Sen. Kembi-Gitura): Hon. Members, there are several Statements on the Order Paper in the appendix. We shall first of all deal with Members seeking Statements before we go to the issuance. Please proceed Sen. Obure. CANCELLATION/WITHHOLDING OF SCHOOLS’ EXAMINATION RESULTS

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I request for a Statement from the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Education, concerning the perennial problem of cancellation or withholding of schools examination results in Kenya which has shuttered the hopes, aspirations and careers of many children especially in Kisii County. The Chairperson should address the following specific issues:- (1) Give the number of schools whose results for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) 2014 were cancelled, per county. (2) State the reasons for the cancellation or withholding of those results.

Sen. Kembi-Gitura): Order Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale and Sen. Murkomen. There cannot be two Senators standing on the Floor of the House at the same time. Sen. Obure is on his feet.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for that direction. (3) To explain whether the school heads and candidates of affected schools were accorded an opportunity to be heard before the results were cancelled. 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. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I have some addendum. I would like the Chairperson to incorporate in his answer, the same questions asked by Sen. Obure, on the schools from Migori County, especially from Kuria.

Sen. Kembi-Gitura): You notice that what Sen. Obure is seeking in No.1 is results per county. I think that he is trying to cover the whole country. In No. 1, he says:- “Give the number of schools whose results for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) 2014 were cancelled per county” Unless you want to be more specific than that, he has already sought for the whole country.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. As an addendum, can the Chairman also bring the list of all the people that must have participated? Are there people that were punished other than the students or it is only the students that suffered? We want to see the list of the people that were dealt with by KNEC.

Sen. Kembi-Gitura): Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo, your request is completely different from the Statement sought. The Statement that Sen. Obure sought is specific to what that the Statement says. If you want to know whether there were other culprits other than the schools and the students, that is not in the Statement.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is still within. What I am saying is that in these schools, there must have been invigilators---

Sen. Kembi-Gitura): Order, Senator. That may be true. What you are saying is that there could have been people who facilitated the cheating. However, if you look at the Statement sought by Sen. Obure, it is clear in its terms. It is seeking specific things. It is not asking about the invigilators and other people. If it comes as collateral to the Statement that he is seeking, so be it. However, the question that you talked about brings about an aspect of criminality. So, if you want to seek it, you must seek a separate Statement.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I request for two weeks because that would be enough for me to get an answer.

The thing is that the exams have been cancelled so there must be records. There is data. This is not something he is going to work on. The fact that exams have been cancelled shows that there must be reasons and the record is there. Why do you require two weeks?

So, that we can give reasons why they were cancelled. 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.

The point I am making is that since they were cancelled, there must be reasons in a file. Therefore it is a question of you liaising with whoever is concerned and having it pulled it and formatted to a Statement that you can come and give. You do not need two weeks. You need only one week.

I will try to bring the Statement in one week.

Sen. Obure, what is your take?

I agree with the sentiments you are expressing from the Chair. This is a matter which affects the lives and the future of our children. Some of them would want to put plans in place so that they resit examinations this year. Two weeks would be too long.

Sen. Karaba, let us try one week. Put pressure on the officers at the Ministry and let us get this thing behind us. It involves young people. FAILURE BY COUNTY GOVERNMENTS TO ADHERE TO REGULATIONS ON GOVERNMENT VEHICLES

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to seek a Statement from the Chairperson of the Sessional Committee on Devolved Government concerning the need or failure by officials of various county governments to observe laid down Government regulations regarding use of Government vehicles. The Chairperson should explain:- (i) why regulations requiring that Government vehicles be parked in the nearest police station from 6.00 p.m. to 6.00 a.m. is not being adhered to; (ii) why some county government vehicles are being used for purposes other than what they were authorized to be used for and why many of them are being parked near bars and other inappropriate places; (iii) what action will be taken to punish officials who flout the said regulations and ensure that they are adhered to.

Is the Chairman of the Committee here?

I request for two weeks.

Two weeks is too long. Even tomorrow is better because this had been asked earlier but the House went on recess. I expect him to have an answer by now.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this is a new session and this is a new Sessional Committee. Therefore, we need two weeks.

Had you received an answer in the last session?

I cannot exactly remember, that is why I need time to check.

I am giving you one week from today.

One week is enough. 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, are you seeking the Floor?

No, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

Sen. Lonyangapuo, are you still seeking the Floor?

Yes, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. INCREASE OF MEMBERSHIP FEES BY MAENDELEO YA WANAWAKE ORGANIZATION

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I seek a Statement from the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Labour and Social Welfare concerning the increase by the Maendeleo ya Wanawake Organization of membership fees from Kshs100 last year to the following categories. (a) at the ward level - Kshs2,000 (b) at the sub-county level - Kshs5,000 (c) at the county level - Kshs10,000 (d) at the national level - Kshs20,000. In the Statement, I would like the Chairperson to respond to the following:- (i) explain whether he is aware that the increase in subscription fees locked out many aspiring candidates during its national and grassroots elections which were held in July, 2014; (ii) state what the Government is doing to ensure that deserving ordinary women are accommodated in the structures of the management of the organization to prevent the organization from becoming elitist and the preserve of a few.

Is this actually a labour issue? Does Maendeleo ya Wanawake fall under labour? Who is the Chairperson?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would need about two weeks to respond.

Is your Committee the relevant one on this matter?

This is part of social welfare.

I think in this case, two weeks is reasonable. Sen. (Prof.) Lesan had sought a Statement. You had sought a Statement, is that not so?

I am not aware.

