Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to give a Statement on behalf of the Senate Majority Leader, on the business of the Senate for the week beginning 24th July, 2018. Pursuant to Standing Order 46(2)(c), I hereby present to the Senate, the business of the House for the week commencing Tuesday, 24th July, 2018. The Senate Business Committee (SBC) will meet on Tuesday, 24th July, 2018 to schedule the business of the Senate for the week. Subject to further directions by the SBC, the Senate will on Tuesday, continue with consideration of business that will not be concluded in today’s Order Paper and any other business scheduled by the SBC. On Wednesday, 25th July, and Thursday, 26th July, 2018, the Senate will consider business that will not be concluded on Tuesday and any other business scheduled by the Senate Business Committee. Honourable Senators, the following Bills are at Second Reading stage- (1) The Retirement Benefits (Deputy President and Designated State Officers) (Amendment) Bill (Senate Bills No. 2 of 2018); (2) The County Statistics Bill (Senate Bills No. 9 of 2018); (3) The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (Amendment) Bill (Senate Bills No. 12 of 2018); (4) The Kenya Roads Bill (National Assembly Bills No. 47 of 2017); (5) The Physical Planning Bill (National Assembly Bills No. 34 of 2017); and, (6) The Irrigation Bill (National Assembly Bills No. 46 of 2017). There are also Bills due for Committee of the Whole, namely- (1) The Food Security Bill (Senate Bills No. 12 of 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, pursuant to Standing Order 46(2)(d), I rise to make a statement on a matter that has been before the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Budget regarding disbursement of county governments’ equitable share of revenue for the Financial year 2017/2018. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Division of Revenue Act, 2017 was debated and passed by the 2nd Senate on 16th June, 2017. Further, the County Allocation of Revenue Act, 2017 was also debated and passed on 16th June, 2017. The Act provided for a total of Kshs345,681,018,499 as follows:- (a) County equitable share - Kshs302 billion. (b) Conditional allocations from national revenue - Kshs12.205 billion. (c) Conditional allocations from development partners and donors - Ksh. 31.476 billion This is the Allocation of Revenue Bill of 2017/2018 and not 2018/2019 which we were looking at. It was the Bill that was passed in the last financial year. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the very first business of the third Senate was to debate and approve the County Allocation of Revenue (Amendment) Bill, 2017 which was brought after the General Election. This was done on 9th November, 2017. The amendment was to align the County Allocation of Revenue Act, 2017 to the Division of Revenue Act, 2017. Thereafter, assent was granted to the amendment, after which, the Senate debated and approved the Cash Disbursement Schedule for the 2017/2018 Financial Year. This Schedule was a matter of debate in this House on Wednesday because there were delays to the counties. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the National Treasury in Gazette Notice No. 6277 dated 29th June, 2018 indicated that the county equitable share for 2017/2018 Financial Year was 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 an opportunity to commend the Senator for this particular Statement. This Statement is quite loaded 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.) Milgo, make your Statement. REGISTRATION OF SCHOOLS IN BOMET COUNTY

