Order, Hon. Senators! We need to determine if we have a quorum. It seems we do not have a quorum. I order that the Division Bell be rung.

Order, Senators! We now have quorum. Let us proceed.

(Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki): Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to give notice of the following Motion:- THAT, pursuant to Standing Order Nos.175, 177 and 178, the Senate approves the following Senators nominated by the Rules and Business Committee to be Members of the respective committees as indicated below:- STANDING COMMITTEE ON ENERGY, ROADS AND TRANSPORT Sen. David Musila to replace Sen. Johnson Muthama. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

On a point of order, Madam Temporary Speaker. Is it not fair for this House to hear from the Senate Leader of the Majority the reason this is happening? He should not just give a report.

Hon. Senator, while your concern is valid, this is just a Notice of the Motion. He can still give reasons when moving the Motion

We have 20 minutes remaining for this Motion. We shall now call upon the Mover to reply.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. Allow me to donate five minutes of my time to Sen. (Prof). Anyang’-Nyong’o.

It is allowed. Sen. Anyang’-Nyong’o! The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

Thank you very much, Madam Temporary Speaker. I would like to support this Motion and congratulate my colleague, Sen. (Dr.) Wilfred Machage, for bringing it to the House. I support it for the following reasons. Before I left the Ministry of Medical Services, I had actually proposed to the Cabinet that we establish 22 referral hospitals across the nation to add to those which already exist. Indeed, what we are going to have ensures that every county has a referral facility. This is because under my watch we tried to improve certain heavy volume district hospitals like Kericho, Kisii, Kitale, Bungoma, Meru and many other towns. But the cost of improving these hospitals to the level that they can become effective referral facilities is quite substantial. The current Constitution envisages that Level 5 hospitals downwards will be handled by the county. But those resources put under disposal of the counties to ensure that these hospitals really become viable referral facilities are currently very low if you consider the battle over the Division of Revenue Bill. Therefore, the nation must decide whether we are going to devolve these hospitals to the counties without ensuring that they perform or work responsively and effectively or we are going to capacitate these hospitals before we leave them in the hands of the counties. This is a very important question. What Sen. Machage has brought to the House is extremely important. Madam Temporary Speaker, further, we did do a baseline survey and found that if we are going to upgrade our facilities to modern standards, to deliver healthcare effectively, we need Kshs85 billion every year for five continuous years to improve our facilities, purely in terms of infrastructure and capital, leave alone training. This is because hospitals are not just buildings and equipment, but training institutions. With the onset of non-communicable diseases, increasing exponentially and given the cost of treating non-communicable diseases, both in terms of medical expertise and equipment, we have an extremely important responsibility in the health sector. I think that when this Motion is brought here, it should be passed by this House. But subsequently, this House, probably, through the Committee on Health, should pursue the implementation of this Motion very systematically. We must ensure that in the final analysis, we do something realistic to alleviate the health problems of our people in this nation. Madam Temporary Speaker, with those few words, I beg to support this Motion and thank Sen. (Dr.) Machage for bringing it to the House.

Madam Temporary Speaker, could you, please, allow the Senator for Kajiado three minutes of my time?

Granted. You still have 12 minutes.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I rise to support this Motion. In my county, my people really suffer. I have a constituency called Loitoktok which is about 300 kilometres from Nairobi where the nearest referral is, that is, Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH). Kajiado Hospital has no morgue and laboratory. It has a few doctors and other medical personnel. Most of the time, you will only find one doctor. Kajiado Hospital is in Kajido Central. It is about 100 kilometres from Nairobi. It experience the same problems like other parts of this country. Kajiado West is also about 100 kilometres from Nairobi. All these constituencies depend on a health centre in Magadi. So, for me, I The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