I can see a Statement here sought and signed by you. That is all for request for Statement. Shall we have Statements issued? Sen. (Dr.) Kuti! 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 stand to issue a Statement which was sought by Sen. (Dr.) Machage. The Statement was about the cholera outbreak in Kenya. On 19th February, 2015 Sen. (Dr.) Machage wanted to know the following:- (i) whether the Ministry is aware of the cholera outbreak in Migori; (ii) how many other counties by name have been affected so far, how many are hospitalized and from which areas; (iii) the number of fatalities of the scourge; (iv) level and magnitude of intervention taken by the national and county governments; (v) what measures the Government is taking to prevent the recurrence. I wish to respond as follows:- (i) Yes, the Government is aware of cholera outbreak in Migori. (ii) There are three counties that have been affected and that is, Nairobi, Homa Bay and Kisii County; (iii)The number of people affected so far are as follows:- (a) A total of 1,011 cases and 14 deaths have been reported nationally as at 3rd March, 2015. These are distributed as follows:- Nairobi, there were 56 cases and two deaths. This was the first county to be affected and the first case was confirmed through laboratory tests on 9th January, 2015. In Migori County, there were 651 cases and eight deaths. The outbreak started on 30th January, 2015. In Homa Bay County, 296 cases were reported with four deaths and the outbreak started on 2nd February, 2015. In Kisii County, there were eight cases with no deaths. These were cases that were seen in Migori on 2nd February, 2015 but they came from the neighbouring Kisii County. Currently, there are no patients admitted in the wards and the number of people being treated per day is between zero to five in each of the counties. Regarding the number of fatalities, this is as explained earlier in number three. Concerning the level and magnitude of intervention taken by the national and county governments, the national and county governments in collaboration with various stakeholders have been working together since the first case was confirmed in Nairobi County on 9th January, 2015. Due to the concerted efforts, the outbreak has been well controlled in all counties. For example, the peak of outbreak in Migori County was on 10th February, when 128 cases were reported. Currently, they are reporting less than five cases a day. The peak of the outbreak in Homa Bay County was on 12th February, 2015, when 32 cases were reported. Currently, in Homa Bay County, less than five cases a day are reported. The peak of the outbreak in Nairobi County was on 28th January, 2015, when eight cases were reported. Currently, in Nairobi County, there has not been any case. Therefore, the outbreak has been fully controlled in Nairobi. The national Government has deployed 20 technical officers to the affected counties to assist in controlling the outbreak. It has also provided medical supplies to the affected counties such as drugs, non-pharmaceuticals, water, sanitation, hygiene kits and 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, do you have a question?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I appreciate the attempt by the Chairperson to answer the serious questions. I bring to his notice that question number two has not been answered fully. We sought to know not only the counties but also the areas affected in those counties. Secondly, is the Chairperson satisfied that the level of intervention - in view of the fact that there is drought in many parts of this country - is adequate? Why was vaccination not considered? Thirdly, about the 20 officers deployed to the counties, is it 20 per county or 20 for all counties? If it is 20 for all counties, how many were deployed to Migori County?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there are 20 technical staffs who were subdivided across the counties. I do not know how many went to Migori County. However, the most important thing that Sen. (Dr.) Machage needs to appreciate is the fact that the matter is now almost fully under control. For example, in Nairobi, it is no longer where it started. It has been fully controlled. In Migori, his own county, it has come down to less than five cases a day from a peak of 100 cases a day. Therefore, the situation is under control and measures the Government is putting in place will fully control the situation in areas that are not yet under full control. Sen. (Dr.) Machage needs to appreciate that the effort is working. Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

You want to ask another question a second time Sen. (Dr.) Machage? Okay, one more.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Chairperson of the Committee on Health is a medical doctor; if he could only listen. He knows that a report of up to five cases of cholera in an area is significant. It could restart an epidemic especially in a drought situation. Is he convinced that the cholera epidemic has been controlled?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Sen. (Dr.) Machage should appreciate the fact that cases are now on the downtrend from highs of 100 cases a day to below five 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.

Very well. Is there any other statement to be issued? Sen. Karaba had several statements to issue. I do not know whether he is around. Sen. Moi, do you have a Statement to issue on energy?

Yes, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. requested for a Statement on:- (i) the budget allocation for rural---

Are you issuing the statement now?

Yes, I am ready to issue it.

Okay, just a minute. Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, do you have a point of order on the same issue?

Yes, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. You called out for my Statement which is supposed to come from the Chairperson of the Committee on Education. However, as you observed, he may have left but you did not direct what would happen next.

Well, we have not finished with statements. We are still on issuance of statements. In fact, he has about five statements to issue. I am surprised that he is not in his place. Is he around?

Yes.

Okay. Sen. Moi, please proceed. BUDGET ALLOCATION FOR RURAL ELECTRIFICATION PROGRAMME IN MAKUENI COUNTY

Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. had requested for the Statement on:-. (1) the budget allocation for rural electrification in Makueni County for the Financial Year, (a) 2012/2013 and, (b) 2013/2014; (2) the number of primary schools connected during the period in (a) and (b) above; (3) reasons for delays in the process during the period; (4) names of contractors who were awarded projects within the county in the two years and projects implemented; (5) an explanation on the stalled projects in the county; (6) reasons for delay in connection and delivery of materials to the already existing connections; and lastly, (7) efforts being made to enlighten the primary schools and the plans to connect them to electricity. 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. Deputy Speaker, Sir. Although the distinguished Senator gave this Statement to me at about 2.00 p.m., I have actually managed to read it in detail. I just need one clarification. I want to thank him together with his Committee because the document is fairly detailed. There is only one issue which I would require further clarification on. It appears from the Statement that the main problem – and that is the reason I sought the Statement – was the delay in the connections. It appears that, that delay is caused by the contractors. In the schedules given by the Chairman, it appears that contractors have abandoned at least 90 per cent of the projects. Does the Rural Electrification Authority (REA) pay these people in advance? The problems being experienced by them is that once they go to the project, they are told that its scope has increased. Does that mean that the scope is not given before these contractors are awarded these contracts? 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, could the Chairman clarify also the concerns about substandard work? In Rhamu Town in Mandera north, they handed over the power station last year to the Kenya Power Company, which to date has not been able to take it over because of concerns about the quality. I understand that this is the case on several similar power stations. Could the Chairman also clarify about the capacity of REA to audit quality of works being done by the contractors?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the clarification which was sought by Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr., yes, there is a vetting process for the contractors at hand. When they went through the vetting process, they were found to be fit and they showed that they had the financial capacity and capability of doing it. At some stages when they had delays in getting the way-leaves, the prices escalated. The contractors would find other avenues or constraints within themselves because of the delay. But that has now been taken care of. We have been assured that, that is not going to arise because they are going to double up on the financial capacity of the contractors who are going to be engaged. On the issue raised by the Senator for Mandera, yes, there is shoddy work which has been done. The contractor will be penalized until they rectify the quality of work. Thank you.

On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. The Chairman did not clarify the question of payment for the contractual work. Is it paid in advance? If it is paid in advance, these people should be surcharged. If it is not paid in advance, it means that, therefore, there is no reason the contract cannot be completed quickly.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, on this particular case, they were not paid in advance.

That is the end of that Statement. Sen. Karaba, you have several Statements to make on education.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have moved here because of possible interruptions by my machine which has not been behaving very well of late. PREVAILING CHAOS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ELDORET Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to respond to a Statement which was requested by Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale in regard to the chaos which led to the closure of the University of Eldoret. The chaos were triggered by some local leaders whose aim was to eject Prof. Teresia Akenga, who is the Vice Chancellor from the office, as a result of that--- 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 want to draw your attention to the fact that the Chairman has been very graceful and he has given me a copy of his answer. I just want to request that he stands down his answer because there was an authentic file that I tabled here, which he used. I intend to use it to interrogate his answer further. I asked the office of the Clerk and they told me that they do not have the file. Could I be given the file of the university so that I can use it?

Sen. Karaba, do you have the file?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do not have the file. What I have is a Statement which was requested by Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale. I do not know where the file is and I am not the one who handled it.

Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, whom did you give the file to? Did you table it?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I tabled it and by the authority of your own Clerk, I have been told that I wait that they cannot find it, they have gone to search for it at Protection House. These are very important issues and looking at the casual answers given in the copy, without that file we will be given a ride up the country far and back.

Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, how long are you requesting to be stood down for?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, if they cannot give us today, we can wait until tomorrow. These are very serious issues.

I know, but I am asking you, since you need to get the file, the Clerk informs me that it is in the process of being procured from the clerk of that Committee. Would you be willing to have it delivered tomorrow, is that okay with you?

I have no problem.

We do not know when it will come.

Tomorrow is fine.

Order, Senator! Let me talk to Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale please. He is the one in his feet. Is tomorrow okay?

Tomorrow is super.

I will endeavor to see that you have the file in good time. Sen. Murkomen, what is your point of order?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it was on the same issue but you have ruled on it.

Sen. Sang, what is your point of 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, now that you have ruled that the Statement be stepped down to tomorrow, would the Chairman of the Committee share that response? I know that Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale already has the response to the Statement, could he share with all of us so that we can look at it?

The Statement is now the property of the House, I am sure if you liaise with the Office of the Clerk, you should get a Statement in good time before tomorrow. What is it, Sen. Wetangula?

(Sen. Wetangula) Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it was on the same issue.

Sen. Karaba, you will issue that one tomorrow afternoon after the file has been accessed and given to whoever it came from. You still have a Statement sought by Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo, who I note is not here but you still have a Statement sought by Sen. Hosea Onchwangi who again I notice is not here; but you have a Statement sought by Sen. Wangari?

I have that one.

Can you issue the Statement sought by Sen. Wangari.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you. The Statement on enrollment of Form Ones—

Sen. Kivuti, are you on a point of order? Where is Sen. Kivuti, he is not even here, are you on a point of order? Remove your card then. Sen. Karaba, you do not have a card of your own that you can use?

I do not know who the owner of this one is!

Okay, proceed Sen. Karaba.

I was not sure whether that was Sen. Kivuti’s card. ENROLMENT OF PUPILS TO FORM ONE AND RELEASE OF FREE PRIMARY EDUCATION FUNDS I have a Statement from Sen. Wangari and the Statement is as follows. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to respond to the questions raised by the Senator concerning the enrollment of pupils in Form One and the release of free primary education funds as follows:- (a) the Senator requested the Chairperson to explain the criteria used by the Ministry to enroll pupils who sat for Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) in 2014 to join Form One in 2015; (b) explain the criteria used to admit students to Form One during the 2015 enrolment compared with the previous years; 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. Karaba! What is your point of order, Sen. Musila?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have a lot of respect for the Chairperson.

May he sit down?

Order, Sen. Musila! You cannot order a Member to sit down, but the rule is that both of you cannot be standing at the same time. You do not have the authority to order him to sit down.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. He knows the rules, which stipulate that he should be sitting down. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am concerned at the Statement that the Chairperson is giving to this House; you can see the number of pages that he is holding. This was a specific request for a specific matter, but he is giving us the whole policy of the Ministry of Education. Do we have the luxury of sitting here the whole afternoon, listening to him? Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

Proceed, Sen. Karaba.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I was about to complete making my submission; it is only that he was too much in a hurry to suggest that the papers are too many. But they are not too many. I am trying to make sure that the Question is satisfactorily answered. I am giving the actual answer to the issues raised in the request by the hon. Senator.

Go on, Senator! Well, some Senators are also complaining about the size of the paper, but that is not for me to say.

But you just proceed and finish.

There are reasons for that. 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.

What is your point of order, Sen. Wangari? You are the one who requested for this Statement.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I want to confirm to Sen. Musila that the bulk of papers actually have the guidelines, which I have looked at and whatever the Chairperson is reading out is a summary. He should be completing his submission in two minutes.

Sen. Karaba, you have heard the sentiments; just complete making your Statement.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the papers are not many; Sen. Wangari has more papers than these and if you want to read them, you can do so later. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the FPE Fund has been given as a policy and every child receives Kshs1,420, out of which Kshs764 goes to purchase of instructional materials while Kshs655 is for general school operations. They are given 50 per cent in First Term, 30 per cent in Second Term and 20 per cent in Third Term. So, in a year, the Government gives Kshs9.7 billion to all primary schools in Kenya. So, as far as the question is concerned, the balance of what is not given is only 30 per cent and it amounts to Kshs4.1 billion, which will be given as soon as Second Term sets in. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the measures taken to ensure smooth and timely release of FPE funds are as follows. Each school is required to operate two primary school bank accounts; that is, institutional materials and general school operations and maintenance bank accounts. The management of this money at all times requires constant check from the Director of Education. Anything transferred from those accounts must be communicated either through the Director of Education or by the Director of Education in consultation with the parents. This Statement has been signed by the Cabinet Secretary (CS) for the Ministry of Education. Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

Sen. Wangari, is there any intervention that you would like to make?

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I want to thank the Chairperson of the Committee on Education for bringing this Statement, like he did last week. I have had time to look through the response and I have a few clarifications to seek. One, on the admissions that were done this year, can he confirm – because it is clear in the guidelines that three pupils were to be picked from each sub-county from both private and public schools – that, that happened; that the three that were picked from the sub-counties were from either gender and were from both private and public schools? Secondly, on the missed opportunities in school, especially on the number – the 192,000 that could not get admission to secondary schools – are also joined together with the ones that could not access the same due to the high fees that have resulted from the non-implementation of the Dr. Kilemi Mwiria Task Force Report. I want the Chairperson to clarify how many of these spaces have been taken by children, especially the ones from the affirmative action areas in the rural areas and how those positions were filled in the said national schools because the selection panel does not sit again. How are those positions filled? 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. Wangari! You are not issuing a new statement; you are seeking clarification from what came out of the Statement. So, can you make it brief?

All right, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. The CS talks about a press release that they did on the implementation of the Dr. Kilemi Mwiria Report. I want the Chairperson to confirm whether that can be taken to be a legally binding module of the implementation or whether we are expecting gazettement of the same and how soon, especially on the guidelines of the fees? Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

Proceed, Sen. Karaba.

Thank you very much---

Order, Sen. Karaba! Sen. Wetangula, if you wish to intervene, please, put it as an intervention. Otherwise, I thought you were seeking the Floor to debate. Sen. (Prof.) Anyang’-Nyong’o, is it a debate or an intervention?

If it is an intervention on this issue, then please do it under intervention. Proceed, Sen. Wetangula.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, can the Chairperson of the Committee tell us why we are having an avalanche of contradictory policy statements from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology on matters of education in the country? Why have they banned, even without seeking public participation, ranking of schools and candidates? But more importantly, I want the Chairperson to tell us if there is a deliberate policy to compromise the standards of national schools? I have seen that in some national schools, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology is imposing candidates with marks as low as 207 to join Form 1 in national schools.

