Hon. Senators, do we have a quorum?

Yes!

Yes, we have a quorum. In that case, we can proceed.

Hon. Senators, I have a short Communication to make. I am in receipt of an invitation from the hon. Chief Justice, Dr. Willy Mutunga, inviting all hon. Senators to the launch of the Judicial Performance Improvement Project (JPIP). The project is intended to bring about enormous improvement in infrastructure, court administration, case management, staff development and training. Hon. Senators, I, therefore, extend the invitation of the hon. Chief Justice to you and request that you diarize to attend the launch which will be held on Tuesday, 30th July, 2013 at the Chief Justice’s garden, Supreme Court of Kenya at 9.00 a.m. Thank you. 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.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise under Standing Order No.222 to present a Petition on behalf of a group of citizens of the Republic of Kenya who are duly registered voters, who pay taxes and belong to the group of healthcare providers in this Republic. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Petitioners wish to draw the attention of this Senate to the fact that they are aware that the President issued an executive order on devolution to the effect that all the functions of devolution would commence on 1st July, 2013. The petitioners wish to assure this Senate that they support devolution. However, they oppose the rushed process of transferring to the county governments such important functions as personnel emoluments of clinical officers. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, they want to reiterate that, whereas they support devolution, and especially of certain functions in the health sector, for which the devolved governments might be ready at the moment such as utilization for infrastructure development, procurement of equipment and supplies, utilization of funds raised through cost-sharing and certain human resource functions such as staffing, internal transfers of clinical officers within the county and settlement of disciplinary cases affecting clinical officers working within those counties---- Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, they would like---

Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, this Petition has been signed by several people. They have petitioned through you. Is that the case?

Yes, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

So, may I propose that you present it the way it is. Read it the way it is. Do not change the way it is written.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I am so guided.

Go on.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Petitioners pray as follows:- That the Senate intervenes to facilitate the reversal of the said transfer of personnel emoluments---

Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, I am requesting you to do this because of the HANSARD. This is a very important matter, but it seems you have left out the first and second preamble, where it says: “we have presented this case on 4th June, 2013.” This needs to be clear.

Okay, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. The Petitioners presented this case on 4th June, 2013 to the Cabinet Secretary of Health, Department of Health, through a memorandum and in a meeting that was held between them and the Cabinet Secretary on the same day. However, they have not received any response. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, they, therefore, pray as follows:- That the Senate intervenes to facilitate the reversal of the said transfer of personnel emoluments to county governments until such a time when the county governments shall be capable of taking this function from the national government; until 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, Sen.(Dr.) Khalwale.

On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

What is your point of order, Sen. (Dr.) Machage?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have always been provided with copies of petitions that are presented before this House for our consideration. Would I be in order to request that copies of this Petition be made available to all hon. Senators for consideration before the matter is discussed in the House?

Sen. (Dr.) Machage, we can handle this matter in two ways. If you refer to Standing Order No.223, it says:- “The Speaker may allow comments, observations or clarifications in relation to a petition presented or reported and such total time shall not exceed thirty minutes.” So, hon. Senators can comment or seek clarifications on this Petition from the chairpersons of the relevant committees. In the alternative, since I assume it is an important Petition, we could defer it to another day, as we may find it, when hon. Senators will be in a position to discuss the Petition. You have requested for a copy of the Petition. I cannot direct that we get copies immediately and discuss it because there is other business that we have to deal with. But the copies will be availed to hon. Senators. Should hon. Senators so desire, we can allocate time under, Standing Order No.223 to discuss and ventilate on the Petition for a period not exceeding 30 minutes.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in view of your informed decision, would I, therefore, be in order to request that we defer discussion on this Petition until copies are distributed to us?

I direct that the Petition be circulated to hon. Senators and that tomorrow, Thursday, 25th July, 2013, when we get to the order “Petitions”, hoping that all hon. Senators will get copies, we shall dedicate 30 minutes to discuss it. Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, since you are the one who has presented the Petition on behalf of the petitioners, I expect that you will be in the House, so that you guide the House as necessary on the issues that need to be dealt with.

