Hon. Senators, I take this opportunity to welcome you back from the recess. In accordance with the Senate Calendar adopted by the House on 27th September, 2017, this last part of the First Session will end on 7th December, 2017. It is a fact that we have had a tumultuous electioneering process. It is gratifying to see the process come to an end at last. Hon. Senators, with the elections behind us, we must now move forward as a united nation and, as the Legislature, make service to the people of Kenya our earnest endeavour, in line with our constitutional mandate. Let me hasten to add that as national leaders, it is our collective and individual responsibility to spearhead the healing and reconciliation of our country and to create a conducive environment for social cohesion, economic growth and national development. I urge that we all strive towards achieving this end. Hon. Senators, I would like to refer you to the Communication I issued on 7th November, 2017, during which I directed the Senate Majority and Minority parties’ leadership respectively, to submit names of Senators for appointment to serve in the various Senate Committees. You will recall that I had directed that the names be submitted by 20th November, 2017. Today is 29th November, 2017, but I have not received any names to date. Hon. Senators, the failure to constitute Select Committees has caused delays in the processing of the business of the House. This is because, as I stated in my earlier Communication, legislative business is majorly processed through Select Committees. This includes processing of Bills, Resolutions on Motions, consideration of reports such as the annual reports on accounts of various public entities, consideration of sessional 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. Speaker, Sir, in the last Senate, we had a similar Petition, probably by the same person but I am not sure. That Petition is clearly incompetent, contrary to law and unconstitutional. Cannabis sativa, commonly called marijuana, bangi and so on, is prohibited by the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. When the world is moving away from cigarette smoking, how can the Senate of the Republic of Kenya entertain a matter to legalise smoking of cannabis sativa ? That Petition should not have any day before any Committee of this House. It is contrary to public morality, public policy and the law and it is not for the good of this country anywhere. We all come from villages and the fellows who smoke cannabis sativa look like they are mentally disturbed. Many of them are permanently dazed, incapable of making any rational decisions and are quarrelsome. As a law practitioner, I have gone to court to defend criminals whose only mitigation is that they were under the influence of

. How can this Senate entertain such an incompetent Petition? I urge you, with the assistance of the clerks-at-the-Table, to find a suitable Standing Order to reject that Petition and not subject any Committee of this House in looking at matters that offend public morals, public good and public law.

Thank you, senator for Bungoma County. Sen. Cheruiyot Aaron Kiptui.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the correct name is “Kipkurui”. Not Kiptui. Thank you for giving me this chance. I also agree with the sentiments of the Senate Minority Leader, that this Petition falls below the threshold of what we should consider as a House, despite the fact that it is properly and expressly provided for in the Constitution that there is the right to petition. In my very considered opinion, we cannot waste valuable House time. This is especially considering that we have very pressing matters. We have not been able to discharge our duties and so, we cannot start addressing such petitions. I agree that you do not need to conduct research to see whether there are any health benefits or otherwise, other than physically spending time or listening to people who have used or abused this drug. The results are there for you to see. There is nobody that you can look at, be proud and say that this is a successful man because of his long interaction with marijuana . So, I oppose the bringing of this Petition before this House. Let me also just remind the House that during the debate in the last Senate when we discussed the Petition that was brought before us, a Senator from the Party of the Senate Minority Leader who was then running for President confessed before this House that he had been a long time user of marijuana . It weighed heavily on his ambitions to run for President. I oppose this Petition. 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. Speaker, Sir

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I stand to oppose the petition on the growth and consumption of Cannabis Sativa. We all know that this is a House of record. Ten, 20, 30 or forty years down the line; Kenyans will judge this Senate harshly. At a time when there are many issues that this Senate should be discussing and taking a position on, it defeats basic morals that precious time and resources of this honorable House will be spent discussing the possibility of growing and allowing the consumption of CannabisSativa at a time when the world is clearly moving away from the consumption of such drugs. I want it to go on record that the consumption of Cannabis Sativa has been associated with all manner of ills in this country and our societies. Allowing the petitioner to be heard by this honorable House to push forward the agenda of growing and consuming Cannabis Sativa goes against basic principles of public morality. I beg to oppose.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise to comment on this petition. I am not going to oppose it for various reasons which I want everyone to listen to. I think that we are in a democratic country. As the Senate of a young democracy, we should allow different views. I lived in the United States of America (USA) for many years. In many states in the USA, Cannabis Sativa is allowed to be grown for medicinal purposes. When I was in the USA, I was told that the plant has two chemicals; one which impacts the way the brain works called cannabidiol and the other one part is called tetrahydrocannabinol which is the chemical present in every pain killer especially the strong painkillers available in the market. 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. Speaker, Sir, I also want to concur with the Senator for Narok County that we should not dismiss this petitioner. When I was studying in California, there were certain farmers that were allowed to grow this plant for medicinal purposes. What I learnt from there is that they had also been given an opportunity to use it, especially those who are suffering from cancer. I did not have time to research on it but they believed that if you use this plant, then the pain is reduced especially for cancer patients. I am not aware whether we have done research on this plant. Therefore we must allow this petition to be looked into so as to challenge our researchers to research on such kind of important petitions that are brought before us. This will enable us to ascertain its benefits as claimed in the USA, especially California. If the claim is true, Kenyans will also be able to benefit from what is also called Marijuana or ndom. However, is the plant going to be strictly used for medicinal purposes? A true Christian as I am– I would like to inform Sen. Cheruiyot that I am a reverend in case he is not aware that I am ordained – my morals cannot allow the use of Marijuana because of what I have witnessed as its side effects. There is a lot of theory about the plant by the young people who claim that if they use the plant, they can be able to face young ladies squarely. They claim that it gives them extra courage. Some people also claim that if they The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to guide the House on comments on petitions; we are not supposed to be discussing the merits and demerits of the petition. We are supposed to make comments without necessarily going into the merits and demerits of the petition. In future, this should be observed. Having said that, I have heard the sentiments from other Members; I have heard the Senate Minority Leader, my friend, Sen. Cheruiyot from Kericho County and I could not agree with them more. However, this House has rules and regulations. We have Standing Orders on how we are supposed to dispose of petitions. Therefore, we cannot just dismiss a petition on the Floor of the House at the stage of making comments on the petition without allowing the petition to be referred to the relevant committee because we have that provision; that whenever a petition has been presented, it has to be referred to the relevant committee. I would like to state that this particular petitioner is within his rights as provided for in the Constitution. Article 37 of the Constitution provides that any citizen can present a petition to any public institution. Article 191 of the Constitution is very specific that any citizen can present a petition to Parliament. This is part of Parliament. Therefore, let us do justice to this petitioner and to the petition that is before us. I plead with my colleagues that rather than dismiss this petition at this stage when we are supposed to be making just comments, we treat it just like any other petition and refer it to the relevant committee that will look into the merits and demerits of the same. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I will personally never support the consumption of Cannabis