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir.I also want to give a Statement on the registration of schools in Bomet County and in Kenya at large. Pursuant to Standing Order No.46(2)(a), I rise to make a Statement on a county issue regarding registration of schools in Bomet County. Mr. Speaker, Sir, registration of schools is very important because it is a way of recognition and acknowledgement by the Government of the schools. Schools are able to get grants which help in development for instance, building laboratories, libraries and classrooms. Registered schools also get funding every year which allows the boards of management of the various to employ and pay non-teaching staff. The funds are further used for co-curricular activities, thus aiding in development of talents. Mr. Speaker, Sir, registered schools are also eligible to get well-trained teachers from the Teachers Service Commission who give the students proper preparation, capacity and ability to compete favorably in the final national examinations. The Government has worked hard to ensure there is success in schools, retention in schools as well as completion by the students. In doing so, the Government has 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 a chance to speak on this very important Statement raised by my colleague, Sen.(Dr.) Milgo. It has raised 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. Speaker, Sir. I also stand in support of the Statement by Sen. (Dr.) Milgo on the registration of schools in Bomet County. This issue is not unique to Bomet County. It is a matter of serious concern in almost all the counties in this country. The issue of registration of schools is an issue that the Ministry of Education and other agencies concerned with basic and secondary education need to take 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 support the Statement read by Sen. (Dr.) Milgo concerning the registration of schools in Bomet County. I agree with my colleague, Sen. Wambua, that we should not use registration of schools as a political tool. In my county, I have a number of schools that are not registered, which compromises the quality of education in this country. We should not deprive our children of quality education as much as they can access free education in this country. How can our children in slums, rural homes and our counties access quality education if our schools are not registered? I call upon the Ministry of Education to be proactive on the ground and initiate process of registering schools. It is a pity that some parents have taken up the issue of initiation registration of schools. For example, parents of Songoria Secondary in Emgwen Sub County, Nandi County have initiated the process of registering it. We are asking them to do the preregistration process, liaise with the County Director of Education and other Ministry officials in Nairobi and register schools irrespective of the fact that they do not have the ability and the capacity to do so. This problem is not only in Bomet County, but across many counties; we are facing challenges of schools not being registered. Secondly, the Ministry of education has guidelines. Therefore, they must tell us what is required to register a school. It is sad to see a plot measuring half an acre or an acre of land with some semi structures, iron sheets or the famous mud walled and we call them schools. Some of which, are yet to be registered. As we push the Ministry to be proactive in terms of registration of schools, they must also develop proper guidelines to avoid registering schools that do not meet the set 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 stand to support this Statement on registration of schools. Yesterday in this House, we talked about the importance of registration of persons with disabilities. For any developmental policy to be implemented conclusively, there must be some understanding of the situation as it exists. How many students exist in these schools? What studies are they doing? What is happening within the schools? Mr. Speaker, Sir, sometimes back when I was a lecturer at the University of Nairobi, I went to supervise teaching practice. I was shocked at some of the schools where my students were practicing teaching. The quality of schools was compromised. I wondered whether such schools were in existence. When you go to the registry, you will not find these schools. It is very important because from the onset, when registration has been done, then people know, expect and understand what the provisions are. Mr. Speaker, Sir, in the Eleventh Parliament, this Senate came up with a very elaborate Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) Bill that did not get signed into an Act, but its process is being revived. One of the provisions that had been put in that Bill concerning ECDE facilities, which fall in the mandate of the Senate and what we are expected to do apart from Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) as well---. One of those was to ensure that certain specifications are put in place for specific schools. The ECD classroom was the best classroom model. It had specifications about the size, the stools that students should sit on and the kind of food to be served and so on. The reason for such registration and standardization processes is a way to monitor and evaluate how this sort of schools contribute finally to the quality of education. If you are expecting quality education, standard education across board, you are looking at a system that through its registration can vet the sort of quality that the said institutions will bring on board. 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 support this well thought- out Statement by Sen. (Dr.) Alice Milgo on what is increasingly shuttling towards becoming a national disaster, if it continues unchecked. As it is, Bomet County – as has been clearly brought out by the drafter of this Statement –is one of the counties that has been most affected by this skewed Government policy on registration of schools. You will find the director of Basic Education seated at Jogoo House, determining on his or her own volition which schools to register and which ones not to register. The minute we departed from the norms of what constitutes a primary or a secondary school, that is the point at which we lost it. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am a victim of these skewed policies by the Ministry of Education. There is a school close to my home in Kericho County where, up to now, form 3 students who are supposed to sit for the national examinations next year do not have Government registration as a secondary school. Sometimes when I travel home, the students make it their duty to be among those who queue to visit me each morning as their Member of Parliament (MP), making a singular plea. I have been to the Ministry of Education countless times to request them to register the schools because they have allowed them to admit students. The least they could do is to allow them to register, because the parents have been paying school fees. I do not think this is difficult because it is only after that registration that the Government can begin to give us the stories of what needs to be done, because they never observed the basic policies that were set out in the first place. I know for a fact that the Basic Education Act has requirements of what needs to be done before one can register a primary, secondary and even a tertiary institution. However, because those rules were flouted and bent, we now have so many institutions where children continue to go to school and they do not have an assurance. The burden must be placed on the Government, because they did not do their work diligently. After that, we can then have this discussion of what to register. If there are schools that we can amalgamate to form one institution, we will consider it at that point. Mr. Speaker, Sir, because this is an extremely important matter of national importance, I request that the contributions by distinguished Senators do not just end up filling the dusty shelves of our HANSARD rooms. Every contribution that has been made should be considered, wound-up, bound and sent to the Ministry of Education for consideration. I have listened to the views and it is clear that while Bomet County might be one of the most affected, this particular challenge is seen in almost every county. 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 the opportunity to contribute to this Statement and to thank Sen. (Dr.) Milgo for bringing it to the House. She has reminded us that once we are in this House, we should not forget our professions. We should take advantage of this House to correct the issues and wrongs that we faced when we were running our professions out there. First, Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am wondering why we allow schools to operate without proper registration, yet we have set out conditions or qualifications for registration. Initially, we used to have school inspectors, who are now called quality assurance officers. They would go around inspecting schools for various things, including curriculum coverage and facilities. Why have they not noticed that some of these schools are operating without registration? Subsequently, they should speed up the registration of these schools. This is because if schools are not fully registered, they cannot benefit from the National Government-Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF)kitty. Sadly, these are the schools where a majority of Kenyan children go to. These schools cannot also benefit from the funds coming from various donors to the schools of this country. Why is it difficult to register these public schools so that they can enjoy resources from donors and other sources that are dependent on their full registration? Mr. Speaker, Sir, when a school is not registered, the TSC does not recognize it. Therefore, it means that the only teachers who shall be available there are the ones employed by Boards of Management (BoM), and supervising those teachers is not guaranteed. Therefore, the quality of education that our children get there is compromised and is not guaranteed. We then expect these children to sit for national exams with children from other schools that receive well trained and experienced TSC teachers. I am not saying that BoM teachers are inexperienced or inadequate; no. They are qualified and trained, but regulating and supervising them is not guaranteed. Mr. Speaker, Sir, when a school is not registered, they cannot get title deeds. That is how private investors and land grabbers encroach on land belonging to these schools. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Ministry of Education is usually in a hurry to deregister schools that do not have basic facilities like toilets and other infrastructure. Why can they not use the same speed they use to deregister schools to ensure that the unregistered ones are registered? If there are any gaps in the law, the Ministry of Education needs to inform 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 an opportunity to comment on the pertinent Statement by Sen. (Dr.) Milgo. I commend her for coming up with it. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, education is a way of development. Article 10(2)(d) of the Constitution states clearly that one of the national values is sustainable development. We look at development both from an individual and from a national perspective. Development is an ongoing process. Even when a child is born, the ability to stand or to go to school is development from a personal perspective. Eventually, this child will become part of the leaders of this country. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, education is core to development. Education is also a social right. Article 43 (f) of our Constitution states clearly that education is a social right. Therefore, if education is a social right, all children in this country have a right to get education. There are some people who come up with schools; whether private or public. My take is that these schools should only be registered if they meet the minimum requirements for registration. In addition, the registration should not take forever. I know of situations where people move from one office to another asking for registration and they end up not getting it, yet these are proprietors who have decided to invest in intellectual development of this country. Such proprietors or owners of schools must be encouraged because they are doing something commendable for this country. I know of a school that had big problems simply because it was not registered in good time. It is known as Kamwanga Special School in Bungoma County. When I visited that school, what I saw was terrible. Since they are not registered with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), they are not given adequate teachers. This is a special school that needs to be given enough teachers who will help these children to go through their education. There was only one TSC teacher simply because the school had not been registered. The Headmistress of this school visited the TSC severally in pursuit of registration. As I speak, Kamwanga School for the Deaf does not have infrastructure, enough classrooms and books. Therefore, there is need for registration to be done at the right time. Even when children are transferred, in some situations, some school proprietors try in vain to get registration. You will find that children would reach Class Seven or 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 this opportunity also to add my voice on this important and meritorious subject, with regard to what is ailing our education sector. I do not want to repeat what the majority of hon. Senators have alluded to on this subject. However, I need only to emphasize a few issues and observations with regard to the subject matter. It has been stated that education is a constitutional right. Under Article 43, every person has a right to education. We do appreciate that soon after Independence, it was the dream and desire of our forefathers that they fight three prominent problems which bedeviled the society of Kenya. There was poverty, disease and, largely, ignorance. The only way to cater for ignorance was through a sustainable education system which, as it is known, is broadly based on the English system. Through the history of education in Kenya, we do appreciate that the forerunners in establishing and managing schools were the churches, more so, the Catholic Church. They were not only involved in education, but also in other areas of dominance, like health services. We need to congratulate the Catholic and other churches which did very well in establishing the foundation of education. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I also need to pinpoint the requisite provisions, as have been mentioned, with regard to the Education Act. There are requirements or conditionalities for institutions of learning, beginning with nursery schools. I do appreciate that nursery schools have been devolved, pursuant to the Fourth Schedule, 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. Lelegwe