Madam Temporary Speaker, thank you for having allowed me to donate a few of my minutes to my colleagues. I only have a few minutes to reply. I realize many hon. Senators wanted to contribute more, but let me take the remaining few minutes to make a few clarifications. Madam Temporary Speaker, noting that the numbers might not be adequate for taking the vote on this Motion, I request that the vote be deferred to this afternoon. As I thank the Senators for making contributions to this Motion and acknowledging their sense of knowledge, there are a few things I have to clarify in order to build on the Motion. It has come to my notice that Senators may not understand the classification of hospitals in terms of grades. I will have to attempt to give the norms that are used for service delivery at Levels 4 and 5 and, maybe, also remind Senators on what Level 6 entails. Level 4 hospitals as service delivery norms entail focus on appropriate accretive care and constitute the principal referral level for all interventions. The functions provided at Levels 2 and 3 serve 10,000 to 30,000 persons, respectively who refer their patients to Level 4. Level 4 hospitals also provide the following services: Clinical supportive supervision to lower level facilities and activities provided include referral level, patient care, in-patient services, emergency obstetric care, oral health services, surgery on in-patient basis, surgery on out-patient basis, client health education, specialized laboratory tests and radiology services. It also gives proper care management of referral cases through the provision of the four main clinic specialties of internal medicine, surgery, gaeneocology, paediatrics and obstetrics. It also gives technical service which includes proper counter referral, providing logistical support to lower facilities and coordination of information flow to the facilities. Level 5 hospitals entails a broader spectrum for specialized referral clinical services that ensure a wide scope of potential health needs of the communities they serve. In addition, Level 5 also include training facilities for cadres of health workers such as doctors on internship. It also includes all the services in Levels 4, 3, 2 and 1. May I mention that we have a few facilities for Level 6 which offer super specialized services. For example, Level 6 is our national referral hospitals, which include Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and specialized Level 6 facilities such as Mathari Mental Hospital and National Spinal Injury Hospital. Madam Temporary Speaker, we have changed from the previous nomenclature of just calling hospitals dispensaries, health centres, district, provincial and national hospitals because these names had no meaning in terms of facilitation. We picked on the levels type of nomenclature because when we term a hospital to be Level 5, then it must have certain facilities to qualify for that level. The same applies to Levels 4, 3, 2 and 1. Level 1 is medical health care at community level. Level 2 is a dispensary level. Level 3 The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

Sen. (Dr.) Machage, you consulted with me earlier and you had requested that we take the vote in the afternoon. You have forgotten to officially to do so.

Madam Temporary Speaker, indeed, that was my opening statement. I may repeat it as per the Standing Order Nos.51 and 56. I do request that the Chair does consider the putting this Question in the afternoon.

As requested, I give direction that we take the vote in the afternoon at 3.00 p.m. because this Motion affects counties and voting will be by delegation. Next Order. ESTABLISHMENT OF GRADUATES ENTERPRISE FUND

Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to move:- THAT, aware that the level of unemployment among youths in Kenya is over 70 per cent and rising; concerned that the formal sector is unable to generate sufficient formal employment for college graduates, resulting in far reaching ramifications to the economy and society across all counties in Kenya; noting that the youths are unable to venture into private enterprises because of lack of access to affordable credit; the Senate urges the Government to take urgent and immediate steps to ensure legislation is enacted to provide for the establishment of a Graduates Enterprise Fund to offer revolving interest-free loans to unemployed graduates in all the 47 counties. Madam Temporary Speaker, my Motion is very clear. In the inaugural speech by the President, it caught his eye because of the concern that the country has towards our youths who are out there on the streets and who have been involved in many activities that are against the morals of the society. Therefore, this Motion seeks to find solutions to the problems of unemployment among the youth in all counties in Kenya. It specifically responds to the question: What does it feel like to produce graduates whose employment is not guaranteed? Graduate employment and under-employment imply that investments in education and training are not yielding the desired results as the products of these investments are not being put into productive use, leading to lack of or low earnings, poverty, a reduced taxation base and high welfare cost since the unemployment graduates are forced to rely on their families for support. The establishment of the Graduates Enterprise Fund (GEF) in all the 47 counties is a realistic and practical intervention in addressing the problem of youth unemployment in Kenya. Past initiatives, including the Youth Enterprise Fund which was launched in 2006 by the central Government to address the rising youth unemployment in the country as well as provide youth entrepreneurs with capital for business startup did not create the number of jobs and businesses that were envisioned. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

She is not my learned friend.

Order, Senate Minority Leader. That is not parliamentary language. Of course, she is learned only that she is not a lawyer.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker, for coming to my rescue. I was going to tell my party leader that I may not be learned in that field, but there is a field that I am qualified in and experienced. So, I can challenge him in that field. I will request Dr. Boni Khalwale to second.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. It is my honour and privilege to be given the opportunity to second this Motion, which is an indication of the quality of nominated Senators, especially from the FORD (K) Party led by my brother, Sen. Wetangula, that we have. I hope that when the Government will be responding to this Motion, we will see that this House has decided to work together, irrespective of whether Senators come from the ruling side of Government or not, they are out to give assistance. This distinguished Senator is trying to help the President meet his pledge on the Kshs6 billion that would have been spend to fund the second round of the Presidential Election, so that it is given to the youth. All that this Senator is doing is to give an opportunity or create a vehicle that the Government can use to achieve what was in their pledge. I would like to support and inform hon. Senators that this is not the first time that the Government is attempting to create this revolving fund. We all know of the existence of the YEF and the WEF. The truth is that these Funds are not as helpful as they should have been because the uptake of these loans is very poor across the whole country; be it with regard to the YEF or the WEF. Probably, The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

Order, Senator! While I appreciate your contribution, are you implying that young girls do not have the capacity to handle big jobs? Could you clarify?