Yes!

We know of schools that have been having a very good track record of good performance but when you now load on children – it is unfortunate that children do not pass exams for various reasons but the reasons you have those schools and intake is to take in children who have passed and qualified to go to those schools. When you take in a child with 207 marks to a national school, are you helping the school to maintain the national standards that you are looking for or the national school is simply a place for regional-ethnic equilibrium? If it is for the equilibrium, tell us so that we know it is a policy so that we take it that way. But, if it is for maintaining standards, we want standards across board; whether it is in Garbatula, Maseno, Alliance, Mang’u High Schools or wherever else. 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 only have two questions. One is on the disbursement of primary schools funds, and so on and so forth. The Chairperson has extensively elaborated how that is given and I understand from the schools I have looked at that the headmaster is both a headmaster and a bursar. One, are these headmasters given training for financial accounting and management? If so, how do you expect so many headmasters nationally to handle those funds effectively and fairly as your Statement seems to indicate? Two, can the Chairperson explain to us what the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology is doing to handle so many complaints that arose out of the Form One intake from parents, teachers and Kenyans in general including what Sen. Wetangula pointed out? To what extent has the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology handled these concerns or are these concerns so irrelevant to the Ministry that people are now frustrated and calling for the resignation of the Cabinet Secretary (CS)?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the net result of asking a child who scored 270 marks or below 300 marks to join a national school – in fact, in Kamusinga High School, we have a child with 207 marks - is that a child in the locality of that particular national school who has scored over 400 marks ends up missing going to that school. Could the Chairperson tell us whether this is a deliberate effort to frustrate counties and sub-counties, especially in the former Western and Nyanza Provinces who get very high scores in primary schools, not to have children from those counties and sub- counties admitted in local national schools?

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I would like to seek clarification from the Chairperson because he talked about funds being transferred to schools, particularly primary schools. There is a class of schools which are called special schools conducting special education. They have dumb children and other children with disabilities. Can the Chairperson confirm that schools with those children have been given money to run them because I am aware of some schools in Kitui County which have such classes and are duly registered by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, but those streams with children with disabilities have not received any funding for the last two years? Could the Chairperson confirm that these schools with special children receiving education in primary schools have received the funds that are necessary for them to continue with their education? Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

Mr. Chairman, there are several clarifications sought.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. Sen. Wangari wanted to know more about national schools. As indicated, there are now 103 national schools. According to the selection criteria, as I indicated earlier, in the 2014 selection to Form One, the Ministry picked the top two pupils per county. But this year, the Ministry picked three, going by gender. In this case, therefore, it means that a school which does very well - and this one can also include the concerns of Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale and Sen Wetangula - when we get such pupils admitted to schools, we are doing it because we would like to maintain equity, affirmative action in various areas, gender equity and quality of education. It has been observed that even students who score as low as 290 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.

Correct!

That is why they are complaining. But, there are others who have lower performance than these ones are doing and that is why they must come to the good schools in those provinces which are performing well. That is what it is. With that, I have summarized it. Except for Sen. Musila, where I can state that the money given to Free Primary Education (FPE), it is given to both public primary schools and even special schools. Special schools are given more than the regular public schools and I can confirm that they have been given the money. If you have not been given it means that there is a problem of communication between the head teacher of that school and the headquarters. The other issue is about the policy by Sen. (Prof.) Anyang’-Nyong’o---

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

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. Is the Chairperson in order to mislead the House that the reason why those children are admitted with lower marks is because they come from areas where there are no properly established primary schools? The children we are talking about are not from Turkana, Marsabit, Wajir or Mandera; the children I am talking about in Kamusinga and Maseno High Schools, for example, are children from some of the sub-counties in Embu, Meru, Kirinyaga and Murang’a. Are those areas where we have poor primary schools? Is he in order to mislead us?

On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I would like to thank the Chairperson, through the Chair, for considering marginalised areas and accepting children with slightly lower marks to national schools as part of affirmative action.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I can attest that we do not have poor pupils. What we have is poor infrastructure in schools. You will find a student who is in a poorly endowed primary school performing very well when he gets either to a provincial school or a national school. That has been proved. I have even taught, as a teacher, somebody who had scored 200 marks. In the end, he got very high marks. That means that the Ministry should take care of students who cannot afford to go to good primary schools not because of their own making but just because the infrastructure is not adequate. The moment they have proper infrastructure in the good schools, they certainly perform very well. That is all.

On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. Is the Chairman correct to say that the Ministry is doing that because the schools have poor infrastructure? The statement he read says that part of the money given for Free Primary Education (FPE) Programme is supposed to be used for infrastructure. It would be better 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, there are many key players in education matters. Education is a very important factor in the country. We cannot blame the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology for not putting up enough infrastructure. We should blame the communities if they do not put up good infrastructure. Money is also available under the CDF. That is what we should be looking into. As far as the Government is concerned, there should be equity for all Kenyans. That is why we have to take these students to national schools and extra-county schools.

There is a statement that was sought by Sen. (Dr.) Kuti who is not here. There was another one by Sen. Fatuma Dullo. Sen. Karaba, are you ready with the one from Sen. Dullo although I notice that she is not here?

The Statement regarding Garbatulla will be available within the week. There are many problems facing that school. We will come up with a comprehensive report.

So, the statement is not ready? When will you give it?

I will give the Statement by Thursday, the day after tomorrow. IMMINENT BORDER CONFLICT BETWEEN ISIOLO COUNTY AND MERU COUNTY

Sen. Haji, there is a Statement you were to issue that was sought by Sen. (Dr.) Kuti. Is it ready?

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. The Statement is not ready.

So, for the record, when will it be ready?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we are supposed to meet the Cabinet Secretary. However, I will be comfortable with Tuesday next week.

That is the end of Statement time.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have a statement that was sought by Sen. Musila.

Very well. Sen. Musila is here. You can go ahead and issue the Statement. STATUS OF CASH TRANSFER PROGRAMMES

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Mr. Musila wanted to know: (1) the number of senior citizens who are receiving cash transfers in Kenya; (2) to give a breakdown of the number of recipients of the cash transfer for each county with the corresponding populations; and, 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.

Why does he not have a copy?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do not know because I had directed that he be provided with a copy. If he has not--- 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.

I am asking that because if he is going to ask for time to interrogate your Statement because he does not have a copy, then it would take the time of the House. The ideal situation is where he has a copy so that he has time to interrogate your Statement so that he can make reasoned interventions, once you have issued the Statement.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I undertake to give him and he will interrogate it. In case he has any further questions, he will be at liberty to ask.

Sen. Musila, what do you have to say about that?

