Senate Majority Whip, you may lay the Papers on behalf of the Senate Majority Leader.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to lay the following Papers on the Table of the Senate, today, Tuesday, 18th September, 2018:- REPORT ON THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OF TAITA-TAVETA COUNTY ASSEMBLY MORTGAGE FUND Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of the Taita-Taveta County Assembly Mortgage Fund for the year ended 30th June, 2016. REPORT ON THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OF MOMBASA COUNTY CONSOLIDATED REVOLVING FUND Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of the Mombasa County Consolidated Revolving Fund for the year ended 30th June, 2017. REPORT ON THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OF MOMBASA COUNTY ALCOHOLIC DRINKS CONTROL FUND Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of the Mombasa County Alcoholic Drinks Control Fund for the year ended 30 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.

Do we have any Member of the Committee on Lands, Environment and Natural Resources to table the report? I can see Sen. Halake. REPORT ON THE PHYSICAL PLANNING BILL, 2017

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to lay the following Paper on the Table of the Senate, today, Tuesday, 18th September, 2018:- The Report of the Standing Committee on Lands, Environment and Natural Resources on the Physical Planning Bill (National Assembly Bills No.34 of 2017).

Let us move to the next Order.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to make a statement pursuant to Standing Order No.47(1) which provides that a Senator may make a statement on a matter of countywide, inter-county, national, regional or international concern or on a matter of general topical concern. On Monday, 17th September, 2018, the Governor of Nairobi City County made an impromptu visit to Pumwani Maternity Hospital in Kamukunji Constituency in Nairobi City County. During the visit where the said Governor disguised himself as a boda boda passenger so as to catch the hospital officials off guard, several issues were unearthed. During his visit, dead bodies of 12 babies were found placed in carton boxes and plastic bags at the facility. The Governor, sensing foul play, also caused a scene at the hospital and immediately ordered the suspension of the hospital board as well that of the management of Pumwani Maternity Hospital. There are conflicting reports as to the cause of deaths of the babies, from stillbirths to a reported power blackout that had happened at the facility earlier. Mr. Speaker, Sir, from the outset, allow me to condole with the families that lost their babies whatever the circumstance was during that specific time as well as those who have lost their babies at the facility before. As a parent, no words can be enough to give comfort when you lose a child and no family deserves to go through that pain. May God rest the souls of the little angles in eternal peace. As we discussed last week in this House, health is the most important devolved function. However, the management of health in our counties leaves a lot to be desired. Pumwani Maternity Hospital, for instance, is the largest maternity facility in East and Central Africa and it was once a very prestigious hospital. Many Nairobians, Kenyans and East Africans are proud to have been born at Pumwani Maternity Hospital. However, over the years, the status of the hospital has deteriorated and it is now a hospital of last 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. Of course, all of us watched this distressing impromptu visit by the Governor for Nairobi City County yesterday. However, it paints a very bad picture of the status of maternal health care. At what point did it become business as usual to put dead bodies in cartons, polythene bags and store them so that they could be collected, say, Monday, Wednesday and Friday yet Pumwani Maternity Hospital is possibly seven or eight kilometres away from the City Mortuary? My eldest sister was born in Pumwani Maternity Hospital in 1974. We used to be proud of this hospital. I had an occasion to deal with a child who was born with cerebral palsy because the labour of the mother took more than 14 hours. This condition is caused by lack of oxygen at the point where the baby reaches the bridge and it takes too long for the baby to be taken out. What is worse, after I twitted about it, a lady looked for my number and called me. She told me: “Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr., I have seen your tweet. What bothers me most, because I was in that hospital and had a stillbirth, is that I never buried my child.” That is what bothers that lady until now. At Pumwani Maternity Hospital, when a mother has a stillbirth, they do not even bother to deal with the mother. So, this lady, a prominent lawyer, ended up with milk for a week after the death of that child. She is traumatized to date because of the way Pumwani Maternity Hospital deals with ladies who lose their children. While we condemn the action of treating the fetuses and angels in the manner that they were treated, the Governor still found many women on the queue waiting for 10 to 14 hours in labour. We are in Nairobi City County. What happens to county hospitals? I am extremely disappointed with the Committee on Health because they have not said anything. We said that this is a devolved function.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Is he in order to say that we have not said anything when the Committee on Health met this morning and gave a press statement on that issue just an hour ago?

