passed in this House. If they come with any other story, we will expose and surrender them to the Gen-Zs to deal with them accordingly. With those remarks, I support the Motion as moved by the Leader of the Majority Party.

Member for Gichugu. Give him the microphone.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I support the Motion as moved by the Leader of the Majority Party. The principle of conflict of interest has been there for many years. It has been loosely used under the tenets of natural justice. Therefore, it has been left to the courts to determine whether there is conflict of interest or not in any matter of arbitration. Here is a Bill or law that was very explicit on matters of conflict of interest. This House will not allow the Senate to stand in the way of Kenyans in the fight against corruption. That is what they want to do with this Bill. As a House, we must stand firm and support the Government, which is committed to the fight against corruption. The Executive, through the President, has already pronounced itself that this Government will fight corruption. Therefore, the Senate should not come in the way of the will of Kenyans to fight corruption. Without belabouring the point, I support the Motion as moved and reject in totality the proposals made by the Senate.

Hon. K.J.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I stand to support the Motion as moved by the Leader of the Majority Party. I also object to the changes that were made by the Senate. This Bill was a great opportunity for this House to start addressing some of the matters that are being canvassed by the young people who are calling themselves Gen-Zs. The matter of conflict of interest in the management of public affairs is a thorn in the flesh in this country. While this House sought to remedy some of those maladies, it looks like the Senate is keen on taking us 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.

back to a situation where we are unable to counter the issue of conflict of interest. For that reason, I object to the Senate amendments. The issue that is being canvassed in the country today is actually us being called to order. As a Republic, at a point like this, when we are asking ourselves about the conflict of interest, even our Constitution is ready for an audit. It has been with us for some good 15 years. So, at this point, we should ask ourselves how it has served us in the last 15 years. When we audit the Constitution, we shall put the Senate on the spot. We shall ask ourselves whether its composition, as it is now, is serving Kenyans. In my mind, some amendments to the Constitution will occasion us to relook at how the Senate is constituted. It is required to attend to county matters. Even as the Gen-Zs are calling out the rot in the national Government, we know that there are bigger problems in the counties. If the Senate was true to its roles, it would have gone to the county governments and checked the rot that is happening in the executives and the conflict of interest that is happening through the businesses that are being conducted in the counties. I object vehemently. As we look at matters of conflict of interest, this is the right time for this country to have a conversation with itself on how the Constitution has served us for the last 15 years. I believe that if we were to relook at how the Senate is composed, as a country, we might decide to borrow a leaf from jurisdictions like the United Kingdom (UK), where the House of Commons has its job cut out. The Senate is reserved for very esteemed people and citizens. If we were to re-compose our Senate, we might decide to reserve it for Kenyans who have diligently served in specific areas. Such people should be the ones to be nominated to the Senate. So, it is a proper nyumba ya wazee which advises the country on very topical and technical issues from a point of information. At times, the Senate finds itself with no business to prosecute other than meddle with the work that is being done by the National Assembly. As such, they use their time doing what we have before us this afternoon. I object to the amendments that have been made by the Senate and support the Motion as amended and moved by the Leader of the Majority Party. Thank you very much.

Those on the screen like Hon. Ndindi Nyoro, Hon. Johanna Ng'eno and Hon. John Gitonga, do you want to speak on the Supplementary Estimates?

Yes.

The Mover should be called upon to reply. Leader of the Majority Party, you may now reply.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. Let me thank the few Members who have contributed to this Motion. I want to beg Members to reject the amendments from the Senate. Upon rejection, we will immediately constitute a mediation committee to consider this Bill and make fresh amendments. With those remarks, I reply.

Order, Hon. Members. Take your seats. Hon. Sabina Chege, Hon. Wamuchomba and Hon. Passaris, take your seats. Hon. Members, I will now put the question. Those who will vote ‘Yes’ will be supporting the amendments from the Senate while those who will vote ‘No’ will be rejecting the same.

Hon. Members, let us go back to Order No.9. 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.

from hospitality ) services.

for Enhancing operations of the DCI at HQ.

from the planned recruitment of 2,862 police officers.

to enhance wages for police officers.

or security Support Services operations.

) for security operations in Northern Kenya.

or construction of subcounty offices. 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.

for livestock Management and 0 restocking in Baringo North- Development public participation project.

for sustainable tsetse and trypanosomiasis free areas in Kenya.

from Sugar Reforms (Net). 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.

) for Development of Aggregation centers.

for Omoloi Agricultural Training College.

from fertilizer subsidy.

from 1104000200

Reclamation Irrigation and Drainage Services operating expenses.

for 1104000700 National Water Harvesting and Storage Authority to pay pending bills as the Agency is being prepared to be wound up.

for household irrigation water harvesting programme -NIA.

for drought mitigation-NIA.

) for Kenya Water

Planning and Institute. Support Services

from Malava Infrastructure 0) 00 Gravity Scheme Water Project- Development LVNWWDA.

for Mosongo Water Project-LVNWWDA to clear pending bills.

from Moi's Bridge Matunda Water and Sewerage Project-Lot 1 NRVWWDA.

for Kapyego community water supply NRVWWDA.

for Matunga & Oinga Water Pan (Homa Bay)- LVSWWDA.

for Cheptebe

Water Pan (Bomet)- LVSWWDA.

for Kobengo Water Pan (Kisumu)- LVSWWDA.

from National Water Harvesting and ground water Exploration.

from Mwache Water pipeline extension- CWWDA.

for Water &

Sanitation Services & Improvement Project- CWWDA.

from Northern Water Works Development Agency.

) for various Water Works Development Agencies.

to central Rift Water Services Board. 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.

or sangenyi water pan-CWWDA.

for Kamoi- Kapterit Suwerwa water supply project-NRVWWDA

for 1166001600 Management 0) Kenya Fisheries Service to establish an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and hardware system.

rom 1166101300 Aquaculture Business Development Project.

or completion Coordination of the 00 0 of Liwatoni Ultra-Modern Fish Blue Economy Processing Hub.

from Marine Fish Stock Assessment.

from purchase Services 0) 0 of software.

from purchase of computers, printers and other equipment.

for Digital Superhighway (Cybersecurity)

o kickstart the critical interventions of the cyber-security project.

or the Kenya Communication Yearbook Editorial Board to Services facilitate publications and communication of government achievements.

for Media Council of Kenya

for legal fees.

for ongoing TVETs

) for ongoing TTIs

for TVET to build hostels

for school feeding programme.

for Secondary School Infrastructure

for Secondary School Infrastructure

from Bogoria 0) 0 Silali Geothermal Project (Net).

for Bogoria Silali Geothermal Project (A in A from sale of steam).

for Menengai Geothermal Development Project (A in A from sale of steam).

from Suswa Geothermal Project (A in A from sale of steam).

for Nuclear Power Plant Siting.

or East Africa Skills transformation and regional integration (Grant Revenue).

or street- lighting (A in A from the 5 % REP levy).

for Installation of transformers in constituencies (A in A from the 5 % REP levy).

for Nanyuki- Isiolo-Meru (A in A from sale of electricity).

for Nairobi 220KV Ring (A in A from sale of electricity).

for Olkaria Lessos Kisumu Power Lines Construction Project (A in A from sale of electricity).

) for transformers and last mile connectivity -REREC.

to Cater to critical rural access Last mile connectivity.

or street lighting.

from K-OSAP: Technologies ) state department of energy (Net).

rom Distribution of Oil 0) 0 Preparatory activities for the and Gas Lokichar-Lamu Crude oil pipeline (A in A from PDL).

Fuel Marking (A in A from PDL).

rom Management and agroforestry and commercial Protection forestry (Grant A in A).

) from agroforestry and commercial forestry (Grant Revenue)

) from Strategic Planning and 00) interventions (other operating Support Services Expenses- Policy leasing Vehicles)

from 1071007400 Kenya Revenue Authority.

for Civil Servants insurance scheme (Pending bills). 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.

rom Budget Management 0) 0 22) Reserve.

from 1071000204 National Government Budget Process (Budget Reserve)

for PPRA for sensitization of the public procurement portal to enhance transparency and accountability in public procurement processes.

to the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) for personal emoluments aimed at attracting and retaining skilled personnel

or to enhance the Single Window System Project.

for R1072-00903- Evaluation Technological Support to Services Digitalization of Economic 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.

to the Office of the Public finances Controller of Budget for monitoring and evaluation purposes

rom Specialized Services 000) 0 ) Procurement of Equipment at the National Blood Transfusion Services.

from Expansion of Comprehensive Cancer Centre -KUTRRH.

) from 1082102400Refurbishment/Re novation and Replacement of 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.

to 1082100200 National Commodities Storage Center (KEMSA) 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.

or 1082100800 Renovation & Equipping of National Spinal Injury Hospital.

for upgrading and equipping Lusigetti.

for 1082002800 Maternal New Born National Aids Control Council Child Adolescent Funds to cater for pending bills Health RMNCAH for 4th quarter of FY 2022/23 occasioned by non- disbursement of exchequer.

) for Innovations ) 0 1082104400 Human Vaccine Production - BETA Reduce Ksh. 50 million (Development) from 1082103000 Integrated Health Management Information System -BETA.

for Digital Health Authority.

for 1083003900 Health Services 0 Tobacco Control Board to operationalize the Board.

or Lukolis Dispensary.

from 1083004800 Kenya Medical Laboratory Technicians & Technologists Board -KMLTTB

for 1083-0012-01 Environmental Health Services Sub-Item 2211008-Laboratory Materials, Supplies and Small Equipment.

) for public Human Settlement 0 participation projects.

for Coastline Pedestrian Access 0 infrastructure and pedestrian access -public participation projects.

) for Handaraku Footbridge.

for pending Services bills relating to the ongoing projects under Probation Department.

for the Asset Recovery Agency for operation and maintenance.

for Council of Training and Legal Education. Constitutional Affairs

for ongoing development projects.

for staff medical Regulation and insurance. Funding of Political

from the political parties fund.

for medical cover, O&M and other recurrent expenditures.

to reinstate the Human Rights reduction made through the supplementary estimates.

for pending bills Electoral Processes for Non-legal bills (Postal Corporation of Kenya).

to enable the commission meet its statutory contractual obligation such as 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.

to support the Justice ) Ajira programme.

to complete the ongoing construction of Wajir High Court.

to rationalize the vote.

form NYOTA Employment and 000) 00) project. Productivity Management

) For operationalization of Huduma Centres

for surveying, 00 0 adjudication and titling-public participation project.

t) for settlement in Mai Mahiu.

for settlement in coast and other areas.

for registration Management of community land-Public participation project.

rom Nairobi Rivers Commission (Casual labour).

from HQ-Relief Development 0) 00) and rehabilitation 2640201 Emergency relief.

from NDMA to cater for school feeding under

for Modernization Development 00 0 of hatchery technology and fingerlings multiplication LBDA.

) for various BETA development projects.

for Modernization of hatchery technology and fingerlings multiplication LBDA phase II.

for food, school fees and other relevant expenses-Child Welfare Society.

or Kenya Services National Innovation Agency for operational shortfalls and hosting this year's National Innovation Week.

from National Youth Service.

for Wundanyi Youth Resource (Culture and Talent) Center

for a public participation project

for Wildlife Management Research Training Institute.

o purchase Development and 0) 00 milk coolers. Management

from purchase of milk coolers counterpart funding.

From Coffee Cherry Fund.

from CAIPs Development 0) )

for equipping MSMEs constituency industrial center - public participation projects.

from Financial Financial Inclusion 000) 00) Inclusion Fund. for MSMEs 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.

) from EPZA Promotion 0) )

from Mombasa Road (DEVKI) - Kinanie Park/ Kinanie Leather Park.

from Kigumo Town Roads.

from Nairobi ITS Establishment & Junctions Improvement Project II.

from NUTRIP- James Gichuru junction - Rironi (Uhuru Highway) (26 km).

from KTSSP- Construction of Kisumu Boys - Mambo Leo Road.

from KTSSP- Interchange at Kericho Jn B1/C23.

from Garissa Municipality Roads.

from Lot 3: Chemilil-Muhoroni (Kipsitet) Road.

from KTSSP- Dualling Athi River - Machakos Turnoff Road.

from Waiyaki Way -Redhill Link Roads.

from Nairobi Outering Roads.

from Suneka - Kiogoro By Pass, Kiogoro - Kegati By Pass, Nyakoe -

Kegati.

from Kirinyaga Town Roads.

from Nuno- Modogashi Road.

from KTSSP- Rehabilitation Webuye - Kitale Road.

from Lot 1: Moru Barpello-Tot Junction.

from Lot 2: Tot Junction-Chesogon-Kopasi River.

from Marsabit - Shegel (B7).

from Shegel - Maikona and Maikona Spur

Roads and Town Roads.

from Eastlands Roads Phase II.

from Mukowe

Township roads - Lamu.

from Eldas Township Roads.

from Mandera Town Roads Phase II.

from Nakuru

CBD Roads

from Jomvu Kuu - Jitoni - Rabai.

from NAROK TOWN ROADS

from Rhino Park Access.

from Mlolongo - Athi river - Joska.

from Banisa Township Road.

from Marsabit Town Roads Phase I

from Jnct B4 Berkley-Kwa Gitau-Moi Gate Loop.

from Tartar

Junction - Kamuino. 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.

from Isiolo Town Roads.

from Access Roads to Ruai Housing Project.

from Access Roads to Mariguini Housing Project.

from Access Roads to East Africa Portland Cement Housing Project.

from Mombasa Road (DEVKI) - Kinanie Park/ Kinanie Leather Park.

from Wikililye- Kathukini-Kwa Muli-Nzukini- mbumbuni.

from WAJIR BYPASS.

from Njabini - Kinyona.

from KTSSP- HQ Complex for Road subsector Institutions (Barbara Plaza).

from Dualling of Mombasa - Mariakani Road (Lot 2: Kwa Jomvu - Mariakani).

from Dualling of Nairobi Eastern Bypass.

from Nairobi Roads Rapid De-congestion Programme (Phase II) - Annex

Of Jun.

from Nanyuki Town Roads/Likii Nturukuma.

from MPARD Package 2 - Mwache – Tsunza – Mteza.

from Ugunja- Ukwala-Ruambwa (C92).

from Lot 1: Mamboleo Junction(A1)- Miwani Road.

from Lot 2: Miwani-Chemilil Road.

from Lot 2: Kisii-Ahero Section.

from Kibwezi - Mutomo - Kitui Road (B7).

from Rangala- Siaya-Bondo Road.

from Stand

Khisa-Khumsalaba Road.

from Dualling of Ngong Road Phase II (Adams Arcade - Ngong Town- Kiserian.

from NCTIP- Rehabilitation of Kericho - Nyamasaria Road.

from Informal Settlements Road Programme.

from Access Roads to Kibera Housing Project.

from Homabay Town Roads Phase 1.

from Sagana- Kathaka-Thiguku/Mururi- Mahigaini-Nyamindi-

Kiumbuni/Ndindi.

from Naiberi- Sergoit - Moiben/Marura - Jnc E326.

from Bugar - Chebiemit/Jnct D329 (Kaplolo)-Kaplamai-Jnct C50.

from Muigai

Inn-Kang'oo- Kibichoi - Mataara Mau rd-A3 Broadway 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.

from Malindi - Sagale.

from Jcn A104- Ainabkoi (Jn C53)-Kapchorwa Jn C53-Jn C54(Naiberi) Rd RWC135.

from Embu Hosp-Kathangariri- Kianjokoma-Runyenjes-Mbui- Njeru-Kanja-Siakago.

from Isebania - Ikerege -Kehancha -Gwitembe - Ntimaru (15 Km) - Migori.

from Kijauri - Nyansiongo - Raitigo - Metamaywa.

from Kibichoi - Kigongo - Kiganjo /Mudoro- Flyover/Gachika Flyover/ Kigaa.

from Keboko - Nyangoso - Nyamache.

from Nyamira - Igonga - Gesonso - Nyabioto ; 2. Nyamatutu-Mogumo– Igonga.

from Phase 2: KadelAlara-Pala-Kanyadhiang /Centre-Kilusi-Opanga-Ramba

Road.

from Moiben - Cheborwa- Kapcherop - Kachibora.

from Kipsigirai 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.

from Jn A104 (Lungalunga) - Vanga - Jego - Majoreni - Jn A109 (Ramisi)- Bo.

from Molo - Olenguruone.

from Maili Kumi-Lower Solai-Sukia Phase 1: Maili Kumi-Lower Solai Section.

from Ngong- Suswa.

from Hohwe Dam-Karogoto-Ndimaini- JnE560 Gathagara-Karunduku- D4340 Mungetho.

from Mairi - Makomboki.

fromGilgil - Machinery.

from Danger - Kimondi - Chemuswa.

from Kina - Garbatura.

from Keroka- Kebirigo (D224).

from Upgrade to Bitumen of Eronge-Kebuse- Borabu TCC-Makara-Prince Dan Sch.

from Giakanja -Tetu Mission Road (D4340.

from Ngecha- Zambezi-Kahuho- Kingeero/Kahuho- Kanjeru/Zambezi-Kamuguga- Kiamba.

from Mandera- Fino.

from Gatundu - Mukinye - Juja / Gatundu - Gitati Ini - Karinga / Gatundu -.

from Rural Roads in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (AFD).

from Lessos - Namanjalala - Kobos.

from Kerwa - 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.

from Silibwet - Merigi - Kapkimolwa - Jnc B3 / Longisa - kembu - Hemaner.

from Nguuni - Nuu.

from Maragi- Gatheru.

from Emurua Dikirr - Murkan - Soiti -

Shartuka - Kilgoris

from Sabasaba- Kamahuha-Kaharati/Ichagaki- Irembu

from Phase 1: Timboroa-Meteitei-Songhor- Kopere Roads & Kaiboi- Kurgum-Chepte.

from Captain - Ndemi - Wanjohi-Ndunyu Njeru (459).

from Marua- Mahigaini-Rui Ruiru- Gatungaga-Chieni-Kiamariga- State Lodge-Ngai.

from Jnct C513 Kwa Meja - Gathaithi - C515 Muthinga.

from Kionyo- Kanyakine- Kithino- Mitunguu Road

from Kiritiri - Kiambere.

from Kerugoya - Kiaritha - Kangaita &Baricho - Njegas - Ngaru - Gakoigo -

from Soy - Kipsangui - Kabenes & Eldoret - Kiplombe - Soy

from Kamatira - Cheptongei(D327/D329) RWC 104.

from Kenol- Ngoleni-Kaani / Mutituni - Kaseve.

from Lamuria - Ngobit - Withare -Jnct B5 (C501/C501a)

from Kali - Kikima -Kilyungi - Kitundu.

from Ruaka- Banana-Limuru & Thogoto- Gikambura-Mutarakwa Phase

from Sabaki- Marafa.

from Oinamoi - Barwesa.

from Kutus - Kianyaga - Kiamutugu - Githure - Kibugu

from Bamburi - Mwakirunge - Kaloleni

from Taqwa - Mbiriri - Kimahuri - Warazo

Jet- Munyu

from Adiedo- Border -Pala/Oriwo - Njeri

from Itaru Bridge 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.