Thank you so much, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to the statement on the registration of schools in Bomet County. The registration of schools should not only be tailored to Bomet County, but rather across the country. This is because it is a need that is time-bound. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the education sector mission is to promote inclusive and equitable quality education. It cannot be achieved without enabling people to know the number of schools that we have in a particular county in this nation. It is, therefore, important for us to team up and support this statement and come up with qualified recommendations that will enable schools that are mushrooming in the country to spread across the counties. Schools that are not registered cannot benefit from Government funding. It is, therefore, important for us to curb mismanagement and exploitation of parents who are taking children to these particular schools. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, if you look at registration of schools – if it is going to happen in an orderly way – then we should have a budget that is sustainable to enable our children acquire quality education. At this time, we need to register schools that are of high quality to avoid collision with schools that are not registered. Those are schools that cannot enable our children achieve their goal by passing examinations. I support the Senator who has come up with this statement; that schools should be registered in a standardized way in order to achieve high education standards. Thank you. I support.

Let us have Sen. Pareno.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity. I rise to strongly support this statement by Sen. (Dr.) Milgo. It is so timely. We can go a long way if we make strong recommendations on how to tackle this issue of non-registration or registration of schools. I dare say that it is a fact that if a school is not registered, then it is not a school. I say this because for a school to qualify to be a school and be registered, then there are certain conditions and qualifications that such a school should meet. It means that it is either that you have not met the qualifications or the conditions set for you to operate as a school or there is somebody sleeping on the job in the registration department of the Ministry of Education. We need to know who to blame. Are we saying that schools – not just in Bomet County but the whole country – are not registered because they have not met the qualifications? Or are we saying that these schools have met the qualifications, but it is the necessary registration department that is delaying? This is one thing that we need to go for so that then, if these schools are not registered because they have not met certain conditions, they should be closed, and we have properly registered schools. They could also be given a grace period when they should meet the qualifications and be registered. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, if the blame lies with the Ministry or directorate that does this registration and these delays are being occasioned by these officials, then that is where the blame should lie. We should point it out. We have had of cases of children 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 opportunity to comment on the Statement by Sen. (Dr.) Milgo which is on non- registration of some schools in Bomet County, which is something that features in other counties as well. Article 53(1)(b) of the Constitution entitles a child to free and compulsory basic education. The inference is that the State will be in a position to give the capitation to those schools that have been registered and it will also give both the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) capitation and teachers to those schools as well as the infrastructure funds that are available. The State is to also give those schools the conditional grants that at times target the marginalized groups in order for them to go to school. In the absence of these basic rights, the result is that there will be chaos. This is because the community will not be in a position to have their children attain the highest 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. Temporary Speaker, Sir.

What is your point of order Sen. (Prof.) Kamar?

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the hon. Senators who are consulting loudly are preventing us from hearing the wonderful statements from the former Minister of Education.

Hon. Senators, I request that you consult in low tones.