or Marijuana. In Luhya, we call it Inzaka. I know the devastating effects of

I have family members in the wider family and I have witnessed this particular drug destroy their lives completely. Therefore, I would be the last to advocate for the consumption of cannabis sativa

but I will defend to the last minute the right of the Kenyan who has petitioned this House to look into this matter. Let them come to the relevant Committee and present their scientific research that they have done on the drug. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I, therefore, want to urge you to ignore the requests made by the Senate Minority Leader and Sen. Cheruiyot, that we dismiss this Petition at this stage. They say that we do not want to waste precious time of this House to discuss something that is illegal. It is this House that makes laws, so if it is illegal and it reaches a stage that the House thinks that it should be legal, this is the right place to initiate the move. I support that the Petition be referred to the relevant Committee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I am inclined to support hon. Khaniri and Sen. Ledama’s position, purely on procedural merit and not necessarily the details of the Petition. The fact that this has been balloted already and is moving on to a Committee, that is our job to do. We are strong enough to deal with any Petition. The Constitution says that any Kenyan can petition Parliament on anything. If we have been 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. For those remaining, I will limit the time because we only have 10 minutes. Sen. Ongeri Samson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Without a word of doubt,

should never find its way for discussion in this honourable August House. It is one of those substances that we all know are intoxicating. It is one of those substances that are anti-social because somebody who is under Cannabis Sativa has no control over his or her faculties. It would be morally wrong to justify it on the basis that because it has been presented as a Petition, we should allow it simply because somewhere else, for example, in the United States of America (USA) it is has been practiced and known to be medicinal. I do not disagree that there are certain pains which are beyond the threshold. Therefore, in purely medical prescription one can then be given to be able to alleviate the pain. However, to simply say - we are all privy to the fact that this is one of the substances which is destroying our youths and society - that the Senate should be in the fore front of supporting this type of Petition, it would be wrong. I talk from a position of knowledge that there are ways and means of knowing which would be a medicinal or a non-medicinal plant. One of the things that I know and understand fully is that Cannabis Sativa can never be a medicinal plant other than one that causes a lot of destruction and damage. In fact, the previous weekend I met a young unemployed man, and when I looked at him he looked very normal and extremely wonderful only to discover later the kind of mess he had made in his previous place of work because of Cannabis Sativa. We call it

It promotes anti-social activities and gives people false confidence. When one has this false confidence they can do anything under the sun thinking that they are right when they are disastrously wrong. As a House of elders and ladies, we should be able to discourage any habit that has a direct bearing on psychotropic effects on the brains of our young growing population. Even if it goes to the Committee on Health---

Professor your time is up. Sen. Mwaura Isaack. 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. Speaker, Sir. I rise to make my comment on

. I am reminded of an incident where another Member of Parliament (MP) in the National Assembly and I happened to have boarded a boat at Dunga Beach in Lake Victoria in Kisumu which was clearly written Odheng’ Nyasore in dholuo. We had negotiated on how far they will take us but in the middle of the lake, the person clearly on Cannabis told us that he would swim away and leave us in the boat if we did not increase the amount of money. We feared for our lives because some of us did not know how to swim. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am giving this short story to underscore the kind of interference that happens when our young people---

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

What is your point of order Senate Majority Leader?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I do not mean to interrupt my colleague but considering this subject and what has already been expressed by many people including the distinguished professor of medicine, am I in order to request that we reduce the time for this subject at least for today because we have so many businesses and more serious issues other than cannabis sativa? Am I in order to request that you limit the time to two minutes for the contributors who are still on the log?

Continue, Sen. Mwaura. I will give the rest remaining Senators two minutes to contribute.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Clearly, the issue about this crop is really controversial. According to my basic research, there could be some evidence that this plant could have some medicinal value. There are many instances that have been cited to suggest that it can help some people. However, even then, it is controversial; it has not been proved beyond reasonable doubt that the medicinal extractions could be beyond reproach. Therefore, we are a young democracy and a young country. Our youth are prone to this drug abuse because of many predisposing factors. In my opinion, let us also be educated about this issue. I would urge the House to argue the merits and demerits of this plant in the Committee so that those of us, like myself who oppose, can also learn what it is that is there because we are here to be informed and to be persuaded, even if it is for the record purpose of the House. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I urge that we commit this Petition to the relevant Committee.

Ahsante, Bw. Spika. Nchi yetu ni nchi ambayo inafuata sheria. Katika sheria za Kenya, imebainika wazi kabisa kwamba kila Mkenya ako na haki ya kusikizwa. Jambo ama ombi kama hili ambalo limetoka kwa Mkenya yeyote popote alipo, anayomatumaini ambayo ameyaweka ndani ya Nyumba ya Seneti. Ombi lake ni kwamba, apewe nafasi asikizwe. Sheria ya Kenya inasema ya kwamba, hakuna Mkenya ambaye hatapewa nafasi ya kusikizwa kabla uamuzi kufanywa. Sisi hapa tunajadiliana jambo hili lakini ni muhimu kumpa huyu Mkenya nafasi kupitia kwa Kamati husika kulingana na sheria za 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. Speaker, Sir for giving me this opportunity. I am not supporting or opposing this Petition. Listening to some of the contributions of my colleagues, I am a little saddened that there is talk about never allowing this kind of petitions with regard to Marijuana into this August House. A lot of the discussions are from a moral angle as opposed to the angle of understanding exactly the meaning of drug and drug use in our communities and in our country. I do not know why we are burying our heads in the sand with regard to the use of drugs, in this case Marijuana, and finding a solution to the underlying issues that are driving members of our community to using drugs to the extent of bringing a Petition to this House. It is not just Marijuana, there are a lot of other drugs where we are criminalizing the user but the underlying issues have not been touched upon. Why are our youth using these drugs? We should commit this Petition to a Committee that would investigate why our youth are using these drugs and perhaps educate us. I concur with Sen. Mwaura on this. They should educate us and find out what are some of the underlying issues of drug use and abuse in this country as opposed to saying that it is just that. That, therefore, let us not touch it and that this House is too clean for it. This House, under the law and in our Constitution, needs to give the right to these people and make sure we understand it so that even if it is outlawed now, we make the laws as one of our colleagues said. I would like this House to have an open mind and look into this through the Committees.