from Mauche - Bombo - Olenguruone- Kiptagich-Silibwet(D319)- RWC 136

from Kisima - Kibirichia - Kima - Ruiri

from U- G29664 Kamunyu A/ U- G29671 Kamunyu B/U- G29572 Gathiaka-Gathuya/ Ma

from Kapsait - Kapsangar - Tapash - Sondanyi

from Malaba - Aungurai -Moding - Kakamer - Busia

from Mutithi- Kagio, Kiamaina-Gatwe, Kiamaina-Ndiriti-Kiaruhiu, Kagio-Kiang

from Kiambu- Raini,Nduota- Gathanga,Gachie- Gacharagae,Kabukuand loop road

from Konyu- Kairuthi Kinu-Ruruguti Kagicha-Kiriani Gura Rr Giathenge-Kagumo

from Bamba - Ganze - Kilifi

from Kanyagia - Muyogo - Endarasha - Charity

- Gakanga

from Mau Mau (Meru)l

from Kiria - Kagaa -Kiruri/Kiruri - Githambio -Murarandia

from Kasoiya - Riwo - Seretunin - Talai - Kasisit - Kampi Samaki (Phase 1)

from Samburu - Kinango

Masaara - Sori

from Sultan HamudA109- Kasikeu - Wautu - Kyambeke - Kikoko

from Ihwa - Ihururu / Gachatha - Ndugamano - Gura

from Lukusi - Sango - Mawe Tatu

Karugia - Chui - Gitugi - Kagumoini- Kanjama

Road 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.

from Msau- Mbale-Werugha-Mghange- Bura

from Gortu Bridge

from Sigor- Tamkal

from Lilloch - Fort Tenan - Sigowet

from Karai - Nairutia/ Muringa - Kiawara/ Narumoru - Babito

from Kiawara - Mugunda - Nairutia

from PIAI - Murinduko - Mumbuni - Kiumbuni

from Njoro - Nessuit

from Jnct C540 -Kangari - Gichagini - Jnct B23 Gacharage

from Milalani - Mivumoni - Kilulu

from Kerwa- Acre Tano Hill-Pst Maina- KirozKen Academy-Karumbi- Mindo-Gikira

from Ndaragwa - Maili Kumi /Ndaragwa - Kanyagia - Subuku/ Ndaragwa- Ngamini

from Tawa - Nguluni - Itangini Road -

from Mumias - Imanga - Musanda/ Mudhiero-

Elukongo-Ugana Bridge

from Engineer- Mbiginano-Gathara/Turaga- Gathara-Kianguyu-Gwa Chem- Jct C69

from Malava - Ikoli - Kimaeti

from Upgrade of C488 Murungaru-Turasha- 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.

from Phase 2 Mworoga- Maraa- Mitungu Road

from Loruk - Churo - Muge Road

from Kenya Loma-Kiranze

from Mugeka - Kiriani – Kairo (Muranga- Kiriaini Phase 11)

from Lunza - Shika - Ikolomani/Manyunza - Dido/Harambee- Shitsisori/Malaba

from Maralal-

Loosuk

from Jua Kali- Umande-Akorino

from Phase 2: Odda -Bute-Danaba Road

from Baricho Bridge

from Access to Chuka university

from Naitiri - Misikhu/Nzoia Bridge -

Matunda

from Soy - Serekea - Kilimani - Turbo

from Muranga - Gitugi 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.

from Mau Mau (Embu)

from Maseno - Kombewa - Kalandini(D245) & Maseno Town Roads RWC 119

from Jn A2 (Ndarugo)-Bob Harris-Mangu Road

from Access to Karatina University

from Kiritiri - Siakago

from Itumbe - Motonto- Baraine - Sameta - Igare/Riakemoni -Mosoro - Ogembo

from Meru -

Mikinduri

from Mahiga Primary School-Ol Moran Centre Road

from Soimet - Kapletundo - Mogogosiek

from Galana

Kulalu Bridge/ Access Roads & Internal Netwoks 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.

from Riosiri- Moi University (Rongo Campus)-Toku Bridge - Cham Gi Wadu

from A2 Juja- Juja Farm-Munyu-Jcn A3 Garissa Road

from Brooke Bond - Maili Nne - Kipkelion - Londiani - RWC 110

from Bondo - Uyawi- Kibanga - Liunda Beach (C843)

from Axle Load Monitoring, Traffic Census and Road Safety

from Milalani- Munje-Funzi island

from Tenden - kibigos - Makutano

from Thaara

- Gakindu - RWC 420

from Manga - Motemomwamu

fromBoiman - Pacenga - Siranga - Gachwe - Kwamumbi

Chobe - Kambi George- Weru - Matundura & Muti-ini - Thindi

from Kahatia - Theri - Nduruini

from Njegas - Mutito - Kagumo - Gatwe - Kangaita/ Kiaga-Kianjege- Mukindori

from Lot 2: Timboroa Jnc A104-Miteitei- Kopere (Kaiboi-Kapkatembo Section)

from Lot 1: Timboroa-Meteitei-Songhor- Kopere Roads & Kaiboi- Kurgum-Chepte

from Bondo - Misori

from Kirima- Ndinda & Kirima-Engineer/ To North Kinangop Catholic

Hospital

from Mulot Bridge 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.

from Gekano - Amabuko

fromKarugia - Ngurweini - Gathimaina - Turuturu - Mathareini - Jnc C70

from Kamiti Corner Road

from Tumaini - Gwa Kiongo - Gituamba - Kabazi Road

from Hara - Korisa (C-255) Road

from Lare - Ndumuru

from Mulot - Sogoo - Tenduet - Saptet/ Sogoo - Ololunga

from Matuu - Ekalakal - Kangulu

from Indian

Bazaar - Ndumberi

from Hara - Environmental Sustainability

from Alliance - Green Garden - Ha Itiyo - Musa Gitau - Hathiru

from Maina Village Roads

from Ondiri - Makeresha - Thigio - Acre imwe - Kanyajara - Kerwa

from Rukuriri - Kathageri - Kanyuambora

from Makutano - Kapcherop - Kapyego

from Gatanga - Kionyo - Nyaga

from Mayanja

- Bisunu - Sirisia

from Nyaburu (Jnc C20) – Oboke – Rangwe Road

from Keria - Makutano - Kathwana

from Mbale - Mbihi - Magada - Wemilabi - Luanda

from Jct E2222 Kiunyu - Muteria Primary

School - Chania Frontiers Jct B20 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.

from Gaithega - Gituri Road

from Ossen loop - Kabartonjo.

for critical rural and urban roads.

) to cater to critical rural access roads- KERRA

to cater to critical urban access roads- KURA.

for funding the Management and 2024 selection panel for Development appointment of IEBC commissioners.

to reinstate budget cuts. I

to reinstate budget cuts.

Hon. Ndindi Nyoro, you are the Move! Right? Okay. Hon. Johanna Ng'eno, proceed. You are not ready? Let us have Hon. John Gitonga.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker.

Are you ready to speak?

Thank you, Hon. Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to the Motion on the adoption of the First Supplementary Estimates. We have witnessed difficulties in the country that prompted the withdrawal of the Finance Bill, 2024. It was meant to finance some of the expenditures in our Budget. Therefore, there was need for some austerity measures to accommodate the deficits. I wish to thank the Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee for sitting and looking into the issues that we had tabled before the Committee. As a Committee for Housing, Urban Planning and Public Works, we factored in the issues and needs that the people of this country were expecting to appear in that Supplementary Budget. Hon. Speaker, one also needs to understand that this Supplementary Budget will have a lot of constraints, and, of course, there are so many shortfalls, especially in funding some vital projects and programs. Particularly, the State Department for Public Works was majorly affected. Remember this is a very vital organ, especially on inspecting, monitoring and evaluating all the projects which are done in the country. Most importantly, remember that the rain that ravaged the country carried away so many foot bridges which had been done to allow students to cross over to the other areas and to allow women to cross to the other areas for markets, while carrying their products. We heard that the State Department had requested for the construction of foot bridges 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.

allow those crossovers. However, due to the fall of the Finance Bill 2024, the whole budget that was allocating those particular activities was completely downed. The Budget has also given breath to the employment permanently of the JSS teachers. Remember, we still have a very big challenge on the issue of JSS teachers and our classrooms. The CBC was introduced without considering many factors. Now, it is a baby that we have to nurture and it is something that we have to deal with. It is a matter that we cannot throw out of the window. Therefore, when that budget was cut, the President looked into whether we were going to throw out the hiring of the JSS teachers because that was a very big challenge. However, in his wisdom and the wisdom of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, they have managed to allocate funds to ensure that we have all the JSS teachers employed and placed under permanent employment. This is a very vital area. We also want to ensure that the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is considered. This is a very vital thing that will give our teachers comfort because the foundation of this country is based on education. Just like what somebody said or a very great person one day said, education is an equaliser. It is a factor that equalises the rich and the poor. It puts them in the same pool. So, this Budget is considering putting into serious consideration matters of education, because that is one area that we consider very fundamental. We know that even in the Ministry of Energy, most of the provisions were cut. But most importantly, now that from the mood of the Communication you read to this House, where most of the nominees to the Cabinet are from the Opposition side, I hope it is going to bring harmony in this House and especially in the country so that whatever business we will be transacting in this House will sail through. I am taking this opportunity to welcome Members of the Opposition, now that they are part of the Government, to help this country to stabilise. I know the reason why we had that particular move is to allow this country to have stability. Allow this country to move forward. Allow this country to focus and allow this country to ensure that all the issues and the projects that have been slated are properly delivered and done. I want to give a word of caution. In our committees, when we were trying to pass some of the proposals by State departments, we wanted to ensure that most of the money is utilised properly. But we have seen that the people of this Republic who we are taxing are going through a lot of pain. Our major request and demand from this House is this: Any money that is allocated for major projects should be utilised on the projects, especially those that are bringing development to our people. We will, as much as possible, try to cut some of the expenditures. Most importantly, the cuts that have been placed on development areas and the little that has remained must be properly utilised. Now that we have almost a new Cabinet, although some of them are the same old faces, we ask the Members of the Cabinet who are coming in especially if they were to be vetted and passed in this House, that it is time to work for this country. It is not time to work for yourself. It is not time to reap. This is not the time to steal. This is not the time to waste. This is money which we collect painfully from the people of this Republic. So, even as we are going to vet the particular cabinet secretaries whose names have been forwarded to this House, our core mandate is to ensure that we vet and pass those we know their background has nothing to do with corruption. If they pass that test, we hope they are going to deliver to this nation. They are going to build this nation. They are going to work hard, just like what the President is trying to do. This is so that we do not look back and say, those are the people who failed this country. So, each one of us has a responsibility. As a House, we have the responsibility. As a Cabinet, they have their responsibility. The President also has the responsibility to ensure that whatever money we appropriate in this 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.

House, whatever money we tax the people of this country and put in the budget, must be properly utilised without corruption and stealing. I, thank you, Hon. Speaker, and I support.

Let us have the Nairobi County Woman Representative. Or you are not ready? Hon. Rozaah Buyu.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. First and foremost, in supporting the Supplementary Budget that we have just had, I would like to thank the Gen. Zs for allowing us to relook at this Budget. I support this because when you look at what has been presented, there are many austerity measures that have been put in place, which means that money is going to good use. However, I would like to say that there is still an opportunity to better that Budget by looking at duplication in different ministries. When that is realigned, I am sure the Budget will even be lower. This afternoon, as a woman who has been at the forefront of the women’s movement, I want to take this opportunity, as a key member of ODM and Azimio, to announce the new Leader of the Minority Party, Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona. Nobody should tell me that I have no authority to do that. I have been in ODM since its inception in 2005 and I have seen women being so loyal to this party called ODM. I have seen women at the fore-front of Azimio and it is time that a woman is allowed to lead this party in the House.

On a point of order, Hon. Speaker.

Hon. Speaker, I am speaking of a woman who is distinguished in terms of her contribution.

Yes. Order! There is a point of order. Yes, Hon. Kamket. What is your point of order? Yes, Kamket.

Hon. Speaker. I am standing under Standing Order No.91 and also on relevance. The Member is anticipating debate because there is no Motion in this House about any appointment of anyone to anywhere. From our own experience yesterday, we know that what is announced outside there...

What is your point of order there?

On two matters. Is it in order, Hon. Speaker, for the Hon. lady to anticipate debate? Secondly, is what she is saying relevant to the debate on the Supplementary Estimates?

Continue.

Hon. Speaker, I am not pre-empting any debate and I am not talking about any cabinet secretary. I am talking about a seat that seems to be vacant. I am talking about a distinguished Member of this National Assembly; a woman who is serving her fourth term; a distinguished debater in this House; a distinguished lawyer and a human rights defender. It is time for Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona to take the leadership of the Minority Party. I thank you Hon. Speaker.

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.

Order, Hon. Lady Members, I know you are operating within the exuberance of feminism, but your wailing in the House is out of order. Is Hon. John Gitonga here? He seems not. Some of you key in and leave. Hon. Kiarie?

Hon. Speaker, it is a great honour to contribute to this Motion on the First Supplementary Estimates for the Financial Year 2024/2025. I speak as the Chair of the Departmental Committee on Communication, Information and Innovation. Hon. Speaker, we have been given an opportunity to look at the Supplementary Estimates. We, in the communications sector, are running into a big problem, even with the budget cuts that are happening. If you look at the trend of how the cuts were done at the National Treasury, they targeted certain issues. In the attempt to implement austerity measures, the area of communication is greatly affected across the board. Unfortunately, Hon. Speaker, there are ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) in this Government whose sole responsibility is communication. For example, the Department of Broadcast and Telecommunication. In the blanket cuts, that department has been left in a situation where it might go for an entire year and not be able to pay salaries and conduct any developmental issues, because their core business is communication. It is formed in such a way that if blanket cuts are done across the board affecting communication, their core business is greatly affected. Hon. Speaker, I support the Supplementary Estimates as we have done. However, it must be said in this Parliament that the National Treasury ought to change its budgeting regime and the way it does budgeting. The National Treasury has budgeted for MDAs in the same way it has done since 1963. Sectors that have traditionally enjoyed big budgets continue to enjoy inordinately bigger budgets. The traditional sectors that are capital-intensive and infrastructure-intensive have continually enjoyed big budgets. Budgets that probably are even budgeted for corruption. Emerging sectors like telecommunication, innovation and information, were small departments in traditional bigger sectors. For example, the sector of Information, Communication, and Technology (ICT) and digital economy was traditionally a small department within energy. In the mind of the National Treasury, ICT and the digital economy remain a small department within energy. However, if you look at the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), the Marshall Plans, the Kenya Digital Superhighway Program, Vision 2030, emerging sectors like ICT and the digital economy might be the place where we can find a solution for the issues that are being canvassed. Even the issues that are being canvassed by Gen. Zs on the streets, they are talking about youth engagement and employment. That employment will not come from the bigger sectors. It will not come from corporate Kenya. Those youths will be meaningfully engaged if Members of this House can institute digital innovation hubs in every ward in this country. It will happen when we make connectivity get to places like Wajir and Mandera counties, and the other far-flung places in this country. Those opportunities will be available when young people can get digital online jobs, where they can go to a digital innovation hub in their village and can be paid in dollars. However, that is the case we find ourselves in, the National Treasury is still budgeting the way it used to in the 1960s. Hon. Speaker, our sectors in the ICT and digital economy have proven that, if you invest Ksh1, you can reap Ksh5 out of that investment. What we are decrying here - and I do stand up as a village crier to say -is that even as we prosecute the First Supplementary Estimates for 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.

Financial Year 2024/2025, Parliament will have to apply itself better to remedy the ills that are coming from the National Treasury, which is traditionally budgeting in a way that does not benefit us and drive us in the way of solving some of the problems that the young people are telling us. Hon. Speaker, I support the consideration of this Supplementary Estimates. I also laud the Members of the Digital Economy Committee, up to and including Hon. (Dr.) Bensuda, whom I see here. They applied themselves well in this Supplementary Estimates to remedy some of those ills that we picked out and that were occasioned by the way the National Treasury is budgeting for this country. I want to laud the Members of the Committee on Communication, Information and Innovation and remind you that in the absence of a committee of the future in this jurisdiction, the Committee on Communication, Information and Innovation is the committee of the future. We shall take our rightful place as Parliament so that we budget as is required by the Constitution, where budgeting happens on this Floor and in this House. Thank you very much, Hon. Speaker. I support.

Hon. Zamzam. You are not…

I will speak on something else.

Who is the Member at the end? Hon. Mwalyo.

Thank you very much, Hon. Speaker. I stand to support the First Supplementary Estimates for the Financial Year 2024/2025 and air some grievances that this First Supplementary Estimates has created. In this First Supplementary Estimates, the cuts have removed the majority of the development funds in many sectors and also the ministries. By doing so, we are taking people out of business, hence creating unemployment. That is because if there are no development funds, it means that the contractors that had been given tenders and had done some works are going to have pending bills. Also, they are going to lay off most of the workers who have been employed or engaged in those contracts. Therefore, it is important to think out of the box and keep some money for development, instead of removing all the development funds because unemployment is going to take people to the streets. In the construction sector, the contractors normally engage with the Government because it is the biggest employer of all the contractors, and therefore, workers are going to be left without jobs because there is no allocation for development this year. The Departmental Committee on Trade, Industry and Co-operatives has reallocated funds from some areas to sectors that can generate employment, such as the EPZs, the Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Rivatex and the New Kenya Co-operatives Creameries (New KCC). Our goal was to create job opportunities for Kenyans, especially the Gen. Zs who are struggling with unemployment. We need to create employment for our young people on the streets.

We will bring some amendments at the Committee of the whole House stage so that we can create more room for employment. Young people need to be engaged in some of the ongoing developments and activities. We were informed that investors are lining up to come and invest in Kenya. However, due to the budget cuts, we might not be able to create any employment. The investors might not have a meaningful engagement with the Government, if there is no proper infrastructure in place. We need to think twice as we make future budgets. Our goal should be to create employment.

Hon. Wamuchomba.

Thank you, Hon. Speaker. Allow me to contribute to this debate on the Supplementary Estimates. First, I want to thank the young people of Kenya for giving us an opportunity to review budget estimates and re-look at areas where we can reduce our expenditures and plan our economy 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.

better. I support the intentional move by the Budget and Appropriations Committee to allocate more funds in areas where young people may benefit through job creation, as well as the value- addition sectors and processing, which have been given more attention and funding. The school feeding program, which has received Ksh3 billion, is a positive development. Additionally, the intentional move to add more resources to TVETs and the Kenya Medical Training Colleges (KMTCs) will accommodate more young people. The Ultra-modern Tuna Fish Hub in Liwatoni and other ventures have also received increased funding. While I appreciate that the young people have been given the opportunity to engage in projects, I am concerned because when the current President was the Vice-President, he pledged to provide milk coolers to most of the farmers in our villages, including Githunguri Constituency. We understand that there might have been funding issues because those promises remain unfulfilled. Nevertheless, this proposal has allocated Ksh2 billion to purchase milk coolers, which is a positive development. Not because the farmers do not have coolers, but because more coolers mean more opportunities for our farmers and creation of jobs for the young people.

I am glad the Chairperson of the Budget and Appropriations Committee is here. I need him to clarify why the funding for the Coffee Cherry Advance Revolving Fund (CCARF) has been reduced by Ksh1 billion. I have been raising this issue since the beginning of the year. Initially, we were promised Ksh4 billion, and later Ksh6 billion to clear our debts. However, according to this document, the Ministry of Co-operative and Development management is set to lose Ksh1 billion in recurrent funds from the CCARF. The Chairperson should clarify why this reduction is necessary. Is it because farmers have not utilised the money, or is it a realisation that our farmers have had enough of the Fund? What influenced the Budget Committee's decision? Hon. Temporary Speaker, as a farmer, I can tell you that not all farmers have received the CCARF. Some farmers requested Ksh80 per kilo and only received Ksh20. Some factories which had applied for some money from that Fund have never received any money. It is unfair to revise the budget under the pretext of adding more milk coolers. Does this mean that milk farmers are more important than coffee farmers? The Committee needs to address this. We should not play with our farmers' livelihoods or make promises on television only to play with the figures later. I cannot support this until I fully understand the reasons behind this reduction.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

Thank you. The Chairperson of the Budget and Appropriation Committee, please note the concerns that are being raised by Members. You can respond to them when you will be replying.