.: Okay, Mr. Speaker, Sir, they said an hour ago. However, it does not change the fact that I would have expected the Committee on Health to be at Pumwani Maternity Hospital. That is the way that we are supposed to deal with things just like the Governor. We take pride that this is a devolved function. The First Lady went out of her way to buy 47 mobile clinics in the Beyond Zero Campaign. This is a tragedy beyond tragedy. The fact that there is an accusation that generators were switched off and these babies were unable to survive is something that we, as, the Senate, must interrogate. Lastly, Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is so disappointing that a hospital at the rank of Pumwani Maternity Hospital does not have a cold storage. God help this country. When I say that we live in a country where the rich go to Aga Khan and Nairobi hospitals and the poor are left to die--- I have seen a message that is in comparison, that out of 156 births, 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.

Senate Majority Leader, I gave you a little bit more time. We need to manage our time because we have 15 minutes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I join Sen. Sakaja in passing my condolences to the families that lost their loved ones. I pass my sympathies and pray for God’s grace to be upon them and their families. Secondly, I am glad to hear from the Vice Chairperson of the Committee on Health that they are doing something about this issue. We had extensive discussions in this House last week about the performance of that Committee, and I am happy that their response this week is a clear indication of progress that has been made for the last one week. Thirdly, it is only when we get the facts that we can come up with proper interventions as a House. There are many conflicting conversations about the Pumwani Maternity Hospital issue. One is the circumstances under which the babies died. I hope the Committee will come up with an answer on that issue. Two is the question of preservation of bodies in that hospital. I agree with Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. that Pumwani Maternity Hospital is 8.2 Km away from the City Mortuary. There is no reason the bodies should be waiting for two to three days before they can be carried to a more dignified place for preservation. Thirdly, there are even more serious allegations as per the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health with regard to child trafficking which is a very serious issue. I saw a report in one of the local television stations about how children and bodies are trafficked--- Perhaps that is why bodies are kept there; not because they have no means to transport them to the City Mortuary. They must be there to be used as an excuse so that every time a healthy child is born, an excuse is given that it is part of the children that have died. Holding them for a longer period gives traffickers more excuse and time. It is avery lucrative business and international in nature. If one has been watching Cable News Network (CNN), it has been running a programme that is bringing attention to the slavery that is child trafficking. I had an opportunity to work with John Hopkins University in Washington DC in my days; ten years ago, on an anti-trafficking project. It is a mess especially in countries where they are in conflict and places where we have slums. Pumwani Maternity Hospital is so popular because it is a catchment area of people who live in slums. Since we have the Free Maternity Programme, then we have enough number for this business to thrive. 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.) Musuruve for three minutes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to add my voice to this very important statement. First of all, allow me to wish you a very happy birthday.

I actually need to do that since we are birthday mates. You remember last year we celebrated it in Naivasha and it was quite great. We got the happy birthday cake from the Senate. Let me go back to the statement. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I commend the---.

I think Members are wondering which hotel we were in. You remember we celebrated together as Senators during the induction course in Naivasha. Just to put the record straight.

Proceed.

Yes, we celebrated together with the entire Senate. I did not even expect a birthday cake from the Senate team. Thank you very much Naivasha team. Mr. Speaker, Sir, back to the business of the House, I commend Governor Sonko for what he did. The fact that he went to the Pumwani Maternity Hospital in cognito was quite commendable and very good for a governor. He was able to see what exactly happens on the ground without using a proxy, agent or anyone telling him what is happening in the county. I was born in Pumwani Maternity Hospital, and I have fond memories for it. It is a hospital that serves the common man of this country. It is a painful thing if the staff is not keen on their work. The fact that dead children are wrapped in paper bags is unthinkable. 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 Vice Chair of the Committee on Health.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I thank the Senator of Nairobi for bringing this issue here. We are prepared and ready to workwithyour Committee to make sure that we reach the bottom of this. I will not congratulate the Governor for Nairobi City County for doing his work.