Next Order! 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, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I stand under Standing Order No.51 (3) to request for time, of about half an hour for hon. Senators to come in. Most of our members are busy elsewhere. Some are outside the country. Currently we have about 20 hon. Senators here. May be, we could defer voting on this Bill for about half an hour.

Hon. Senators, this is a very important Bill that we are dealing with. Yesterday, when I made a ruling on it I said that we will be voting not later than 3.00 p.m. It is not yet 3.00 p.m. So, I want to assume that from a legal point of view, we are okay as pertains to time. I will allow time, up to 3.00 p.m. we shall have a quorum. If not, then I shall give directions thereafter as necessary. This also applies to the Motion that we concluded this morning by Sen. Lesuuda.

Hon. Senators, I wish to request hon. Senators to allow me acknowledge and introduce a delegation from the County Assembly of Nyandarua who are seated in the gallery. You will recall that in the morning we had another delegation from Nyandarua County. Our gallery is quite small, so they could not all sit together and they had other business. That is why they are here this afternoon. The delegation is led by the Nyandarua County Assembly Speaker, Hon. James Wahome Ndegwa. Could he, please, stand up?

As I proceed to introduce the rest of the hon. Members, I request that if an hon. Member’s name is called out, he or she will stand up and be acknowledged by hon. Senators in the normal tradition of Parliament. They are as follows:- 1. Hon. Edinuld Wambugu King’ori, Deputy Speaker 2. Hon. Daniel Kifefo Rwara 3. Hon. James Kiiru Gachomba 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, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

What is your point of order, Sen. Murkomen?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, if you remember, there was a request for deferment of a vote on the County Allocation of Revenue Bill. I think we now have a quorum.

That is fine. However, if there is any hon. Senator who has been designated to vote and I do not have the record of that designation, I want to make it clear, that, that vote will not be allowed. So, when you say we have a quorum, be sure that we have 24 hon. Senators and or duly designated to vote. As I sit here, I do not have any designation.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, with all due respect to your ruling, I thought it was agreed that hon. Senators who have been designated previously with a letter that allows for perpetual voting, like the case of Sen. Mbura and Sen. Hassan, this is allowed. Either way, for now, we have a quorum, whether or not they are here.

If we have a quorum, we will vote on that Motion. But I want to make it very clear, with a lot of respect; I reiterate what I have said in the past about designation. This seat has no memory. If you were designated last time and I do not have a record that you are voting today on that designation since we do not have a register yet, I will not allow you to vote. Having said that, if we have a quorum, could we proceed to vote?

Ring the Division Bell!

Order, Sen. Keter! Do you want to control the House?

I cannot, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. 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.

Then you cannot order that the Bell be rung.

I order that the Division Bell be rung for eight minutes so that we can proceed to voting. Could we have the names of the Tellers?

I order that the doors be locked, so that we can proceed to voting. The Tellers are as follows: Ayes, Sen. Chelule and Noes, Sen. Kisasa. Please take your positions. Let us proceed.

Sen. Chelule

Nil

Sen. Kisasa

(Sen. Kembi-Gitura) Hon. Senators, the votes are in and the results are as follows:-

Nil

Hon. Senators, at the commencement of this afternoon’s business, I indicated that we were to vote on two items. We concluded with the Motion by Sen. Lesuuda this morning. I indicated that we will vote immediately on this Motion after we are done with voting on the Second Reading of the County Allocation of Revenue Bill. I ruled that we can ring the Division Bell once for a division and then vote in clusters. I want us to proceed and vote.

On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

What is the point of order, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale?

Who has ordered that the doors be opened? I would like to know from the Clerks who ordered the doors to be opened.

Sen. Mbuvi Sonko, please, we are still in closed doors and I would request that you leave the Chamber, not as a punishment because you have done nothing wrong - it was not your fault - but because we have not opened the doors yet.

Yes, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I was just seeking for your indulgence because I am reflecting on your ruling that we remain in Division from the time we end the vote and then another Motion is called and still we remain in Division. My understanding is that Division ends with the announcement of the results. As soon as the results are announced, with your indulgence, the doors are opened and, thereafter, we are out of Division and the next Motion is called. If this is the case, please, reflect on it and be sympathetic to the delegations that have not had an opportunity to vote; probably, through this they could come and vote.