Next is Hon. Ochanda.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I rise to support this Motion based on the timing. These Supplementary Estimates are coming at a time when precedence has been set. A Finance Bill has been rejected for the first time in this country. We are doing this against a backdrop where Members were pleased with the previous appropriation we had made before the Finance Bill. In my view, given more time, we could secure the Ksh400 billion deficit. We could do this by synchronising votes from different departments that are almost similar. For example, 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.

State Department of Immigration, there is a Vote known as population services, and another Vote named population and planning. If those Votes were merged, we could save some money. The same goes for the Department of Irrigation and the Department of Water. Synchronising those departments would result in savings. Since this process began, the Head of State has proposed the scrapping of 40 parastatals, which I still see in these Supplementary Estimates. We need time to review this Report. The Budget and Appropriations Committee needs to address the issue of duplications and costs, and consolidate the funds that are allocated to the parastatals that are being scrapped. If we do this, we can achieve the Ksh400 billion that we are aiming for. Another important issue is the problem of pilferage. We can save a lot of money by closing all avenues of corruption. Today, the President addressed the issue of procurement. If we can close all those avenues, I strongly believe that we can be able to get the Ksh400 billion that is making us get to this arrangement where there is no money for development. Thank you very much.

Member for Manyatta, Hon. John Gitonga, are you on this one? If not, I will give to the Member for Sirisia. If he is not there, I will give this opportunity to the Member for Tetu, Hon. Geoffrey Mwangi.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to contribute and support these Supplementary Estimates. As a country, we are in very interesting times because, for the first time, matters of economy and governance are taking centre-stage. This is something that we have not had in a long time. It is good that we are relooking at our expenditure, how we raise funds and finance the governance of this country. I would like to start by calling out the National Treasury because some of the problems that we have found ourselves in may be attributed to the lack of thoroughness that we have exhibited in how we have prepared the different financial documents, either budgets or appropriations. Without pre-empting debate on the individual who has been nominated to take charge of the National Treasury, I want to state that it is important that we get the best brains so that we can deal with some of the challenges that we have faced with the documents that have been rejected by the public and have put us on the spot as Members of this House. We must perform better in future in terms of our budget and appropriations preparations. Having said that, even as we try to exercise different austerity measures and juggle with the minimal resources that we have and move them around to satisfy the different needs in our country, it is important that we continue and even up the ante on the war on corruption and wastage. We sometimes talk about austerity, but then realise that the only austerity we achieved is by cutting down or reducing funding to important programmes. But the money that gets lost through wastage and corruption remains the same. As some of the people have said here, we do not just need to look at the national Government, but also further down to the county governments. If we do not win the war on corruption, we will continue to talk about austerity and not raising enough resources for a long time without achieving any meaningful progress. It is important that we also create a lean Government; one that is small enough to meet the needs of the people, but big enough to execute the mandate that it has been given. I personally believe that the Government has no business being in business, and that is why I support the President’s proposal that some parastatals should be merged or wound up. We have over 350 parastatals in this country; some of them have duplicated functions, while others can barely survive without getting the annual budgetary support from the National Treasury. 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.

We have to ask this: What is important? What is the work of a Government? It is to provide education, health services, security and the rest. It is illogical for the Government to be in the business of milling cotton. Those are things that can be best done by the private sector. Can you tell me of any service that is offered by the Government, especially those parastatals, that does not have a problem? When it comes to power, we have issues of reliability, adequacy and many other issues. However, when the services are offered by the private sector, in many instances, they move swiftly and are even cheaper. It is time we started looking at the core mandate of the Government and ensure that only those functions are supported. As we work on this Budget, I want to echo the sentiments of my Chairman, Departmental Committee on Communication, Information and Innovation, that we must look into the future. We continue to allocate a lot of money in the traditional brick and mortar economy, and forget to be futuristic. If you go to the United Arab Emirates, they have a Minister for Artificial Intelligence (AI). They are thinking about futuristic things, where the world is going. We still have, and rightly so, an obsession with roads and water. Those are all good things, but even as we fix the past, we must also continue talking about the future, in terms of the amount of money that we can allocate towards research, AI, and how we are helping to build a futuristic Government. I support the Supplementary Estimates, and request the Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee and his people at the Treasury, to continue making a budget that is purposeful and helpful for this country, going forward. With those comments, I support. Thank you.

Chairman of the Departmental Committee on Administration and Internal Security, Hon. Tongoyo.

Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to add my voice to this very important debate. From the very onset, I want to appreciate and commend the Budget and Appropriations Committee, led by their very able Chairman, for burning the midnight oil to have this Report ready. In fact, I was trying to call the Chairman last night, and he told me that he went to bed around 4.00 a.m. I also want to commend all the departmental committee chairpersons who participated in making this possible. It is good to appreciate that we are doing these Supplementary Estimates during a very hard moment because it is primarily cuts that have been occasioned by the stepping down or suspension of the Finance Bill, 2024. This has caused a lot of cuts across all sectors, and we have no option but to accept it as it is. Having said that, I want to appreciate the members of the Budget and Appropriations Committee because they have really tried to save and preserve the very critical and important programmes that are beneficial to Kenyans. I would just like to mention a few programmes. In the Supplementary Estimates, there is provision of money to absorb the JSS teachers. This is a positive step forward. A majority of our youth are unemployed and absorbing JSS teachers will be in fulfilment of the promise that the Kenya Kwanza Government made. In the same Budget, there is an increment for our police officers, prisons wardens and officers across the security sector. We must appreciate the Maraga Taskforce Report that recommended a 40 per cent increase of salaries to our police officers, and the President committed to it. In this Budget, a sum of money to the tune of Ksh3.5 billion has been provided to enable our police officers to get their salary increment starting this month, as promised by the President. We are still going to look at the other sectors, such as their welfare and the housing program. Our police officers’ welfare will get better. 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 issue of milk coolers is also an important one, especially among the pastoralist community where we come from. We normally say that the cow belongs to the man, but the milk belongs to the mothers. The provision of milk coolers in the Budget is a very critical component that will ensure that the livelihood of our farmers and mothers is uplifted. The NG-CDF will also ensure that these Members will enhance bursaries so that all children in Kenya can get them. I would also like to speak to the issue of leasing of vehicles. In the same Budget, there is a provision of slightly less than Ksh10 billion to enable us re-embark on the program of leased vehicles. This will enable security agents and NGAO officers to get important tools of service so that they can give services to Kenyans more effectively and efficiently. I want to especially mention those undertaking security operations in the North Rift and in the northern part of Kenya. In the same Budget, we noted that the money for public participation has been ring-fenced and protected, so that Members who criss-cross the entire country taking views of Kenyans will provide the needed services. Having said this, and I hope the Chair of the Budget and Appropriations Committee is listening, in the police sector, we had anticipated to have a raft of reforms to enable police officers to perform their duties and provide them with tools of service.

Chair of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, that kamukunji has gone on for too long. Hon. Tongoyo is addressing a matter to you so that you can respond. Listen, especially to the chairpersons of departmental committees.

Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker. Chair of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, I was saying that having appreciated a lot of development and the good things that have been considered, in the policing sector, where we had anticipated to do a lot of reforms to enable our security agents perform their duty more effectively, money for modernisation is lacking. It has a zero budget. In fact, it is good to note that even the money for crowd management, such as for teargas and protective gears, is zero in this Budget. I kindly plead with the Chairman that when we get to the Committee on Supply, we look for some money to enable police officers to get tear gas and protective gears for crowd management and cyber security, as was said by the Chairman of the Departmental Committee on Information, Communication and Innovation. I do not want to pre-empt debate, but I know the Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee is equally concerned about this programme that was not really considered. We had a very good restocking programme, especially among the pastoralist community that was affected by cattle rustling. Initially, we had about Ksh2 billion, which has been removed. I kindly call on this House and the Chairman and Members of the Budget and Appropriations Committee to look around whether we can get some small money to enable the pastoralist community to restock. That is their source of livelihood. I do not want to pre-empt, but the issue of equalisation is not bad. Restocking is very important to pastoralist communities. I can see my colleague Hon. Peter Lochakapong agreeing. Farmers and pastoralists lost many herds of cattle and crops during the drought. Others suffered cattle rustling. I beseech and call upon the Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee and this House to look around where they can get some Ksh2 billion or so, so that we can have money for the restocking programme. This is a budget-making House. I am sure we can get some money to put into that programme. Having said that, I support the Report and commend all chairpersons who participated to make this possible. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

Very well. Member for Wajir, Hon. Fatuma. 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 would like to make my contribution to the Supplementary Estimates for the Financial Year 2024/2025. But before I do so, Hon. Temporary Speaker, I want to get your attention. Can I get your attention? I want to express my disappointment, to be honest. I came here very early in the morning, and my card was in the computer. And not just me, but some new Members in this Parliament have been waiting to speak from yesterday. But I do not understand what happens in the Clerk’s office that we are not given a chance to say something. I want to talk to the leadership of this House. Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah, I will be more than glad if you can hear me. We first- timer Members also want to speak. New Members of this House come here very early, but they are not given a chance to say something. I really do not understand what is going on in the Clerk’s and the Speaker’s offices. I say that because I was number two to get here in the morning. Let me just finish. I was number two and until now, we just see people raising their hands to talk. Let us know if you do not want us to speak. The Gen Zs have really shown us the way.

Hon. Fatuma, order! You have come to the Clerk’s Table and to me. There was a directive by the substantive Speaker that every time an Order is called, the screen is cleared. This is because what we see every day is what you have seen happen. I have called four Members following one another, but they are not in the House. People put in their cards and disappear. People put cards on an issue and yet they do not want to speak to it. So, we are implementing that directive every time a new Order is called. And you can also not put a card in the morning to speak in the afternoon. You will understand and we have tried to explain to you. I hope that is clear enough, as guidance not only to you, but to the House.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. Well noted. But again, I was the first person to enter this House this afternoon, because I really wanted to be heard. I still say I am disappointed by the leadership.

You are on the Floor, Hon. Fatuma. Please be heard.

Having said that, Hon. Temporary Speaker, I will move to my contribution. First, I would like to thank the Committee for agreeing with the Gen. Zs on budget cuts. Indeed, I appreciate the Gen. Zs for forcing not just Members of Parliament, but Kenyans at large, to live within their means. There are institutions that gained. I applaud the Committee for considering intern doctors, intern JSS teachers and the feeding programme so that our children can be fed. We still need to go further and cut our coat according to our size. There are ministries that are given money, but they have duplication of roles. I may highlight a bit. The Office of the Deputy President is allocated money to regulate alcohol use, and there is also NACADA. Someone will ask: Why would we give the Office of the Deputy President such a huge amount of money when we have NACADA that can fight against drug abuse? It is food for thought. We need to discuss so that we can cut our Budget. We are talking of a lean budget and those are the areas we need to look into. I have heard my sister, Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba, saying that they were given Ksh2 billion for coffee. That has made me think whether those of us who come from the northern part of this country will ever see a day when we will get Ksh2 billion for restocking livestock, or even those who fish or grow miraa. It is something for our Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee to consider, so that our livelihood can also be improved.

Hon. Temporary Speaker, I want to talk about the ministries in the national Government which are given huge chunks of money. We need to be serious and devolve some of those 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.

functions. The health function is devolved, but there is still a lot of money that goes to the Ministry of Health in the national Government and many other ministries. Finally, I take this opportunity to wish all the best to the cabinet secretaries who have been appointed today. I applaud my Party Leader for accepting to dialogue with the Government. At the end of the day, the country is bigger than us, and we need to work together.

However, I urge them to remember women because they play very important roles. So far, there is no lady who has been appointed from our side. Hopefully, we will still get the appointments. I have heard there are some pending positions. We will see whether Hon. Millie, Hon. Rozaah, Hon. Esther Passaris and I, will get a chance to serve in those ministries.

I, thank, you. The new Members who are here have been shown the way – the Generation Z way. Let us fight for our rights and the opportunity to speak. We will not allow Hon. Members who are serving their third or fourth term to contribute many times as we sit here day-in, day-out to say just one word.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

Thank you, Hon. Fatuma. I will correct you. There is no cabinet secretary who has been appointed. They were nominated. This House will vet them, and finally they will be appointed by the President. I will give this chance to the Leader of the Majority Party.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to the Motion on the consideration of the First Supplementary Estimates for the Financial Year 2024/2025. Let me exonerate myself because everything we say here is on record. Hon. Fatuma was referring to me, when she complained about new Members speaking. By now, she should have known that it is the Speaker or the person who is sitting on the Speaker’s Chair who decides who should speak, but not the Leader of the Minority Party or Leader of the Majority Party. I also wait to contribute. I have waited patiently to get this opportunity to contribute. The consideration of the First Supplementary Budget within the first month of the financial year is very unique. Indeed, it is the second such supplementary budget that I have seen since I joined this House over 10 years ago. The first one was in 2018 which was also occasioned by changes of the Finance Act of Financial Year 2018/2019. Those Members who were here like Hon. Millie Odhiambo can remember when we declined to approve the Value Added Tax (VAT) on fuel. This occasioned certain changes to the Appropriations Bill, occasioning the first such supplementary estimates, although that happened within the second to third month. This is the first time in the history of Parliament that we have seen a supplementary budget, even before we begin implementing the budget. It must not be lost on Kenyans that this was occasioned by the rejection of the Finance Bill, 2024. This occasioned a huge gap in our budget for this financial year. That is what has necessitated this supplementary budget this early in the financial 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.

The rejection of the Finance Bill occasioned a deficit of an additional Ksh346 billion. This tells you that without this First Supplementary Budget, it means that the Government of Kenya goes out to borrow the entire Ksh346 billion. Hon. Members will note that this Supplementary Budget is only reducing our Budget by a total of about Ksh146.3 billion. Therefore, there is another gap or a fiscal deficit of an additional Ksh200 billion. Part of this will be covered through additional revenue raising measures and other austerity measures that will be carried on in the course of the financial year. It is important to say this so that Kenyans understand that every Finance Bill that consequently becomes the Finance Act comes to finance Government operations and the budgets for Kenyans. Many Members have lamented that various budgets have been cut. This will happen. The Member for Githunguri complained that the Coffee Cherry Advance Revolving Fund has lost Ksh1 billion. However, she failed to inform coffee farmers that they have an additional Ksh3 billion. They would have got an additional Ksh4 billion this financial year. Hon. Temporary Speaker, she rightly asked – and I do not know whether she was sarcastic - whether dairy farmers are more important than coffee farmers. All farmers in the Republic of Kenya are important. That is why dairy farmers in Githunguri, Kikuyu, Karachuonyo, Bungoma, Kanduyi, Kuresoi South and Kuresoi North will benefit from milk coolers. This is because it is a key promise that this administration promised dairy farmers. We will ensure that there is substantive value addition in the milk value chain. Therefore, within the last Budget that we had just approved, there was no money for milk coolers and driers for maize farmers. We have now made sure that resources are allocated to ensure that we secure the post-harvest losses from our maize farmers and dairy products by having coolers around our country in dairies in almost all our wards. I know we do not have adequate resources - courtesy of the rejection of the Finance Bill, 2024 - to roll out everything that ought to have been rolled out. This morning, I had an engagement with a young girl who keeps sending me messages. She is called Jane who is a student at Mount Kenya University (MKU). She complained that they have no access to university funding. I want to assure Jane and many other university students that the Budget and Appropriations Committee has made sure that under the Differentiated Unit Cost (DUC) and resources that have gone to the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB), no child or student in the university and TVET institutions will lack access to higher education on account of either capitation through DUC, getting loans, and sponsorships or scholarships through HELB. Those are some of the balances that we have done. This means that there will be a give and take within the Supplementary Budget. That is why there are many other areas that we have cut expenditure, part of which might have been critical, but can wait. The Budget is all about prioritising. We must prioritise so that we can ensure that even those who crusaded for the rejection of the Finance Bill 2024 will not suffer. They have opportunities that they will never access. A child who does not access university education today cannot wait for next year or the year after. However, a road in Kikuyu Constituency that was to be constructed in this financial year can wait. Therefore, I want to take this opportunity to ask and plead with Kenyans to be patient. Under these difficult economic times where we give and take, we cannot have our cake and eat it at the same time. If we do not have finances from the Finance Bill, 2024, then a road, dam or another project to be constructed or a hospital here will give way. This will come with the necessary or requisite responsible stewardship of the National Treasury. I believe that among the nominees who have been named today, God willing, if Hon. John Mbadi ends up being in the National Treasury, he has the requisite knowledge. He has sat in this House and he knows. He has been a Member of the Budget and Appropriations Committee when I chaired that Committee. I 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.

am confident that we will roll out this Budget, and chew gum while scaling the stairs at the same time. We will cut on unnecessary expenditure and roll out critical development and other social programmes in education. That includes capitation to our day and boarding secondary schools, our JSS teachers and the JSS capitation. All those things must run concurrently even as difficult as things are after the rejection of the Finance Bill.

Certain things in the Finance Bill that never became an Act would have helped this country also realise very many other developmental objectives. The tax amnesty, exemption on penalties, or the waiver provision, which was in the Finance Bill is an instance. With time, I am hoping that the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning will make considerations to see how we can rescue some of the very positive things that were demonised within the Finance Bill. They would have done very well for this economy. The tax amnesty waiver easily generates close to Ksh30 billion to Ksh40 billion. At the same time, it allows business people in this country an opportunity to save from penalties by KRA because of bills they have not paid. That is because the Government is holding their money under pending bills. I pray and hope that the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning, and the National Treasury, are working towards ways of rescuing some of those good things.

If you listen to people speak about the creation of jobs, we said that the bottom-up economic transformation agenda is anchored on job creation. During debate on the Finance Bill, we tried to speak to Kenyans and inform them that some of the measures that were in the Finance Bill spoke to job creation. Unfortunately, it was difficult to get that message across to Kenyans under the circumstances. When we spoke about the manufacture of diapers and sanitary towels, we were simply trying to safeguard local manufacturing. It was to ensure that our industries are thriving to create jobs locally and that the industries are generating revenues in this economy. Not exporting jobs or our forex to other countries in the Far East as we import. I am glad that I heard the President speak to it this afternoon. As Kenyans, he said it is time we had a conversation whether we want to make our economy one large supermarket that merchandises manufactured products to create jobs in other economies outside ours. We must decide whether we want to make our country a manufacturing hub that can manufacture sanitary towels, diapers and all those other things.

I have heard Members contribute on farmers. That is why I was asking whether milk farmers are more important. Some were claiming that milk farmers seem to be getting preferential treatment versus coffee farmers. The Finance Bill had provisions that sought to protect poultry farmers. Many of our peasant farmers are in poultry rearing. Others grow potatoes and onions. We sought to protect the onion, potato and poultry farmer from cheap imports of eggs and potatoes. What reason is there for us to be growing onions in Loitoktok or in Kieni in Nyeri County and yet, allow the importation of cheaper onions from Tanzania at the expense of the farmer in Kieni? Why would a farmer in Muchongoi in Baringo County or Kinangop in Nyandarua County be growing potatoes and yet, my famous Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and other cheap joints in town are importing potatoes from as far as Mexico and the Netherlands? We must protect our local farmers. We need time to soberly look at some of those measures to know how else to finance the deficit that we have.