Not at all, Madam Temporary Speaker. In fact, if you care to know, God has been so kind to me that every time I would go to the labour ward to receive a baby from my wives, they were usually girls. So, I have so many girls and I would not speak ill of a girl. I know they are capable.

But wait a minute; we were not given a chance to participate in vetting. If a Committee of this Senate had been given a chance, I would have really remembered some of the things I saw with the Cabinet Secretary who is now in charge of devolution when she was in charge at Treasury. She was in charge of something called Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS). For more than five years, IFMIS has been unable to take off in the country. The so-called “takeoff” of IFMIS that is on only captures one side of revenue; it does not capture both revenue collection and revenue expenditure. So, if she was unable to get IFMIS working, I would have told her that, probably, she was not going to manage a Ministry. But thank God, she has got an irrelevant Ministry that governors will be doing what she is supposed to do; with all due respect to that. Madam Temporary Speaker, having said those many words, I want to support--- The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

On a point of order, Madam Temporary Speaker. Is he in order actually to mystify or maybe just to show that the lady is not capable and she already has the employment, while even the enterprise funds he is talking about are in that Ministry of Devolution?

So, what is out of order?

Madam Temporary Speaker, first of all, let me say that he was indicating that enterprise funds are not in the Ministry of Devolution. He was saying that the Ministry of Devolution was given Kshs68 billion and it will just go into conferences.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I want to thank the Senator for pointing out that I was out of order; but, maybe, that is a point of information. I have taken your point of information as being a point of counter argument to what I have said. But my dear brother, the issue of governance is what I am speaking to. It is going to take more than friendship, ethnic loyalty and political party loyalty for us to get the issue of governance right. We must give criticism on condition that it is positive criticism. I thank you.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I rise to support this Motion. But while supporting this Motion, I want us to rid our minds of such myths; the myths that have clouded thinking in developing countries for a long time and which has made it very difficult to have what I call “integrated industrialization” in our nation. You cannot talk of industrialization where there is a big disjuncture between agriculture and industry. In other words, agriculture and industry are part and parcel of the economy. You cannot just deal with industry separately from agriculture, mining or infrastructure. We must see employment being created in all these sectors of the economy. The people to be employed in these sectors are the youth. The youth are defined as any human being below the age of 35. This is where the majority of employed people come from in developing economies. Madam Temporary Speaker, if you go back into history, you will find that the Industrial Revolution succeeded because of exploitation of young people, particularly children. If you read the history of the cotton factories in Manchester and that of mining of coal - if you remember the book we read in intermediate or high school, Tom Brown’sSchool Days – it was about the excessive exploitation of young people in the Industrial Revolution. I do not advocate for that kind of barbaric exploitation of the youth in our economies today, but I am only using it to remind ourselves that employment of young people must come within the economic structure of a particular nation. This Motion although is intended to give credit to youth to do something, must go a step further. Even if you gave the credit to youth, what are they going to do in this kind of economy, the way it is structured? What will they go and do? We always say, again very much romantically, that the youth will go into the informal sector. But the informal sector is an aberration by its very nature; it is an admission that the economy is not moving, in effect, ironically; people have to do certain things to survive. When you try to incorporate the The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I also stand to support the Motion. Madam Temporary Speaker, I know that in this country we have had to open up many funds. One of the challenges that we have always faced is that we have never gone back to do research and ask ourselves how many people have benefited from WEDF? Today even if we ask the county governments or Senators to tell us how many women have benefited, I know that many will say that not many have benefited. I know that we The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I congratulate Sen. Nobwola for bringing this Motion. I hope that upon its passage, either herself or the relevant Committee can move on to draft the relevant legislation. I do not believe that we can pass it and leave it to the Government to bring the Bill. I also want to congratulate the Senate. I think all of you Senators have conducted yourself in utmost dignity and decorum in the politics of this country. Whatever we try to do here Kenyans are watching, appreciating and can see that in your able hands, there is some future. Madam Temporary Speaker, the issue of youths and youth unemployment is definitely a ticking time bomb in this country. We are not trying to re-invent the wheel. It has been tackled elsewhere. I do believe that Sen. Nobwola in defining “graduate”, she is The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

On a point of order, Madam Temporary Speaker.

Yes, Senator. What is your point of order?

Madam Temporary Speaker, the tradition of the House is that when a Member makes a factual statement he should make full disclosure. The hon. Senator was a Minister in the Government that dug these ponds. Could he give a full disclosure on how a decision was reached to dig fish ponds in Turkana and the semi arid areas, so that we can know how they were doing it? He is a prospective presidential candidate. If he was party to that kind of thing, we would have our reservations about making him our president.