Thank you, Sen. (Prof.) Kamar for protecting me. What are they missing by not being registered? First, when the capitation for any school is done, it will depend on whether the school is registered or not. What will be the punishment for that capitation? None. This is because the capitation will be based on the number of registered students. However, they will still have the facility. What does it mean in terms of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC)? They will of necessity provide teachers to those facilities. What does it mean to the infrastructure fund, which is already set up as an entity and a budget line from Treasury to the Ministry of Education? They will also access those facilities, expand the infrastructure for those schools and get more funds. What will it mean in terms of opportunities like games and other things? They will also be able to get the money for games and take care of the facilities. They will participate in all these games, music festivals, art and other various activities in schools without their parents funding them. Schools which are not registered, they are being blocked out of these activities not unless they are funded by their parents. We must not accept a situation where some Kenyan children are marginalised and deprived of their rights to participate in school activities. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this is an area we need to simply pronounce ourselves and I think I have done so very clearly on this matter. It is a matter that we need to take up seriously and a follow-up done by this Senate, so that we can redeem and salvage these children who are already condemned for non-participation in the most important school activities. Speaking as a professional, when we deny a child the right of association, learning coupled with healthcare and clean water in schools, we are simply saying we do not need that child. Unfortunately, the Constitution will not allow you to take that route. These are fundamental rights entrenched in our Constitution. So the only sensible and most obvious thing to do is for us to admit that there has been a mistake and we must make it right. We may contend that the number of required teachers is not adequate. At the time I was in the Ministry, there was a shortage of 26,000 teachers. Today, there is a shortage of 76,000. That was why we set up more teacher training colleges to take care of this shortfall. We have many teachers who have trained. As I speak today, out there in the field, we have thousands and thousands of properly trained teachers who are waiting to be deployed to deliver service. Therefore, the excuse that there are no teachers available does not hold water. 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. (Prof.) Kamar.

Thank you, Mr. TemporarySpeaker, Sir, forgiving me an opportunity to add a few points to what my colleagues have said. I thank Sen. (Dr.) Milgo for bringing out a very important issue on the registration of schools. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, it is true that our Constitution outlines in Article 53(1)( b), that every child has a right to free and compulsory education. How equal is the education we give in this country? Before we even talk about children who are learning in schools with interim registration, we should look at the quality of our schools, generally. Even if they are in a compulsory education situation, we find that there is unequal treatment and facilitation of the different schools. Let me address the registration aspect of our schools. In the registration of schools, there is the interim registration and the full registration. After a new school has been given interim registration, often the payment of the teachers is done by the parents. To me, this is discrimination number one. The reason that school has been given interim registration to begin with is because there is a need. We have large scale farming in Uasin Gishu. Learners walk very long distances to their schools. Most of the new schools cater for children of the lowest in society. Therefore, when such schools are left under interim registration for two or more years before they are fully registered, we are punishing our children. The problem with interim registration is that the TSC does not allocate teachers and resources to those schools. These schools are supported by parents. By discriminating them, we are not providing them with the quality education as envisaged in the Constitution. It is also very important to note that at the stage of interim registration, it is only the Ministry of education which understands a school is registered as such. Nobody else understands what interim registration is all about. In fact, sometimes, there is a delay of the registration up to Class Eight. That is why we have had schools where at the point of registering for examinations, we are told they are not fully registered. It is very important for the Ministry of Education to have the two arms of itself talk to one another. Teachers are deployed by the TSC and the registration is done by 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.

Hon. Senators, I will give this last chance to Sen. Mwaura to contribute on this Statement.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I rise to support this Statement. The great American Legislator, Horace Mann, said that, indeed, education is a great equaliser. He is an interesting man because, together with a lady called Dorothea Dix, they started a school for idiots, imbeciles and the mentally retarded way back in 1757. I have mentioned him because he said something that has capacitated many people, including ourselves in this House; that when you go to school, you are equal; whether you come from a rich or poor background. He is also a pioneer in special needs education and the schooling of those who have disabilities. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the issue of the number of students versus that of teachers is a critical one. Every time we hear the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) saying that there are many trained teachers who are not employed as teachers. Having come from a special needs background; I know that it is not about having the optimal number of students in a classroom. With the advent of Free Primary Education (FPE), we have seen that the more pupils or students you have, the lesser the quality of education. Therefore, it means that if you cannot register schools because of numbers, this becomes a catalyst for people to get into non-formal schools. These schools exist and the children are learning, but that learning is delegitimised by the fact that these schools are not recognised. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the Ministry of Education seems to have developed a criterion where they discourage schools to be registered. You will find a number of schools that have been built using the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF), but it takes too long for them to be registered. For example, we have a situation where most special units – which are now over 2,900 in Kenya – are not formally recognised by the Government. It, therefore, means that they will not have access to Government capitation. You will find children with a lot of different types of disabilities in a special unit within a Government school, yet there is only one regular teacher. This is because this unit is not formally recognized and registered, thus denying them support. This is a serious issue of inequality, considering the amount of money we are spending in our education system. The current budget tells us that we are spending more than 25 per cent of our budget on the Education Ministry alone; which is more than Kshs4 billion. When 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 defer Order Nos. 8, 9, 10 and 11 to next week.

Let us move to the next Order. Proceed, Sen. Kasanga. STANDARD POLICY REGULATION FOR CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE OF RURAL ACCESS ROADS