In conclusion, the revenue estimates contained in the Budget we approved and even in this Supplementary Budget are usually very optimistic. If you look at where our country is today, we have been told that we are losing not less than Ksh6 billion every day we are out in the streets stopping other people from going to work. The import is that we may not realise the revenue projections in this Supplementary Budget. The consequence will be additional borrowing. That 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.

borrowing will have ramifications on our cost of borrowing locally in the domestic market, because we have to borrow in the domestic market. It will have an implication on the rate at which business people can borrow, how many investments they can invest in, and how many jobs they can create for young Kenyans. Therefore, I just want to speak to Kenyans and ask them to let us reason together. Let us act in a manner that will not destroy our economy as we seek to fix that which we seek to fix in our country. As I said, it is possible to chew gum and scale the stairs together. Together, I believe we, as a country, can do that. We can fix the economic mess we are in and our politics without fighting and injuring each other. We can grow this economy and get it where it ought to be. I conclude by saying that this first Supplementary Budget is unprecedented. In the next few months, I believe we will inevitably get into a second one. I even foresee a third supplementary budget this year. As the National Treasury begins implementing this Budget and as the new Government ministries and State departments take shape, I ask that they review those budgets further to align them with the new governance system that will be there. I ask them to ensure that there are further cuts so that we do not need to go out and borrow much more if the projected revenues are not realised. We are almost hitting the borrowing ceiling that we set in this House. Therefore, it will not be feasible to continue borrowing.

Time is up. Member for Chepalungu, Hon. Victor Koech.

Thank you so much. I equally appreciate the opportunity you have given me to add my voice to the ongoing debate on the Report by the Budget and Appropriations Committee led by Hon. Ndindi Nyoro. I laud them for the good work they are doing. While refusing to assent to the Finance Bill, the President clearly said that austerity measures would follow. Truly, from the Report of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, the Office of the President, together with the Office of the Deputy President, have faced a huge budget cut to a tune of Ksh4.2 billion. This is a clear indication that our committees undertake what the President says. We were so sad that the JSS intern teachers who have been serving us as a country were going to continue serving under internship. However, the Budget and Appropriations Committee saw it wise and gave us a solution. Our teachers are now a happy lot. It is a clear indication that their confirmation will come through in a few months’ time. Coming from a constituency that greatly relies on dairy farming, I am happy as a Member because money for milk coolers is still available in this Budget. This is a clear indication that mopping up of milk is going to happen. It is going to benefit the farmers from my constituency and dairy farmers within the country. On the same is the issue of internships and making money available in this Budget to recruit more interns. It is a clear indication that this country is moving in the right direction. Thus, ensuring that graduates from the various institutions are going to be engaged somewhere as they gain experience or as we prepare them for future markets. Sadly, it is important to note that whenever we have a budget, we equally have a Finance Bill which translates to a Finance Act which funds the particular budget. We were not able, because we lost the Finance Bill 2024, to allocate money in this Budget for the last mile electricity connections. The money was going to greatly help the constituencies, especially Chepalungu Constituency which I represent. It is important to note that, sadly, we lost Ksh14.5 billion of which each constituency was going to get Ksh50 million. It is now upon the Budget and Appropriations Committee led by Hon. Ndindi Nyoro, together with the Members of this House, to look for ways to bring back that money in September so as to ensure 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.

that we increase or enhance electricity connectivity in our constituencies. They say that if you want to remain in power, you have to give people power, and if we fail to give people power, we will be answerable to the people who gave us these particular seats when it comes to 2027. It is important as a House that we sit down and look into the ways of how we can bring back the Ksh14.5 billion that was going to help not only my constituency, but all the constituencies in the entire country. Sadly, we also lost Ksh10 billion that was going to the NG-CDF. We all know the magnitude of the work that is being undertaken by the NG-CDF. We are losing Ksh10 billion which was going to increase money to our constituencies by a margin of around Ksh30 million per constituency. There are constituencies that have been left behind for so long, like Chepalungu, that still have a lot of dilapidated infrastructure. This money would have greatly impacted the infrastructure in the constituency that I represent, and equally the entire country. It is now upon us, upon this honourable House, the Chairperson, Budget and Appropriations Committee, to look into ways of bringing back that particular money to improve education infrastructure and enhance bursaries. In the rural constituencies that we represent, most of the students rely heavily on bursaries. If we do not enhance it, it means that we are not coping with the increasing population. On roads, just like any other SAGA, there is a major cut. Entirely, we are losing over Ksh100 billion. Roads are a critical infrastructure that spur economic growth within our constituencies. The Finance Bill 2024 that was rejected sought to find, allocate and appropriate money that was going to handle roads that had been abandoned for a long time. We have the Daraja-Sita, Chebole, Koiti, Chebunyu and Emurua-Dikirr Road that cuts across three constituencies that was done, but is low volume and requires maintenance. This money is not available simply because we did not find money because we passed the Finance Bill 2024 that was not assented. It is now upon this House, the Budget and Appropriation Committee and the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Transport and Infrastructure to sit together and find ways to get that money. We need to find ways of handling those particular roads. They are major connectors, but sadly, have remained impassable for many years. We have been promised, but the promise is not forthcoming. It is now upon this House to sit down, analyse our Budget well and find ways and possible solutions to allocating money to those particular abandoned roads. If they remain unmaintained for long, they will lose the purpose for which they were constructed. The three things we are elected by our people to deliver are majorly water, electricity and roads. On water, if we continue to underfund the water sector, our people will not access clean drinking water. As a country, we are not moving in the right direction. As we lament and talk about this Budget, it is not appropriate for us to sit back and say we are not going to make further adjustments and allocate more money to the water sector. It is upon us and the Chairperson to allocate money for water. We should deliberately allocate more money for energy, roads and education. Sadly, the Ministry of Education lost money for infrastructure, which normally comes in to add up to what the NG-CDF does. In the constituency I represent, there are many schools that are still in a sorry situation. The money allocated to the Ministry of Education for infrastructure adds up to what I do as a Member of Parliament. Saying that, that money is no longer available is destroying a constituency that was going to develop further. It is now upon the Chairperson, Hon. Ndindi Nyoro, to find money for infrastructure. I implore him to do that. The money was critical to rural constituencies. With those remarks, I support. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for 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.

Thank you, for giving me this opportunity to speak to this historic Supplementary Budget. Before I go to the Budget, yesterday was a very sad day for my county. There were demonstrations and we saw residential areas like Pipeline and Zimmerman in Roysambu being tear-gassed. Those are highly congested and populous areas. I spoke to the Member of Parliament for Roysambu this morning, Hon. Mwafrika. He was equally disturbed by what happened. I spoke to the acting Inspector-General of Police Service, Mr Douglas Kanja, and the Nairobi Regional Commander, Mr Bungei. Mr Bungei told me that it becomes very difficult for the police when people try to go to protected areas, some of which have fuel depots. If people tamper with them, they may cause more damage. This takes me back to what is going on in the Middle East. We see women and children casualties in a war that should not have happened. I would like to tell the Gen. Zs that they have done something historic in this country. They are our children. I have two Gen. Zs in my family and almost every Member of Parliament here has a Gen. Z in their households. We listen to them, and we understand where they are coming from. They came out to the streets because the first thing they wanted was for the Finance Bill 2024 to be withdrawn, and it was. They wanted the President to go on X, and the President did that. They also wanted the Cabinet to be dismissed, and the President did that. Now there is a hue and cry about why the same people have been nominated to the Cabinet. At one point, I asked the Gen. Zs to compile a list of the people they would like to help the leadership. Such a list was not forthcoming. At the end of the day, this is a constitutionally elected Government. People voted for their representatives who are in this House. We have the opportunity to vote every five years. If you do not want to wait for five years, you cannot disrupt the entire country. We have seen enough blood shed. I heard the Generation Zs say that they are not responsible for the bloodshed. They said it is the police. We saw the infiltration of the Generation Zs movement by goons. The people that came to Roysambu last night were not from that constituency. The constituency was peaceful during the day and they reigned terror at night. So, as a country, we have to always search for peace. We have seen enough bloodshed. Right now, the Government has formed a broad-based Cabinet. I believe that, together, we can steer this country in the right direction. There are so many things in the Azimio Coalition Manifesto that can complement the Government. I know that Baba has the interest of all the Generation Zs at heart. The existence of the ODM Party is now 19.5 years, which is a Generation Z year. Generation Zs are 12 to 26-year- olds. The 12-year-olds are in school. We cannot distract their education every day. We have many people who are unemployed. The unemployed and employed people are having challenges. There has been cancellations and job cuts. We need to put this country in the right direction.

Everything that the Generation Zs have talked about, from stopping abductions to arrest of the policemen who did wrong have been spoken to by the President today. We have proposed budget cuts and removal of everything that is unconstitutional from the Budget. I believe that right now it is going to be tough for Kenyans. The employment opportunities for the intern doctors and the Junior Secondary Schools teachers will be there. We hope that the economy will be spurred up by giving incentives to the private sector so that we can create more job opportunities. Our neighbours have benefited from the strife that we have had in our country.

Just as we used to have the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) desks in ministries, we can also have Generation Zs desks in every ministry. Austerity measures may not create jobs for us. However, if we can employ some Generation Zs in every ministry and have them run the Generation Zs desks, they will be the eyes and ears of the President. Governance 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.

structures are sometimes bent on doing things the wrong way. We need the Generation Zs elements in governance.

If counties can raise their revenues by reducing the amount of money they have been charging, they will be in a position of getting more revenue and, as a result, they will lessen the burden on the people and deliver more services. In general, we know that the Generation Z are asking for good governance, accountability, action on corruption and an end to opulence. I wonder how people became rich in such a short period. I have been driving the same car for the last 13 years. Sometimes, I question how people who came to Parliament recently have helicopters. There are questions that need to be answered. I pray that the President will deal with them decisively. I have also seen political meddling. Any past or present politician who is fuelling the instability in this country needs to be questioned and arrested. Any policeman who went beyond his mandate by doing a wrong thing needs to be arrested. There is a lot of healing that needs to be done. Mothers who have lost their children are in pain. I have seen children who say how much they hate the Government and parliamentarians. We need to turn that hate into constructive ways of running this country. Since Independence, when the Mau Mau freedom fighters fought for this country up to today, there has been one struggle after the other. In 2017, I dealt with 97 dead bodies in Nairobi County. I was actually in the streets and I was tear-gassed over and over until I could not do it anymore. It took me years with post- traumatic stress disorder before I could not deal with the smell of teargas. We will be asking questions that the Generation Zs want answers. What is that pink substance that is used in police water cannons? Is it what is used in other countries? Is it ISO certified? Is it safe? Are we creating a health hazard in future? Those are questions that need to be answered. As Members of Parliament, we will ask them. There are some things that we need to do as we tighten our budget and deal with corruption. We need to ask ourselves whether we can increase capitation. Can we make sure that secondary school education is free? Can we scrap off all the bursary funds like NG-CDF, the NGAAF and the County Bursary Fund? Can we make sure that we have 100 per cent transition in schools? Can we make sure that schools that have more students are allocated money for classrooms? It is sad to see teenage children who have finished primary schools still at home because they cannot pay school fees. There are decisions that we should make as we move along. I believe we all have the best interests of this country at heart. We need to end the insults and the hate that we have and come together. There is space for the Generation Zs in every public entity. Every year, people retire from work. The spaces left should be filled by the Generation Zs. We should have special Generation Zs desks in public entities so that they can participate in governance. Access to information is part of the law. They should be allowed in all the offices. Their efforts and fight should not be in vain. Those who died should not have died in vain. It is time that we considered the Generation Zs as we replace those who have retired. I celebrate the Generation Zs and I am sorry for all the pain we have caused them. I pray that we will work together for the good of this nation.

Thank you. Member for Kwanza, Hon. Ferdinand Wanyonyi.

Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I have sat here from 2.00 O’clock. As someone mentioned, I do not know what happened. However, that is for another day. We have talked about the Supplementary Estimates for the Financial Year 2024/2025. We know why we are doing this. I have been in Parliament for three 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.

terms and these are very unique Supplementary Estimates. We are having it before we implement the budget. The Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee should take into consideration the contributions that Members are making. One important thing that I have noticed is that we have had many budget cuts. Let us have a guideline on how to complete the ongoing projects. We have no funds. Because of the financial constraints, let us complete the ongoing projects before we start new ones. There is a lot of wastage in this country. Let us look at the departments in ministries. There is a lot of wastage in some of the departments. We should look at them critically and make them a priority when we are allocating money. That is something that should be looked into seriously. The only thing that I want to comment on is that we have Ksh7.5 billion on fertiliser subsidy. I come from Trans-Nzoia, Rift Valley and in the next planting season, we should have that money ready. We want in future to have the fertiliser ready. This planting season, there was a surprise. When the fertiliser came, there was very little for top-dressing and that leads to poor harvests. What will that lead to? Poor harvest. That leads to another problem. We may end up importing food. It is a shame for a country like ours, which has very good climatic conditions and soils, to import food. But just because we have not addressed that issue of fertiliser… Of course, I can see Ksh7.5 billion, which is good enough. But let that fertiliser come on time. As it comes, maize grows very fast in some areas. Let us also have the top-dressing fertiliser on time. As I speak, I am told those in Trans Nzoia and parts of Rift Valley did not get the top-dressing fertilizer. So, we will have a very poor harvest because we did not do our job well. Otherwise, I think there is some allocation. Apart from that one, of course, there is the matter of coffee. Let us again work on it seriously so that we are able to export it. The coffee in this country is one of the best in the whole world. Let us again work on it. Whatever it is, the people concerned and those who are able to assist the farmers should do something so that we can have enough coffee harvest for export. Secondly, we have milk coolers. I want to thank the Committee for having put Ksh2 billion on the importation of milk coolers. That is important. I took advantage of that. In my six wards, I have, at least, a cooler in each of them. This has helped in the employment of the youths. Also, the milk that we get from there is sold to Kenya Co-operative Creameries (KCC) and other factories. And I can tell you, we have a very good market, particularly in the Middle East. I have been to the Middle East many times. Those days when we were doing very well in terms of milk production, we had milk from Kenya. Today, if you go to the Middle East, you will be surprised that they get milk from Uganda. And you wonder what happened. That, again, is an issue that I thank the Committee for allocating Ksh2 billion for the importation of the coolers. The milk coolers from Poland or, wherever it is, will help us get a market, particularly in the Middle East. Of course, we are also trying to do zero-grazing. That is something that will provide employment. I think in four of the milk coolers, we have almost 80 youths who are working there. So, I want to request the Committee to look at the wastage and do something about it. Again, we can also renegotiate the public debt because we are asking, at least, to increase the funding on projects that can bring development to this country. Therefore, we can ask the National Treasury to renegotiate on the public debt so that we can increase the funding to some of the projects that actually create employment, and increase the development in our country. I support this Motion, but I think it is very unique. We hope and pray that we are able to, God-willing, go through and when we get the Financial Bill, look at some of the issues that were put forward for amendment so that it is also not rejected. I think some of us are here because we 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.

voted ‘yes’ and that has caused a lot of anxiety in some of the people. I can tell you that the youth invaded my home!

On a point of order, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

I do not want to get involved. I support.

What is out of order, Member for Funyula? You have your mic. Take your seat, Member for Kwanza.

Hon. Temporary Speaker, I just want to sincerely sympathize with my colleague who happens to be my brother-in-law for the loss he almost suffered for refusing to listen to the electorate. I think he has learnt his lesson and he will live to work properly. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

Member for Funyula, you are totally out of order. It is a democratic right for any Member to vote any way. Member for Kwanza, conclude.

I just want to say I support this Motion and I just hope and pray that we are able to… I spoke when you were away, but I think I will be able to discuss with you some of my suggestions. I support.

I know there is a lot of interest and questions on this Motion because in the morning, the debate had been limited to five minutes. But because we did not limit it on this Sitting to five minutes, you cannot do that mid-debate. But Members, 10 minutes is the maximum. If you all speak and limit it, many of you will speak. And just to also note, today we are sitting all the way to 9.30 p.m. There is enough time for Members to contribute. This chance will go to the Member for Nandi, Hon. Cynthia Muge.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me an opportunity to contribute to this Motion. At the outset, let me say I support this Supplementary Budget Estimates I of 2024/2025. Of course, when the Budget came to our attention, I was a bit disturbed as a member of Committee on Health. And looking at the cuts that the health facilities were taking, right from Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, that was supposed to benefit from Ksh100 million for the construction of a children's hospital to supplement the Shoe4Africa… You know Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital serves a very good number of counties. Of course, my heart sunk. Same to the ICU facility that was supposed to go there. I was disturbed by the fact that the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), which is the strongest and the greatest facility in advancing issues of medicine, received a total cut of Ksh400 million that was meant for research and such kind of things. Of course, it makes my heart sink to see that Mathare Hospital, that handles mental ill health issues in this country, received a 100 per cent cut, and this is one of the facilities that we run to when we have such issues. Of course, it pained me to also see a budget cut on the National Spinal Injury, which is the only one facility in the whole country that serves anyone who suffers from a spinal injury. That facility is in dire need of funds for it to be upgraded and expanded so that it can accommodate and treat more people. But that particular facility received a 100 per cent cut, which is actually taking us back in matters of development of 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.

It broke my heart to see Kenyatta University Referral Hospital that was supposed to benefit from the Cancer Centre that is supposed to help us reduce the number of people going overseas for treatment receiving a humongous cut. But looking at the winners of this particular Supplementary Budget, it portrays a very good picture of this Government that is paying attention to issues that are primary and important to this country. When you look at education, it has been able to get a lot of money in terms of the recruitment of the 20,000 Junior Secondary School teachers (JSS) as opposed to the narrative that we were all setting into, that since we did not have the Finance Bill passed, we cannot generate money to run this Government and, therefore, that will be the first casualty. Hon. Temporary Speaker, I am happy that we have a responsible Government that sits down and weighs urgent and important matters. That is why 46,000 JSS teachers have been confirmed and 20,000 are going to be hired as interns. The young men and women of this country will not go without HELB loans. They will be able to access their money properly. We also have the issue of the school feeding program. I have my own reservations regarding how the program was implemented and the beneficiaries. But, that notwithstanding, I would be selfish to say no to it when someone will benefit, as we work on the structures to ensure that the implementation is not only fair but also targeted. I support and I am really happy that this program has gained. In the health sector, we are going to have the universal healthcare. It is a great beneficiary and has been allocated Ksh8 billion. The primary healthcare for emergencies and chronic diseases are also getting an allocation. But more importantly, if you look at livestock and co-operatives for dairy farmers, in as much as the Budget cannot accord Ksh2 billion to assist farmers get better milk prices, I am happy that we have Ksh1.5 billion to increase what they are currently getting. I cannot over-emphasize on the Cherry Fund being given to coffee farmers. As you have noted, Nandi County is the greatest and newest entrant to coffee farming. We hope to benefit from this. I am happy to see that this Supplementary Budget has retained Ksh1 billion allocation for sugar reforms. Of course, not to forget the fertiliser subsidy. I am a happy farmer and representative because our people will continue to produce and feed this country. I am especially happy because of NGAAF. As several Members have said in this House, NG-CDF and NGAAF are very important funds that touch the people on the ground. I am happy that this Government has seen the importance of those two Funds. If a budget cut has been inflicted on any of them, it is minimal. I appreciate the NGAAF money we receive because it helps us do affirmative action in our counties. This is a sincere budget rationalisation considering what was taken away and what was gained. That notwithstanding, we must deliberately shed the fat of public resource wastage to ensure that our people get better and timely services. There is an elephant in the room called disbursement. This is my seventh year in this legislative House. One thing I have been unable to crack is something called disbursement. It beats me that we budget and allocate a certain amount of money. Then, confirm through a Finance Bill, whether a current or previous one, that we can have funds. But at the end of the financial year, money is not disbursed to the line Ministries. It beats me. Parliament must speak to this and ensure that, at the end of every financial year, every single coin that is allocated serves the purpose it is meant for. We also have the elephant that is called non-expenditure or under-utilisation. It is sheer incompetence to be given a specific amount of money. Then, at the end of the financial year, amidst 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.

all the needs in this country, you return that money because of under-utilisation. If Parliament intends to ensure that Kenyans get services, we must deal with this issue. Lastly, I remember in 2022 when the President of the Republic of Kenya, His Excellency William Samoei Ruto, came into office. He made an unpopular decision to end subsidies, but we have very good results. It stabilised the economic situation of this country and we saw…

On a point of order, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

Order, Member for Nandi. Hon. Catherine, what is out of order?