As he does his work, we should not politicise the death of our children. It is unfortunate that these infants lost their lives. The Governor of Nairobi City County was the Senator of the same City for the last five years and has been the governor for the last one year. He knew that Pumwani Maternity Hospital did not even have a cold room. We should not, therefore, politicise this issue. The issue which is there is the death of infants, which is unfortunate and happened in the wrong way. That is possibly all that the staff could do; to wrap the bodies and put them somewhere. The information we are getting is that it is the routine that this hospital takes these bodies to the mortuary every two days. Why should that happen? Everybody has asked that, but the most important thing is that the hospital which has been one of the biggest for many years does not even have a coldroom. This is sad. If the governor cannot do anything else, he can provide a cold room for the hospital immediately, so that our dead infants do not undergo that shameful experience of being wrapped in paper bags and kept in boxes. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Committee will do what it can. We are planning to go there tomorrow. With the support of the Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Foreign Relations, we will see what we can do. We will make sure that we reach the bottom of what is happening there.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me an opportunity to add my voice to this rather bizarre and unfortunate incident. The Senator for Nairobi City County is right in bringing the issue to the Floor because Pumwani Maternity Hospital is the most famous maternity hospital in this country. There is no other hospital that delivers more children than Pumwani Maternity Hospital. In some clumsy attempt to explain what happened, I saw a statement from the management that appeared to indicate that out of about 126 children born, 12 had died. 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 also giving me a chance to add my voice to this very important Statement by the Senator for Nairobi City County. From the onset, this is a very sad thing to have happened to the mothers of this nation in the 21st Century. I want to condole with the families of the 12 infants. It is heartbreaking for such an incident to happen, not because we lost these infants, but because of the way we have kept them. When I was listening to the media, I heard that the deaths occurred on a Friday, yet the bodies of the infants were kept in a paper bag on Saturday, Sunday up to Monday. It is high time that we respected lives and our citizens. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I urge this House, through the Committee of Health, to also visit our counties. If this is happening in the City of Nairobi, which hosts the Parliament of this Republic, what do you think is happening in some dispensaries in Garissa, Kajiado, Narok and Kitale? What is happening in the other small dispensaries there? It is high time we looked at the resources that we are allocating to these health centres, health facilities and hospitals. It is also high time for us to get to know their priorities. In this particular case, Mr. Speaker, Sir, we may need to look at our priorities as a country. How can such a hospital lack a facility to store dead infants? How can such a facility lack a vehicle to transport these dead bodies to the mortuary? How can such a facility lack an automatic generator which can help in case of a power blackout? How can such a facility lack---

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 by Sen. Sakaja on the inquiry into what exactly is happening in our hospitals. I would like to invite the Committee on Health to look into this issue of health because it is a devolved function. I know it has been said, and I also read in the newspapers that the Governor paid an impromptu visit. However, the question I wanted to ask – and which is something that this House should be looking into – since this is a devolved function, what is the best way to solve the problems in these hospitals? The issue of Pumwani Maternity Hospital did not start when Governor Sonko took office; it has always been there. It is in the public domain that Pumwani Maternity Hospital has never had a morgue. I think that we sometimes mix up things here because health is devolved. I would have expected that the first person to be suspended by Governor Sonko would have been his County Executive Committee Member (CEC) in charge of Health because if---

He has already been suspended!

Now that I have been informed that he has no CEC for health, there is no way that one person can handle all tasks. The Governor should immediately appoint a competent person, because he cannot do everything alone; there is no way! One finger cannot kill a lion. We may want to appear as if we can solve all our problems in this country, but we cannot. The reason why a governor has got people like the CEC’s who support him is because certain things cannot work. Therefore, one of the recommendations that the Committee should be making is to ensure that all counties have working CEC’s, particularly for health. If one is not there, then that person should be appointed immediately. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the other thing is the issue of audit. It is important for us to know whether the hospitals in these counties have the facilities that they require. If they do not---

Your time is up, Senator. Proceed, Sen. Halake?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I also rise to add my voice in support to Sen. Sakaja’s Statement. Please, allow me to offer my condolences to the families of the deceased children. I know that we will be talking of this number of the 12 children as if it is just a label, but those are real families which have been affected by these deaths. This is a sign of the rot that is in our health system. I know that Pumwani Maternity Hospital has been in the headlines for a very long time for below optimal performance in many areas. However, this is a pointer to the fact that our health system, even though it is devolved, is really suffering. Mr. Speaker, Sir, Governor Sonko may be praised for having unearthed this, but having said that, this reactive approach to doing business can never help us. We cannot have people going to bust these kinds of malpractices when, in actual fact, they are responsible for ensuring that the right and dignified manner of handling dead bodies is in place; and that the right facilities – be they cold storages or body bags – are in place. In fact, Governor Sonko should have disqualified himself instead of seeking accolades for 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. Speaker, Sir.