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for this opportunity. I beg to move the following Motion- THAT, AWARE that infrastructure development and specifically, construction of roads is a key pillar of Kenya’s vision 2030 whose objective is to spur movement of people and goods, promote trade and economic activities, encourage development and attract investments; NOTING that there is a very strong correlation between a country's economic development and the quality of its road network; CONCERNED that Government’s efforts to expand the roads infrastructure are mainly focused on the urban and peri-urban areas of the country thus leaving rural areas with dilapidated or no access roads; FURTHER CONCERNED that 55 years since independence and over five years after institutionalization of devolution, the Country’s roads infrastructure is to a large extent still underdeveloped with only slightly above 9,000 kilometres of the about 178,000 kilometres of roads paved; COGNISANT that, Part Two of the Fourth Schedule to the Constitution of Kenya (2010) mandates County Governments to manage county transport, including; roads, street lighting, traffic and parking, amongst other county public transport matters; DEEPLY CONCERNED that, County Governments are continuously prioritizing routine maintenance works over sustainable and durable road quality works due to budgetary constraints; NOW THEREFORE the Senate calls upon the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development to develop and adopt standard policy regulations prescribing modern, eco- friendly and inexpensive technologies to be applied across the 47 counties for construction, upgrading and maintenance of rural access roads in order to ensure durability and sustainability of the access roads and also to reduce maintenance expenses. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the reason I brought this Motion is almost self- explanatory from its body. It is obvious that, in our counties, we are spending a lot of money on maintenance of rural roads. I am not talking about the bituminous ones, but the murram roads; the feeder roads that open up the remote parts of our counties. I come from the front that we have travelled a lot, as Senators. We are always benchmarking, as politicians and leaders, and have seen how other countries have dealt with opening up their rural areas. It is from this background that I say that we need our 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 second this timely Motion. It has come at a time when we are talking about roads and the Roads Authority. It is important that this House ensures that this Motion sees the light of day. All nations worldwide and organisations are talking of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). When you are talking of such, the issue of accessibility is very important in as far as development is concerned. Roads are an indicator of development. SDG No.9 is about having resilient infrastructure. When we talk of resilience, we are looking at roads which will be strong enough to serve the people in the rural areas even during rainy seasons. Maintenance of roads is core to sustainability. The Senator has just talked about a methodology that would work. I suggest that this House considers what Sen. Kasanga has said and even do a pilot for the purpose of having sustainable roads. When we construct substandard roads, it is an extremely expensive venture for this country. We have places where roads are made and after one year they are being repaired. Repair of such roads can be very expensive in terms of time, money and even the users because they will have to maintain their vehicles which will be in the garage most of the time. Apart from that, the road users will also use a lot of money on fuel. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this is a Motion that should not be taken for granted. When you talk of urban roads, we have to look at that farmer who is helpless because he has a lot of produce but no means to take them to the market to sell. So, having good rural roads will open accessibility to farmers. This is one of the Big Four Agenda – Universal Healthcare, manufacturing, affordable housing and food security. In manufacturing, there is creation of employment. Just imagine how the rural farmer has worked tirelessly to produce but at the end of the day, he has no access to the market to sell his products. Sometimes when I go home, I sympathise with farmers because you will find them selling a bucketful of pineapples or 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 it, Sen. Pareno?

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I wanted to give Sen. (Dr.) Musuruve information although she has already sat down. The other day we debated the Roads Bill that is concerned with roads in terms of the national and county roads.

Thank you. Senator, I believe you are informed. Before I propose the question, I have a communication to make. 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 wish to acknowledge the presence, in the Public Gallery this afternoon, of visiting students and teachers from Christian Education Centre in Kiambu County. In our usual tradition of receiving and welcoming visitors to Parliament, I extend a warm welcome to them and on my own behalf and on behalf of the Senate, I wish them a fruitful visit. I thank you.

Hon. Senators, I will now propose the question.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I stand to support this Motion and I congratulate Sen. Kasanga for bringing it. She has given us one of the biggest shockers this afternoon by informing us that only 5 per cent of roads are tarmacked. Looking at the statistics in the Motion, we are talking about 9,000 divided by 178,000. When I looked at the statistics, I thought I had gotten my mathematics wrong and I quickly crosschecked. You may have noticed that because she is my neighbour and she confirmed that we have only 5 per cent of roads tarmacked in Kenya, 50 years after Independence. There is a set of data that is usually developed by a group called Afrobarometer, which makes a comparison in African countries about how they have developed because there is an interlink between the infrastructural and economic development; be it housing, water, buildings and education. All these things add up to the overall development. You cannot talk about development in a country without opening up roads. When you travel to countries that began to open up later than Kenya such as Malawi and Rwanda, you will realise that we are not only talking about the state of the roads but also the condition of the roads even after they have been tarmacked. It is in Kenya that you will find a road has been tarmacked and after two years it gets dilapidated. That impacts on the people because they rely on the road, be it for transport, getting water, trade and what have you. A road is not just a tool for moving from point A to B but it is a symbol of development. I am happy that in this particular House, we already have a Roads Bill and I hope we will pass it as a House to enhance this. However, my worry is that we have a lot of legislation. With the devolved system, some sort of impetus should have gone into this, so that you do not have to worry about the rural area that you go to and think about 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.

(Sen. Lelegwe)

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I rise to support this Motion which was moved by Sen. Kasanga. In this country, roads are in a very pathetic state. The roads in Kajiado are in a very bad state to an extent that sometimes when it rains, some of us do not go home. We have to keep calling to ask if the weather is good so that we can now come. We do not have roads that can take us home. I am talking about these murram roads, leave alone tarmac roads because we do not have a single tarmac road other than the Namanga-Kajiado tarmac road and the road that goes to Mombasa and branches off to Loitokitok. The roads are in very bad shape. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, having participated in the debate that we just concluded a few weeks ago on The Kenya Roads Bill (National Assembly (Bills No.47 of 2017), this is a good Motion that complements what we already debated. It is important for the Mover of this Motion to look at what that Bill had come up with. It is understandable that this Motion was there waiting to be debated before we did the roads Bill. Many of these issues that are coming up are already in The Kenya Roads Bill (National Assembly (Bills No.47 of 2017). This is a good complement. Since we are talking about doing regulations on the management of roads and that particular Bill also talked classification of roads; the rural roads, national highways and also the management to an extent there was a board that was to be created. It went further to even illustrate the merging of all the authorities that touch on roads; then we have one board that brings all the authorities together. Thus, we will avoid duplication on the issue of roads in this country. 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. Wambua, continue.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, just to clarify a matter that Sen. Pareno has mentioned on the amalgamation of all the boards, for your information, the Bill does not seek to collapse the boards. The Roads Bill creates a standards board for the roads but it leaves the other authorities intact.

Sen. Pareno, proceed.