Hon. Temporary Speaker, I want my colleague and very good friend, Hon. Cynthia Muge, to know that when the school feeding program for nomadic places…

What is out of order, Hon. Catherine?

She said that the school feeding programme is not working, but it is working. I want to prove to her…

Hon. Catherine, that is a point of information. If I heard the Member for Nandi well, she said that she may not agree with how it is done, but supports. She did not say that it is not working. Therefore, that is not a point of order. Is there anything out of order, Hon. Catherine?

I want to mention something so that she can be a little happy even if she does not agree.

She looks pretty happy to me.

She was not agreeing. I want her to agree. Actually, the National Council for Nomadic Education in Kenya (NACONEK) is working better than before…

Hon. Catherine, that is a point of information. You are free to put it in your debate. Member for Nandi, kindly conclude.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. As you know, issues of the school feeding program are in the heart of every woman and mother. Lastly, the Finance Bill, 2024 brought the budget cuts as a consequence. It is good we live within our means and make it count while it lasts. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this Motion.

Next is the Member for Butula, Hon. Joseph Oyula.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to also contribute to this important Motion. I want to start by congratulating the Budget and Appropriations Committee for work well done. They went through a lot to ensure that the Budget is well balanced. My main concern is on the huge reduction on the capital expenditure against the recurrent expenditure. Capital expenditure should have less deduction because it spurs development in the country. This area touches on employment of the youth and determines the production in the country. As the members of the Budget and Appropriations Committee continues with their work, I suggest they put more effort in reducing recurrent expenditure and enhancing the capital expenditure because it is very important for the development in the country. 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 that, I am happy that many sectors have been properly taken care of. For instance, in the agricultural sector, coolers which are very useful will be put up in several areas. The other issue is the consideration of JSS teachers. Hon. Temporary Speaker, there has been a problem in the constituencies, but with this provision that has been put in the Budget, many of them will be accommodated in the system. Construction of hostels in TVETs has also been considered. That is very important because most TVETs do not have hostels. Therefore, you find the students moving around looking for accommodation. I am sure that if this is done well, our students will have proper accommodation and will concentrate on their studies. I also want to mention the increase in the energy sector for the purchase of transformers. Some of the areas in this country, particularly the area I come from, do not have adequate power. Those transformers will help lighten those dark areas that we still see in our areas. This is a very important Budget, even though it came at a bad time because of the rejection of the Finance Bill. We still need to take care so that the reduction in some of these areas does not contribute to pending bills. That is because if we increase pending bills, we will be increasing our borrowing. That will affect our deficit. These reductions should be looked into again so that we have adequate funding for some of the ongoing projects so that we do not create pending bills that will increase our deficit. With those few remarks, I wish to support this Supplementary Budget. Thank you.

Hon. Jackson Kosgei.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. At the outset, I support this Motion on the consideration of the Supplementary Estimates I for the Financial Year 2024/2025. I appreciate the Chairman and the Committee for bringing in a mitigative supplementary budget that is going to cushion our expenditure as we collect the revenues in this country to run the Government. I wish to bring to the attention of the House three things. Number one, budget cuts are supposed to guide budgeting towards minimising on non- essential areas and concentrating on essential areas during this time of austerity measures. I wish to join other speakers in saying that even when we exercise that discretion of budget cuts, we should be sensitive to important areas that may not be allowed and yet, they are equally important. We have ministries that, over time in various regimes in the past, have never been considered essential. They include ministries touching on young people. We have had an experience with our younger people expressing themselves and it is time that when we consider our budget, we should increase it in those areas. The Ministry of Sports for example. The other Ministry has got to do with the preservation of our identity as a nation and that is dealing with culture. I happen to be a member of the Departmental Committee and we witnessed how much budget cuts were done on those ministries. These are ministries that touch on essential areas in the management of our country. Therefore, I would wish to request that the Budget and Appropriation Committee reconsider some of the areas where the budget cuts have affected those activities that would have accommodated the needs of our young people. Secondly, there is a consideration of safety features in risk management in our premises as Parliament. Again, I wish to draw the attention of the Budget and Appropriation Committee to whether or not it is available in the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC). I am one of those who consume facilities that require persons with disability to access important exits or entrances into these buildings. There are two areas in this building. When we have students coming up here into the Speaker’s Gallery, the area of entrance and exit is complicated. We would like to have the attention by the Budget and Appropriation Committee to add to this Supplementary Budget 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.

because risk is an issue that can call for attention at any time. The other one is the exit route as discussed yesterday or the day before yesterday which affected us, especially those who are more dependent on assistive devices. It was impossible. Even if my brothers and sisters would have loved to carry us, you would not have saved us and you would not have saved yourselves. So, very important is that, as a matter of urgency, the Budget and Appropriation Committee should include that in the ongoing repairs, including also the services, whether putting up a lift or building a ramp. Finally, I wish to appeal to our children, the Gen. Zs. You realise I was in the…They call it the eye of the storm or? I wish to appeal to them as a father, as a grandparent and as a leader in this country that their voices have been heard. Let them listen to us from Parliament. We have listened to them. The ongoing strikes may no longer serve the purpose of passing the message. It will encourage hooliganism. It can encourage deaths and it can encourage retardation in the development and progress of our country. History is awash with witnesses on alternatives that people have changed their governments. Some, with good intentions, have brought down governments to zero to start again and, by the time they are building their countries, it is about 50 years later. Those who brought down the system will not be there to enjoy what comes thereafter. It is important to appreciate that today in this country we have gone through a great transformation from post-independent leadership to where we are. We have a very responsive system. We have a Constitution that opens the room. There was a time you would not even demonstrate in this country and go home safe. You can do it in Kenya. You can even abuse and insult any leader at your own will. You can talk of things that cannot be accepted in a normal society. You can see how much freedom we have. That is a product of those who came before us and were sensitive in the transformation of Government management. I wish to use this opportunity, as a consumer of disability assets, to say that we cannot encourage the country to open up to civil conflict and violence. This will maim and make others cripples. We will do the same thing that others have done all over again. Generation Z, I wish to speak to you. You have the numbers. My appeal to you is that you prepare for the subsequent elections. Register as voters so that during that time, you translate your intention into votes that can change the direction of this country to what you want. That is the strength we have in this country. As I conclude, I appeal to the Generation Z, who are our children, that we mean well for them. We educated them. We took them to school and gave them the best. That is why they can argue out issues well. Can you listen to us once? Stop the demonstrations. Hon. Temporary Speaker, with those remarks, I support the Motion. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Member for Kiambaa, Hon. John Kawanjiku.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this important Motion on the Consideration of the First Supplementary Estimates for the Financial Year 2024/2025. This was occasioned by the unprecedented events that happened within our nation. The Finance Bill, 2024, was not enacted. However, it is good to note and let the Kenyans know that whatever has been happening within our nation is because of trying to support our Budget from our revenue and gain our sovereignty. We do not have to depend on debts and grants. We should rise to the occasion and support our nation in terms of development and recurrent expenditure. I sit in the Budget and Appropriations Committee. We had looked into all the issues by making sure that we prepare the Budget and, at the same time, prepare means and ways to raise the revenue to support it. On that note, tough times call for tough measures. We looked at 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.

Budget and cut quite a number of development budgets, so that we could sustain ourselves as a country. We removed what we can live without from the Budget, and funded and supported what we cannot live without, especially in areas that support our people at the bottom of the pyramid. We looked into the issue of JSS because it supports the education sector in our country. Majority of our people can only eliminate poverty in their homes through educating their family members and fellow Kenyans. This will ensure that they gain their confidence and get certificates to take them to the next level. No matter how difficult it is to support the JSS teachers, we decided to cut the budget in other areas and make sure that we have money to employ 46,000 teachers, so that we can support our Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC). This will ensure that we retain as many students in our schools as we can. We had allocated Ksh4 billion to the Coffee Cherry Advance Revolving Fund (CCARF). Because of the difficulties of raising the revenue, we deducted Ksh1 billion and remained with Ksh3 billion. This will support our coffee farmers to continue with coffee farming. The coffee sector has a high impact in our economy. Part of it helps us to generate foreign exchange. The moment we export our coffee to other countries, we retain and gain foreign exchange. This will make sure that our shilling is stronger against the dollar. It will also ensure that we support what we can import and export. On the same note, we retained Ksh2 billion for milk coolers. This will help our dairy farmers to contain and maintain milk in a better form. We have also allocated funds for the farmers and the New Kenya Co-operative Creameries (KCC). This will ensure that every farmer can have minimum guaranteed returns and maintain a Ksh50 sale per litre of milk. Depending on the number of litres a dairy farmer gets every day, he can manage and plan his income because he is guaranteed of the amount of money that he or she will earn. In that way, we will support our local farmers with resources. There is a very serious gap between the farmer, broker and retailer. The New KCC or brokers buy the milk at a very low price of around Ksh40 or Ksh30 per litre. However, one litre of milk in the supermarket is sold at Ksh100 or Ksh120. From this, we realise that the farmer does not benefit from his input to produce that one litre of milk. Therefore, we decided to put a minimum guaranteed returns to secure the farmer and make sure that he or she can benefit from the amount of money that the New KCC sells milk at the market. We also looked at the school feeding programme which is very essential. Even if there was a lot of politics going on about where the school feeding programme should be stationed, as a Committee, we decided not to transfer that service to disaster management. We took it back to the Ministry of Education because they have a better overview and infrastructure to make sure that they distribute those foods to the learners. The moment we transfer the school feeding programme to other State Departments that have no clue and infrastructure to make sure that the food gets to the learners in the arid areas, we will lose it. We thought it was prudent to allocate the money under the Ministry of Education which can decide what to do with it and how to distribute it to make sure that our learners get food in their schools. We all agree that no matter what is happening within our country, we must come back to our senses and support this economy. We do not have any other Kenya. We only have one. Whatever is happening outside there is very demoralising. But we need to tell our fellow Kenyans that going forward, we will make sure that we manage our resources prudently. The Government must deal with wastage conclusively. I support the President on areas that he decided to do away with. We do not need the offices of the First Lady and Second Lady. These are the things that we can deduct and reduce the cost, so that we can support the local manufacturers. 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.

There was a lot of misinformation about the Finance Bill, 2024. The issue of supporting the local manufacturer must be key in this Government. We should protect whatever we can manufacture here without importing. We must allocate Government money to help those industries and their infrastructure to grow. We should make sure that the Government supports the local manufacturers, so that we can protect and cushion our Kenya shilling against the dollar. We can only import the things that, for sure, we cannot live without and those that we do not produce as a country. Supporting local manufacturers is key. We should also ensure that we deal with corruption decisively. The President said this afternoon that he is going to propose some amendments to the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act and the Public Finance Management Act, so that we can look into the nitty-gritties of how public resources are utilised. We even deducted Ksh30 billion that was to go to counties. We have said it today, that the Senate must do its oversight role as far as county funds are concerned. There is a lot of corruption, misuse, and wastage that is happening in the counties. They forget those monies come from the public. We must make sure that we bring governors to book by making sure that corruption is dealt with. Let people with corruption matters be taken to court within three or four months. Then, we can see some actions happening to people misusing public resources. We are living in tough times. We must make sure we protect the few resources that we have. That is what Kenyans are talking about. That is what Kenyans are saying. That we should make prudent use of the little resources that we have and make sure we deal with corruption and its root cause as far as this Government is concerned. Therefore, I too rise to support the Supplementary Budget Estimate. Thank you.

Thank you. I do not want to say this chance goes to the acting Leader of the Minority Party. I mean the one occupying the seat that belongs to the Leader of the Minority Party.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity. I just want to acknowledge that you have said: “The one occupying”. Gen. Zs have already told us to occupy. Why can I not occupy the position of the Leader of the Minority Party if they can occupy Parliament? This is totally in order if you see what men do in this House. They have gone outside there and negotiated with the President. They are the ones who are taking the positions of cabinet secretaries. Do they think we can sit here and watch them as they come to talk about taking this position also? My mother tongue says telo ikao koming’ato. Nishachukua! Hiiimeenda.

Let them look for another one. If they want to negotiate with me, we will negotiate when I am seated. I said in this House that good girls never get the corner office. I am a bad girl. I have sat here. I am looking for the corner office. I am taking that corner office if Opiyo Wandayi has gone. If you agree, the very least I can do is to take the one that is very close. Nothing any less than that. 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.

Having said that, I thank Gen. Zs for the revolution. I know many of us have diverse views about it. As a person who has been in this struggle for many years, I want to say that very interesting things that happened out of it. That includes bringing us to a unique situation where we are actually doing a Supplementary Budget before we have implemented the Budget. I do not think this has ever happened in this country. I encourage us, as Members of Parliament that, sometimes, when we have gone through the challenging parts and we feel like we are in a secure place, we forget where we have come from. For the first time, let us not forget that there have been Gen Zs across. Some who were our children are our grandchildren. I raised the alarm on this Floor before the 25th. It came to pass because we do not listen sometimes. We think we have all the answers when we are leaders. We do not! We have a generation that is experiencing life differently. Sometimes, they are also experiencing what we did. It is just that we have forgotten we need to listen to them. Yesterday, I was meeting my cousin who was visiting me from Canada. Her daughter has pierced her nose, with a ring on it. I wanted to complain on why she had a ring on her nose. Before I could raise my voice, I was reminded that I had one once upon a time. I had even forgotten that I had a ring on my nose. I was asking the person whether I did. I was told: “Yes you did.” Hon. Temporary Speaker, I was so thrilled to just sit back and see myself from another perspective when I saw all the scenes of the Gen. Zs for the first time. I was on the street and lying down with police guns hoovering over me when I was that age. Why? Although I appreciate all the things they are saying, that age makes you think that you can change the world and you must change it now. For us who are older, we must listen to the idealism of the youth because we need it as a country, and we infuse it with our realism. That is the only way we can take the country forward. That is why I am happy that they forced us to bring this Supplementary Estimates that is speaking to some of the things that we have been saying before. I have been listening very carefully to some of the things that those Gen. Zs are saying. They say very simple things. Today we had an opportunity. Some of us who are women Members of Parliament were in a function with some of the Gen. Zs, and I carried my grandchild along. She is very young. I did not think she could speak before people, but she challenged us by saying that we people are telling them that they are rich children with mobile phones. And she asked us if we wanted poor children to be the ones demonstrating about their poverty. They say in very simple terms, but very poignant. Do we want the poor children to be the ones demonstrating about their poverty? If you can unpackage what that means, even if they are privileged, and it takes me back to this Budget. Whenever we budget, we do not do a realistic budget. This Budget, for the first time, is attempting to be realistic. The only challenge I am facing with this Budget is the implementation of austerity measures. Unfortunately, whenever we budget, we do not take certain principles into account. The principles of gender equity, equity, marginalisation and inclusion and the converse inclusion. It is not just that we do not take it during budgeting. We also do not take that into account during the budget cuts. Who do we look for? The same way men are dishing out these seats to themselves, is the same way when the budget comes, we start slashing things to do with women, children and youths. I have pointed it out to my Budget and Appropriations Committee. I am glad that our Committee has listened and has returned some. We want to encourage you men, please, listen to us. This country is not about you alone. There are other people in this country. There are women in this country. Whether you are budgeting or doing cuts, can you look at how it impacts on women, children, youths and persons with disabilities? It is even embarrassing. I am glad we shared it with the Bishop who spoke before me. 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.

That, I was in a moral dilemma as we were moving out of here. I went to get my bag in the lounge. The Bishop, together with Hon. Museo, told me: “Hon. Millie, you are leaving us here?” I quickly thought, because the groups were already coming. They were very many. I looked around me and I was like, where do I take them? Everybody was walking up the stairs. They are in wheelchairs. Where do you take them? So, even in our own budgeting when we are building this Parliament, when you look at the exits, where do the persons with disability go? Our budgeting never takes that into account. That is why I hope we are not pushed into a corner only in 2024 and then in 2025, we go back to our bad manners. Let every budgeting that we do; not look like it is a budget of a crisis. We should think about Kenyans. Sometimes, I do not know what leadership does to us. I am writing my book which I call Privileged . It is misleading because my privilege is because God enabled me to go through some challenges in life, so that I am privileged that when I am in a position like this, I understand. My father was a member of the regional assembly and so, I was a child of the privileged. Whenever we had events like Madaraka Day or public holidays, I used to be taken to the front when my father was alive. My father died in November and in December when I went to the front, I was chased and told to go and stand in the sun. I was like: "Hey! You guys do not understand! I am the daughter of Harrison Odhiambo." But I was told: " Kwendakabisa ." I was beaten and taken back. That has taught me that even when I am a leader, I do not need to feel good, floss and show off to people. What for? These things are flimsy and they are here for a moment. The lessons that have just happened here are things to teach us that these things are for a moment.

Hon. Temporary Speaker, I can see my time is up. Let us deal with the issue of corruption and put money for victims who have died during those demonstrations. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Soy, Hon. David Kiplagat.

Thank you. I rise to support, though reluctantly, the Supplementary Budget that has been tabled in this House. I say reluctantly because, as the representative of the people of Soy, we had a lot of expectations when we were initially preparing the Budget. One of the main expectations was addressing the last mile connectivity issue, which is still between 30 and 35 percent. People are always on our necks. I speak on behalf of all the Uasin Gishu Members of Parliament, as our constituents expect us to address the last mile connectivity problem. We were very happy when we saw the light at the end of the tunnel with the allocation of Ksh14.5 billion for the constituencies. In fact, I was telling Hon. Jalas the other day that since Lang'ata is already 100 percent connected, we could talk behind the tent so that he could assist me with Ksh50 million, thus allowing me to bring my allocation to Ksh100 million. Unfortunately, due to what has happened and we all regret, the Finance Bill was withdrawn, and the Government's revenue-raising measures were curtailed. This has adversely affected the last mile connectivity. I call upon the Committee on Budget and Appropriations and the Committee on Energy to revisit the issue of the last mile connectivity. We need to consider sacrificing other projects and reducing recurrent expenditure to raise the Ksh14.5 billion that was initially allocated. This could have been achieved. As it stands now, the connectivity problem within Soy Constituency remains unresolved.

I am hoping that there will be another supplementary before the end of this financial year. That is something that should be considered. I even suggested that the Ksh10 billion allocated 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.

the NG-CDF, which I have been informed has also been affected, could be transferred to the last mile connectivity. For my case, I could be a very happy man. That is why I support these Supplementary Estimates since the Government has no otherwise because of what happened, but reluctantly so. Another thing that we need to address is the concerns raised by the younger generation, Gen. Zs, regarding wastage, accountability and transparency. These issues are very important. As the fathers of our young generation, we need to listen to their complaints and understand that they feel uninformed about why certain actions are being taken. It is very important for us to sit down and have a conversation with the young people, so that they can understand that since Independence, we have been accumulating a debt which now stands at over Ksh11 trillion. We usually have to pay it as a first charge. I was telling them that we are paying around Kshs1.1 trillion per year. I believe even the counties should be discussed. I will bring a Motion to discuss the legitimacy of the Council of Governors (CoG). I know they keep suing the National Assembly left, right and centre, including wanting to disband NG-CDF, which has achieved a lot. As currently constituted, CoG has no legal bearing. It is not within our laws. Given that it has no legal framework, that organisation should be disbanded so that they can stop disturbing us in the corridors of our courts.