Sen. Murkomen!

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, even if your ruling--- 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.

Go on, please, Sen. Murkomen.

Even if the ruling was that we can vote concurrently on two different issues, then it must be made clear before the bell is rang so that hon. Senators understand that it is being rang for two votes. Actually, putting the Question and ending it then going to the next one without prior notice---- for me, in the reading of Standing Orders, I have a different opinion.

Which one are you referring to?

S.O. No.74, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

Sen. Kagwe, what is your point of order?

Thank you, Members. It is really up to you but I will say this again: I have made a ruling like this in the past, that we ring the bell and go to division and vote because I realized that the moment you come, when you stall tolling Motions for vote and if you want to ring the bell for each vote and you have, say, four votes in a day, particularly when we are in the Committee of the Whole like we are going to be tomorrow on the Allocation of Revenue Bill--- if you are going to go out and ring the bell on each single amendment --- this is a short Bill but we are going to have a Bill like the Marriage Bill which goes up to 100 clauses and if you have to ring the bell for division on each and every clause, then you will be here voting for a week. That is why we wanted to be practical about it. These are rules which are made for us and not us for the rules. The rules are meant to be obeyed and the purpose of that rule is to make sure that there is a division. If you look at the HANSARD, I indicated at the commencement, that we have two votes to do this afternoon. There is going to be a vote on the second reading which we have just finished and another vote on the Motion by Sen. Lesuuda. If it is the mood of the House that we open the doors and ring the bell again, I have no issue with that, we will do it, but I want you to be practical about this because it is going to happen very soon and you are the ones who will be asking the Chair to have the bell rang once instead ringing it at each and every amendment when we are in the Committee of the Whole because that is what you are going to have to do. As far as I am concerned this afternoon, I do not see that there will be any prejudice caused by us going to vote, but since Members seem to feel that it might not be the right thing, I order that the doors be opened, we read out the next Order, then we proceed to division once again. It is so ordered.

Point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

I have made a ruling and let us proceed now. The doors will now be opened then we proceed on that basis. So, can we have the next Order? 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.

Hon. Members, Order No.9 is the Motion directed to the on Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries. We finished it this morning and so we are going to division. I had made a ruling that this is a Motion that affects counties under Standing Order No.69. So, we are going to go to division. Before I put the Question, I will order that the Division Bell be rung. In the meantime, can we have names of tellers?

Let the doors be closed now and we proceed to roll call voting. I will put the Question after the doors are closed.

On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

What is your point of order, Sen. Sonko?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, you heard Sen. Kagwe refer to me as a “guerilla” while I was the first one to arrive in this Chamber. The front door was closed and I was seated inside this cube making calls. Can he withdraw and apologize because I am not a guerilla; I am a super Senator loyal to the Government?

Did you make that reference, Sen. Mutahi-Kagwe? 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.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I did not refer to any Senator as either a guerilla or “garilla.” I simply referred to the methodology that Senators were using to try and enter the Chamber. Consequently, I was simply using a metaphoric expression. I said that instead of one trying to enter through the front door, one is using a guerrilla strategy by using the side door. Have I honestly offended anybody? I have the greatest respect for the Senator with the largest number of votes in this country. How can I call him a guerilla?

Sen. Sonko, are you satisfied?

Yes, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am satisfied.

On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. Hon. Sen. Sonko whom I have a lot of respect indicated his loyalty to the Government. Could he tell us what Government because under Article 46, we have 48 Governments?

We have only one Government of the Republic of Kenya. Those are county governments and that is different.

On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I rise on what I think is an important point of procedure. Sen. Sonko rose on a point of order which appeared as an afterthought. Our understanding and practice is that a Member rises on a point of order at the spur of the moment when the matter is still active. However, somebody rising 10 to 20 minutes after the matter has been settled would be moving away from our practices, usages and traditions.