Hon. Senators, I know that there is still more interests but we have to make progress. This being a House of procedure, pursuant to Standing Order No.226 (1), the Petition should be committed to the relevant Standing Committee for its consideration. In this case, I direct that once Committees are constituted, the Petition be committed to the Standing Committee on Health. In terms of Standing Order No.226(2), the Committee is required in not more than 60 days from the time of reading the prayer, to respond to the Petitioner by way of a report addressed to the Petitioner and laid on the Table of the Senate. The period of 60 days will start running from the date of constitution of the Committee. I thank you. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 2013 – 2017 CBA FOR UNIVERSITIES’ ACADEMIC STAFF

The Second Petition is by the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) regarding the 2013/2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for the universities’ academic staff. 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. Speaker, Sir, I was to talk about that one but since you stopped the debate, then I am entitled to speak on this one as well. It is in order for the Senate to look into this issue of the CBA of the lecturers. For some time now, there have been problems. We are having a hard time with the students because they are always sent 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. Speaker, Sir, I thank you for giving me the opportunity. The Petition before us is extremely important. First, I agree with my colleague that our universities are very important institutions in this Government. Secondly, universities are not only Kenyan. They are international in nature. Universities have students from across the world. Whenever we have challenges like we have had for a while, when CBAs are not implemented we have had closures and demonstrations. Students who come from outside Kenya have been put in a very difficult situation because they come here determined to finish their education within a certain time and they do not. It is with that background that I would like to support that this Petition be looked at notwithstanding the fact that I was in the same Ministry of Higher Education as a Minister and even before that I was a professor of the university. The thing that is worrying is the fact that a CBA by its very nature is about bargaining. When you have bargained and agreed, it is very important to consult widely to ensure that the National Treasury can honour what has been put forward. The challenges that we have had, and I have had this experience, is that sometimes when consultation is not done and agreements are not reached before the National Treasury is involved then it becomes a challenge to implement. I, therefore, agree that this is looked at by the relevant Committee for future’s sake so that whatever is bargained for is done within the limits. There are also institutions that need to be involved, for example, the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) should come in very early, at the point of bargaining so that we do not finish the agreement and then after the agreement has been done, then the SRC says that the salary is not there. It is very important that when we look at salaries, the Commission looks at the salaries from the salary of the President to the salary of the cleaner of the President; so that what is available for bargaining is clear. Again, you cannot bargain out of the blue, you must bargain within certain limits. It is also possible that a lot has been honoured. Maybe in this House, we have not received an official communication but from the press, we are told that some payment has been made. It may be important for that Committee to look at what has been done. I note that the Petition has more than the salaries that were being given. So, it is possible that this Petition can still continue even if the payment was done. The only one thing that worries me is this issue of statutory deductions that are done and are not paid by the universities. In the same Petition, the lecturers are saying that there are deductions that have been done but they were not paid to the right institutions, some including their loans. It is very important to understand what 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 Senator. I see a lot of interest. So, I will give five minutes to those who wish to speak. Proceed, Sen. Nyamunga.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I thank you for giving me this opportunity to make my comments on the Petition that is before the House. First, generally we have agreed that any Petition that is brought before the House should not be dismissed. We should give everybody an opportunity to present their cases to the relevant Committees and come up with the reasons as to whether we should support the Petition or not. Secondly, the issue of CBA at the universities has been a long standing one. It is very important that we look at the issues that they have and do away with the CBAs. It is not only in the education sector. We all know what has happened in the health sector. We have had a lot of problems with the doctors and nurses. It is a long protracted journey that we have come through. So, it is very important that we give this Petition time. We give it to the relevant Committee so that we understand the issues. This is not the time to go into the nitty gritty or understand exactly what is in that Petition. We know that education in Kenya has been interrupted several times. The standard of education in our country is wanting. The number of years that our students spend in the university is unusually long; mostly it is about the salaries. Thirdly, we have a lot of brain drain. Our people are leaving our institutions, be it doctors, whatever department or Ministry. We have had many doctors move from Kenya to other countries to look for greener pastures. So, the issue of salaries is crucial. Even in Parliament, if you were to bring a Petition, we would also bring a Petition about ourselves. It is important that we deal with the issue of salaries so that every sector moves forward. Therefore, I support the fact that we should give this Petition adequate time, understand underlying issues, for instance, why after being given Kshs5 billion just last week, right now, there is also another agitation. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I thank you for giving me this opportunity to support the Petition; that, it should be brought to the House.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker Sir, for giving me an opportunity to add my voice to this Petition that is of national importance. I happen to be a lecturer at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) before joining the The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