I think it is important for the Budget and Appropriations Committee and also the National Treasury… I am very happy because the Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is the nominee Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury. I am sure the next budget which he will bring to this House will focus on development. I come from an agricultural constituency and initially in the Budget, we had allocated the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) around Ksh1 billion. Since we are tightening the belt, that money is gone. We had also allocated Ksh10 billion for subsidy fertiliser, although the requirement was around Ksh15 billion. We now have Ksh7.5 billion because of the milk coolers which are important.

We are living in a very small fiscal space. When we try to fit in the requirements of this country, it is very complicated. Now that Hon. Millie Odhiambo has joined the Government, I believe we will come back with a Finance Bill which will be adopted so that, at the end of the day, we support the Government with a balanced budget and raise enough revenue to enable it run the country.

Due to the small fiscal space, we remain with no other option but to reluctantly support this supplementary budget. Having listened to the Chairperson of the Budget and Appropriations Committee talk on the Division of Revenue Act (DORA) and County Allocation of Revenue Act (CARA), if we are tightening our belt and reducing NG-CDF, the last mile connectivity, subsidised fertilising… I was seeing on social media about a road in my area which was awarded to a Chinese Contractor in 2018. It has not been completed and people are very agitated. Due to this tight fiscal space, we might not have enough money to construct that road and finish other ongoing projects.

In the next supplementary budget, let us focus on finishing ongoing development projects which impact the lives of our people. Also, due to the budget cuts, the county allocation should also be reduced. I propose that we need to amend DORA and KARA and reduce it by a further Ksh25 billion.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. With those few remarks, I support the supplementary budget.

Thank you. Next is the Member for Mombasa County, Hon. Zamzam. 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.

Ahsante sana, Mhe. Spika wa Muda. Nimengojea kwa muda lakini nimepata nafasi. Kwanza, natoa rambirambi zangu kwa familia za wale waliopoteza wapendwa wao wakati wa maandamano. Kenya ni yetu sisi sote na bila amani hatuwezi kuwa na maendeleo. Licha ya kuwa watoto wetu walizungumza mambo mengi na yamesikizwa, nawaomba waweze kutulia. Kama ninavyo ona katika hii bajeti, mambo yao yameangaliwa na yale yaliokuwa yanawasumbua yametolewa.

Nachukua fursa hii kumpongeza ndugu yangu kipenzi, tunayemuenzi, simba wa Pwani, Hassan Ali Joho, kwa kuwekwa katika ule msururu ambao utakuja kupigwa msasa hapa Bungeni kama Waziri wa Uchumi Samawati na Madini. Nampongeza pia Kinara wangu wa Chama kwa kumkumbatia ndugu yetu na kumweka katika wale ambao wameteuliwa. Kwetu Mombasa ni furaha kubwa na tunajua ni mchapa kazi kwa yale ambayo aliweza kufanya akiwa Mbuge wa Kisauni, Gavana wa Mombasa na Naibu wa Waziri.Ataweza kuboresha uchumi samawati na madini Kenya na kuinua uchumi wa Kenya Mhe. Spika wa Muda. Namuombea mahali popote alipo mwenyezi Mungu amtangulie mbele na naomba Wabunge wenzangu, akija hapa Bungeni, tuweze kumpa support .

Mhe. Spika wa Muda, nikirudi kwenye bajeti hii ambayo imekadiriwa, naishukuru sana Kamati ya Bajeti na Makadirio ambayo imeleta haya makadirio baada ya kuuondoa ule Mswada wa Fedha, 2024, ambayo ulikua na mambo mengi mazito mazito. Nawapongeza kwa upande wa elimu. Wameweza kuongeza Ksh247 million katika shule za msingi. Hii itawezesha watoto wakae madarasani wasome maanake tulikua tunaona hata ile dawati ya kuweza kukalia, watoto walikua wanakosa. Inabidi waendea kwa wazazi ili waweze kutengeza madawati na kuleta madarasani. Lakini katika hii bajeti, naona wameongezewa na naipongeza Kamati ya Bajeti na Makadirio kwa kazi nzuri wanayoifanya.

Wameongeza pia katika shule za sekondari. Nimeona Ksh205 milion. Wameongezewa katika yale makadirio yaliyokuwa ya mwanzo. Na sisi tunasema elimu ndio uti wa mgongo wa maendeleo ya taifa. Kwa hivyo, watoto wetu wengi watabaki madarasani.

Napongeza pia Kamati hii kwa sababu katika zile Technical and Vocational Education Training Institutes (TVETs), pia wamewekewa bajeti ya vijana. Kwa hivyo, mimi nawaomba vijana kule nje ambao walikua hawana ujuzi, bajeti imewekwa kwenu.Mara hii, sauti zenu zimesikika na mmewekewa bajeti nzuri sana ambayo inaweza kuwasaidia. Na mjitokeze muingie katika TVET na Vocational Training Centres ili muweze kupata taaluma mbali mbali ambayo itawawezesha nyinyi kupata ajira.

Nimeona pia katika Blue Economy ama Uchumi Samawati, kama mkaazi wa Mombasa ambaye anatoka sehemu ambayo ina bahari, tumeongezewa Ksh400 million katika ile kandarasi ya Liwatoni ambayo ni ya wavuvi wa samaki, ili waweze kuijenga na kuimaliza kwa sababu ilikua imekwama. Napongeza Kamati ya Bajeti na Makadirio kutukumbuka kama watu wanaotoka sehemu ambazo zina bahari ama uchumi samawati.

Mhe. Spika wa Muda, pia nimeangalia katika Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (REREC). Inahusu mambo ya stima kuingia mashinani. Tukiangalia sehemu kwa mfano zenye ukame, ni sehemu ambazo hazijafikiwa na maendeleo kama kule ndani ndani Garissa na Ganze. Ikiwa hao wameongezewa pesa za kuweza kufikisha huduma ya stima hadi mashinani, napongeza sana. Ni kitu ambacho kitafanya maendeleo yafike mashinani.

Nimeangalia pia katika bajeti ya Ofisi ya Naibu wa Rais. Imepunguzwa, ijapokuwa sikuridhika ilivyopunguzwa. Ni kidogo. Imepunguzwa Ksh100 million pekee yake. Tuliona katika bajeti iliyopita kuwa Ksh600 million iliwekwa katika kurekebisha tu nyumba ambayo ilijengwa na takribani Ksh400 million. Kwa hivyo, ningependa kuomba hii Kamati ya Bajeti na Makadirio 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.

waweze pia kuangalia jambo hilo. Wakati huu hatutaki kuangalia marekebisho ya manyumba kwa sababu Wakenya wanahangaika sana na Wakenya wanataka kuangalia vitu vinavyopewa kipa umbele, viwe vitu ambavyo vitaboresha uchumi na kushika kandarasi ya kuzalisha ili uchumi uweze kuinuka na ushuru uweze kupungua. Kwa hivyo, katika hiyo pia naomba wazidi kupunguza. Licha ya sekta ya ukulima kuongezewa mgao ili iwawezeshe kukuza vyakula, Kshs100 milioni iliyotengewa Mto wa Nairobi imetolewa. Huu mto hupeleka maji sehemu kubwa za umwagiliaji maji, usafisaji na mambo mengine. Wametoa asilimia hiyo na kupelekwa katika Ofisi ya Naibu wa Rais. Ninaomba Kamati husika wairegeshe kwenye umwagiliaji wa maji katika kilimo maana ulisaidia pakubwa. Mhe. Spika wa Muda, kwenye Kitengo cha Ardhi, wameongeza Kshs750 millioni. Nimefurahi maana wakaazi wa Mombasa na sehemu ya Taita Taveta ambao walipoteza mashamba yao wako kwenye orodha ya wale watafidiwa. Pesa zimeingia sehemu husika. Watoto wetu, Gen.Z, wamefanya kazi nzuri sana. Wameamsha hili Bunge. Wameamsha bongo za waheshimiwa na sasa, zinafanya kazi. Sasa, wanaweka pesa sehemu ambazo zinakusudiwa. Nawapongeza sana. Ule mwamko ulikuwa mzuri isipokuwa waliokuwa na nia mbaya waliingilia kati. Tumepata funzo kama Wabunge na Bunge hili limeamka na kuimarika.

Mhe. Spika wa Muda, nimeona pia waalimu wetu wa shule ya Junior Secondary School

waliokuwa hawana mishahara wamepewa bajeti yao na imeongezwa. Nawapongeza. Wengi wao walikuwa wamejitolea kufunza bila malipo. Hawakuwa na mishahara. Wengi walitufuata huku wakilia ili tuwahakikishie kuwa wao pia watapata mishahara kwa kuwatetea Bungeni. Kwa sasa, watapata pesa itakayowasaidia kujimudu kiafya na kusomesha watoto wao. Kuwalipa mshahara kumenifurahisha sana. Limetua mzigo mkubwa mgongoni mwa wananchi. Kuna wakati wazazi ilibidi wachange kitu kidogo ya kuwawezesha waalimu wa JSS kupata kitu ya kujimudu. Sasa, wamepata mgao wao na mambo yao yataenda shwari. Mhe. Spika wa Muda, matibabu ya saratani katika Hospitali Kuu ya Kenyatta yamepunguziwa mgao wao. Ningependa kuwaambia wanakamati kuwa hawangeguza mgao huo. Wananchi wengi wanahangaika maana ugonjwa wa saratani hauchagui tajiri wala maskini. Ninawahisi wauregeshe maana hakuna kitu kizuri kama afya. Mengi wamefanya mazuri na nawapongeza. Naunga Mkono hii S upplementary Budget . Ofisi ya Naibu wa Rais ilikuwa na malimbikizo mengi. Nawasihi wapungunze mgao wao maana hiyo pesa waliotengewa haikuwa inaeleweka kazi yake. Hata kama wamepunguza Ksh100 millioni, nawasihi wazidi kupunguza zaidi. Yote tisa, la kumi ni kuwapongeza kwa kazi yenu nzuri. Tunaomba Nchi yetu ya Kenya iwe na amani. Tuwache vita. Hakutafanyika chochote kusipokuwa na amani. Tutakuwa kama nchi ya Sudan ama mataifa yanayopigana. Tunataka amani katika taifa letu ili tuweze kuyarekebisha yanayotutatiza tukiwa katika Jumba hili. Ahsante.

Hon. (Dr) James Wambura Nyikal, Member of Parliament for Seme.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this debate. 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.

We describe this Supplementary Estimates as unique and unprecedented. It is just but a revision of the 2024/2025 Budget because the Finance Bill, 2024 did not go through. Matters have worsened by the loss of revenue due to the ongoing unrest, which we hope will be addressed soon. The Budget itself is realistic given the circumstances. It has addressed critical areas of need and has reduced spending on areas like construction and development that can wait. Hon. Temporary Speaker, how did we end up in a situation where our children are out on the streets, risking their lives and many losing their lives? We all support them. We have all said that they are right and that they have shown the way. But how did we get here? All of this is a culmination of errors of omission and commission that we have committed in the past in governance, politics and service delivery. Up to now, university students who are supposed to report in September do not know how much fees they need to pay. In the health sector, the SHIF laws have been deemed unconstitutional by the courts. Therefore, all the services dependent on NHIF have been suspended. The police insurance and the civil servants’ insurance are not recent issues. The issues of corruption, excessive displays of wealth, and biased recruitment have all contributed to this situation. This can also be due to unmet expectations. As we discuss this, we have to change our way of doing things. We need to prioritise the interests of the people. We knew from the beginning that the people did not want the Finance Bill 2024. All stakeholders, professional organisations and church leaders were not in support, but we did not listen. The situation has worsened over the years because we have not attended to the needs of the people. Critical areas affecting the peoples’ lives such as the cost of living, fuel, housing and health have been neglected. As a Parliament, we represent the people. We have a duty to oversee the Executive. The people expect that their elected representatives will protect them should we have a rogue Executive. We have failed on this. We must start listening to the people. As a matter of urgency, we must start to rebuild the confidence of the people in this Parliament. We are going to do some vetting. We must go out and listen because the problems are not yet solved. The Generation Zs are still out there and we need to appeal to them. It is actually them who are appealing to us to change our ways. The only way we can appeal to Gen. Zs is responding to them by changing our ways and listening to them. That is what we need to do. We do not have to think much about this. We have been shown the way. Let us follow it. As I sit down, let me repeat my concern. How do we start to build the confidence of the people of Kenya in Parliament? If we do not do that, the people will always come out to express themselves, and not always in ways that are acceptable, safe or peaceful. We must realise that in the presidential system, this House, in totality, oversees the Executive. Therefore, it should not matter which side we are in. If something is not good for the people, it is not good for them and it is their expectation that this House will stop such things. With that, I support these First Supplementary Estimates, which, as I said, are basically a revision of the 2024/25 Budget. I support.

Hon. Alice Ng’ang’a, Member for Thika Town.

Thank you.

Hon. Members, I want to take a bit of time on our female Members for good reasons.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I rise to support the First Supplementary Estimates for Financial Year 2024/25. It has been presented early because of the austerity measures that we are undertaking after we dropped the Finance Bill, 2024. 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.

There are so many cuts in this budget, but we have to live with it because that is how things are. We have to live within our means. Our roads are in a very pathetic state but, from this budget, we have reduced Ksh14 billion that is meant for roads. Following the floods that we had two months ago, I want to request the Ministry of Roads, Transport and Public Works to look at the critical roads that need to be repaired since we are not starting new projects. That is because we do not have enough money. Starting new projects means going out there to borrow, whereas we do not have the means to repay the existing debts. However, from this Budget, what made me happy is the employment of Junior Secondary School interns. That is a win for them because they are many. They are 46,000 in number across the country. This is good for them because they were really looking forward to be employed. After the Finance Bill 2024 was dropped, there was a possibility that they were not going to be absorbed by the Government but, when you look at these Estimates, I have seen that they have been factored in. Before we dropped the Finance Bill, 2024, we had talked about sanitary towels, and said that they were going to be manufactured locally. Before the austerity measures were undertaken, those sanitary towels were going to be manufactured in Kenya, thus offering many employment opportunities to our young men and women. We were supposed to buy from Kenya; thereby building our economy. However, when you look at things, we have a shortfall when it comes to sanitary towels for our children, which is a very important issue for our young girls both in primary and secondary schools. As things are, the budget of Ksh940 million for buying sanitary towels for them has not been reduced. Another thing that was in the Finance Bill that was dropped, but is not in the Supplementary Estimates, is electricity connectivity across the country. Every constituency was to receive Ksh50 million to put power where people have never seen power since Independence. Going by these Estimates, that allocation has been reduced. What has made me happy today is the feeding programme for vulnerable children in arid areas. I am happy for them. Without food, children cannot concentrate in school. Once they are given that money, at least, they will be going to school while looking forward to be fed. I am a champion for children. I like it when children are given their privilege at whatever stage of their lives. They are the next leaders of this nation. They will be the core component of our nation. So, we need to take care of them at their young ages. Our young men and women, the Gen. Zs, said they want to have a conversation. That conversation is very healthy. They woke us up from slumberland and told us what we need to relook at. They did a very good job. We heard them and we continue listening to them. As Members of Parliament, we will go back home and all of us are going to have a conversation with the Gen. Zs so that they can tell us how they feel and how we should run this nation. But I condemn those who are taking advantage of that conversation. It is a very healthy conversation that we are having right now. Those who are coming to hijack a conversation that was started by our young men and women are selfish people and they should stop. The Gen. Zs meant well for this nation. They were saying we needed to implement austerity measures in this nation. They said we should stop wastage. They had a very good narrative for all of us and for this Republic of Kenya. I want to tell those who are taking advantage of this situation that we have only one country called Kenya, and it is our motherland. If they want to have their own maandamano, they should stop hijacking our conversation with our young men and women. What they are doing is wrong. Looting other peoples’ property is very bad because people have worked very hard to acquire what they have. As we continue to have a conversation with our young men and women, 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.

we are telling those who are hijacking their conversation that they have always been there, but they have never offered any solution. They are using the backdoor. They want to use our young men and women and yet, they are hiding in their cocoons. They do not want to come out. Our young men and women came out, and they have talked and we have heard them. To fuel what is going on in the country, they caption what a Member of Parliament has not said. In my case, I was told that I had insulted the Gen. Zs. I can never do something like that. I am a mother of Gen. Zs in my house and we hear them. Those people who do not wish us well are creating stories out there so that they can hijack a conversation that they themselves have failed to have. I am talking to EACC. It is an independent institution in this Republic. They have also failed. People who are corrupt are supposed to be investigated by EACC so that they can be taken to court. We usually hear of arrests, but we do not see any prosecutions in court. Before this Government took over, we heard of the Pandora Papers that exposed that a lot of money is stashed outside Kenya. That money is lying idle in those countries and is not helping in any way. If all the money that is stashed outside the country is brought back to this country, it is going to help us to even pay the debts that we have. It is also going to be used in our economy to build roads and do electricity connectivity. That is a conversation because our Gen Zs have come out and told us to open the conversations that are very hard to be discussed in broad day light. We also need to go back and ask ourselves how many people have stashed money outside this country. Can we start? Whoever had stashed money outside the country was given 21 days when the Pandora Papers were exposed. It is not doing our country any good. We need to have the tough conversations even about the mega scandals, including the COVID-19 billionaires. Our Gen. ZS are asking us to have those kinds of conversations in our country. Let us not sweep things under the carpet. We say we do not have money and yet, we know some people stole from Kenya. But they have never been prosecuted. I am talking to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and telling them: “Up your game! Please, help us take to court all those who have taken Kenyans’ money.” As an institution, Kenyans have assigned you the duty to arrest those who are looting this nation.

Hon. Temporary Speaker, Ksh30 billion has been cut from county governments. We will go to the county governments when we finish the conversation at the national level. We should check to see how they are spending their money. We have seen a lot of wastage, corruption, looting and nobody is talking about it. Money is money, be it at the national or county governments. It is Kenyans’ money. They should follow it up to know whether it does the function that it is intended to at the county level. From where I sit, I can tell you that there is a lot of wastage. They undertake programmes that cannot be audited at any level. We need to look into this issue. As I said earlier, Kenya is our nation and our country. We have heard our young men and women. They were bold enough to come out to talk to us very loudly. We have heard them. The conversation must continue so that we put Kenya where it is supposed to be. We cannot sit back and allow looting. The EACC investigates when departments are caught embezzling money from the public and yet, we do not know exactly what happens years down the line. People will fear misusing public funds if the EACC makes several arrests. That is the conversation our Gen. Zs are having. The nation and Parliament are discussing the Supplementary Budget and the austerity measures to be undertaken moving forward. It means every Kenyan needs to stand up and speak when we see something that is wrong happening wherever we are. We should not be quiet anymore. We need to speak if there is looting anywhere. We will let our young men and women down if we do not do so. They spoke and we have heard them. We need to act and implement what 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.

we have promised them. We have said we will put in place austerity measures. It will be good if that money goes to intended State departments. That is health, energy, roads or social protection. Let us spend money on intended purposes. If we do not do that, we will be failing our nation and our young men and women after they have spoken. We have heard them. The conversation is picking up.

Thank you very much for the opportunity you have accorded me. Ahsante.

Let us have Hon. (Dr.) Joyce Osogo Bensuda. In addition to the Budget, tell us what is happening in Homa Bay.

Thank you so much, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. I thank you because you are very efficient.

Kindly, lift up your microphone.

Sorry. I normally assume that I have a microphone in my throat. I really appreciate that you are always very effective on equity in giving Members chances to speak. I was here in the morning and it is now 7.00 p.m. You came and found me here and you have seen it important that ladies should contribute. I thank and appreciate you for that.