I think that is an easy matter is you asked me. When Sen. Kagwe made the reference, Sen. Sonko has clearly said that he was inside a cubicle and could hear, therefore, he could only address that matter after he came to the House. The other point I want to make is that the Speaker may not have any knowledge of a point of order unless it is raised. I think we have finished that issue. We will now go into voting. As I had earlier ruled when we commenced, this Motion deals with counties. Therefore, we will do roll call voting.

Sen. Kisasa

Sen. Chelule

Hon. Senators, I wish to announce the results as follows:-

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move the following Motion:- THAT, noting with concern that during the rainy season, Counties along the Tana River experience frequent flooding that causes displacement of many people and destruction of food and cash crops as well as loss of irrigation engines and other equipment thereby impoverishing very vulnerable communities; aware that most of the damage is caused by water overflow and spillovers occasioned by negligence from the main reservoir at Masinga dam which is owned by the Kenya Electricity Generating company (KenGen); the Senate urges the Government to take measures to eliminate this perennial danger and to compensate communities that have been displaced or otherwise adversely affected by the water released from dams in the Tana Delta. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I think I need to give a background of the people I am talking about. These are former pastoralists whose livelihoods depended on livestock. However, because of droughts and diseases, a lot of livestock died, especially during severe drought. These people were forced to move from their natural habitat to go and look for other means of livelihoods. They thought that if they went to towns, they would get gainful employment. Unfortunately, these pastoralists have no skills of any kind apart from being herdsmen and taking care of livestock. During their nomadic lives, they practice the culture of eating together. They slaughter animals and eat together as a community. Some of these people went to towns. There is a story that says that one of them went to a hotel and found people eating. He thought that it was part of what they do at home. So, he joined the people who were eating and was asked whether he wanted ugali, rice or meat and he ordered for what he 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.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to second this Motion. As it has been said, floods which are not natural have really affected us down there in Tana River and other counties, like Garissa, along the Tana River. Actually, these floods that are manmade and deliberate have caused disaster. Our crops which we grow during the rainy season have been destroyed whenever this water is released without notice by KenGen. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we appeal to the Government to, at least, compensate the farmers along Tana River. Tana itself is a delta and that is where we live. So, whenever this water is released without notice, settlements are washed away. Since the KenGen are deliberately releasing this water, we appeal to the Government to force them to compensate people and stop their deliberate action. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to second the Motion.

Thank you very much, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the chance to contribute to this Motion. The Motion is timely and discusses among other things, issues that have already been discussed by the developed and developing countries. 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.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this is a very important Motion especially for communities living along Tana and Ewaso Nyiro rivers. My community in Isiolo County lives on either side of Ewaso Nyiro River. The river has two negative impacts on the communities that live downstream. During the rainy season when there is plenty of water and we have not developed adequate infrastructure like dams to contain this excess water, it becomes a nuisance. This becomes a major cause of disasters and emergencies. The rivers fill the banks and as they flow towards the communities leaving downstream, they break banks and flood into the areas, washing away livestock, people, crops, and so on. Together with the leadership of Isiolo County, I recently participated in helping the locals because their food was destroyed and their livestock carried away by flood waters. In some places the water had surrounded the communities. It became a threat and a disaster and we called for Government intervention. 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.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, may I join my colleagues in thanking Sen. Haji for bringing this Motion to address the issue of the havoc caused by floods in Tana River. I know that Athi River is the tributary. It is now 50 years since we attained Independence. If you check the case of Tana River, no single Government investment to arrest water from getting out of the natural channel has ever been done. However, I am aware that successive governments have been investing in the Indian Ocean to protect sea waves from eating into the land, particularly in Lamu County, where Sen. Chiaba comes from. In the last Financial Year, 2012/2013, over Kshs800 million was spent to build sea walls, so that the land is protected.

On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

What is the point of order?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, you might have heard what Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo has said about Tana River. He has said the Government has not invested in Tana River to prevent floods downstream. Is he in order to mislead the House while he knows too well that Masinga Dam is on Tana River? This dam was constructed to prevent further problems downstream. We need to be educated on this matter.