Please, stick to your point of order.

Madam Temporary Speaker, you have rightly observed that it was not a point of order. I am just giving examples of how we mismatch our programmes. Look at a country like Thailand. They came up with a policy called “one village, one product” so that each village cuts out a niche product for the market. Thailand has made tremendous progress. Look at a country like Vietnam. Vietnam was nearly bombed to extinction by Americans in the 1960s but in the last 15 years, Vietnam has been recording 20 per cent to 30 per cent economic growth with a population of about 70 million in the last 15 years. They are 98 per cent connected to water and power. Right now Vietnam is at par with Brazil in coffee production. That is coffee that they pick from Kenya as Ruiru 11. They are now the second largest producer and exporter of coffee in the world after Brazil. These are examples we can pick from. No economy can generate employment without focusing on three things; agriculture, industrialization and construction. Those are the areas where economies generate employment. I am not talking about the current Government because it has been in power for a very short time. I am talking about successive governments. They constantly pay lip service to agriculture. They constantly pay lip service to industrialization. They The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

(Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki: On a point of order, Madam Temporary Speaker.

Leader of Majority, what is out of order?

(Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki): Madam Temporary Speaker, could the Senate Leader of Minority substantiate the authenticity of the information he is giving us about the richest and the poorest people coming from Kenya. Is he in order to give information which he cannot substantiate?

First, he has not challenged me to substantiate; secondly I quoted Forbes Magazine which is a respected international magazine that published statistics showing the richest man in Africa is Kenyan and I said “probably” the poorest person in Africa is also Kenyan. That does not need any statistics. This is an opinion and I am entitled to it. My learned junior should know that. Madam Temporary Speaker, giving credit to young people in this country must be accompanied by very clear programmes. The only problem in this country is that the average Kenyan does not believe that the right to borrow has a corresponding duty to pay back and especially when you avail money in grant form. You will find that out of every 20, probably only one will pay back the money and the rest will look at it as gifts, especially if the money is given around campaign time. Everybody will think that it is a slush fund for politics and they take it and never pay back. So, I would want the current Government to borrow a leaf from the very positive manifesto of CORD where we said that we will avail money to the youths, women and everybody but the fundamentals must be right. We should have a crash programme tailored by our institutions to teach the young people how to handle credit, how to handle money, how to keep a ledger book, The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

(Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki): Thank you Madam Temporary Speaker for this opportunity. I am really at a loss on how to phrase my contribution so that it is understood in the total context. However, let me say that I also rise to make my contribution to this Motion. The reason why I am saying that I am a little bit confused is because this is a great Motion in the sense that it tries to solve part of our problems in this country. In my view, the most serious problem is the issue of the youth and empowerment of young people so that they can carry on their responsibilities as proud citizens of our country. But at the same time, notwithstanding the importance of this Motion, all the speakers who have spoken before me, including the Mover, have cited numerous contradictions and other issues that make it impossible for us to proceed with this Motion in the manner in which it appears. Madam Temporary Speaker, first, this Motion is about giving money to graduates to enable them access credit. In fact, it says:- “Noting that the youth are unable to venture into private enterprises because of lack of access to affordable credit, the Senate urges Government ---“ So, this Motion is about access to credit but only with regard to graduates. The question is: Is this not part of the scattered and asymmetrical policy formulation and implementation that has bedeviled this country since Independence? Is this Motion not trying to perpetuate the same asymmetrical and scattered way of formulating and implementing legislation in this country? The problem that we are having in this country and much of it has been highlighted by those who have spoken before me is about inequity. Even when we talk about access to credit, in certain parts of the country, it is easy to access credit even among young people for various reasons that are associated with policies that have been in place since Independence. For example, Sessional Paper No.10 of 1965; a brilliant piece of economic policy statement, is actually part of our problem in this country because it simply said what you do. It concentrates on high potential areas – whatever that term means. That single phrase in that policy paper whereby attention in terms of infrastructure and availability of credit and business development was concentrated on a small part of Kenya above Malindi Town, just below Tana River, Meru, all the way to Mt. Elgon downwards. If you look at the map of Kenya, that is like a third of the country. That is where you find most of the infrastructure, industries and everything else. That is why today we are staring at a crisis in this country of inequity. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

Senator, you have not come out clearly to tell us whether you support the Motion or not.

(Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki): I support the Motion subject to fundamental amendments.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. This is a good Motion that tackles the major problems that this nation is facing. As the Senate Leader of Majority has indicated, it has some gaps. Personally, coming from a pastoral county, I can see that even though I will be happy to see graduates access the funds, I am looking at my very able young people who did not have a chance to go to school. However, they are very good when it comes to their enterprising skills. These people are very well known. Our Government has not given the livestock sector the major inputs it requires noting that countries like Botswana have their economies pegged on livestock. From the size of the pastoral areas of this country and the people living in the land, I find that our situation is far much better than Botswana. Our Government should come out and assist the youth. Our funds are structured in a way that an individual cannot go to borrow. People must come up with societies and groups so as to borrow. However, if our Government allowed our youth to borrow individually, this would step up our economy. It would also allow our people to do well. Just like the Senate Majority Leader said, I would be happy to see this Fund not only being used by graduates but anyone else who is not a graduate and even those who have not gone to school. I remember when we were going round during the campaigns, we told our people that our Government would come up with a scheme where our youth would be getting The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I stand to support the Motion but with some amendments. I believe that the Mover of this Motion is aware that there are already structured enterprise funds that take into consideration the issue of youth and women. I would suggest that we amend this Motion. I do not think, as Government, that we should continue to establish various enterprise funds while we already have some. We already have the Women Enterprise Fund and the Youth Enterprise Fund. There have been challenges in executing these funds. What we should do, as leaders, is to look at the challenges that these Funds have been facing so that we come up with modalities of addressing the challenges. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

Sen. Kivuti, your point of order is granted.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I do not know if it is in order for an hon. Senator to say “we are supporting a Motion with amendments” without moving that amendment? Secondly, Madam Temporary Speaker, we need directions; if you differ with a Motion, then you should not say you support it; you should say you oppose it so that the correct Motion can be brought into the House. I seek your indulgence, Madam Temporary Speaker.

On a point of order, Madam Temporary Speaker,

What is your point of order, Senator Mukite?

Madam Temporary Speaker, is it in order for the Senator to say that I am insinuating in my Motion that the other age group are not being catered for, because we are aware that the President has given out Kshs6 billion which is going to cater for these youth and women? But like I said in my Motion and in my opening remarks, these are the youth that have been trained and we spent money on them. Why do we not give them that preference and engage them in activities so that they are not idle? Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker.

On a point of information, Madam Temporary Speaker.

Are you informing the Mover or who do you want to inform?

I want to inform the Mover, Madam Temporary Speaker.

Catherine, do you wish to be informed?

Yes, Madam Temporary Speaker.

Okay; proceed, Sen. (Dr.) Kuti.

Madam Temporary Speaker, being the first Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, I would like to state here that the Youth Enterprise The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

Before we proceed, most of the points that you have raised are valid and we had given an earlier direction to all those who intended to move amendments to consolidate them so that, probably, we have one comprehensive amendment. But, of course, again, we have to follow due process and we are waiting for them to notify the Speaker of that intention within the stipulated time. So, I am of the opinion that we allow those who want to move amendments to have one platform so that we do not have parallel amendments, and then you move them on time so that we do not have what we suffered yesterday, where we had intention to move but then, again, we were time barred on that Motion. So, we will proceed with the Senator who was on the Floor while we give further directions.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. In this matter, because we already have an existing YEDF in the structure of our Government, we were only alerting ourselves that why should we have another parallel establishment of Graduates Enterprise Fund? Another thing that I want to talk about is the issue of the Cabinet Secretary for Devolution. The Cabinet Secretary is already employed; she has already been appointed. I would suggest that there is no need for us to actually antagonize that Ministry and that Cabinet Secretary. Instead, we need to work with her as Senators. We need to support her and we need to improve what we think. We need to tell her this is what she is supposed to do and this is where she is supposed to go or to do. Ours is to advise her instead of antagonizing her. She is a Cabinet Secretary who is already appointed, and she is in office. It would be very bad for us, as Senators, to antagonize a Cabinet Secretary who has already been appointed. We need to stand and to be there to also advise and support her, if we are really serious leaders. So, Madam Temporary Speaker, I would request my fellow Senators that instead of antagonizing such an officer and she has already been appointed, I think it is better for us to work with her. Madam Temporary Speaker, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale was talking about the young children working along the streets, even until very late at night. This has been happening for many years. It never started in January when the Jubilee Government came into power. They have been there for many years. What we are supposed to do also, as Senators again, is to come up with a modality of how to address the same issue. They never came in the other day. I mean these children have been in the streets and we even had street families. This has been there from a long time ago. So, I think it is also our duty as Senators to come up with a modality or a way on how to address the problem facing these people. Otherwise, Madam Temporary Speaker, I do not see any need for the establishment of this fund because we already have a fund with the same effect. Probably, we can improve on what we have. We already have the YEDF. Kindly, we can improve on that one. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

You have to state whether you support the Motion or not.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I am not supporting because we already have a fund that is similar to this. So, there is no need to have a parallel fund.