I rise to make my contribution to this First Supplementary Budget. I base my contribution on observations and providing for some gaps that I think need to be looked into when we are still under this Budget cycle. That way, I will be sure that I am fully representing Homa Bay County and Kenya as a whole. Allow me to first appreciate the Generation Z, this House and, for the first time, President Ruto for not signing the Finance Bill, 2024. I appreciate the Generation Z for having reminded us that we must take up leadership. Before I make my contribution, I want it to go on record that during this budget cycle, I will progressively be supporting it based on inclusivity in terms of projects and development in the entire 47 counties. We know that the Generation Z have scored. I am speaking to the Generation Z outside there, that Parliament must take up responsibility. It is not just about signing and sleeping on the benches saying ‘Ayes’ and ‘Nays’, without listening and critically analysing things. Why am I saying that? Right now, I expect the Leader of the Majority Party to be seated here until the end of this debate because we are discussing very fundamental issues. Despite us being in the Hansard, it is important to take on, critically, the verbal contribution. I expected the Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee (BAC) to be seated here. We should pass a resolution that in respect of a Committee presenting a Bill or Motion, the Leader of the Majority Party and the Leader of the Minority Party should speak last. It is so that they can sit in this Parliament until all deliberations are done as we make responsive and conclusive things that are informative. I empathise with the families of those who have fought hard because their friends, relatives and children have shed blood to make Kenya reach the point we are in. This informs all of us in the entire nation that leaders must be responsible, knowledgeable and ready to listen. We listened as a Parliament. The Generation Z scored by bringing down the Finance Bill 2024. I am very happy that technology must also be up-scaled by this House. I am also happy that I sit in the Departmental Committee on Communication, Information and Innovation. The reason as to why some of us sit here longer before contributing is because these gadgets never work. We are not able to handle such mere things and yet, the Generation Z are on X space. I know we have struggled in this country. Our children have carried stones, but the Generation Z simply went technological and brought this country to a standstill. If simple gadgets cannot be managed, what are we going to manage in this House? That is my first concern. This is the fifth time I am putting it on record that I am consistently told my name is not reflecting on the screen and yet, on 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.

my side, I insert my card at the right time. It is blinking and it confirms that I am in the House. We must be responsible and correct simple mistakes. I note that I was also a member of the meeting that Hon. Millie Odhiambo attended. This is because the issues that were being discussed touched on child rights, protection, governance, legitimacy, campaigns and the budgets that have been allocated to take care of our children. It was affirmed in that meeting by the Generation Z that systems have collapsed in this nation. There is the issue of sycophancy and the Members of Parliament feeling that they are the only ones who have failed this nation. We must take it up from the grassroots. We must learn how resources are utilised, how budgets are done and how public participation is conducted in all our respective counties. They must be realistic and stick to the true course. On this Budget, where are we in terms of revenue generation as a country? These things must not be opaque. They must be publicised and given ample time to inform the kind of budgets and appropriations that we need to come up with. It is not only the case of austerity measures, the case of cutting down the recurrent budgets and the case of cutting down development budgets. Grants do come to this country. Those things must be made public with a lot of equity, public participation and monitoring the implementation of grants that come from outside. We are not crying and we should not be persistent. We cannot keep on borrowing. We are in serious debt and yet, there is no accountability in respect of money that is collected locally. There is no accountability on the grants that are received by this nation. Oversight, that is, checking and ascertaining that projects are distributed equitably is not working and, at the same time, the needs of the people are not effectively taken care of. We must differentiate, as a House, what is theory from what is practical and what affects any part of this nation. You asked me very well to tell you and to tell this House something about Homa Bay. I first want to talk about taking care of women. There are markets that the national Government confirmed that they were going to build like Kona Kobodo, Rodi Kopany and Kendu Bay, just to mention a few. I advocate for the construction of those markets for women. The markets should have solarised boreholes and power. We need them to have solar energy for their security so that they can maximise on the time that they spend in the market. To that level, I am advocating for the provision of transformers and electricity to the many markets that currently lack them. You cannot separate a woman from water. So, even the 10,000 litres capacity water tanks that I have distributed across the markets and the schools ― over 100 in number ― are quite inadequate. We need to increase the tanks. We need to play around with the current Budget. We know that even State House funding has been left at Ksh5 billion. We can remove Ksh1 billion there so that we can ensure that we have solarised water boreholes, power in our markets and footbridges that are connecting the agricultural areas to the markets. I am advocating that the Budget and Appropriations Committee look for an additional Ksh1 billion to take care of our markets and agricultural areas. In as much as we are reducing and trying to work with what Kenyans can afford, recently, we were hit hard by floods. We need water pumps in Karachuonyo and Wang’chieng. There are families that are always displaced. Are we waiting for another flooding? This year, or since we got into power…We did not get into power as Azimio. Let me correct that. This country needs true and honest spiritual legislation. Given the evils we have undergone in this country, I am even worried about this Budget. Talk of Shakahola deaths, the floods, the coronavirus, corruption and failure to implement serious recommendations. The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) should take charge and do its work. The Senate should take charge and do its work. Let us oversee. Let things be done. From any 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.

perspective of any institution, accountability must be done. When I look at this Budget, we have different commissions that have been allocated money. We have different State Departments that have been allocated the money. We must be hands-on. Gone are the days when we used to have Cabinet Secretaries standing on big vehicles while campaigning and people swinging with chairs in offices.

Thank you. Hon. Dr Phyllis Bartow. You know how passionate Dr. Bensuda is on national issues.

I could have donated one minute. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker for according me the opportunity to contribute to these Supplementary Estimates. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. I laud the Budget and Appropriation Committee for going back to the drawing board and managing to come up with a lean budget. From academia, I am happy that, at least, the education budget was retained at Ksh650 billion. That is very important because of the implementation of the competence-based curriculum. It is at its very critical stage and if it is not well resourced, the effects will be felt in future. So, I am very happy that we have money for education. We also have intern teachers who have been on the streets protesting. I am happy that, not only a few of them, but all of them are going to be employed. We will have all the 46,000 intern teachers employed on permanent and pensionable terms. I want to encourage the Teachers Service Commission to regularise the internship procedures so that the courts do not declare them illegal. They should look at their policies very well so that the intern teachers are acceptable just like any other intern in other ministries. Internship is a very good learning process. It enables those who have just come out of colleges to have hands-on skills that will help them to fit in the job market. I also support these Supplementary Estimates because of the School Feeding Programme. Initially, there were fears that that Programme was going to be scrapped. I am happy that it has been retained. Most of the students who were beneficiaries of that Programme come from very vulnerable regions. So, it will go a long way to ensure that the children are retained in school and there is good enrolment of learners. As you know, education is an equaliser. I am sure that most people are where they are in life today because they made a choice to go to school. Education is the reason for who they are today. What I would encourage in future in the Supplementary Estimates is that we relook at the School Feeding Programme and include every other child in Kenya. It should be spread widely. At the moment, it is just for the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs). There are other regions in urban areas where we still have people who are living in very difficult conditions. Their children should be included in the School Feeding Programme. I am also happy that there will be capacity building for farmers. We have...

On a point of…

Order Hon. Bartoo. Hon. Umulkher, is your intervention on a point of order or on a point of information?

On a point of information.

Hon. Dr. Phyllis Bartoo, do you want to be informed?

I stand guided.

No! Do you want to be informed? She cannot inform you unless you grant her the permission.

I do not need any information. I am just saying what I know. 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.

Then proceed.

Okay. Thank you. On capacity building for farmers, I am happy that the programme on subsidised fertilizer is ongoing. How I wish that fertiliser is availed to the farmers in a timely manner. For example, in Uasin Gishu County, our planting season is between January and April. I wish that fertiliser would get to our stores as early as December so that when farmers harvest their maize and sell, they can purchase it. Money has so many uses. Nobody can keep it to buy fertiliser when they need to pay school fees and meet other needs. I support the fund for coffee and tea farmers. This is a great way to develop the nation. With regard to the increase of police officers’ salaries as stated in this Budget, it is important for us to consider our armed forces because they have a very difficult job. They work late and we saw the challenges they experienced during the demonstrations, which have lasted for one-and-half months. This will motivate them because they work under very difficult circumstances. I am not happy with the budget-cuts on infrastructure development. My constituency has many roads which are in a dilapidated condition. A case in point is a road in a place called Seretio where a bridge has collapsed and students are unable to access their schools. It is unfortunate that the budget-cuts have affected such critical services. In this financial year, we had been allocated funds for tarmacking roads in two specific areas; that is, Tachasis-Karandili-Chebiemit. This promise was made 10 years ago. Also, Kapmukono-Birika Road has been in a dilapidated condition for many years. I was hoping that those roads would be tarmacked, but it is now unfortunate that, that might not happen. I hope that in the next supplementary budget, those roads will be included so that the people of Moiben Constituency can also feel that they are part of Kenya. I have also noticed that the budget for the last mile connectivity has been cut. In my constituency, we are still at 35 per cent electricity connectivity. Possibly, that is why most Generation Zs are unhappy. Very few people are connected to electricity and we still have schools without electricity. That is where inequality begins. I wish this Budget had considered affirmative action in areas with bad roads, lack of water and poor electricity connectivity. I hope this will be included in the next supplementary budget. Every constituency was going to get additional funding for NG-CDF. It is unfortunate that there is a budget-cut because NG-CDF and NGAAF are Funds which are felt at the grassroot level.

Thank you for your support my colleague, Hon. Bensuda. This Fund is really felt by the people of Kenya. It provides bursaries for students and it is even used to build schools. I hope we will relook at that in the next supplementary budget because having a budget-cut or not sufficiently giving enough resources to NG-CDF and NGAAF will disadvantage so many constituencies and counties, especially where there is no equity in rural areas. Let me stop there and support this Budget. I hope that it will go a long way in supporting the nation, even though there are so many consequences which will come with failure to pass the Finance Bill.

Hon. Umulkher Harun followed by Hon. (Dr) Eve Obara, Member for Kasipul Kabondo, in that order.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me a chance to contribute to this issue. It is an issue that is of national interest, whenever 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.

we are in the appropriations period or allocation of funds. My current concern is that we keep on allocating funds, but budgeting is never an issue. How the funds are utilised is an issue and that is a subject that we have to address as Members of the House. We need to curb corruption and address the issue of disbursement which delays the many plans that have been put in place. If I focus on the Immigration Office, yesterday, they issued a memo saying they are having a limit or putting a 10-year renewal limit on national identity cards that have been issued. I got my national ID in the year 2017, but I applied for it in the year 2015 immediately after I finished high school. I wonder whether the Immigration Office has the capacity to start a renewal process when they have failed to issue passports and identity cards timeously. Can they take on the burden of having a renewal process when they have failed to even implement the mandate that they have of issuing passports and ID cards timeously? That is my concern because it took me almost three years to get my ID. What guarantee do the people of Kenya have that their IDs will be issued on time? I would want to caution the Principal Secretary for Immigration, Hon. Bitok, that the memo issued by the Ministry yesterday is out of order. It does not speak to the concerns of Kenyans, especially going by the prevailing times in our political weather. Is it even right for them to issue such statements currently when every young Kenyan is up in arms demanding for good services? The process is already slow. I was at the Immigration Office last week on Friday and I had to call the Principal Secretary himself and tell him to help me process some A, B, C, and D documents. Any other Kenyan does not have such an access. Unfortunately, this is something that they are putting out currently. I would want to caution them that, that is a policy issue. It should come through the Floor of the House. It is not for the Ministry to decide to issue a memo to put a 10-year limit. That is wrong. It is out of order and I would want to understand the position of the Ministry for taking such a stand. The second issue is on education. The biggest beneficiaries of education are young people. Myself, as I am standing on this Floor, I am a beneficiary of education. Young people in this country are having a lot of demands in terms of school fees arrears. This is the right time because the country is asking the right questions. The concerns of Gen. Zs are not out of the ordinary. They are simply asking for good governance and for the systems to work for them. We have the NG- CDF which is currently appropriated and Members of Parliament have a portion of it. However, if you look keenly, you will realise that the issue of school fee payment or bursary is not sufficient even in the component of NG-CDF. In the same breath, we have bursaries from the county governments. The county governments have money allocated every year. An average of Ksh300 million multiplied by 47 counties gets into billions. We have NGAAF that has bursaries. The NG-CDF also has bursaries. We have the Ministry which also has bursaries. My proposal is that in the spirit of good faith and now that we are having a conversation of national interest and there is in place a Government of national unity… Should we not lead from the front? I will be told I am a nominated Member and I cannot speak about NG-CDF. Anyway, I will speak as a Member of Parliament with the interest of young people at heart. What if we volunteer to have consolidated funds so that school fees are paid from one docket? NG-CDF can then address every other issue. This is to ensure that we have free education. We already have the blueprint that was done by the Government of the late President Mwai Kibaki. I was a child, but I know that the system worked. We are all here today because of free education. The blueprint is there. Let us implement it so that free education goes up to the tertiary level. 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.

In the same breath, in the spirit of leading from the front, if we are to have budget-cuts in crucial dockets, then even us, as Members of Parliament, should have budget-cuts in our salaries. That is a stand that I take as a young Member so that we lead by example. Corruption is an issue because we cannot oversight funds that we are already managing. It contradicts itself. Legislation, oversight and representation is what this House is there for. Parliament has to deliver for Kenya so that we speak from the same breath. The Government of national unity is a welcome agenda in functioning systems. We have seen the system of winner-takes-it-all that has always existed. For the first time in the history of Kenya, we have somebody from Nyanza holding the docket of the National Treasury. That has not happened before. That is something I welcome because from where I sit, it will help even the presidential seat to rotate.

Hon. Umulkher Harun, the former Leader of the Minority Party.

The nomination.

And the current Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee cannot be just someone.

Hon. Temporary Speaker, I did not want to quote names, but I am saying it is a nomination that is welcome. So that for somebody like me who comes from North Eastern, I will have the hope of running for presidency one day. We have seen these seats rotate in the same place. This is an agenda that I welcome. I will not want to name names. As somebody who holds the vision of this country, I know this will rattle feathers but I welcome a Government of national unity so that the agenda moves forward to even having a presidency that rotates. That every community in this country and every young person can dream to become a president one day. This agenda, a Government of national unity, is of help to us for the stability of this country and even for accountability. It does not mean that we will still sit back and watch corruption happen. It means we have a chance in the table to question so that Kenyans can have good governance. Allow me to just quote something that happened historically. The former President of the United States of America, Hon. Obama, ran for presidency against Hillary Clinton but, as soon as he won, he welcomed her to join his Government. That way, they delivered to the people. The Kenyan system is one of winner-take-it-all. If one group wins, the other group with good visions is left out. As Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya Coalition Party, we had a very good policy document and stance to support this country. If this is brought on board, we will help every faction and move from tribalism. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

Thank you very much. Hon. (Dr.) Eve Obara.

Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this Motion. At the outset, let me also join my colleagues to support the revised Budget. I have a few comments to make. This is the first time… I do not think or cannot remember when this ever happened, that we discuss the Supplementary Budget before the actual Budget has even commenced. It is unique and we all understand that it comes at the backdrop of very unfortunate happenings in this country. We send our heartfelt condolences to the families that lost their loved ones on this occasion. It is a time for reflection for this country and for us in this House, as Members of Parliament. I hope we have all come to the realisation that when we sit here, we 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.

oversight the Executive. We are not part of the Executive. We are all being called ‘MPigs’. I think you have seen that. Our children on the streets have been telling us that we are wrong. It is a lesson to all of us. Hon. Temporary Speaker, we probably still thought that those were young children forgetting that we had taken them to the best schools. They now have skills, but with no jobs. They have talked to us, but we probably did not listen to them. I think we have all said that. As we now discuss the Supplementary Estimates, let us remember the children that are still in hospital. Can our Government have the compassion and the empathy to clear the bills of those who are still in hospital? Can the Government find a way to compensate the parents of those who died through the bullet wounds by the police? I know that we cannot replace life, but let them be compensated. The Government can reach out to them and publicly apologise. This is also a lesson to the leaders to show humility as we go about our business. How come we are now not running around with all those bodyguards and big cars with sirens? It is doable. We have learnt a lesson. Going back to the Supplementary Budget, I have noted that our biggest problem is not revenue. Our biggest problem is expenditure. How do we spend the money? We have now been able to go back to that same Budget and reduce it. I know that many areas have been affected, but if we manage the resources that come to our hands as a country, I think we can make a big difference. As a rule of thumb, can we come up with a policy that all old projects must be completed before we come up with new ones? This has been a problem. We have so many pending bills and delayed projects because we start new projects and forget the old ones. I am happy that we have considered the Junior Secondary Schools (JSS). I have seen the money. There is confirmation that what we had promised has come to fruition because it is in the Budget. There has been a lot of pressure on us in our areas because of that matter. I sit in the Departmental Committee on Education and Research, and I have seen that the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for the teachers has been removed. I hope they will understand the circumstances under which this was removed. Since they were signed, the effective date is not going to change and so they will eventually get their money in arrears. Hon. Temporary Speaker, there is an issue of transformers that are going to be distributed across the country. I hope there will be equity when this will be undertaken. In my own area, Kabondo Kasipul, almost 50 per cent of the transformers that were distributed between 2013 and 2017 are not working, and they have not been replaced. Each time they are replaced, they still do not function because we seem to have bought sub-standard transformers. This should be looked into with equity. On the School Feeding Programme, I am happy that this has been retained and that children in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) and other included areas are going to get food in schools. I have also seen that there is provision for milk coolers for farmers. We have dairy farmers across the country and I hope that those coolers will get to all the constituencies. I hope that at the time they will be distributed, they will get to other constituencies or counties, like my county which borders Nyamira. I hope we are going to get a milk coolant because we have dairy farmers in the region.

The other thing is about fertiliser. I am happy that we are going to get subsidised fertiliser. I hope that we have learnt a lesson. There are cartels who were not able to appreciate that we are an agricultural country. They took fertiliser and added some funny things to it. I hope it will never happen, again. It was an embarrassment to the country, not just to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development. It should not happen again. 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 other issue I would want to dwell on is the NG-CDF. This is a Fund that is felt across the country. This is a Fund that demonstrates true equity, because every region and sub-county has its share of the money. I want to correct the previous speaker who said that we manage the Fund. We do not manage the NG-CDF. We oversee the NG-CDF. I would be happy if it is retained because it is the best structured Fund. You cannot ‘eat’ the NG-CDF money. I do not know why people do not understand that you cannot ‘eat’ the money. There are structures that have been put in place on how you can spend and what you can spend and the percentage you can spend on bursaries, environment and what remains for the other projects, and how projects are approved at the head office here after public participation. Let us stop this debate on the NG-CDF.

Finally, on pending bills, I would be happy if all pending bills are interrogated. We cannot have pending bills of Ksh3 billion plus and yet money was budgeted for and appropriated for those projects. What happened to the money? Those people, even if they have left service, should be called back to explain what they did with the money that was appropriated for those projects, so that suppliers do not suffer. Even in my own constituency, suppliers have been reduced to beggars. Some of them are even close to committing suicide because they have not been paid the money they used from 2013 to 2017. I know that in my county, the Governor is doing the best she can do, but this matter must be brought to an end. As the young people said, it is not protest against the Government but rather, it was a pro-good governance protest. That is what they called it. It was not an anti-government protest. It was pro-good governance protest. Let us now embrace good governance. Let us do what we are supposed to do. The Constitution is there to guide us. Let us follow it. Let us not get into too many projects at the same time. One at a time is a good approach. That is, finish it before you bring another one. Of late, there were just too many projects at the same time. We were also confused on which one was going to get money and which one was not.