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for that intervention. My first point was to complain that I do not have the benefit of having to interrogate such an important report that appears to be having volumes of papers, as you rightly said. Before I even go further, would I be in order to ask that you stand down the Chairman to deliver this Statement tomorrow, when he shall have made sure that I have copies of those documents so that I will have the advantage of reading and interrogating them?

On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. If I disagree with you, then I do not have a point of order because I would like to raise my point of order when we can properly interrogate the Chairman of the Committee.

Thank you. I am not quite sure whether it is the Chairman of the Committee who is supposed to give the Statement to the person or it is the Clerk’s Office. I am not taking it for granted that you have taken time to give a Statement but when you came to the issue of having an annexure of names and said that they are many – I think over 4,000 from Kitui, because Sen. Musila may want to verify some of those statements – that is why it is important that the person asking for the Statement should have seen it before it is issued. Only then would they be able to make reasoned and well thought out interventions on the matter; to seek clarifications that are based on what they had seen so that we do not have people going all over the place seeking statements. How long do you have before finishing that Statement?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I was almost finishing.

Still at the request of Sen. Musila, I think we have to stand it down to tomorrow. Four thousand names are a lot and so that he can look at them and be able to tell us whether he is satisfied or not.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am obliged.

Thank you very much. I am sorry about the inconvenience but I think it is important. Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, what is your point of order?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, riding on that directive, we had also asked him last time when he raised it, that he provides us with the statistics--

Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, I have not asked Sen. Madzayo to go and look for further facts or reasons for the Statement. I have just stood it down so that it can be issued tomorrow for Sen. Musila to interrogate it. If you are asking for new things in that Statement, then Sen. Madzayo will ask for two weeks to 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, it is not new.

Well, if it not new then wait for it. You can also get a copy of the Statement from the Clerk’s Office. Sen. Ndiema, do you have a point of order?

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it was on the same because I wanted to enrich that ---

No, you cannot enrich it. You will take time to look at the Statement and then you can enrich it by raising issues. Sen. Madzayo, Chairman of that Committee, you will issue the Statement tomorrow at 2:30 p.m.!

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am obliged.

Now, that is the end of Statements.

Sen. Kisasa, you had eight minutes.

Asante, Bw. Naibu Spika, kwa kunipa muda zaidi ili niendelee na kuchangia Mswada huu ambao tunataka kupitisha. Maana ya harambee ni kujumuika, kutabaruku na kuvuta pamoja. Tukiangalia tutaona ya kwamba huwezi kusema kama kitu si kizuri ama hakifuatwi vile ipasavyo, kitupiliwe mbali. Harambee zinatujenga sana. Nimefanya utafiti na watu wangu kule vijijini na wakanipasha ya kwamba, wao wanaenda kwa harambee, kwa sababu kadha wa kadha.Kwa mfano,malipo ya hospitali hayaepukiki. Sio kila mmoja wetu ana ule uwezo, kibali fulani ama analipiwa na shirika fulani. Hapo ndio watu wangu hutafuta harambee. Lakini tukiangalia mbali na yale malipo ya hospitali, utaona ya kwamba pia kuna malipo mengine ambayo yanahitajika. Kwa mfano, mtu akifa, itabidi kuwe na malipo ya kuhifadhi maiti. Je, watu wangu watafanyaje? Itawabidi wafupishe ule muda wa maiti kukaa katika hifadhi maiti, kwa sababu kile kibali ambacho chatolewa na polisi kwa muda wa kuomboleza labda ni cha wiki moja peke yake. Bw. Naibu Spika, tunapotunga sheria, tusisahau kuwa pia, sheria ni msumeno. Hivi juzi, sisi hapa kwenye Seneti, tulikkukmbwa na msiba, na harambee ilitusaidia. Hivi mnavyotuona, tunang’ara lakini ilibidi pia tutumie harambee. Mmoja wetu alituaga na 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 allowing me this opportunity to contribute to this Bill. First and foremost, is to commend the Mover of this Motion, Sen. (Prof.) Anyang’-Nyong’o. I had the privilege to serve in the ad hoc Committee that came up with this Bill. We went to many counties and, therefore, this Bill meets the threshold of Article 10 of the Constitution which calls for the participation of the citizenry in every matter that is legislative policy in terms of ensuring that decisions that we make conform to the spirit and the general aspirations of the public. I, therefore, wish to commend Sen. (Prof.) Anyang’-Nyong’o through this leadership to have come up with such an elaborate Bill. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the word “Harambee” is on our coat of arms. I think the motto upon which this country was established was that we needed to pull together. I think this motto continues to inform the very work about putting our nation State into one of the first class nations in the world and particularly in Africa. The word “Harambee” in its connotation as we know it today is almost one of those things that every politician shudders when they hear it being mentioned. I therefore---

On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I would like to bring to your attention what I have just seen happen here. When Sen. Kisasa just crossed the Floor to greet Sen. (Prof.) Anyang’-Nyong’o very casually without bowing to the Chair. She then canvassed and then crossed back without bowing to the Chair and then walked out. I want you to note that.

(Sen. (Dr.) Machage): I did not see, but I have noted.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, that is a good observation. Members should not criss-cross the Floor of the Senate without following the procedures as required by the Standing Orders. That said and done, I was congratulating, Sen. (Prof.) Anyang’-Nyong’o on the HANSARD on the job that he has done. I think if you look at Section 3 of this Bill, it clearly sets out the objects of this Bill. It is about procedural fairness, transparency, 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, thank you for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this Bill. Let me from the outset commend those who started the harambee spirit in this country. We have seen a lot of good that has come from the harambees especially in the past. These include building of schools, clinics, supporting those who were not able to do certain social activities and so on. In some of the areas where education excelled, we know that many of those schools were built on the spirit of harambee. In the religious sector, many churches have been built. The religious sector is also part of our social life and contributes a lot to the nation and to the society. The benefits of harambee can certainly not be gainsaid. At the same time, there have been unscrupulous people who may have misused harambees for their own benefit. I think that the good definitely outnumbers the bad. 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 rise to add my voice in support of the Public Fundraising Bill which was brought to the Floor of this House by Sen. (Prof.) Anyang’-Nyong’o and his team. I congratulate them because in the past, harambees were abused. I remember we used to have politicians contributing a lot of money for construction of classrooms in many schools throughout the country. However, they would go back to those schools the following day and collect the money that was raised because they were friends to principals. In the eyes of people, they seemed to have contributed money when in actual fact, they had not contributed anything to that school. It used to happen and I have full proof of that. However, we should not forget that the spirit of harambee is a very good idea because our own people in the counties are very poor. Some of them come from slum areas and they do not have sufficient money to either pay for their medical bills or for burial. I remember I went to a slum area called Rafiki. As I was passing, I was told there was a dead body. An old lady had died in a small hut. I went in to see the dead body. We found the lady lying on a gunia covered with a very old blanket. The person in charge was a very young girl of about 12 years. She had a book sourcing for the harambee. In the book, you could see people had contributed Kshs10, Kshs20 and so forth. Poverty is rampant in the country. Our people need us, as politicians to help them. They voted for us so that we work for them. Therefore, we should not dismiss harambees at the grassroots level. Harambees should be there even if we regulate them. We cannot regulate a harambee meant to raise Kshs10,000 or Kshs5,000 for school fees for a child, help in a burial of somebody or to pay for medical bills. There are common harambees like what I see around. The trend is where a Senator goes to a harambee to meet the Governor or Member of National Assembly and they contribute Kshs2 million or Kshs3million. As a Senator, maybe you have Kshs5,000 or Kshs10,000. That is why we need full accountability. If somebody’s salary is below the amount he is contributing, where are they getting a lot of money to lure the voters around? In the end, the common