Order Members. Let us consult quietly so that we follow the proceedings.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Some years back, most people wanted to associate with teachers and teaching as a noble profession. However, when it comes to higher learning where I teach, students at the university would say that they would never want to become lecturers because you just die miserable since there is no money. Education is supposed to produce leaders who are supposed to be mentors in the area of academics. However, when students cannot see lecturers as their mentors in terms of education, few people would want to join that area. I have also seen students being taught in the universities saying, “I would rather become a business person rather than a lecturer.” Therefore, this is an issue of great concern and this petition is important and it needs to be listened to and given the attention that it deserves. When it comes to the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) – I stand to be corrected – in my understanding, you may agree to disagree but we may come to a common understanding. My suggestion is that the relevant committee looks into this issue so that teachers’ issues are looked into so that they are comfortable as they execute their duties. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on the issue of deductions, at the university, I witnessed deductions are made concerning loans. However, when you go to the bank, you find that the cooperative or the bank has not received the money. So, the committee that is going to deal with this issue should also investigate why deductions are not remitted in good time. We want our lecturers to be happy even when they are teaching our children. Remember, we are all here because we are products of teachers. Therefore, let us accord our teachers what they deserve and let us make teaching a noble profession. Thank you very much for this opportunity.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this important Petition. Those of us who are educators are aware of what this means and how important it is. I agree with my colleagues who say that we should commit this petition to the relevant committee that can look at it in detail and see the best we can do to make this happen for our universities. I want to bring to the Speaker’s attention and other Members that education is a very important aspect in people’s lives and this country. If we want this country to become something important in the world, we need to educate our youngsters. We need educated people and those educated people come from teachers, lecturers and professors. If these teachers are always hungry, paid peanuts or always unhappy, I do not see how they can be useful in class. I have been teaching for 37 years and most of that time, I was hungry. I have gone to the shop to borrow food because there was no enough money to buy food. 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. Speaker, Sir. I stand to support this petition simply because it touches on one of the very important areas in our system and in our nation. We all know how much our young people are affected anytime that the teachers go on strike and when they do not get what they are supposed to get. Our nation depends on the young people today who are still furthering their studies together with even many of us who are still doing the same. Giving the lecturers their right dues is our responsibility. We should also not be exploited and I stand with the members of staff. Therefore, my suggestion is that we make sure that this petition is committed to the right committee so that they can look at all the pros and constitution and advise the House accordingly. This is urgently needed so that we can guide our nation and for our young people to benefit. I therefore support this Petition so that it goes to the right committee for further discussion and guidance.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Before I comment on this issue, allow me just for the record to highly congratulate the young girl, Goldalyn Kakuya, the first girl with albinism who has topped the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) Exams for 2017. This is remarkable and it goes ahead to show that, indeed, any child, given an opportunity, can excel. It goes ahead to demystify issues of children or persons with albinism and indeed disabilities and any other marginalized groups of people. It is quite unfortunate to hear that universities are holding monies that are meant for statutory deductions like the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and, therefore, if you have a loan you end up defaulting because your employer is not submitting that same deduction. It is also unfortunate to hear that the Senate is being petitioned to deal with human resources issues of the public universities. It goes ahead to point that there are serious managerial challenges because unions must not be forced to come to Parliament to seek redress on matters that are purely administrative. If it is about the implementation of the CBA, it would be arguable but the Constitution clearly demarcates that role to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC). Since we are the ones appropriating monies, that is okay, although that also needs to be looked into within the wider gamut of the public debt because it is a serious issue 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.

Proceed, Sen. (Prof.) Ongeri.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. University education is one of the most important elements in equipping the nation with the capacity to deal with multiple problems that we come face to face with in our daily lives. All these Senators here are products of the university education. I believe, as a former Minister for Education and a Professor in the University of Nairobi, that our professors and lecturers are the most poorly remunerated people within our society. Any nation worth its salt produces a very energetic and extremely talented young people who can take over the mantle of nation building. If we fall short of that expectation, then we run into difficulties of a nation groping around, trying to achieve certain milestones because we have failed in the first instance to accept and appreciate the role of the university lectures and those who work with them. I have also been in the government and I must say at this stage that once a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) has been agreed upon, with the same zeal, the element of implementation must take into account where the funds will come from. We must also exercise collective responsibility both at the Cabinet and at the Ministry level in being able to understand why that CBA has been agreed upon and why it has not been acted upon. 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.

Lastly, Sen. (Dr.) Langat.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I want to strongly support that this Petition should go to the Committee for thorough investigation and discussions. University education in this country is going through a lot of challenges, particularly when it comes to issues touching on lecturers. It touches even the parents because whenever students are not being taught in universities – for example now when they are at home – most of the parents are paying for the hostels which their children are not occupying as of now. This is an expense to the parents in this country. It is a reality that universities deduct statutory deductions but do not submit to the relevant institutions. When I was in the university as a lecturer, our five months statutory deductions were never submitted to the relevant institutions and up to today, I am paying for the same. Most lecturers are suffering from the same problem. There was a time when so many lecturers could not attend lessons because they were chased up and down by their guarantors. These universities must be investigated thoroughly so that we get to know if actually the Government surrenders money and the universities have been using it in different ways. For instance, it is mentioned somewhere that three universities have already settled their issues; why not the others? Could it be that the government has been giving money to these universities but they are using it for other purposes; maybe physical 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.

Let us have Sen. Wako.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. This is an important Petition and I agree with my colleagues who have supported it. It should be referred to the relevant Committee for in-depth study and recommendations to this House. In our days, the university was a real university. I regret to say that now universities have become the high schools of our days. The many strikes that have bedeviled the universities do not just involve members of staff who have genuine grievances, but also the students. We saw some of them threatening that they will go on hunger strike in support of the lecturers. I came to learn over the weekend that these strikes affect those who went to universities through the normal channels, that is, they qualified highly and were admitted to the universities. In some universities the strikes do not affect the parallel students who continue with their studies and even sit for their examinations. We know that the parallel students did not qualify or pass as well as those who are admitted through the normal way. So, we are now creating a paradox where the bright students, who mostly come from poor families, are affected while the lesser bright students who come from well-off families that can afford to pay for parallel degree courses benefit. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as I support this Petition, I wish there was a way in which we can also expand on the petitions that come to this House. In the last four years we have had many strikes involving professionals like doctors, nurses, teachers and many people have died in the process. The public service, which is supposed to provide services to the people, almost ground to a halt and people were not benefitting. Even where Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) had been agreed, like with the universities, some are being paid and some are not. We wonder what is happening. In regard to some CBAs, like the one I know involving the governors, it was said that the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) had not approved. I wonder how 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. Senators, I have heard all the comments. Pursuant to Standing Order No. 226(1) the Petition should be committed to the relevant Standing Committee for consideration, in this case, the Committee on Education, Communication and Technology. I direct that once the committees are constituted, the Petition be committed to the said Committee. In terms of Standing Order No. 226(2), the Committee is required in not more than 60 days from the time of reading the prayer to respond to the petitioner by way of a report addressed to the petitioner and laid on the Table of the Senate. The period of 60 days will start running from the date of the constitution of the Committee. I thank you. Next Order!

Mr. Speaker, Sir. I beg to lay the following Papers on the Table of the Senate today, Wednesday, 29th November, 2017:- THE KNCHR REPORT ON THE GENERAL ELECTION 2017 The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights Preliminary Report of the General Election 2017. THE BI-ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CAJ 2017 The Bi-Annual Report for the Commission on Administrative Justice for the period January – June, 2017. 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. Speaker, Sir, I beg to give notice of the following Motion directed to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology:- THAT WHEREAS Article 43 (1) (f) of the Constitution of Kenya explicitly provides for the right to education for all; AND WHEREAS it is the responsibility of the State to ensure that the right to education is enjoyed by all; OBSERVING THAT that the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is the constitutionally mandated body to handle matters of employment, deployment, remuneration and discipline of teachers in all public schools; APPRECIATING efforts made by the national government through the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to improve the teacher pupil ratio 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.