Thank you for that information. The right word to use is ‘harmonize’.The Kenya Roads Bill (National Assembly (Bills No.47 of 2017) seeks to harmonize many things in terms of the different boards that exist in as far as the roads are concerned. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, so that we do not look like we are duplicating functions, today, we are discussing a Motion about rural roads, management of roads and the maintenance of roads. Last week, we debated a Bill before this House on how we should harmonize our roads systems of management. It will be good for us and the Mover of this Motion to check out as we propose these regulations. It is a tradition in most Bills that there is a provision that the Cabinet Secretary will make regulations to operationalize the Bill when it passes. At that stage, some of these regulations that could be proposed pursuant to this Motion can be brought together so that we do not have regulations coming out of these particular aspects and then also awaiting other regulations that come to implement the Bill that we passed. As I said, this Motion is a complement. Since when you compare a Motion and a Bill, the latter can take more from this Motion and enrich that Bill so that we do not duplicate our efforts. Mr. Speaker, Sir, this Motion talks about budgetary constraints in our counties. This is the key thing we need to address. Even if we passed the regulations and the Bill we debated last week, today, without proper budgetary allocation for implementation; the things we talk about and purposes of maintenance of these roads, running the boards, continuous management, capacity building and getting the necessary technical assistance and expertise we need to do these roads, we will be doing nothing. I want to talk about this because just a few minutes ago, the Chair of the Committee on Finance and Budget brought to the attention of this House a very serious commitment by his Committee that they noted that national Treasury slashed the budget and allocations passed by this House for the counties. It is only after the interrogation and questioning the national Treasury on the slashing of the budget that the national Treasury released the money allocated for the countiesas approved by this House. Does it mean that the national Treasury was trying to shortchange the counties? Why did the national Treasury cut back on this Budget when we need more money for the counties? 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 thank Sen. Kasanga for coming up with this Motion because these are things that some of us have been trying to discuss with the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development and relevant authorities, especially the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KERRA). We have been urging them to take it upon themselves to develop the relevant standards. I think they will be more serious about it because it is now from the Senate. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, as the Motion says, transport is important for any development. For any movement of goods and services, we require good roads. Kenya is mainly an agricultural country. Most of our production is done in the rural areas. Therefore, there must be good roads to transport the produce to the markets. Otherwise, we will not get anywhere in terms of development. As it has been said by one Senator, farmers will sell their produce at a throw away price to brokers because they do not have anywhere else to sell them. Roads are the necessary links to make sure that we move from one point to another. As it is now, traffic jam in Kenya is at 90 per cent. That shows how important roads are. This is due to the few bitumen roads that have been constructed. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we need to focus on rural areas so that we can enable our people to market their goods and transport people back to rural areas. Nowadays, funds are devolved to the counties level. We need our people to produce, create jobs and improve the economy. However, that is not happening because we are not improving our rural roads in any innovative way. We are using the standard ways of waiting for the traffic to reach a certain standard, then we gravel and, later on, improve it to bitumen standards. This does not work because we need to develop the roads to ease traffic jams. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the Motion urges the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development to develop and adopt standard policy regulations prescribing modern eco-friendly and inexpensive technologies to be applied across the 47 counties for construction, upgrading and maintenance of rural access roads; in order to ensure durability and sustainability of access roads and reduce expenses. This is basically to come up with a policy. If you look at Part I of the Fourth Schedule of our Constitution, it talks of the functions of the national Government, Clause 18 (c) says:- “It is a function of the national Government to make sure they come up with standards for construction and maintenance of other roads by counties”. 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, before we proceed, I have brief communication.