will vote in the wrong leaders because of the money with which they attract voters. In my area, without money, I do not think you will be perceived as a capable leader.

So, you have to try to match the other leaders so that when it comes to elections, they may look at you as a good leader. The Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) plays a key role in building schools which in the past was done through harambees. However, this should not make the public believe that Members of the National Assembly are better performers than other legislators. We know that the CDF money is money from the Government to the public. It is money we have devolved to counties. We, as Senators, are not in charge of any kitty. So, someone running the CDF, paying school fees, writing cheques and putting up schools should not be seen as better leader. If I give Kshs5,000 from my small salary I am perceived to be a bad leader . Those who give cheques worth Kshs2 million or Kshs1.5 million should not be perceived 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 join my colleagues in noting the work that harambees have done in this country right from our founding President who is like the father of harambees and the harambee spirit in this country. I am a beneficiary of harambees. Were it not for harambees, I would not have gone to high school. Therefore, I would not be here today. I thank Sen. (Prof.) Anyang’-Nyong’o for bringing this Bill in terms of regulating what is already in existence in the community. The specific issue that I support is the issue of transparency in harambees. However, I find it very difficult to accept that if I need to do a harambee, then I have to get a permit from some place or from a committee that has a whole vertical structure. If they do not like me, they will deny me the licence and I will have seven days to appeal. I am speaking on behalf of the very far flung areas in this country. Last Sunday, I had a harambee of a patient who is going through dialysis in a place called Miti Mingi in Gilgil, Nakuru. Every session of dialysis in Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) costs Kshs8,000. This is expensive for someone who does not have a source of livelihood and lives very far. That person has to pay like Kshs300 to get to the road so as to access the road to Nakuru Town. I am assuming that the county headquarters will be the headquarters of the regulatory committee of harambees. Looking at those logistics, I find it very sad that we will put in place bottlenecks and bureaucracies to make sure that people can raise money. Of course, there are people who have abused the process and fundraised for things that are non-existent. Even we, as leaders, have fallen into the trap one time or the other. Someone can say that they are burying their grandmother. Tomorrow, they have something else. It actually happened to me just a while ago. Someone came to me with a photograph of a badly bandaged face and told me: “My son is in Nakuru Provincial General Hospital. He is almost dying. He is in a coma and we need to get him out.” I asked him, “What ward is your son admitted to?” That story changed completely and they started saying, “No, he was discharged yesterday. Now, he is at home.” After just a little investigation, I found that it was a fictitious story. 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 this opportunity to also add my voice to this Bill. I will start by appreciating the Committee. I am a Member of this Committee that is chaired by Prof. Anyang’-Nyong’o and deputized by Sen. Joy Gwendo. It has taken sometime for us to come up with this Bill which is in the Second Reading. Harambees have been very useful in this country. Many people have been educated even overseas through harambees. Also through harambees we have helped our communities whenever they face challenges, especially with regard to paying hospital bills and meeting funeral expenses and other celebrations. We have depended on harambees to build schools, which should actually be a function of the Government. Unfortunately, harambees have been misused and some people have taken advantage of it. Parents have become lazy or failed to take up their responsibilities because they know that somehow they will approach Members of the County Assemblies (MCAs), Members of the National Assembly, Senators or Governors to contribute. We, as a Committee, noted that there is no accountability on the money that is collected through harambees. For example, out of Kshs100,000 contributed in a harambee, maybe only Kshs20,000 will be utilized for the purpose for which the harambee was organized. The rest goes to people’s pockets. That is why we came up with the measures, including what Sen. Martha has mentioned. For you to hold a fundraiser you must get a permit. The board should know about your harambee that is meant to collect money for a specific purpose. Many people approach leaders with many problems. If they are not assisted, they even send abusive text messages and a reminder that 2017 is around the corner. Some even say that they will ensure that you will not be re-elected. They even forget that some of us were not elected. We are here because of what we did for our political parties. Yes, harambees have played a bigger role in the society. However, it is the right time that we moved out of this system because there is a better way of doing things. I always ask myself: Are harambees going to end poverty? Currently, we have devolution. We, as the Senate, maybe we should now demand that the national Government shares revenue equally with the county governments. The national Government should allocate 50 per cent revenue to the county governments and remain 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, thank you for giving me an opportunity to also add my voice to this Bill. I would like to note what my fellow colleague, Sen. Wangari, said earlier, that harambee spirit was introduced by the founding father of the country, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. When it was introduced, we agreed that it was a good idea then. It helped educate children like most of us. We know that so many of us who are in this House have benefited from harambee. It helped the society to pay hospitals bills and things like that. However, we also have to agree that it has reached a time that people are misusing these harambees. For example you get people asking you to do harambee to take their children to school. You do a harambee with one good spirit 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 rise to strongly support this particular Bill. It is so clear in my mind that the press can have an opportunity tomorrow or thereafter to pen that we were discussing about the abolition of harambees. This is not the case. What we are doing is that having found harambee is a way of our lives and having gone through all those good and bad experiences that the people who have spoken before me have mentioned, we now must accept that there is need for us to make sure that the process is transparent and accountable. As we do this, we have to be very cautious because some people can come out being hurt, when the people we are targeting are the ones who are the problem. Therefore, it brings to question as to why people do harambees in the first place. They do harambees because the Government, like the Jubilee Government, has failed to offer social services. If you do not offer nursery schools, dispensaries, water points, people will---

On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. While I respect my Senator, from my county, is he really in order to say that harambees are there because the Jubilee Government has failed and he knows very well that harambees started with the first President of this country? Therefore, is he in order to say that Jubilee Government has failed and that is why harambees are going on, when he know that harambee has been a tradition for Kenyans?