Do you want to do both of them, Sen. Khaniri?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have a second Notice of Motion directed to the Ministry of East African Community Labor and Social Protection

Proceed. NATIONWIDE REGISTRATION OF ALL PLWDS

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to give notice of the following Motion: AWARE THAT the National Council for Persons with Disabilities was established through the Persons with Disabilities Act, 2003; FURTHER AWARE THAT registration of persons living with disabilities is a function of the National Council for Persons with Disabilities; ALSO, AWARE THAT persons living with disabilities are estimated to be about10% of any given population; COGNISANT THAT for purposes of registration of persons living with disability is a mandatory requirement for one to undergo medical examination by a registered medical officer in a registered and certified health facility; AWARE THAT medical services is now a devolved functions; CONCERNED THAT of the nearly 4 million Kenyans living with disabilities who reside in Kenya, there is a very small fraction of the number which is duly registered; FURTHER CONCERNED THAT without proper registration, many persons living with disabilities are denied services because they lack the necessary proof of disability; ALSO CONCERNED THAT owing to lack of accurate data on persons living with disabilities, the government at both levels cannot plan properly for this category of people; NOW THEREFORE, the Senate calls upon the National Council for Persons with Disabilities in collaboration with Ministry of East African Community, Labor and Social Protection and county governments, to carry out a nationwide registration of all persons living with disabilities in order to determine 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. The Senate Leader of Majority, it is your turn to give notices of Motion.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I beg to give first notice of the following Motions: NOTING OF COB ANNUAL COUNTY GOVERNMENTS BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION REVIEW REPORT FOR FY 2016/2017 THAT, the Senate notes the Controller of Budget Annual County Governments Budget Implementation Review Report for Financial Year 2016/2017, laid on the Table of the House on Wednesday, 8th November, 2017. ADOPTION OF SESSIONAL PAPER NO.6 OF 2016 ON NATIONAL URBAN DEVELOPMENT POLICY THAT, this House adopts Sessional Paper No. 6 of 2016 on National Urban Development Policy, laid on the Table of the House on Tuesday, 10th October, 2017. ADOPTION OF THE NATIONAL IRRIGATION POLICY THAT, this House adopts the National Irrigation Policy, laid on the Table of the House on Tuesday, 10th October, 2017 ADOPTION OF SESSIONAL PAPER NO. 2 OF 2016 ON NATIONAL SLUM UPGRADING AND PREVENTION POLICY THAT, this House adopts Sessional Paper No. 2 of 2016 on the National Slum Upgrading and Prevention Policy, laid on the Table of the House on Tuesday, 10th October, 2017.

Next order. We have two statements under Standing Order 46 (2) (a) which we shall take first. I call upon Sen. Cheruiyot to give the Statements. STATUS REPORT ON THE ELECTION OF MEMBERS TO EALA

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise to issue a statement on the progress made in the process of election of Members to represent Kenya in the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA). This is on behalf of the Joint Parliamentary Select Committee on the Election of Members of the East African Legislative Assembly. As Members are aware, 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.

Senators, the other Statement under Standing Order No. 46(2) (a) will be issued tomorrow. We were supposed to move to Statements to be requested and those who are to make the requests are not here, that is the Senator for Makueni and Sen. Kasanga. We therefore move to Statements to be issued. Could we hear from the Senate Majority Leader?

Thank you Mr. Speaker, Sir. We have too many Statements listed for today. Unfortunately, I have two Statements that are ready. The rest are not ready. The Statement sought by Sen. Cherargei, on the status of Karebe Gold Mine Company in Nandi County is ready. He was not in the House last time. Going by tradition, we will have to wait for him. We will issue it when he is in the House. 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 can see Sen. Musuruve. Can you say something?

Thank you Mr. Speaker, Sir and Sen. Dullo. I know that she is making an effort to present elaborate information. I appreciate that. However, on Statement (I), Madam Speaker, I would like to make a clarification that the Article that the question is anchored on is Article 54(2) and not Article 100.

It is Mr. Speaker and not Madam Speaker.

My apologies Mr. Speaker, Sir. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, we will correct that. We will ensure that she has her Statements as soon as they are ready. STATUS OF INCLUSION OF PWDS IN PUBLIC SERVICE ACCESS TO PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN GOVERNMENT BY PWDS, WOMEN AND YOUTH ALLEGED ABUSE OF HUMAN RIGHTS OF PWDS MAINSTREAMING OF LEARNERS WITH DISABILITY IN THE EDUCATION CURRICULUM

Mr. Speaker, Sir, Statement (M) is for Sen. Lelegwe. I do not have this answer, but I have spoken to the Office of the Principal Secretary (PS) of the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government this morning to follow up on it.

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Yes, Sen. Wambua.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. It is okay. I will wait for that Statement, but I want to make a point if you allow me. For us, in this House, the response to the Statement that I sought is just a response, but for the affected community and the families, it is more than just a statement. It is a matter of life and death.

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Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. Sen. Wambua, I do agree with you. Of course, most of the time when we get these statements we always make sure that whatever they are committed to give us as a answer is normally a commitment that they should be able to effect on the ground. I do understand the challenge you are facing. Personally, I will take it up with the relevant Ministry tomorrow and make sure that I give you feedback in the afternoon as we wait for the written statement.

STATUS OF KENYA REGARDING THE HAGUE CONVENTION ON THE CIVIL ASPECTS OF INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTION The final statement is for Sen. Halake which is also not ready. We request that you give us more time.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker and the Deputy Senate Majority Leader. While I acknowledge that sometimes we do not get answers to the statements as quickly as we would have liked to; again, just as Sen. Wambua has said, for families whose children have been abducted and who cannot have any access to jurisdictions that are beyond our borders, it is devastating to them. We may look at this convection as something akin to poetry, something that we can live without or something that is so far moved from our daily lives for those of us who perhaps have been lucky enough not to endure those kinds of things. For the many families that have had their children abducted from this country and who cannot afford to go to the foreign courts to get back their children, it is really devastating to them. I hope that Sen. Dullo will make a lot of effort to get these answers. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs needs to really expedite this and give us an answer. I do not understand why our country should forfeit something so simple and let our children be exposed to foreign jurisdictions. I really pray that this House will make sure that the Ministry gives us the answers we are seeking.