What is your problem, Sen. Karaba?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, my point of order is that the Professor is misleading us that that the Government has not done anything on Tana River, while he knows too well that the reservoir, Masinga Dam, is on Tana River.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, my colleague is not following my flow of thoughts. I would like to ask him to listen to me as we move together. I am not talking about power generating plants but when water has been released from the dams or there are floods, no attempt has ever been made to contain this water. We saw in Tana River, in May this year, people immersed in water together with their animals as a result of floods. I am using the example of the Indian Ocean where the Government has taken steps to protect land along the shores of the ocean from being washed away by waves from the ocean; could the same be done to our rivers? There are big rivers which pour into the Indian Ocean. Rather than just protecting the shores of the Indian Ocean, we should also protect land along these rivers. I am also hoping that one Senator will seek an amendment to this Motion to include other rivers other than Tana River alone. We have big rivers in this country which cause havoc every year. This happens around April to June and the Government takes the initiative of feeding and rescuing people affected by floods. In Trans Nzoia County, 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.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to support this Motion. First, I would like to thank Sen. Haji for bringing this Motion because year in, year out, we always have floods causing havoc in those parts of the country. It is really important for the county governments and the Government at large to prevent this disaster. Secondly, I would like to urge the Government and KenGen to do proper planning because if that is done, I believe there will be no problem of floods every year. One of the concerns that we need to address here is that in those parts there are areas that are normally affected as a result of lack of water; so by using the water from the Tana Delta we can come up with dams which will assist the pastoral communities during the drought seasons. The other point that I wanted to add is that whenever we have these floods, roads are also affected. As a result, you will find that food prices will go up and this normally affects the communities living in those areas. There is also an outbreak of waterborne diseases. If we do not deal with these issues and contain this water, then it means that every year instead of developing, we will be pre-occupied with controlling diseases or trying to come up with famine relief. In these areas, communities always depend on famine relief throughout the year. I will conclude by saying that we end up perpetually reducing communities to poverty by forcing them to rely on relief throughout their lives. We should instead concentrate on controlling these floods which essentially are supposed to be controlled by KenGen. With those few remarks, I beg to support.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to support this very important Motion for two reasons. One is because of the good work that Sen. Haji left in Western Province when he worked as our provincial commissioner. We always miss him. In fact, in those days, we never used to have people killing each other the way we see these days in Bungoma and Busia. We are forever indebted to you. The second reason why I want to support him is that the Motion is addressing an issue which is a matter of life and death. It is a matter of life to the extent that if well managed, these waters will improve the livelihoods of these people and guarantee them prosperity, good health and development. It is a matter of death because when the worst happens, we lose lives, livestock, crops and other forms of property. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, ordinarily, KenGen should be ashamed because whereas they are visiting disaster on the people of the Tana Delta, other companies are exercising 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 Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. First, I want to congratulate and thank my mentor, hon. Sen. Haji, for bringing this Motion which 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 Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I rise to support this Motion. This is a very good Motion which tells us that some people have relaxed on their job. I believe that when Masinga and other dams were constructed along the Tana River, this was done in good faith. This was an intention not only to get power but also to control floods. I agree with the Mover of the Motion that the institution that is in charge of the dams that are along that river and particularly KenGen should be held responsible and asked to take care of all the mess that has been caused by the flooding of that river. Speaking from an engineering point of view, by the time engineers design a dam, there is always a spillway designed to take down water when the dam overflows. In case the spillway is small or was not designed to take a lot of water, for instance, in case of Masinga Dam, control valves are used. By the time control valves are used, warnings should be turned on to warn the people who live downstream that control valves will be opened at a particular time to run water from their natural streams. This warning is done just like the one we are given when we have a solar eclipse. We are told that on a particular day, there will be a solar eclipse and that we should not stare at it with our bare eyes. Any disaster caused by a dam is very enormous. In fact, the opening of control valves is equated with the collapse of a dam. The collapse of a dam is normally a major thing all over the world. Life downstream is affected, animals, people, crops and even machinery. The Mover of the Motion said that those communities need to be compensated. That is something I feel should have been done a long time ago. Those concerned should not wait for the Senate to sit and come up with a Motion. This is something known to the authorities and the designers. They know that once you open the gates, automatically, something bad must happen. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we are not only talking about Tana River, but quite a number of things have not been working well, and that is why we voted for the Jubilee Government. We have even allowed people to build on riparian land. If you go to Athi River, some factories have been built on riparian land. Such developments should not be allowed. We should not wait until the boundaries are drawn before we can act. With the new Government in power, people should not be allowed to build on riparian land. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, it is really a big shame that everytime it rains, we complain about the damage caused by water and, then a few weeks later, we complain again about lack of water. I know that in the Jubilee Manifesto, the Government has a good plan of irrigation, where a million acres or even more will be put under irrigation. We can only do this irrigation by ensuring that there is enough water in dams. This irrigation will ensure that we feed our country. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, with those remarks, I beg to support.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, thank you for this chance to say something about this Motion. Mr. Temporary Speaker, a lot has been said about this issue and if we continue, we will be repeating what the Mover and seconder said. I think that time has come for us, 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.