What is your point of order, Sen. Murkomen?

Let us consult pole pole .

Mr. Speaker, Sir, we have Sen. (Prof.) Ongeri here. We have the numbers and if possible, we can proceed. I did not want to interrupt my colleague. I request you to give her another two minutes. I request that we do the Division because we have the numbers at the moment. There are still more than five Members who want to contribute.

Let the Senator complete her contribution. I urge Members to remain in the Chamber for the Division. Please, proceed Senator. That is the last statement.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, the way we should run our health systems or the counties is not to reactively play to the gallery and for the optics of things, appear to have unearthed things that are supposed to have been our work. We are supposed to have put in place measures to ensure we have these things. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Leader of Majority has ---

The Leader of Majority has not requested but has sabotaged my contribution. So, I will sit down.

Next Order.

Hon. Members, these are the results:-

I now direct that the Bars be drawn and doors opened.

Let us move to the next Order.

We shall defer that.

Let us go to the next Order.

Let us have the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Finance and Budget

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to move- THAT, pursuant to Standing Order 183, the Senate approves the Report of the Standing Committee on Finance and Budget on the County Governments Cash Disbursement Schedule for Fiscal Year 2018/2019, laid on the Table of the House on Thursday, 13th September, 2018. This House will recall that we passed both the Division of Revenue Bill and County Allocation of Revenue Act. In fact, pursuant to Section 17(6) and (7) of the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act, the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Planning, in consultation with the Inter-governmental Budget and Economic Council (IBEC), is required to submit a cash disbursement schedule to the Senate for approval. There are three schedules in the CARA this Financial Year. Members will recall that there was only one schedule with the component of sharable revenue. There is the national Government revenue which is supposed to go to counties as conditional grant and also the conditional grant in form of loans and grants from donors. The County Cash Disbursement Schedule is a key Senate resolution that operationalises the release of funds as per the annual County Allocation of Revenue Act. The First Schedule is about disbursement of part of the revenue allocated Kshs314 billion 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!

Sen. Cherargei, what is your intervention?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, we had lined up to contribute on a sensitive matter about the Pumwani saga. However, you did not give proper directions after the Division yet we wanted to share our thoughts on the way forward on the issue. With your indulgence, could you give us proper guidance because we cannot just overlook a serious and sensitive matter of that nature? Our counties cannot just be wished away. The Committee on Health, led by the Vice Chair, Sen. (Dr.) Ali, was supposed 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.