Okay.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I stand here to oppose this particular Motion simply because of the following reasons. First, the way this Motion is crafted, it will not be a solution to the youth issues in this country. The reason I am saying this is because of other sentiments made by my colleagues. First, we have established so many funds in this country, but as my colleague, Sen. Beatrice, has said, we have never gone back to check why these funds are not helping the youth. So, the most important and critical thing that we need to do in this country before establishing another fund is to find out why we are not getting it right. Over the years, youth issues have been taken as a political tool. Everybody who is coming into power say they are going to establish youth fund to empower youth. But I think as a country right now, we really need to help the youth, and for us to address the issues of youth, we really need to go back to the drawing board and find out why the funds that are created are not helping the youth. That way, we will be able to help the youth in this country. Secondly, Madam Temporary Speaker, is the issue of enacting other legislations. We have enacted so many legislations in this country and most of them are not enforceable. As this Motion is intending to come up with a Bill, I think this is not the right direction to take. Let us, first, evaluate why the YEDF or the Women Enterprise Development Fund (WEDF) are not addressing the issue of youth and women, then from there, we can think of legislating. But the legislations that we have to date have not been addressed and they have not helped address the issues of the youth. Most of them are not enforceable. So, when it comes to the enforceability of those legislations, it becomes difficult. So, it is not good to have a piece of legislation just for the sake of saying that we are going to help the youth. The other point I wanted to raise is that most of the speakers here have talked about the issues of agriculture. I think as a person who comes from the pastoral community, it is important also to look at the youth in pastoral areas. We need to look at the livestock markets and other products that come from those parts of the country and see how we can help the youth in pastoral communities, especially in improving livestock markets and see how youth can benefit from that. Lastly, condemnation of the current Cabinet Secretary for Devolution at this particular time is wrong because she hardly has been in the office for one month. There are people who have spoken here who have served various governments and they have never managed to address the issues of the youth in this country. So, it is wrong for an elected representative of this country to stand here and condemn a particular officer. There are better forums that can be used to address issues. If she is not delivering, yes, we can use due process and due procedures in condemning a particular person. But at this particular time, it is wrong for her to be condemned. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. The long term development strategy that led to Vision 2030 was very critical in establishing the YEDF. Catherine’s Motion is very different. She is proposing for a Graduates Enterprise Fund. The range of youth is very, very amorphous and one fund does not necessarily negate the use of another fund.

I find that the distinction in the youth that Catherine is talking about is because we have youth. For example, the Kenyan educational system tends to have transition rates at various points for various reasons. This is the reason why the 8-4-4 system of education was introduced in this country. It was to ensure that, for example, at the various levels and specifically, at year 8, pupils are able to be taught technical skills; at Form Four, they would have different sort of skills, and after university – and this is also linked with the whole thing of relevance in education – ensuring that graduates have the right type of education so that they would be able to come out and become self employed. Now, that dream has not happened and that is not why, in a sense, the 8-4-4 System has continued to exist, but more in terms of policy and application rather than the principles for which that particular educational system was put into place, leaving us with a problem that at each of the transition points, we have different sorts of people with different sets of needs. In fact, I would expand this Motion and say let us even have catered funds for the various categories because, surely, you cannot compare a Standard 8 graduate, for example, with the Form Four one or the university one. The university one has particular type of skills. He probably needs a different set of income and impetus for them to grow. The YEDF, if it is run, for example, like other funds in Small and Medium Term Enterprises (SMEs) using a Gramin effect, where you need to come up with a group; that is why, for example, in the literature of SMEs, women have had problems with those funds; not because those funds are not useful to them, but because the process of getting those funds, utilizing them and refunding those funds becomes very difficult because they are operating in a group, and it is the same concept. I think what I would go ahead and say that for this Motion, where we need to start is to look at this Motion and think about what dynamic differences should such a Graduates Enterprise Fund have? What sort of money are we advancing, for example, to the graduates, because I think this will be different? By no means am I underscoring the need, for example, for technical training for those with blue collar jobs. I think they can be addressed at different levels with different funds. I think Catherine’s idea was actually to target graduates, who are very, very distinct. We could have the YEDF running as it is, but the realization is that at the university level, after the graduates have left, they have the skills and the content, but then they do not have a market that is ready to absorb them. They probably do not have the network skills that are necessary for them to come The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

On a point of order, Madam Temporary Speaker. Is the Senator in order to say that the Youth Enterprise Development Fund has not worked, when, in fact, she knows when it was started and there is statistics of how many have benefitted; given the magnitude of the problem and how much funds and time would be required to address the magnitude of the problem that is ahead of us?