Thank you very much. I support.

That is Dr Eve Obara. The one in whose single head three degrees sit very conformably. Hon. Members, I gave priority to female Members because of what we have in Article 53 of the Constitution, not because of gender bias. Article 53 of the Constitution says whatever we do, we consider the best interest of children. You know female Members have some duties to those important Kenyans. We have enough time. I want to call on Hon. Wambugu Wainaina, the Member from whose constituency we got one of the best presidents who have ruled our country.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I rise to support this Budget. At the outset, we need to ask ourselves why we are here. Our Generation Z has changed the way we govern this country. I talked to them and they have a lot of information that we do not have. They know everything that we do, what we are doing and what we are intending to do. Where we are and where we are going, is not yet over. Those people are watching us. They want to know what we are doing. They are still watching us. They want to see what we will implement. During this debate on First Supplementary Estimates, we heard that we have 20 million workers. Only 3 million are employed by the Government while 17 million workers are in the informal sectors, which drive the economy of this country.

We want the Budget and Appropriations Committee and the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning to re-look at the informal sector side, which has 17 million workers and more are coming. This is not a developed country, but a developing one. We want those people who finish schools to get jobs. We need to invest in the informal sector where many people go to. When we prepare our Finance Bill, we need to re-look at what is supposed to be implemented, so that it can accommodate everybody in the informal sector. 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.

When we are making policies which are implemented, we look at the top of the pyramid. If you go there, you leave many people who are in the informal sector. We put all our energy to the big industries and forget the light industries. Most of those people in the informal sector are the ones affected by maandamano. They are in Kamukunji, Kariobangi and Gikomba. Forty years ago, Nairobi City had only about 300 people. We have more than 5 million people now. Most of them do not stay here because they want to do so; they stay here because they are educated. Their mothers spent all the money to educate them. They sold their land and cows to educate them. They do not have jobs. They can see how the lifestyles of most of us have changed suddenly.

When Generation Z see what we are doing and how our lifestyle is changing, they research to see our former lifestyles. When they see that you have changed your lifestyle suddenly after getting a Government job, they get irritated. That is why we are here. We need to look at what we can do to those people. Others will finish their studies next year, but we still do not have jobs and industries. We do not research. What will happen 10 years to come, when they will finish their studies and there are no industries? We can only absorb about 4 million people. We need to change the way we drive our economy and think about tomorrow. We need to solve a problem for a particular time. We solve problems when they occur. We do not solve problems which will come later. The biggest problem is what we will face from now. The people have seen that they can remove people from Parliament. What will they do next? They will go to other offices because they have seen what they can do. We can hear them say so.

What did we miss most? The people do not have information about the Finance Bill. I try to engage with them. They do not understand that we collect money from the business community. They do not know that we will not collect the money or revenue we are complaining about when businesses close. We need to have time to educate our people when we are working on the Budget. People from rural areas need to know why we have the Budget. I tried to engage with my constituents when the President said he would borrow Ksh1 trillion. They were asking why the Ksh1 trillion yet it is only Ksh360 billion we are supposed to collect. They do not understand why the President talked about an extra Ksh1 trillion. Why? We are not engaging them to understand that the Ksh360 billion is additional to what we are supposed to borrow. We need to engage people to understand that the Ksh1 trillion the President will borrow is because we have not collected the Ksh360 billion that we are supposed to collect this financial year. People from committees on finance and budget work on budgets in county governments. They give an open cheque when they give money out there. They appropriate, use the money and do anything that they want. However, you cannot see any development on the ground when you go to the rural areas. I engaged with people back in my constituency. I told them we can see more development with the little money we get from the NG-CDF than with county governments. In as much as we are supposed to be devolving funds, the mwananchi is not feeling it. We need to change our approach. We have to check records from the time of Independence. The big people who are accused of stealing our money in this country are not in any prison. The people who are accused of stealing chicken are in prisons. The people who are accused of misappropriating funds are buying big cars, parcels of land and everything else. They are very comfortable. Even if Parliament is doing its work, some institutions have failed to take those people where they are supposed to be. We will change this country if we do that. One of our colleagues has said that we need to change our laws. He wants us to remove those who misappropriate funds from ministries and other institutions so that other corrupt people will also stop misappropriating funds. 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.

How many more minutes do you need to conclude the point you are making? Add him two minutes. I like it when we talk more about corruption. I do not know why we just see police officers. We are not seeing governors or top Government officers.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. You get a principal secretary (PS) driving to Mombasa with his drivers, while you just go there alone. They move with all their security detail. Hon. Temporary Speaker, the money we are collecting in this country should be put to good use. When we campaign, we ask people to employ us. But when we come here, we become their masters. On the side of the Senate, I request them to do the work they were given. If they could have done their work well, county governments would be working the way they were intended to. But they are not doing their work. In fact, what they are saying is that they do not have any work to do. Their mandate is to oversee county governments. I urge my colleagues here to try to change the approach of how we do things. Next time, before the Finance Bill is brought here, let us educate our people on the ground and explain to them why and how we do our Budget. We can change this country. If 2.5 per cent of our revenue that is allocated to the NG-CDF is changing the constituency, why can 15 per cent that goes to county governments not change the counties? Everybody can see that 15 per cent is bigger than 2.5 per cent. Yet, they are saying they even want to get the 2.5 per cent! This year they got money for sports, but sports have died in every constituency. They are not doing anything and yet, we used to manage the sports. We need to forge ahead and listen to what the Generation Z are saying. I congratulate Generation Z. Most of the small businesses in this city belong to Generation Z. All those businesses that were destroyed belong to Gen Zs. All the people who were robbed are Generation Z. About 50 per cent to 75 per cent of the people working in this city are Generation Z. I plead with them not to destroy businesses. Let those people work and create more businesses. I urge the Departmental Committee on Finance and Planning and the Budget and Appropriations Committee to re-look at policy-making. I have been in this city for more than 50 years, and I know that the informal sector is the only one that can attract and absorb many people in terms of jobs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I support.

Thank you very much. Hon. Michael Muchira, Member of Parliament for Ol Jorok.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, I rise to support the Motion to consider the Supplementary Estimates 1 for the Financial Year 2024/2025, as moved by the Chairperson of the Budget and Appropriations Committee. To start with, the Report that the Chairman tabled here is a product of extensive consultations which started immediately when the National Treasury submitted the Estimates to Parliament. We started by putting up an advertisement where we asked the public to send their memoranda. All the memoranda that we received were considered by the Budget and Appropriations Committee. Some of the recommendations that were proposed by various stakeholders are in this Report. The Departmental Committees, of course, also interacted with the State departments. The Chairmen of respective Departments submitted their reports to the Budget and Appropriations Committee. 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 National Treasury brought a budget cut of Ksh146 billion. However, we all know that the miscarriage of the Finance Bill 2024 created a budget hole of Ksh344 billion. As the Budget and Appropriations Committee, we were also tasked to do further cuts so as to reduce the budget deficit. This process involved a lot of delicate balancing because in some instances, the National Treasury had cut to the bone where we were unable to even cut further, but we were able to do some balancing here and there. We had a situation where some Semi-Autonomous Government Agencies (SAGAs) had zero allocation, that they did not have money even for personnel emoluments. That is what I mean when I say that they had cut to the bone. Through consultation with various Departmental Committees, we were able to do the balancing act such that we did not leave any organisation stifled. We were very careful not to leave any SAGA in a position where it cannot operate. Hon. Temporary Speaker, it is also important to note that everybody suffered the cut. The two levels of Government suffered the cut. The county governments also suffered the Ksh20 billion cut. After this process, the Committee will be re-introducing the Division of Revenue Bill to reflect the cuts. The national Government also suffered the cuts. All the arms of Government, including the Judiciary, Parliament and the Executive, suffered the cuts. All the sectors suffered the cuts. Hon. Temporary Speaker, I would also want to say that there were some cuts in public participation projects, but the Budget and Appropriations Committee is alive to the fact that public participation is a constitutional requirement. Secondly, we cannot conduct public participation in vain and you cannot undo the public participation projects. The only way to undo public participation projects is going back to the same place you undertook the public participation and the stakeholders to undo the projects. The Committee was able to consult with the National Treasury and reinstated the public participation projects. Hon. Temporary Speaker, in this Supplementary Budget, there is no money allocated for refurbishment. There is no money allocated for any salary increment for public officers and state officers. There is no money included for recruitment, save for Junior Secondary School (JSS) teachers. There was a proposal to recruit police officers, but after consultation with the respective Departmental Committee and the National Treasury, we resolved that the money be reallocated towards implementing the recommendation of the National Task Force on Police Reforms, especially improving the welfare of the police officers. It is important to say that the Budget cuts do not mean that some projects will not be implemented. What we are saying is that we just delay the implementation, maybe, for a year or two, until we enhance our revenue collection. Hon. Temporary Speaker, I would want to state one of the recommendations which arose out of the observations by the Committee. There are some SAGAs in this country which collect Appropriations-in-Aid (A-i-A), but do not submit it to the National Treasury to contribute to the national kitty. The SAGAs include Kenya Railways, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and Kenya Pipeline Corporation (KPC). They are swimming in money. They collect a lot of money as A-i-A, and this money is budgeted at the Board level. It never comes to Parliament for budgeting. As we are introducing these austerity measures, we are not able to scrutinise and budget for them. We have recommended some changes in the legal framework for those SAGAs to submit the extra money to the National kitty for budgeting. For example, I read in the newspapers yesterday that the Kenya Railways is introducing an executive couch where one is required to pay Ksh12,000 from 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.

to Mombasa. Who will pay Ksh12,000 for a journey of 5 hours. I would prefer taking a flight to Mombasa as it takes a shorter time.

As I conclude, this House needs to debate about the Senate Oversight Fund. I know we love our brothers in the Senate. In the last Financial Year, this House appropriated Ksh500 million towards the Senate Oversight Fund. There is a proposal to appropriate another Ksh500 million in this Financial Year. As we do that, there are five or six factors that we will need to consider. One, you cannot run a Fund without regulations because that is against the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act. Therefore, as we appropriate this Fund, we need to have regulations in place to run the fund. Two, we need to stipulate the output. Any money allocated must have an output. When we appropriate money to committees, the output is the number of reports we produce in this House. What is the output for this Senate Oversight Fund?

Three, this money was appropriated per constituency. The more the constituencies in a certain county, the more the Senator gets and vice-versa . We know that constituencies are not units of devolution. So, it is illegal to allocate such money on the basis of constituencies. A senator represents a certain county.

Member for Ol Jorok, you sit in the Budget and Appropriations Committee and so, I want to add you a few more minutes. How many do you need?

Three minutes, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

I want you to delve deeper into the Senate Oversight Fund further. Tell us what it is and if it is still in business.

Hon. Temporary Speaker, this is in the proposed Report. As I was saying, constituencies are not units of devolution. Therefore, allocating this Fund based on the constituencies is illegal. A senator represents a specific county, but when they come to the Senate, they do not legislate against specific counties but for all the counties in Kenya. They do not oversee a specific county; instead, they are in the Senate to protect devolution. Therefore, you cannot have specific senators overseeing certain counties because Senators oversee all the counties. We appropriate money for oversight to Senate committees like the County Public Accounts and Investment Committee (CPAIC). Therefore, appropriating money to the Senate Oversight Fund amounts to double allocation. Finally, we need to define what oversight is. The Senate seems to be confused between oversight and supervision. When you oversee, you do not over-reach. For example, if a road is being constructed, you do not need to be physically there to supervise because that amounts to over-reaching. We need to think through this so that we do not introduce an illegality. I believe that there is still room to amend this Report. There is also still room to amend the Appropriation Act so that this amount is not appropriated until this House is convinced that we need an Oversight Fund and put in place regulations to run it. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

Hon. Muchira, you know senators are Members of Parliament.

Yes.

They are already paid a salary to perform their roles which are oversight, representation and legislation. I am shocked that as a Member of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, you are saying you left that budget line and yet, the President is crying we help him get money. Going by the mood and doing what is right for 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.

country, identify and delete the whole of that budget line completely. That is the suggestion I will give you. There is nothing to save. It will be double salary.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

Even if it were to benefit Members of the National Assembly, it should not be saved. We should be serious and address this issue. I hope a Member of Parliament will pick it and delete it completely. We should not be wasting money when our President is crying for money to run the country. Let us have Hon. Thuku Kwenya.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. Let me start by giving my observation as to how fast Hon. William Samoei Ruto became the President within a very short time. Everybody is happy that he is our President.

You cannot say that, Hon. Thuku Kwenya, and more so, to a constitutional lawyer like me. We have always had one President in Kenya.

Indeed.

Only one at a time. Thank you.

Indeed, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I agree and stand guided. I cannot put it better than my colleague, the Member for Ol Jorok. Indeed, Senate does not need the Senate Oversight Fund. Giving Senators that money will be robbing Kenyans because they are on payroll. Their business is not to supervise but to oversight. We are facing something which has never happened before. A situation where we are revising… I do not believe this is purely a supplementary budget, because it does not fit the interpretation of Article 223 of the Constitution whereby, the supplementary budget addresses expenses that have been incurred and were not foreseen at the time of budget-making. As a House, we need to have a conversation. This is because from where I sit, I believe we have placed the cart before the horse. The reason as to why we are in this current predicament is because I do not know whether the framers of House procedures wanted to pass a certain mischief. The Finance Bill comes after the Budget and appropriation of the same. We cannot appropriate what we do not have. If we are to be sincere with ourselves, we would not be where we are today. I believe the Finance Bill should be addressed first. After we know we are within limits, we can pass the Budget. This way, we will appropriate monies that we are sure of. Ordinarily, before the Budget is done, there is a Medium-Term Revenue Strategy and Medium-Term Debt Strategy so that we can see where we are in terms of revenue and public debt. It is saddening that we have to pass the Budget and then the Finance Bill. We usually say this is the much we want to spend, appropriate it and then come back to say where we will get the money from. If things were done in reverse order, we would not be here because the Bill could have been dropped by the President and we would have appropriated money based on last year’s Finance Bill. Therefore, as a House, we need to have a conversation as to whether this trend should continue and I know where we are coming from.

You know, the Finance Bill has been used as a bait because I remember when the Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee moved the appropriations of this financial year, everybody was very happy. I remember there was foot thumping and ululations in this House. People were appreciating what a beautiful budget it was now that every constituency was to get an additional Ksh50 million for National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF), an additional Ksh50 million for electricity, there was money for Junior Secondary School (JSS) 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.

and money for mopping out excess milk in the market so that we can cushion the farmers from losses. There was also money for coffee-cherry funding. Therefore, it was a beautiful budget and everyone out there was full of hope that, as a country, we are moving and this would be a year of boom.

Unfortunately, we had not told Kenyans where we would get the money from. Issues to do with fiscal policy are not easy. This is because you are now setting the base for taxation and it has to be consistent in terms of fiscal discipline because you do not have to keep on changing goal posts. I still believe that, as a country, we have lost big time. We have lost an opportunity to recover a whopping Kshs.400 billion that is taken over every year by cartels who keep on claiming tax refunds in terms of zero-rated commodities that are in the market and which, of course, were zero- rated by this House.

We have lost an opportunity to legislate so that then, instead of even taxing more, we would have a whole Kshs400 billion in our hands just to appropriate it and do the things that the speaker who was ahead of me has enumerated - the Ksh400 billion that is going to waste. I think in as much as we have lost in the Finance Bill, we need to be bold enough so that we take the bull by its horns and make sure that this money is not claimed. This House has every ability and capability to freeze and make sure that there are not going to be any tax refunds to this tune and that cannot be accounted for. If there will be need for a forensic audit as to where this money is being taken, then so be it so that we can save our people from those kinds of losses.

We know that this money goes to some claimants who are manufacturers, milk industries, bread and all. Actually, a lot of the noise that we are hearing is amplified by those cartels and, therefore, as a House, it is incumbent upon us to do what we need to do and stop those cartels. I have taken keen interest to look at this appropriation and I must say that I am disappointed to some extent and especially to do with infrastructural allocations. That is on roads. That is because the Kshs50 billion that is allocated for this financial year is not even close to what a few contractors need to be paid so that they can go back to site.

I will give a case study of my constituency. You know in politics you have to think globally, but act locally because, at the end of the day, we represent people at the grassroots. A road in my constituency called Ndunyu Njeru-Ihithe Road has been launched by two presidents. Two contractors have come and left because they are not paid. The current contractor is owed to the tune of Kshs7 billion because he has other roads and there is no single allocation. That road cannot be built using Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) money that is the 22 per cent and the 10 per cent that we get, because the road is contracted. Therefore, our people are suffering big time and there is nothing that can be done. I believe that we have to be deliberate on this matter. Let us decide on which programmes we will fund or deprive funding in this financial year or the next. Let us deal with all pending projects so that we complete them and get value for money. This is because, for those roads that have been started and abandoned, going back to site will mean that we have to re-start afresh and that would mean we are going to lose a lot of money. Hon. Temporary Speaker, we need to rethink the issue of infrastructural funding so that we do not start any new project until we are done with the projects that are ongoing. Our budget has a huge hole whereby we have to borrow; and this borrowing, has sunk this country. We are almost getting to an abyss (a very deep whole). As much as we are happy that in the last financial year, we were able to bring down our debt stock from Ksh11.5 trillion to Ksh10.5 trillion, that did not happen because we paid. It happened because the exchange rate worked in our favour and therefore, our shilling healed. Going forward, we must rethink our borrowing strategy. We have had a conversation of having a treasury single account so that all our monies that are lying in 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.

commercial banks should be held in the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) in a single treasury account so that the Government does not borrow its own money.

At one point I got shocked! If we are talking of…

Add him two minutes.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker for your magnanimity. I was saying that we have so much money. I was talking about the Housing Levy. There is a proposal that the money be invested in Treasury Bonds. I, therefore, asked who is going to pay interest on its own money. It is Government that is saying: “We are going to pay interest on our own money!” That does not make sense. We do not need to borrow money when we have money that is in the account called the Housing Levy. What we need do is to change the law so that if you need to expand the Housing Levy to be an infrastructural levy, so be it. This is Government’s money at the end of the day. We are broke and yet we have some money in some pocket and we are happy to go and borrow money from China and other places when we have our own money. Hon. Temporary Speaker, I do not want to belabour the point to support this First Supplementary Estimate, but we need to rethink so that we do not go through this predicament again. The Finance Bill must come before the Budget Statement is presented to this House because it cannot be that we are putting the cart before the horse. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

Hon. Kiragu, Member of Parliament for Limuru Constituency.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. I would like to support this Motion on the Consideration of the First Supplementary Estimates for the Financial Year 2024/2025. As I stand here, I honestly know how hard it has been for the Committee - I see the Chairman is here - for them to work on these First Supplementary Estimates and try to balance them out, and also taking into consideration the austerity measures that have been brought before us. However, we know why we are here. Our young people have talked. They raised issues and they have brought certain issues that are very important to all of us. That it is importance for us to live within our means, we must have better governance, more transparency in the way we do our businesses and above all, they have been calling for hope for their future. I look at myself when I was at their age and I remember being involved in the multiparty democracy and doing the protests then, and even for the change of our Constitution in 2010.There is nothing wrong for a generation to create their space. The only problem is that, at this time in our economy, we are a country that is faced with very serious issues. The protests that have been there… Like yesterday, our airport was not operating and our businesses were not running properly, thus taking this country even further down. But as a House, we are here to give hope and set the right footings for developing this nation. I do not want to repeat what has been said here, but I know from my engineering point of view that if we do not create employment in this country, then we have no hope for our youth. There are people or certain institutions in this country that think it is so important and fashionable to get things from outside the country, rather than try to invest in doing business in this country. We have created work for China and many other countries. 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.