Let us have Sen. Wario.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. I rise to support this Motion. Roads in Kenya are in a pathetic condition, especially, the ones in rural areas. Rural areas are not accessible because they are not connected. The people living in rural areas are locked away from the other parts of Kenya, just because their roads are impassable. Therefore, it is time to come up with a law that will ensure that the people who live in remote areas are connected to other parts of Kenya. The poor performance by schools in my area is mainly contributed by poor roads. The teachers who teach in these schools live away and sometimes do not report back to school because roads are impassable, especially, during the rainy season. This situation denies children in the rural areas the right to education. Madam Temporary Speaker, many mothers die on the way when they are referred to referral hospitals because the roads are impassible, especially, during the rainy season. Where I come from, some of the villages are cut away from the bigger market areas during the rainy season. They can only be accessed when the rainy season is over. Therefore, we need to connect these people, who are denied the essential services that we promised them when we were campaigning. The Government of Kenya owes these people good roads. This Motion has come at a very appropriate time and we need to support it. May I also welcome Kamunyu Primary School from Kitui County. These are very young pupils from maybe lower primary. You are tomorrow’s Senators, governors and presidents. There is a trend in high schools where students are burning dormitories. We do not know what is causing this trend. Where I come from, four dormitories were burnt down yester night. Please do not extend your hands to evil things. I urge the students that when they go back to school, they should remember that their parents are paying a lot of 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. On behalf of the great people of Nandi County, I also extend a warm welcome to the students of Kamunyu Primary School to the Senate. I know that most of you have begun dreaming about the future and I hope that this House and the other Government organs will be an inspiration in your journey to becoming the person that you want to be. The students need to know that there is no gain without pain so they must wake up, work smart and hard so as to realize and achieve their dreams as they also actualize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that the country is progressing towards. I pray that they will learn all they can. I have seen their Senator around and I hope that he will have an opportunity to take a souvenir photo with them and that it will be an inspiration to the other young people going forward in this country. We wish you all the best. I also want to thank Sen. Kasanga for this timely Motion. If there is one thing that is bedeviling all of us in this country, it is the rural roads. The President’s Big Four Agenda constitutes food security, affordable housing, manufacturing and affordable healthcare, yet they cannot be achieved if we do not have proper infrastructure. When this Government came in 2013, Kenya had only worked on 10,000 kilometers of road network in this country. Madam Temporary Speaker, it is during Kibaki’s tenure and this Government that we have seen tremendous development and opening of new areas. I know that we have challenges with the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) and the Chinese for it has been said that they are now selling cobwebs and roasting chicken along our roads. However, despite all that, this decade can be summed up as a construction decade for it is during this time that Kenya has expanded and created accessibility. It is important to note that the Big Four Agenda cannot be achieved if Kenyans do not support the small industries, especially farming. I come from the North Rift, Nandi County, which feeds the nation. As we speak, most crops and milk are going to waste because of the poor state of roads. Milk and other products cannot reach the markets on time because of the poor state of roads. The roads also include the feeder roads that have been given to the county governments under the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution. Madam Temporary Speaker, I hope that this will be a wakeup call to the county governments and the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development and that they will take charge so that our people can get value for their hard work. It is sad that the heavy rains which should have been a blessing ended up being a curse in disguise because our people could not access the markets. Maize is almost ready 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. (Dr.) Milgo.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker, for giving me this chance to also contribute to this wonderful Motion by Sen. Kasanga. It has come at a very good time, specifically since we are talking about Kenya becoming an industrialised country. We have talked about the Kenya Vision 2030 when we are imagining that Kenya should become a middle income country. I must say that without a good road network, that will be a pipe dream. For a country to become a middle income earner, it must ensure there is development in all its parts. Madam Temporary Speaker, we have very poor road networks in the rural areas. While we are talking about the four pillars of our Jubilee Government; that is affordable healthcare, and food, it is unfortunate that food is going to waste in some areas because of lack of transport. In some cases, where there is poor road network, some middlemen are able to get there and buy produce at very low prices. The people therefore, continue being poor. I come from an area where there is a lot of tea being grown. Sometimes taking the tea leaves to the collection centres is a problem where it sometimes takes up to four or five days in the collection centres before it is delivered to the factories. By the time it gets to the factories, the tea leaves are rendered useless and thrown out. That leads to the farmers and workers losing. Madam Temporary Speaker, lack of standardised road construction methods is the reason why there is a lot of corruption in their construction. In many rural areas, the roads being constructed are so narrow to the extent that we are left asking ourselves what the standard measure was. With the recent floods, those roads which had been constructed have been swept away. There are, therefore, many potholes and the roads have been rendered impassable. We are therefore, wasting money in repairing them. In other cases, the roads are the cause of accidents that happen in those areas. Sen. Cherargei has mentioned about the several bodies that are in charge of roads. There was a time I was asking myself what the role of KURA, KeRRA and KeNHA is. I think we are wasting a lot of funds on all of these bodies. Although somebody was saying we are not going to merge all of them, I think we should clearly state who is in charge of roads, where and why they have never come out with a standardised measure. 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. (Dr.) Kabaka Boniface Mutinda.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to give my support to my sister, Architect Sylvia Kasanga in her Motion that clearly calls for the Kenya Government to address the subject matter which is lack of a standard policy regulation for construction and maintenance of the rural access roads. As it has been clearly stated by the previous Senator, Part 2, subsection 5 of the Fourth Schedule of the 2010 Constitution of Kenya, has bequeathed the county governments with the jurisdiction with regards to dealing with transport, including the county roads. 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 also say a word or two about this Motion. From the outset, I support and congratulate Sen. Kasanga for bringing it. We encourage her to go ahead and bring a Bill so that it can become a law. A lot has been said about road construction, especially feeder roads or access roads in rural areas. I do not wish to repeat what has been said. However, let me emphasise the importance of these feeder and access roads. We congratulate the Government for a lot of work that has been done on major primary roads across the country. However, even though we have all those roads and we continue to do more, without tending to the access roads, it might not do a lot to help Kenyan farmers or traders. Feeder roads are at the base of development because that is where the farms are and where we have the farm produce. We read all the time that in some areas, a lot of food is going to waste, yet there is no food in some areas. It is like that many times. It does not need to be like that way if we can develop feeder roads all over the country. Of course, Madam Temporary Speaker, there was a question of who is responsible for doing these feeder roads. We know that feeder or access roads, which are meant to access the big roads, were devolved in the new Constitution. Even though they were devolved, the buck still stops with the national Government. It is true that the Constitution says that one level of government cannot interfere with the other level of government. However, I believe that when money is allocated for certain functions, such as feeder roads, maternity care and health centres, it must be followed very closely 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, Madam Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this important Motion. I thank Sen. Kasanga for coming up with this Motion. As we know, roads are the major mode of transport suited for carrying people and goods in rural areas. These same roads are of vital importance in order to make a nation grow and develop. Without roads, we cannot even develop as a country. A reliable and well maintained road system offers access to businesses, health, employment and even education, all of which stimulate economic and social development in an area. A fail in infrastructure is not an option. The only solution is to continue investing in road maintenance services for the good of the community and the local economy. Good rural roads improve community interconnectivity, social interaction and provide the necessary access to recreational, medical, educational, shopping, employment and other services and activities for rural residents. Lack of road construction and maintenance services in an area results in a failed transport system. This leads to soaring and significant financial costs to the local economy and population. The Senator calls upon the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development to develop and adopt standard policy regulations, prescribing modern, eco-friendly and inexpensive technologies to be applied across the 47 counties for construction, upgrading and maintenance of rural access roads, in order to ensure durability and sustainability of the access roads and also reduce maintenance expenses. I can as well support Sen. Mugo that it is not only the rural roads. Sen. Kasanga should 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 now call upon the Mover, Sen. Kasanga, to reply.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. As I reply, allow me to thank all the Senators for their input and contributions towards the Motion. Indeed, you can see the frustration there is with the few Senators who are here today. Repairing roads that are barely used is an expensive affair and a retrogressive approach to the intended economic development. We have also heard that good roads are a sign and symbol of development. They are the largest engine to economic development and uplifting the living conditions of people by offering the opportunities that they need; be it work or market for their goods. The statistics have shown that we have only achieved a little over five per cent in paving of our roads that have already been classified. So, we have a long way to go. Indeed, this is the only way forward to finding the sustainable, eco-friendly and inexpensive sustainable solution. We have heard from various Senators that the Big Four Agenda cannot be achieved without roads. What is the point of building hospitals when our citizens cannot get there? How will that universal healthcare work? We have heard of the poor state of education in Tana River because students and teachers cannot access the roads. Mothers die as they try to get to hospitals. We have also heard about corruption. You cannot talk while you are eating. Coming up with such regulations will help in the fight against corruption because we will be cutting all the avenues where people are constantly looking for any opportunity. To crown it all, I think Sen. (Eng.) Hargura placed it very well when he said that this is not new, it has been tried before in this country back in 1974. It has been tried and tested and statistics have shown that certain counties have utilised this technology. We have heard about Meru County where it has been reported that the Governor has been going round looking for solutions. As it is, it is the mandate of the State Department for Infrastructure and it is time they woke up. I urge Senators to support and vote for this Motion so that the State Department can come up with regulations. Even as we await the Kenya Roads Bill (National Assembly Bills No.47 of 2017) to go through let us have these regulations in place. Madam Temporary Speaker, as you said, it is complementary to the Bill. So, we do not need to wait. Let the State Department come up with the regulations. There is a history that the Department has tried it and so we are not reinventing the wheel as such. I am grateful for the contributions and I now pray that we vote for it. Let the State Department do its work. Let us look forward to having our counties having accessible roads and then all the frustration will be put to rest. I thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker.