There being no other contributor, it is now time for the Mover to reply.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, first and foremost, I wish to really thank my colleagues for enriching the Motion and their valuable contribution. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, as we know, water is life. Therefore, it will be very sad and discouraging if water should also become the cause of death and destruction. It will be remembered that during the 1967 war between Israel and Egypt, the Israelis constructed a wall which was considered as one which could not be penetrated. It was thought that there was no way that Egypt could ever fight Israel. But the Egyptians released canal water at night and within hours, the wall came down and that was the beginning of the war between Egypt and Israel. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, Masinga Dam is very huge and massive. The engineers who plan these kinds of dams usually put a provision to make sure that the overflow does not cause destruction to both humans and property. Year after year, people 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, hon. Senators! Sen. Haji has brought before this House a very important Motion. Upon the conclusion of his reply, he actually wants the Chair to exercise some level of wisdom and ensure that this Motion is voted for next week. However, Standing Order No.51 reads:- “(1)When a Motion has been moved and if necessary seconded, the Speaker shall propose the question thereon in the same terms as the Motion, and debate may then take place upon that question. (2) At the conclusion of the debate, the Speaker shall put the question. (3) Despite paragraph (2), the Speaker may, on the request of a Senator, defer the putting of the question to the following day in which case the Speaker shall thereupon nominate a time at which the question shall be put.” My discretion is limited only to the following day. Therefore, this Motion will be voted for tomorrow, at 3.00 p.m.