(Sen. (Prof.) Kamar): The Deputy Senate Majority Leader (Sen. Dullo), what we need is concurrence from you because you have a number The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I am sure that there are other new ones that have come up, but we will try our best to make sure that we have answered all of them before we go on recess.

(Sen. (Prof.) Kamar): Okay. So be it. We have rescheduled them for next week in the order that they appear. Let us move to the next Order.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I beg to move the following Motion:- AWARE that the right to adequate food is affirmed under Article 25 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Article 11 of the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as part of the right to an adequate standard of living; FURTHER AWARE THAT Article 43 (1) (c) and (d) of the Constitution of Kenya provides for economic and social rights for every person and in particular the right to be free from hunger, to have adequate food of acceptable quality, and to have clean and safe water in adequate quantities; CONCERNED that this fundamental right is under threat as various Counties battle severe drought occasioned by successive failure in rainfall; CONCERNED that over 3.4 million people including over 370,000 children are acutely malnourished and in urgent need of emergency assistance The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I would like to second this Motion where the Senate is calling upon the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government – which I think should be the Ministry of Devolution and Planning, where the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) falls – so that the Act is expeditiously implemented. The Motion also aims to come up with effective drought response strategies aimed at saving both lives of people and the animals. I would like to draw the attention of the House that this Motion covers a very big part of this country; the Arid and Semi-arid Lands (ASAL) areas. The ASAL areas cover about 89 per cent of the land mass in Kenya. By the census of 2009, about 14 million Kenyans live in that area. Currently ASAL areas cover about 23 counties; of which nine are arid counties and 14 are semi-arid counties. The nine arid counties are mainly Northern Kenya from Turkana all the way to Tana River. Then we have the semi-arid ones from Kajiado, Narok coming down to the lower eastern, all the way to Nyeri, Meru, The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I congratulate and thank my sister, Sen. Dullo, for having thought of this Motion at this particular time. In the last ten years, we The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

(Sen. (Prof) Kamar): Sen. Wario Golich Juma.

Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise to support this Motion. As we all know, we experienced a long drought for several years. That touched on the livelihood of our people mostly from where I come from; Tana River County, the neighbouring counties that I travel through like Kitui County and the northern Kenya counties which are prone to this drought. As I was travelling through Tana River County, I witnessed people die in shallow wells in search of water for their livelihood, domestic use and for their livestock. It is serious to go through this experience. On the other side, My county borders Tsavo East National Park. There are clear guidelines on national parks that you cannot go to a national park and graze. The lands in the parks have a lot of pasture and water reserves. When our people penetrate through there in search for pasture, they get into conflict with the game reservists and the wildlife. Madam Speaker, our people sat down and prayed and we got some rains. As we are speaking, in the lower Tana in Sala, Madogo and Garsen areas, floods came all through from the upper river and swept off all the remaining livestock. We were talking of drought just the other day, today the other calamity of floods has come in. Whatever remained, has been washed away by floods. All our livestock has perished, the remaining ones are in poor body condition that they cannot meet any market price anywhere. That means a lot. If a livestock keeper remains with nothing or few livestock that cannot meet the standards of the livestock market, it means they cannot pay school fees and have food security. This Motion comes at the most appropriate time. We need to have somebody who will be responsible for NDMA. This is one of few departments of the Government Ministries which I do see working there when calamities arise. I strongly support the 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, Madam Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to add a voice to this important Motion. I stand here because I understand what exactly is happening in that area. I am the Vice chairperson of the National Council for Nomadic Education in Kenya, (NACONEK). During the many meetings that we meet with the council we have been looking at how children in ASAL areas can be helped. One of the things that were coming out is that these children are not easy to reach because they are always moving from one point to another. What makes them move? They are moving because they are looking for water for themselves and their livestock. One of the main challenges that NCONEK faces is that in as much as they want to help these children get education, they had to look for them in the migration areas. When it comes to schools they have to be built in the migration areas. There is also a challenge because if the children migrate in an area “A” and then there is drought there, it means that they will have to migrate to another. Therefore, we will have to keep on following them to provide them with education. This migration really affects their education. Madam Temporary Speaker, children from the Arid and Semi-Arid Land (ASAL) areas are actually marginalised because of the drought. If they are marginalised from an early age then it means they will not get quality education because of lack of good secondary schools. When placement is a problem in secondary schools, they will be also marginalised further in job placement. If they go with their academic papers to different offices they might not merit and eventually not get jobs. Why? Because of the marginalisation that comes at early age. This marginalisation is linked to drought. I strongly support this Motion because it has come at a time when we are pursuing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG, No.1of elimination all forms of poverty. We can eliminate pockets of poverty in North Eastern if we can address all issues of marginalisation. When there is drought, our people and their livestock cannot get water. When they their cows dies and they become poor because cows are their only source of income. Our people cherish and equate them with properties that people from other parts of the country have. I strongly support this Motion that NDMA should be revived. We have funds, but I will call upon the Government to increase the funding and to monitor its usage properly. These funds are supposed to help in mitigating drought. They are also supposed to assist in putting strategies in place to ensure that there is parity in North Eastern region. In North Eastern, there is a lot of disparity, especially socially and economically. So when you are talking about Article 43 of the Constitution, our people are disadvantaged. They do not enjoy the rights as stipulated in this Article 43. My suggestion is that there is need for the funds to be used. There is also need to monitor and ensure that these funds are properly utilized. There is need to have indicators to show that these funds have been disbursed and rightly used to do one, two and three things. I strongly support the fact that more funds be disbursed to North Eastern. When more funds are availed, there is need to monitor to ensure that these funds have actually done what they were meant 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.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I speak with a heavy heart on this matter having had the occasion to work in the North Eastern region in the 1960s as a medical doctor in Wajir, Guraro and other areas. I know the sights I witnessed there made a very difficult moment for me in my subsequent activities. All of us know it is basic knowledge that water is life. All of us know that our body mass contains 80 per cent of water. Therefore, any deficit in the supply of water for your body, you succumb very quickly. Certain communities are attached to certain things. For the people in the ASAL areas, livestock is the only wealth that they have for them to survive. If all these two are interfered with, then there is no life in those regions. Unfortunately, as I worked as Kenya’s Permanent Representative to United Nations on Environment, one of the most excruciating events that I had to struggle with was the climate change problem. These are issues arising from climate change. As at that time, I was proposed, and I said that we talk about deserts; the Sahara and Kalahari deserts. However, our own states and countries are in fact the havens of those deserts. I remember sponsoring a Motion. We managed to create it into a form of convention on desertification with particularity to Africa. This is because we knew that the desert is cropping slowly into Africa. It is not only in North Eastern, in Taita Taveta, in the Massai lands, the Maa Community lands’, but even in Kisii, water scarcity is real. We are talking about a resource which is becoming finite. The Mover of this Motion is talking of the operationalisation of the NDMA. It means this debate has been going on since 2016, issues had been raised, the need had been felt, the Bill had been passed and assented to as an Act of Parliament. This indicates a Government which is sleeping on its job; that creation of rules on how to operate this fund is the only impediment to operationalising it. I find it very sad that again we should be spending so much time debating this while we should be debating the effects of this fund that we have created. Is there need for further funds to be created in order to address the need which is so crucial and needful for these societies? I stand here with a very strong message to the Treasury, that if there is any priority to be accorded; this stands out very clearly. Year in and year out, what we are witnessing is all this ravages of drought. Livestock dead left, right, centre a sore sight and even the people themselves. Recently when you looked at Turkana and other places, it is a sad story and with so much resources being wasted elsewhere. There is so much rampant corruption in this country. If half of that money was put into this, this will be a story of the past. Now, there are mitigating factors; we have heard of dams being built. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