Hon. Members, the time for statements was well over. The Committee on Health is already seized of the matter. Those who have any other views can give them to the Committee that will be looking at the matter. Chair, you may proceed.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have realised that we are now in mid-September. In fact, the Schedule was supposed to run from July. We urge the national Treasury to fast-track the disbursement of funds to the counties as soon as we pass this. The cash disbursement schedule is a very important instrument of goodwill that must be implemented to the letter by the national Treasury if we are to support our counties properly. However, you will realise that in the previous financial year, many delays were occasioned to the counties. Money was disbursed to the counties at the end of the financial year, towards June. That was in arrears of about five months and therefore a lot of money was sent the last minute. In the current CARA, we said that it must be on time without delays and deductions. You will realise that in the Third Schedule, there are a few things which have not yet been distributed. You are aware that the Division of Revenue Bill, 2018, has been amended by both Houses and waiting presidential assent. Once this is done, we will be forced to amend the County Allocation of Revenue Act (CARA) and thereafter we will come back to the Schedule. Luckily, the schedules are now separated and also those amendments are only related to the loans and grants component of the funding to the counties. We will only then be amending the Third Schedule which relates to loans and grants from development partners. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I urge the Senate to pass this quickly so that we can now trigger the process of releasing of funds to the counties by the national Treasury. I thank my Committee for the support they have given. Going forward, I assure that we, as a Committee, will do our best to make sure that disbursement of funds to counties is not delayed. We must put a mechanism in place for monitoring and evaluation, so that we know how funds are disbursed to the counties. Currently, the requirement is that the National Treasury must publish every month in the gazette what they have disbursed. However, it is a limited documentation where they talk about what was allocated, what was disbursed and the balance. However, we want to know in the details how much of the various components have been disbursed and it is reported to us instead of putting in the newspapers. Let us have simultaneous reporting so that the Senate can be seized of the matter. Mr. Speaker, Sir, with those many remarks, I beg to move and ask Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. to second.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I rise to support the Motion for the approval of the report on the County Governments and Cash 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. Approving this Report by the House is just a ritual. The national Government has successfully ensnared counties and set them up for failure completely. You will remember that two or three months ago, the Senator for Vihiga County made a Statement of this Floor about disbursement of funds to counties. I am in this Committee that is chaired by the distinguished colleague from Mandera County, who has done a good job. However, we are all looking very helpless because the national Government does not disburse funds to the counties. Under the Constitution and international law, the first charge to Treasury funds and our revenues, is public debt. Recently, in the media, you saw the amount of money being paid for the incomplete Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) as the loan repayment to China. There are many other debts to the extent that, today, county governments are on a shoestring budget of only being able to pay salaries. Some counties are even defaulting on paying salaries. There are counties that have three or four months of piled-up salaries for their employees. When you talk to the national Treasury, they give you flowery and handsome figures, all fake and fraudulent, because they are not disbursing any money. The law in this country is clear – thanks to our retired President Kibaki and his Government – that you cannot procure services unless you have money in your hands and a budget line. How have counties accumulated pending bills running to Kshs100 billion? It is simply because they are responding to pressure to develop. Everybody is looking at counties as instruments of development, and rightly so. That is why Kenyans voted for this Constitution; because of devolution. They were tired of the centre having a grip on the life of this country. Kenyans wanted to control their affairs in running their hospitals, schools, agriculture and everything. However, we have an uncaring Government that has gone on a reckless misadventure of borrowing. What they are now engaging in is the proverbial talk of digging a hole to fill a hole. Even what is going on in the National Assembly this afternoon; they have cajoled and armtwisted Members of the National Assembly to go and acclaim the Memorandum from the President, to impose on Kenyans an 8 per cent tax on fuel and fuel products. When Members were talking, I knew that they were just pontificating. I feel ashamed that even the Opposition has joined this reckless misadventure of adding load upon load of debts on Kenyans. In counties today, hospitals have no drugs, not because counties are unable to procure drugs, but because they have no money. Roads that were awarded for construction, even to open up rural access for farmers and traders, have stalled because there is no money to pay those who were awarded these tenders. Rudimentary springs The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

(Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki): Order, Sen. Wetangula. What is the consequence of your final remark?

Shingo upande, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

(Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki): Very well. Let us have Sen. Cherargei.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. Welcome back. We had missed you. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

(Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki): Order, Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. Proceed, Sen. Cherargei.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, secondly, I congratulate one of this country’s legend, Eliud Kipchoge, for setting the new world record and taking the famous