Hon. Senators, pursuant to Standing Order No.73, I determine that this Motion does not affect counties and, therefore, does not require Division. I will therefore proceed to put the question. 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 move on to the next Order. ADOPTION OF REPORT ON WOMEN POLITICAL LEADERS ANNUAL GLOBAL SUMMIT

Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to move- THAT, this Senate notes the Report of the Senate Delegation to the Women Political Leaders Annual Global Summit held in Vilnius, Lithuania, from 6th - 8th June, 2018 laid on the Table of the House on Thursday, 21st June, 2018. We had a delegation of two Senators who were Sen. (Dr.) Agnes Zani and Sen. Mary Seneta chosen to attend the Annual Global Summit of Women Political Leaders. The Women Political Leaders’ Forum exists to ensure that there is an independent international non-partisan approach to the way leadership among women is considered. The mission of the Women Political Leaders (WPL) is to increase both the number and the influence of women in political leadership positions. Madam Temporary Speaker, let me start by thanking the Senate for allowing the delegation to attend this particular global forum. The forum was attended by about 300 women leaders in different capacities including the President of Lithuania who is a woman. She acted as a role model and created a lot of impetus and interest in the fact that women can rise up to the highest levels of leadership including being presidents of countries. Her Excellency Dalia gave a keynote address. In the address, she highlighted some of the areas that have discouraged women in leadership including economic issues considering various political landscapes and she set the pace for the discussion. The proceedings of this particular global summit were done through plenary sessions and discussions. There was also a key session on policy which enabled leaders to share experiences. So, it was a forum to allow leaders to speak to each other and about each other, evaluate and compare the situations in different countries, motivate each other and find ways and means of increasing the numbers in the various parliaments. As you might know, the dream of equality has not yet been attained. In many parliaments, women leaders spoke of the various efforts including quotas and affirmative action to increase the numbers while in other parliaments it is through elective processes and women are struggling to come to the fore. All in all, just to highlight, some of the issues that were discussed dealt with technology and changing role of technology; 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.

Madam Temporary Speaker, thank you for giving me this chance to second this Motion. This is a Summit that normally brings women together to assess their progress in terms of leadership positions in the political arena. From the outset, I used to say that the women political leadership in this case whether there is presence or absence, is affected by discrimination when it comes to recruitment and selection into the job market. In any case, this has come as a result of stereotypes particularly with regard to some types of jobs. Madam Temporary Speaker, in the long run, this ends up making women miss out at the political decision-making table and it becomes a nightmare for them to attain leadership positions. One of the issues that has affected women and made them to be absent from political leadership is the issue of the gender-economic gap which is very wide. Madam Temporary Speaker, when women want to take part in businesses, it normally becomes a challenge, more specifically because access to funding normally requires collateral. When we talk of collateral, you realize that in Africa, and particularly in our areas, the issue of women owning land and having title deeds is a challenge. Therefore, when it comes to political leadership, it becomes a nightmare. Political leadership requires so much money so that in order for women to participate in seeking elective leadership positions it becomes a challenge because of lack of funds. Women who have joined politics have had to go through a very rough terrain and, surely, they must have sorted it out. You will realize that even when there is violence, many women and girls are affected. Normally, during political campaigns, many women are affected. During the 2007 General Elections, many women and girls were raped and as a result, there were children born out of wedlock. In some cultures, such children are normally neglected, not being cognizant of the fact that it is not the fault of these children to have been born out of wedlock. Madam Temporary Speaker, I am happy that right now we have a Bill that will deal with the issue of cybercrime. Otherwise, women have been affected because of 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.

Hon. Senators, it is now 6.30 p.m., time to adjourn the House. The Senate, therefore, stands adjourned until Tuesday, 24th July, 2018 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.