(Sen. (Dr.) Machage): He is a politician; I cannot gag him from expressing his opinion. Continue, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale. 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, when the Government fails to provide social services - and the distinguished nominated Senator will soon come to terms with this reality. When she will then ask to be elected, is when she will discover that these social services are the very reason she is being asked to go and preside over a funds drive in order to raise funds for them to have access to them. It is not a laughing matter. We have done it for the last 15 years. Sen. Orengo has done it for the last 30 years and so on. Harambees take place as they do today because the Government has failed---

On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the Senator for Kakamega is really out of order to say that until one is elected---

(Sen. (Dr.) Machage): Order! It is for me to say whether he is out of order or not, just state your point of order.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, is he in order to say that until you are elected to this House is when you can do any social activity in this country? I have carried out so many social activities in this country and I am still doing so. Therefore, I do not find it right for any Kenyan to be told that until you are elected to Parliament is when you deal with social activities. It is out of order completely.

(Sen. (Dr.) Machage): Well, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, could you desist from irritating Sen. Elachi?

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. Sen. Elachi, my younger sister; hold your horses; you are not the Government.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, when the Government fails to contain high levels of poverty, people do harambees. They just do not do it in the standard way. We do harambees every evening as we drive home in the traffic jam, where we have young ladies with three little children who do not have food. So, they come to us in the traffic jams doing harambees from one motorist to the other. We are pooling together to feed the poor of this country because the Government is unable to have a policy on feeding the poor. The Government has failed. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, people do harambees because the Government has failed to rein in on corruption and impunity. In fact, to use the words of Sen. (Prof.) Anyang’-Nyong’o, harambees feed on corruption. If people think that this is a mere theory, let me give you two things that the President did that were the exact opposite. The first one, which was very commendable is when the President went into an engagement with some foreign country or countries to procure Kshs38 billion worth of medical equipment. That was commendable leadership because what will happen? With this equipment now, the harambees that people used to do in Kakamega and Laikipia counties, for example, so as to have access to radiation therapy, renal dialysis machines 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): Order, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale! Who told you that the President only responds to pinches from his wife?

I am sorry, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. Being a happily married man, I am used to being pinched many times to be reminded---

(Sen. (Dr.) Machage): Order! Then keep that to your own homestead.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I am being very serious---

On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. Is Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale in order to insinuate that Kenyan women get excited when they are pinched? Is this the way of loving and communicating to Kenyan women? Could the Senator substantiate or withdraw?

(Sen. (Dr.) Machage): Order! What I heard, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale say is to the contrary. It is the men who enjoy being pinched by their wives.

But he is out of order, all the same!

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, on this matter, we will not wish away corruption and harambees. The cardinal responsibility of the Government is to provide good governance. Until we rein in on corruption, we can wake up today and charge the distinguished Senator for Kisii on issues of Anglo Leasing. But to some of us who have had access to sit in that Office of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and who have had an opportunity to go to the Integrity Centre to see what is being done about corruption in that file of Anglo Leasing, we know that it is a very thin file like this.

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): Order! Order! Who are Members of the “sky team?” We have no Members of the “sky team’ in this House. We only have Senators in this House.

Indeed, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, it was a slip of the tongue. Your smile is intimidating me until I am---

I was shocked when that Member told me, “Boni, in this country, there is no way---

(Sen. (Dr.) Machage): Are you still talking of members of the “sky team?”

No, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I have run away from that.

(Sen. (Dr.) Machage): So, which Member are you referring to?