Next Order! DEVELOPMENT OF PROGRAMMES TO PROMOTE NATIONAL VALUES AMONGST YOUTH

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I beg to move:- THAT, cognizant of the provisions of Article 11(1) of the Constitution that recognizes culture as the foundation of the nation and as the cumulative civilization of the Kenyan people and nation; further aware that Article 11(2) (a) states that the State shall promote all forms of national and cultural expressions through literature, the arts and traditional celebrations, among other forms; noting that traditional institutions used to play an essential role in molding the character and morals of young people 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, Sen. Haji! The consultations are too loud. Sen. Haji! Consultations should be minimal. Proceed.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, all I am trying to show is where the rains started beating us in terms of the values and virtues we now have in this country; this very negative direction emanates from our upbringing. Therefore, my solution is that I am urging the Government to organize, rethink and focus our attention to our children at birth. In the past, communities would celebrate, recognize and encourage these young people. They also made sure that they understood the history of their culture, the history of their people, the norms of their people, what is normal and what is abnormal, what is right and what is wrong and so on. All these were inculcated in the young people so that they are proud of the community they belong to. I want that to be moved from the community level to the national level where you stand up to be proud to be Kenyan. In Kenya right now 30 or 40 out of 100 people will tell you that; “tunavumilia kuwaWakenya”. It may sound like a joke but that is the death of a nation especially when citizens are not proud to belong to that nation. This is all from our upbringing but the seriousness of this is not even understood. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, all I am saying is that the Government must device a system where, let us say, at the end of the year, all children born at the same time, the President of this country should lead a celebration of this age group in December, so that they become one age group. So, all age groups should celebrate together in the counties because they were born at the same time and may have names to show the age groups. This celebration should be inculcated by a week of celebration to instill values, virtues, the history our country and other issues like; money is good but it is not everything. 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.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to second this Motion on the following points. First and foremost, I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the Mover, Sen. (Dr.) Kuti. This is the reason why I feel that we have really lost so much with regard to our culture, especially when you look at the children we have brought to this world and how they have forgotten about their culture. If I may go back to when we were children, we used to respect our elders. For a Senator like Sen. G.G. Kariuki who 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.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir for this opportunity to contribute to this Motion. 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, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for giving me time to contribute to this wonderful Motion that has been brought to the Floor by my fellow Senator, Dr. Kuti. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we come from a community where cultural values are decaying and we need to do something about it, as leaders and parents. We all know that we have those cultural values that can be harmonized with the Christian way of life. This will promote and instill good values among our children. Regarding the proposal to have a resource centre at the constituency or county level, I think that it is our obligation as leaders and parents to make sure that we have a particular place where our children can go and learn good cultural values. As we are discussing this Motion, we are aware that there are so many parents, some of whom are of my age, who are not even conversant with our traditional proverbs or sayings that help in our daily lives. We should not leave our children to get used to cultures from Western countries. We should not forget that even people from those Western countries also have their own cultures. They will not leave their children to adopt cultures from other places, the way we are doing. So, it is paramount that we have resource centres, whether at the constituency or county level, where we shall have old people, the age of my grandfather, instilling those good cultural values in children. This is because if we bring up our children the way we are doing now, terrible things will happen in the community. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, today I read a story in the newspaper about a man who was caught having sex with a goat. What is the cause of this? In our culture, you cannot imagine a man marrying another man. Maybe this kind of behaviour is being influenced by Western cultures that our children have started adopting. It is time to create awareness and sensitize our community, that there is need to instill good cultural values in our children that can be harmonized with Christianity. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I support this Motion and hope that it will be passed. Probably we need a reasonably sized resource centre, where we can store music and even organize social activities that can bring Africans together. I would urge my fellow Senators that there is need to do something about it. We should not sit while we watch things going the wrong way, especially among our children. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support.

Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo. 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.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I want to join my colleagues in thanking Sen. (Dr.) Kuti for bringing to our attention what we know is affecting our Kenyan society today, where we are seeing behaviours that were never heard of before. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the wise say – although the original saying is in Swahili – “Whoever leaves his culture becomes a slave.” we have suddenly become very sure slaves of other foreign lifestyles. Do you know that Africans have their own cultures? We have over 42 ethnic cultures in Kenya and the good discipline we used to have, other than the bad behaviours like cattle rustling which used to take place, for example, between one ethnic group and another one--- But essentially, what this culture was doing was to put sense and morality into the lives of our children and adults. If you can remember, we had many systems in our society where women would meet and there was a way they would teach the young girls. Similarly, when adult men met, they would educate the young boys. But when we brought in civilization, which is very good, this civilization has gone to extremes to the extent that, today, we are hearing what Sen. G.G. Kariuki was talking about, where we have a new group that is boldly trying to bring their presence into Kenya, where ladies can marry ladies and men can marry men. Just mention that in a village where culture is still being talked about and they will invoke the spirit of God and gods upon you and you will cease to exist! So, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for us to move forward as a nation in the generation we are in now and in the years to come, this Motion says that the present Government and the future Governments have to put systematic and institutionalized cultural programmes at the national level so that through the syllabuses generated for schools, through the training that is given even to our own disciplined forces, it can be part of the curriculum used to train them so that we can be able to put away negative influences. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, you have heard Sen. G.G. Kariuki wondering whether the thinking of West Pokot County, which is still rich in culture, is backward compared to their colleagues in Kikuyu land. If you can recall, about four or five years ago, there was a group that used to terrorise people in Central Province and parts of Nairobi, called Mungiki . Who were they? These are part of our children who, somehow along the way started thinking that we had become too urbanized. We have a situation where parents and adults do not talk to their children. Instead, they listen to their radios and watch their televisions and think that they are automatically educated to know how to live. We end up having petty thieves. People try to borrow, transfer and transport cultures from what they see in the media in an attempt to make life better for themselves. In the process, these petty crimes come along. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, when we were growing up in the early 1970s, some of us who were in school at that time –and I know Sen. G.G. Kariuki was one of those people – during independence, you will remember we used to have Ministers and we used to sing in school. It was automatic that you had to sing in primary schools; there was an agenda that the nation had revealed and the Minister had read, so we used to sing. Who was the late Minister for Education in 1974/1975? Was it Jonathan Ng’eno--- No, no, no; that was the Speaker. It was this fellow who did research on rats, the late Dr. Taita 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.