While that is a valid point of order, this is a Motion and she is giving her views. You are free to come to the Floor of the House when given the chance, to refute every claim that she has raised on the matter. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

That notwithstanding, please, do not misquote me. I did not say that the Youth Enterprise Development Fund has not been useful or attained its goals. It has but with many problems, otherwise, we would not have so many youth who are still unemployed. That means that we need to go back, assess what is happening there and use that information to build up an even better fund. Madam Temporary Speaker, I support Sen. Catherine in this Motion. Please, as Senate, let us enhance it, so that we can save our unemployed, especially the graduates who I think she was targeting in this Motion.

I realize the interest that this Motion is generating. Everybody wants to speak to this Motion, but I think that it is in our collective interest to hear from one who has held that docket of the Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I would like to congratulate the effort made by the Mover. But I would like also to contribute not just as a former Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, but share my thoughts about how I am observing the trend that the Senate is taking. Madam Temporary Speaker, this is a House of very competent and respectable people, elected by their respective counties and also parties based on their capabilities. Coming here, I think we contribute by creating policies that will eventually address issues affecting our country in a broader way. The Motions that are coming are, first, very specific in their nature and are in piecemeal, while the problems facing us are of major magnitude. I agree fully that youth unemployment is a time-bomb. You cannot kill an elephant with a rungu or pistol. You have to apply the same opposite force to be able to overcome the challenge that is facing you. So, I am thinking of marshal plans. Unless we have a marshal plan for the problem of youth unemployment and youth empowerment, I do not think bringing very piecemeal policies in a very disorganized manner from various policy-making organs, will really address the problem. What we need is a marshal plan; a marshal plan that encompasses not just the fund but the whole facet of this problem. When I say all its facets, I am talking about right from education, upbringing of these young people and so on. We have a problem where the root is so far deep but we are only seeing the end result of it. We are having young people being brought up in circumstances where they are more influenced by the media, social media, televisions and very little parental, little social and communal guidance where they become so individualistic. Most countries have programmes to inculcate virtues, patriotism and values into their young people through the National Youth Service, military training and so on but we do not have that here. From the television and the maid influence, the children proceed to secondary schools and then to universities. Our universities are structured in such a way that cramming is normal and the aim is passing the last exam which is done while one has been drinking or peddling drugs. So, just passing that last exam is what is only required for one to go to the next level. Obviously, there are a few marks here and there for Continuous Assessment Test (CATs), then additional marks from the main exams and one is ready for the market. When one is out here, the economy has not prepared itself because there is no industrialization to tap that skill even when one The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

While you have exhausted your time, please use your parliamentary language.

Madam Temporary Speaker, first of all, I would like to congratulate the Mover of this Motion and I believe her Motion is not cheap as it has just been described because it has given us an opportunity to say what most of us have said. I do not think there was any other forum where one would have stood up here and started speaking aimlessly unless there is a Motion of this nature. There I think I need to thank her once again. However, having said that, I think Senators are going round and round because they are not sure whether to oppose or to support the Motion. I think the message has gone to the Mover that this Motion may not go through because several Senators have given their own views and they are unlikely to support the Motion. So, I think it is up to her, perhaps to decide whether she wants to proceed or not. She could postpone it and perhaps get another opportunity of making it broader as the Senators have requested. Madam Temporary Speaker, this matter is very involving. First, we do not know where the figure of 70 per cent of unemployed youth came from because I do not think that we have that figure. We have never had the correct figure in this country. We cannot say exactly how things are. Seventy per cent is a very huge number. We should look at this problem differently. You can provide the youth with a lot of money and also give money to women enterprises but you should ask yourself, under which environment are these youth going to develop their businesses? The country is confronted with a very serious problem of insecurity and that is why you see people concentrating in Nairobi and other urban areas where they can at least feel a little bit secure. For example, if this country had enough security to protect our people, these youth would have gone all over the country to look for jobs. But because of insecurity, they cannot move. We have to change the attitude of our politics. For the last many years, we have concentrated on cheap politics; just wanting to feel that our brother or sister is now the President or a Member of Parliament. We have forgotten that we have a bigger responsibility. We can have as many Presidents as you wish coming from your area, but if there is no security and the politics of the country is not stable, then you are not going to attract anyone. If you want to get more money for this kind of development, who is going to invest his money so that the youth can get whatever is left out? Where do we collect this money to the tune of Kshs6 billion? These billions are coming from the people who pay tax. Do we have enough people to pay tax and why do we not have them? These are questions we need to ask ourselves. Madam Temporary Speaker, first of all, we need to create political and economic stability in this country. How do we achieve economic stability? This is when you become fair and when you have strategies for the future of this country knowing very well that you are swimming in a very deep sea. We have to make sure that our youth will be able to swim out of this dangerous sea that we are all swimming in. Several questions need to be asked by us as Senators; why are we in this situation? Has it just happened because we came here as Senators? Has it not been there The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

Thank you Madam Temporary Speaker. I stand here, first, to seek clarification from the Mover as to the use of the term Graduate which often appears in an initial capital “G.” I wonder whether the word “Graduate” stands for someone from the The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

On a point of information, Madam Temporary Speaker.