I have said “some member,” I did not say “a Member sitting in the Chamber when the Chamber was in Session.” I said sitting in the Chamber, probably, during a Kamukunji ; it was not in a Session; it was when strangers are in the House. So, it could have been a stranger or a Member. This member then says that there is no way you can be a President unless you are a billionaire. I looked at the young man and I asked myself “does he know the history of leadership of this world?” The greatest leader who ever lived; Jesus Christ of Nazareth, did not even have a house; neither did Mandela. Even Kenyatta, they built one for him. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, my time is up. I beg 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.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I also rise, first to thank the Mover of the Bill. For the last 50 years, our motto “harambee” was there to support us in a united way so that we could pool resources together and develop. At that time, the initiative brought members of the families, relatives and friends to fundraise to offset medical bills or even pay for school fees. The whole community came together to assist. I believe its intention was good. However, over the years, the same motto has changed; it has become a different initiative. That is where the Bill now comes in to address the different challenges that we face. When politicians who are the victims - but they are also the ones who started and changed the whole process because it became a competition for the new comers who are trying to fight for political positions. Therefore, you find that some have the resources and others do not have. The churches then took advantage of the same process. You will find a whole team lined up in a church and every person has to contribute an amount. What we need to ask ourselves is whether these resources that we give are accounted for or not? How are the resources used? Are we able to account for them? I can vouch for some churches because they have done well with harambee money. We have put up many church buildings through Harambee. I believe the church can guide us on how to spend Harambee funds. Today, we have changed the system because we have realized that you can invite people for so many of these harambees and find them wondering what you are doing. So, what most of the mainstream churches have done is to apportion some amount of money to be contributed by each family towards their activities. For example, the Catholic Church gives its followers a timeframe within which to contribute the said amount. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, my Senator from Kakamega has alluded to the fact that there are scarce resources in this country and we have to participate in harambees to assist our people. Yes, I agree with him that we need to pool resources together. I would rather even give less, but ensure that I support him. We as comrades and friends within our community can come together and pool our resources to assist one another. However, there are people who have used harambees for their selfish ends. They go to harambees and contribute more than Kshs50,000 while we contribute Kshs5,000 because we depend on our salaries. Others flush out Kshs100,000 or Kshs200,000 because we are guests of honour. This has changed the whole notion of harambee spirit. In this scenario, you will find that the community is against you because you do not contribute generously like Senator so and so. In fact, they wonder why you cannot contribute generously like their Member of National Assembly or a Governor. You will even find people starting to boo you and gossip you that you do not contribute in harambee. This is the culture this Bill has to cure. This culture has now been inculcated into us. Our people feel it is a must for us to contribute a certain amount of money in harambee. This now boils down to corruption, as the Senator was saying, because you are forced to go around and seek donations in order to please your people, which is not right. So, as we bring in this Bill, we are not banning harambees in this country. I know that for now, we have those who are in dire need of money to pay for medical expenses. 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 would like to thank Members of the Ad Hoc Committee on Legislation on Harambees led by the able Sen. (Prof.) Anyang’-Nyong’o for coming up with this Bill. In the public domain, there seems to be some apprehension that the Senate is seeking to abolish harambees. After reading this Bill properly, I am convinced that is not the intention of the Bill to do so. If you look at the manner in which this Bill has been reported in the media and the information that has flown to people who do not have the privilege of sitting in this House, there is a perception that the Senate wants to ban harambees because politicians do not want to give out what they earn to public causes. A proper reading of this Bill indicates that the Bill seeks to replace the Public Collections Act which is obsolete. When you read it, you will wonder why it should still be holding in this time and age. When you politicise this Bill, you will find people saying that Prof. Anyang’-Nyong’o and Sen. Moses Kajwang and others by extension in this House will be fighting some people who go around flying in choppers and doing development modules that are hinged on harambees. 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 also rise to contribute to and support this Bill. This is because it is coming at a time when my previous colleague did mention that we are at crossroads where the spirit of harambee is being misused by some people in this country, yet it was meant to uniquely define Kenya. If you recall the words that were spoken at Independence, the first President of the Republic of Kenya and his colleagues, did speak and talk of harambee – the spirit in which an African was supposed to take leadership of their own people and land and chart their own destiny. Kenya was colonized by the United Kingdom (UK) and a number of very good farming land was occupied by the “white” people. It was not very easy that they were going to still continue to support the new leadership that had come in to take over the reigns to lead themselves. So, it was so noble that those leaders coined the word “harambee”, to mean rallying the people of Kenya together, to build this young nation and bring together the over forty tribes under one umbrella. It is through the harambee spirit that most of the buildings that you see standing – the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) and all the others during those five years from 1963 to 1969 – were built. This is when that rallying call brought everybody together. harambee calls upon, and depends on the spirit of the power of numbers, where when you bring the unity of the people together, there is nothing that you cannot do. This is why this spirit of harambee permeated from village to village, community to community, province to province and district to district at that time. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, in my county to date, I have 520 primary schools which were built through the spirit of harambee, support of the church and some donors; no Government hand. If anybody runs around saying we need to remove the spirit of harambee so that we replace it with some genuine hand of Government, I do not know which Government that is, unless it is one that is led by completely different people and not Kenyans. Over 82 secondary and 900 nursery schools in my county were purely built out of the harambee spirit funds. To us, this was like a godsend opportunity to be able to marshal our ability and our resources. When we combine our resources, we can scale the heights. You also remember that we had some universities like Moi and Maseno universities which were built through the harambee spirit. The then President would lead during those harambees and other leaders would join in. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, some people began to mess up with the proceeds from the harambee spirit, but that does not mean that we should do away with harambee. We should craft regulations and laws that can create a niche for harambee and make it a Kenyan product that can brand the way Kenya is today. During that time, I know some senior Members can remember that in Tanzania, they were talking about Ujamaa . It modeled the spirit of unity in that country while Kenya was driven with the spirit of harambee and we have thus come this far. Previously we had ranking of students and schools according to their performance in Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE). However, just because of some minor malpractice, we have ended up removing what was making Kenya a unique choice of education destination. People like a 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 very useful Bill, especially at this time in Kenya when we are trying to streamline and make sure that people do not fundraise just for the sake of it. Even though the issue of harambees has been so common in Kenya and, indeed, very useful in many ways, we know that it has been abused. We know of cases where people started off with a pre-wedding, but they never got married. We also know of people who “killed” their parents because of harambee. We lost it somewhere along the line as far as the process of collection and utilization of those funds is really concerned. This is why Sen. (Prof.) 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 important Bill that has been brought by our friend, Prof. Anyang’-Nyong’o. As stated in its memorandum of objects and reasons, the principal object of this Bill is to provide for the establishment of a regulatory mechanism at the national and county levels, which oversee the conduct of fundraising appeals and provide for licensing and regulation of fundraisers and promotion of transparency and accountability in the conduct of fundraising appeals. This is, indeed, a timely and very noble objective. From the history of the harambee movement, it started with very noble objectives, as per the calls by the first President of this country. But over time, the harambee movement has been grossly abused and people have lost responsibility. Today when a child is born, even men who never used to be called to such functions before, are now invited for harambee to go and see the new baby. So, we contribute to buy clothes for the new baby. As the baby grows up, we are called at various stages of his or her life. So, the baby ceases to be a personal responsibility. The responsibility for raising up a child is transferred to the community. When the baby gets sick or goes to school, we are called for a harambee. When that child has passed her examinations well, we are called to go and congratulate him or her. When he or she goes to university, we have to meet again to send that child there. When he or she is now grown up and about to get married, we are called again to do a pre-wedding. It goes on and own. When they are grown up now and get sick, we are called to take them to India. Finally, when they die we are also called for another harambee to give them a decent escort out of this world. The harambee movement has been distorted and is now an instrument for disempowering people. It is an instrument for basically denying people their responsibility for their actions. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, time has come for Kenyans to be responsible. You have to take responsibility at a personal level, family level, community level and at the national level. We cannot use harambee to dodge these responsibilities. This matter is not new. This is an old debate in this country. Hon. Sen. (Prof) Anyang’- Nyong’o is very 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 allowing me to add my voice to this sensitive Bill. First, I want to thank the sponsor of this Bill who is Sen. (Prof.)--- I have forgotten the name.

Sen. (Prof.) Anyang’-Nyong’o.

Yes, Sen. (Prof.) Anyang’-Nyong’o. Thank you very much for reminding me. The issue of harambee is a noble cause, but it is sometimes misused and it becomes meaningless. I want to support the harambee spirit because it is a noble cause, helping one another to achieve an objective that will benefit a society, community or family that is in hardship. Indeed, it is important to have these harambees being controlled by having a body that will control the way they are being managed and run, for us to have something that will touch the life of a person in the community. If I can remember or flashback to some years back when harambees were banned and the CDF came in place; when you look at the challenges that the common mwananchi or Kenyans citizens were facing through the harambee process, you find that the banning of harambee helped so much and the community and CDF came in place to support. So many projects have been done, especially construction of schools and other facilities. However, sometimes people or the community is forced to come up with harambee to support the neglected projects that are normally called “white elephants” because of political reasons, whereby after the sitting Member of National Assembly, maybe did not manage politically, the incoming new Member ignores the projects that were started by the former Member. So, it is the community again, through their initiatives that is forced to come up with such a harambee to support the finishing of such projects. These harambees support the education systems. When you look at the way bursaries are distributed under the CDF, you will see that they are not given out equally. Some parents, due to political reasons, are forced to come up with harambees so as to support the education of their families and to pay hospital bills. If we have a body that will monitor harambees, then we will have some sanity in the whole thing. We will also create genuineness in harambees that are held. At times you can go to your constituency and find that you have almost 20 harambees on one Saturday. One is left wondering how to divide himself so as to attend all of them. It is even more difficult for us, Senators, who do not have other sources of money, but depend on salaries. As my colleague has said, when you give out small amounts, people are left gossiping and saying; “a whole Senator is giving us Kshs5,000 or Kshs2,000.” When you multiply the Kshs5,000 by 20, you will find that you cannot make it. 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): Hon. Senators, we have come to the end of today’s House Business. The Senate, therefore, stands adjourned until tomorrow, 11th March, 2015, 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.