(Sen. (prof.) Kamar): Thank you. Could we hear from Sen. (Rev.) Waqo?

Thank you Madam Temporary Speaker. I stand to support the Motion that suggests that we operationalize the National Drought Management Authority Act. I support this Motion because I come from this area and I know the effect of drought on the people on the ground. As we speak today, we have lost so many lives in Marsabit County. We have lost children, expectant mothers and our animals. I talk of all our animals being lost because the remaining animals have also been washed away by the floods after the rains. It is an issue that is long overdue.

As I congratulate the Mover, I also want to say that we, as leaders, should empathize with the people on the ground because of the suffering and the pain that they are going through. As we were going out for campaigns, I sympathized with our people. I know of an elderly couple that lost their lives in North Horr Constituency. I know of people in Sololo, Funakumbi and many other places who have lost all their animals. In fact, they are so poor today that they are depressed. It is only that the depression and the stress of the poor man or woman cannot be counted as stress. We have people who need a lot of counseling because they have no hope for the future. It is our duty to take care of our people and find better ways of helping them. It is unfortunate, as we have narrated, that we have already lost everything. It is shameful that we have Kshs 2 billion in the account since 2016 and some officers just earning salaries on a monthly basis, yet we have lost thousands of lives in the entire country. We urge the Treasury to ensure that this money is used to help the people who are almost dying or on their death beds. The poverty level in northern Kenya and many other parts has increased and we need to reduce it. I do not know how many years it will take us to bring back our people from the level that the drought has taken them. Drought has also promoted the tribal conflicts. Communities fight over greener pasture. In fact, the Government needs 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.