There being no other contributor to the Motion, I want to call upon the Mover to reply. 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 Mr. Temporary Speaker. I want to take this opportunity to thank all those who contributed to the Motion. It is unfortunate that this Motion landed at a time when Senators had already voted on the County Allocation of Revenue Bill and after debating it for long, they went out. However, I appreciate those who have found time to contribute to it. Those who have contributed to the Motion have recognised the fact that if not checked, there will be a decay of the societal fabric and loss of cultural direction in our young people. A culture is just like a foundation. A house that stands on sand will always be carried away. A house whose foundation is not strong will always collapse. That is why we see many buildings collapsing because they are not well established. Equally, our society should look critically at our upbringing. A human being is just worth his upbringing. If the upbringing is solid, correct values are inculcated, hard work is appreciated and meaningful successes are celebrated, then we will have strong nations because nations are made up of me, you and all of us who are here as individuals. There is no block referred to as a nation. Individuals have to be taken care of just like fertilizer. You have to put fertilizer in plants if you want to get good harvest. You need to invest in that plant from the time you put the seed in the ground. Therefore, from the time of birth, we should not be carried around by other cultures. There are good practices in African cultures. There are also good practices in the foreign cultures. We cannot avoid the fact that we are urbanised. I am not saying that we should go and apply red soil on our faces and put on cultural gear. We must be practical. We must mix good practices from the African culture with the urban culture that is becoming universal worldwide. Although we talk about the Western Culture, look at Britain. Today, Britain is at a standstill because a future King has been born. It is not only Britain but the whole world that appreciates the fact the British have retained their culture for thousands of years. When the young King to be was born to Prince William and the Princess, 8,000 other children were also born on the same day. The mothers of the other 8,000 children who were born in London withheld naming their children until the young King to be had been named so that they can be give the same name. That is something which is appreciated. It is something that has been carried along for thousands of years. This culture has now been fine tuned. The King used to order that some people be killed. That is no longer there. The King used to run the Government but that is no longer carried out. Democracy has come up and there is now a Prime Minister who governs the country. However, Britain still invests so much money to keep the monarchy and the Kingdom since this that is where they came from. They are always fine tuning it. There is a time when the royal family did not mix with people. They were isolated and looked at like demigods. However, for them to remain meaningful, they now come out to show people the King to be after he has been born so that people start accepting it. We need to fine tune our culture. We do not need to dump our culture. The British got rid of some of the cultural practices that had negative components. We need to let go of the negative components and remain with the positive component. This is what we need to do. 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, Dr. Kuti! You are only allowed to use one language, and your time is running out.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, culture is the beginning of the solution. As much as we are pushing The National Authority for Campaign against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) and creating the Youth Enterprise Development Fund, we must have adults who have the feeling to work hard and earn from that genuine hard work. We must have adults who are ready to contribute to their neighbours and make them happy and those. We must have adults who will come up with programmes that will support the poor, just because they want to contribute and be heroes in that sense. Here, you can only be a hero because you have amassed crooked wealth. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I am grateful that I got this opportunity and to those who have participated in this Motion. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I beg to move.

Order, hon. Senators! You will remember that before we vote on any Motion, the Speaker must rule as to whether or not it affects counties. Having examined, read and analyzed the Motion by Dr. Kuti, I, therefore, rule that it does not affect counties. I will proceed and put the Question.

Hon. Senators, it is now time to adjourn. The Senate, therefore, stands adjourned until tomorrow, Thursday 25th July, 2013, at 2.30 p.m. The Senate rose at 6.30 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.