Sen. Karaba, do you want to be informed?

Yes, I want to be informed.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I want to inform my colleague, that indeed, the people being referred to as “Graduates” are college graduates. This is quite clear from the Motion.

Madam Temporary Speaker, from the definition given, we still have college graduates from teaching colleges who may not get teaching jobs after graduating. We also have the graduates themselves like I was one time although I got a job. The difference here is in the use of the terminology although it is still not very clear. Madam Temporary Speaker, the figure we have been given here is that we have over 70 per cent of unemployed youth. That was according to my friend, Mr. G. G. Kariuki. However, this may not be correct. They could either be less or more. I am asking the Mover of the Motion, before it is passed, to bring a concrete conscious amendment in a manner that can convince all of us to pass it with some precise definitions. We have to address the plight of the victims called Graduates. The people who are sitting here in the Senate and those who have served in various Parliaments since 1963 up to the time we were elected to be Senators, were in charge of various Ministries. Some of these Ministries were supposed to create jobs to the present youth as per the Motion. These are also the people who were in charge of planning. Kenya, for a long time, has missed that aspect of planning. As you have heard from various Senators, it is true that you wake up in the morning and find planners who are doing things that cannot either be compromised or comprehended. The examples I have given here of fish ponds are true. In my area, Kirinyaga, we have dug several fish ponds even where there was no water. However, the money was squandered. The initial plans were to engage the youth in productive activities of fishing but this did not take off. However, the money was squandered. These are some of the things we need to find out with regard to the problems affecting the Ministry of Planning and Devolution and any other Ministry which deals with issues regarding the youth. We need to come up with specific activities and the most important activity is education. Our universities are not geared towards the production of graduates who can fit in the job market. You will find that somebody is educated until Standard Eight, however, majority of these do not join Form One. Those who join Form One do not join universities because of the education system that we have. Our quota system is also wanting. You have heard that some people have been confined to their 85 per cent quota in their districts and constituencies and cannot move The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I would like to join my colleagues in thanking our colleague, Sen. Catherine Mukite, for bringing this Motion, which has elicited a lot of response and debate. Madam Temporary Speaker, as I stand here remembering the Grand Coalition Government, I was the first Permanent Secretary (PS) for industrialization in the year 2008 and, lately, the Senate Minority Leader, Sen. Wetangula, was just the immediate Minister for Trade; trade now falls under Enterprise Development. This issue has come at a time when we must look at the rate at which Kenyan university graduates are coming out of the universities and colleges. Did you know that we have between 100,000 to 200,000 graduates every year graduating with their various certificates? Did you also know that less than 10 per cent of these graduates are getting any formal employment in any established jobs? To the extent that most of my students – because I was a principal of a university college for five years – when they come out, they come out with a certificate on the right hand and they are waiting for a job. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

So, you support with amendments?

Madam Temporary Speaker, I support with amendments.

Which you have not brought. Anyway, thank you.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker, for giving me the opportunity, and to start off, I stand here to support this Motion. I do also wish to appreciate some comments made by Sen. (Dr.) Kuti with regard to the way we seem to do things in our country; a sort of piecemeal approach instead of doing one marshal plan to sort out a major problem like youth unemployment. However, Madam Temporary Speaker, can you allow me to bring an issue which, perhaps, may not have been raised by any of the other speakers; which is; what is the fundamental source of our youth problem? At one time, I was in a delegation of parliamentarians in a country called the Netherlands, and at that time I was in the steering wheel of something called the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF). So, we were talking about schools, hospitals and other basic grassroots things. What came out in our discussions with the parliamentarians in that country is that, if you look at our population today, it is about 40 or 41 million. If you go 20 years back, it was about 20 million. If you go another 20 years before that, it was 10 million. In other words, the doubling rate of our population is roughly around 20 years or thereabouts. The parliamentarians of the country where we were could not understand why we need new hospitals, new primary class rooms and so on because the doubling rate of their population was by then 427 years. In other words, the classrooms they built at the turn of the century, in the 19th Century, are the same classrooms they have; they have no need for new nursery schools and they have no need for this or that. Madam Temporary Speaker, what I am saying is that one of our fundamental problems with our youth is that we are producing too many of them.

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Order, Senator! I will have to cut short your contribution. You have three minutes remaining in the afternoon to continue.

Hon. Senators, it is now time to adjourn the Senate until 2.30 p.m. this afternoon. The Senate rose at 12.30 p.m. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.