Thank you. Hon. Senators allow me to say the following. First, I can see that there are several requests. We still have time to discuss this Motion even tomorrow because the time allocated for it is three hours. Secondly, when it comes to the Speaker deciding who will speak, several factors are taken into account, including the need to consider both sides of the House and also regional balance. But more often than not, we tend to follow the list. 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. I want to begin by saluting my colleague, Sen. Dullo, for bringing this Motion to the Floor of the House. I stand in support of the Motion to operationalise the National Drought Management Authority Act. I want to begin by saying that in this day and age drought should never be an emergency in this country. We have come of age as a nation to sufficiently invest in early warning systems and not just rely on foreign actors to tell us when disasters are approaching. I want to go on record that by operationalising this Act and giving the authority to the team to execute its mandate, we will effectively be checking the tendency by certain sections of the leadership in this country to declare drought a national disaster every year, which only serves to open avenues for expenditures that in most cases cannot even be accounted for. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, in support of this Motion, as a country, we need to move beyond the legislative and institutional frameworks of tackling drought. We have examples to learn from elsewhere especially in the Mediterranean Basin in countries like Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Morocco, Spain, and Tunisia. They have developed a uniform principle code which enables them to act in certain manners and behave in certain ways which are proactive in dealing with eminent drought. That is a leaf we can borrow to implement in our arid and semi-arid regions. In support of the Motion again, there is need to create synergies among relevant national and county government agencies, so that we are proactive in addressing ourselves to the issue of drought. As we speak here today, we have a lot of rains in most parts of this country including the semi-arid and arid regions. What is happening is that, in those regions that are drought-stricken, today, residents are dealing with the challenges of floods and waterborne diseases. Last month, they were dealing with the challenges of drought. Those who survived the challenges of drought and may survive the challenges of floods and waterborne diseases in this season will be lucky to escape the challenges of drought which are just about to set in again in the next two months. As a nation, we have to be deliberate and serious about our investment in dealing with drought situations in this country. As I conclude, it is really a shame that we are talking of an authority whose annual budget is Kshs38 million and they are supposed to cover almost a half of this country. That money will just be enough for them to do what they have been doing which is to purchase a few four-wheel drive vehicles and move around the country and they will not be able to do much. We have a fund that was set up into which money has been allocated but there are no regulations on access to those funds. As you remember, just a few weeks ago, we were unable to disburse funds to the counties because we had not received regulations on the management of conditional grants from the Treasury. Today we are dealing with an even 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 the opportunity to add my voice to this great Motion on the operationalization of the National Drought Management Authority Act. It is only in order for this Senate to remind the authorities that the Bill was passed and assented to in April last year. Now that the election mood is over, we need to embark on this agenda. The National Drought Management Authority Act must have looked at the drought management in its entirety and how we should manage drought and the resources that we have in the face of drought. I believe that this Act, when it is operationalized, will map out the very vulnerable areas as far as drought is concerned. This country has different climatic zones and some areas are more vulnerable than others. In fact, I dare say that because of climate change, new areas have been introduced into the arena of drought. The cycle of rainfall patterns that we have had has changed. Areas that never used to experience any drought are starting to feel the same. In Uasin Gishu, last year rains delayed and only came during harvesting time. Therefore, we received rain at the wrong time. So, there is need for mapping out of the areas. We have a lot of experts in this area and they should predict exactly how the pattern will be in order for us to use the different strategies. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I looked at the way the Motion is structured and I know that it will fall under the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government. However, I would like to put forward that experts that we have in climate change and drought mitigation are in the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources. We have a lot of good experts that have dealt with climate change issues, climate change mitigation issues and climate change adaptation and these are the kind of people we need. As the ministry looks at how to operationalize the National Drought Management Authority Act, it must look at how to borrow expertise that exists in the country. Kenya is known for its expertise as far as environment is concerned but we have a lot of documentation also in mitigation and adaptation. It is okay to fund drought issues or provide for the people and animals in the areas affected by drought but that is short lived. What those areas require are mitigation and adaptation strategies that will be used for long-term management of the areas and I believe that this authority will be able to do that. I will not take long. I want to finalize by saying that although we have a lot of documentation, sometimes we have been very slow in implementation. This is an area that this Motion has picked out very well; that we need to operationalize some of the Acts and laws that we have. More than that, we actually need to implement some of the strategies that have already come out. We know that during climate change conferences, Kenya has given a lot of strategies that have been adopted by other countries and we need to implement them ourselves so that we move. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for giving me the chance to also put my voice into supporting this Motion. Thank you, Sen. Dullo for bringing up this Motion because this is like you actually just wanted to put one in for me. It is good that we come from a region that suffers from the same problems and so our problems are common. When I look at the Motion of today, and allow me to read. Article 43, 1(c) and (d) of the Constitution of Kenya provide for economic and social rights for every person and in particular the right to be free from hunger. We, the Turkana people, are never free of hunger. So, are we considered human? If this is the right of every Kenyan to be free from hunger, we are always hungry. That seems, to me, that somebody is breaking the law to have adequate food and acceptable quality. There is never adequate food of that acceptable quality and to have clean and safe water in adequate quantities. What is this? This is in the law and you just do not understand why this is not in operation. If this is the law, somebody should be arrested for not putting it in operation. In Turkana County, the most famous word is the word akoro which means hunger. Whenever I call a relative, I say “ Nyai ”; that is, “How are you?” Ahoro, that is always the response. What is the reason for this? Why must our people be the ones suffering from this akoro issue when we have a law like this which guarantees every citizen of this country to have adequate food and water and to be taken care of? There are people in this country who are never taken care of. I would like to know the reason why. I think that one of the reasons is the fact that nobody ever thinks about problems. This is what somebody mentioned that in a place like Israel which is a worse desert than, for example, Turkana, Wajir or Marsabit counties. Those people try to solve their problems. They put research into their problems and look for solutions and go ahead and effect those solutions to solve those problems. In this country, we know that there are problems like this, but we never make the effort to solve them. More so, if you go into the offices that are supposed to put this in effect, these would probably be people that never knew hunger or thirst, not even for a single day. May be they are people that are kind of struggling with their weight because they are well fed. So, they do not know what it means to be hungry and thirsty. Why should offices where food distribution is the main job be manned by people who do not know what it means to be hungry or thirsty? Why should these offices not be manned by people like me who know what it means to be hungry and thirsty? When you look at the other side, and again allow me to read, the situation in drought far-flung parts of the country poses a serious threat to human dignity. Surely, we do not have that dignity because we have this problem. Human dignity, peace, security and stability fall on loss on livelihoods leading to scramble for scarce resources by the affected communities. If you listened to yesterday’s speech during the inauguration, you would hear a lot of talk about peace in this country. There is no peace in this country because we have these problems of hunger and scarce resources. People are always fighting about this lack of resources. We have problems between us and our cousins in Uganda. Only a week ago, 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. Nderitu John Kinyua.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity. From the outset, I rise to support this Motion. This is because it has come at the right time. Having come from Laikipia, which is a semi-arid area, I would urge that this Act is passed and implemented so that we stop being reactive and become proactive. That is so because if you go to many parts of Laikipia for example, you will realise that the conflicts that have come about are because of drought. You will find pastoralists and small scale farmers are fighting because of a resource, which is water. As we have been told, the money is there; it is only that we do not have regulations to control its use. Therefore, these regulations should be fast-tracked so that we can have dams done in the rivers. The people downstream and upstream are fighting every time because of the water resource and these dams will help our people not to have the problem of infighting. Another thing that I would want to say is that if we have that money and we have these pastoralists moving from one point to the other, we can as well construct schools which will be boarding school. This means that the students will be left in schools learning as the parents go looking for pastures and water; and in so doing, we will not have reduced the levels of our education. Due to this scenario of being reactive as opposed to being proactive, it has resulted in a situation whereby communities are fighting. We end up using so much money bringing police officers to those areas in terms of catering for their food and water, which would not have been necessary if we had provided dams and dug boreholes. If we had done so, we would have reduced the costs by being proactive. 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. Halake.

Thank you Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity. I will not belabour the devastating effects of drought. Anybody in this House or country who comes from the arid or semi-arid regions has lived it and knows it. I rise in support of this Motion and congratulate Sen. Dullo for moving it. I am very happy that she framed it in broad terms, in terms of what she is calling upon the Ministry and NDMA to do. There is a lot more that needs to be done in terms of operationalising this Motion. I know that the first part calls upon the Ministry to put the necessary infrastructure for mitigation. We have also looked at response strategies. However, one of the most important gaps that we may need to look at is the recovery. What is happening at the moment is that for as long as we do not help the pastoralists and people affected by drought to recover then it will be a devastating vicious circle. As we know, these droughts are cyclic. They happen often and it is a shame that we have not come up with mitigation strategies. Whenever there is a disaster or crisis we should look at the recovery aspect. Right now everybody has talked about the animals having been wiped out. I come from northern Kenya where I have worked in every part from Turkana to West Pokot and Baringo. I have been there and know how it looks like. There are a lot of recovery strategies that need to be put in place and I am happy that Sen. Dullo framed her Motion in broad terms. There is a lot more that this House will hear in terms of some of the specifics of mitigation, response and recovery measures. We will support the implementation of this Motion. We are talking as if the people affected by drought have no say in this. By involving the people of northern Kenya, who are affected by the drought, in the recovery, response and mitigation strategies we can actually overcome this vicious circle. 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. Halake, you have a balance of 10 minutes. The Motion has a balance of 58 minutes.

Hon. Senators, it is now 6.30 p.m. It is time to adjourn the House. The Senate therefore, stands adjourned until Thursday, 30th November, 2017 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.