which is the “turbo charger”. He has so many accolades in the athletics world. We celebrate him. I saw Sen. Wetangula’s tweet that was trending the other day. I do not want to mention the reply but it was a source of pride for this country. I equally want to congratulate Amos Kipruto, Wilson Kipsang and our very own Gladys Cherono. We are proud of them and as a country, they are providing the country-- -. I know many people are having the wrong perception that Kenya will be auctioned soon. However, it is good that we have trailblazers in the athletic world that are portraying Kenya as a good country and as a house of serious athletes across the country. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I urge the women across the country that if they want world beaters and “turbo chargers” of mursik, they should try and get children from the Kalenjin guys plus, yours truly. I agree that there are so many questions that have been raised on the spending. We are approving this cash disbursement schedule to our counties. I think the county of Sen. Omogeni has not been able to pay their staff for so many months and this is replicated across the country. I agree with some of the procurement laws and policies that former President Kibaki set, where one could not spend what they do not have. Unfortunately, in this country, we are spending what we do not have. I agree with the guidelines that the President provided some time back, that the existing projects should be completed and launched. Secondly, that directive seems to have only applied to the national Government projects. As a Senate, we must take the lead to advise governors who were elected that there are so many projects that their predecessors started but did not finish. I know many Senators from across the board who can tell you that for those counties that elected new governors, there are so many projects that have not been done. I think it is very important that, as the Senate, we take the lead. Even as we look upon Makueni County No.17 as a model across the country, we must tell our new governors that those projects that were being worked on by their former colleagues must be completed so that Kenyans can get value for their money. Even through the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG- CDF), we had the same after 2003. When some people lost elections, we found that the new people who were elected did not finish the earlier projects. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, unfortunately, many people have seen our counties as employment bureaus. We should request the leadership of the House where we have three Senior Counsel to try and do capacity-building for governors so that they understand that their role is not about employing. They are busy hiring, re-hiring and employing. They The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

Sen. (Prof) Kindiki)

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I thank you for the opportunity so that I can make very brief sentiments on this particular report. Let me begin by hailing the Chairman of the Committee on Finance and Budget, Sen. (Eng.) Mahamud, for the very good report on the schedule for the disbursement of funds to our counties, and Sen. Wetangula indeed alluded to it. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, about three months ago, I made a very emotional statement in this House with regard to the issue of the delayed disbursement of funds to our counties. I was very passionate about that topic. This report is very important because it goes to the core of our mandate, as enshrined in our Constitution under Article 96. Sometimes it pains me when I hear some of our governors going on radio talk shows and making press statements to say that the Senate has no role to play in the funds that go to the counties. This is because when I go The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

(Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki): Thank you. Could we hear from Sen. Sakaja?

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for the opportunity to comment and to give my thoughts on the County Governments Cash Disbursement Schedule for Fiscal Year 2018/19. I would like to associate myself with the sentiments expressed by many of my colleagues. This is possibly one of the most important functions of a Senator. Our work is to find money to take to the counties. I would like to tell the people of Nairobi City County that we have Kshs15.8 billion today according to this Schedule based on the formula that has been there before and based on internal discussions of the Senate. Indeed, this is a key part of devolution. Many times, we forget the key principles that define devolution, especially the principles of fiscal decentralisation. The first principle that many of us do not focus on is the issue of expenditure responsibility and revenue allocation. Expenditure responsibilities as defined by our Constitution in the Fourth Schedule tells us what a county should be doing and what the national Government should be doing. Once that has been determined, then we go to the next step of how much revenue is collected. How are our counties able to collect revenue? I am disappointed that many The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

(Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki): Order, Sen. Sakaja! You know what to do if you have challenges.

Let me proceed, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

(Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki): Okay.

He has retreated from the House. It is important that when a decision is being made on division of revenue; before we go to the horizontal division amongst counties, we have to make sure that the decision of how much money we are giving to that level of government is an objective decision based on the actual cost of running that level of devolution. Thereafter, we can go to what we call the Intergovernmental Transfer of Money which the Constitution has set at a minimum of 15 per cent. I must applaud the fact that the Jubilee Government has never gone below 28 per cent since 2013 despite the Constitution saying that it must be done at 15 per cent of the last audited revenue. I am saying this because many times, we put the cart before the horse. We forget that devolution is based on the principle of subsidiarity. Yes, we have devolved resources. However, more than resources, we have devolved power; the power to make decisions. The people were meant to feel that because one approach cannot work in allocation of resources across the country as it used to be done before where a bunch of people would sit at the Ministry of Finance and decide on ‘how much is going to Elgeyo- Marakwet or Meru County or should we give them a road or not. At the moment, the people at the lowest level must be part of the decision of what they get. We have seen the exercise that many governors take people through, the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) process and public participation as just a fuss. People contribute, but there are very few budgets that go in line with the County Integrated Development Plans that have been passed by the people. Even as we look at this amount, I am looking at the Kshs15.8 billion budget going to Nairobi County and we also have what we collect as a county. Nairobi City County 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.

(Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki): Thank you. Proceed

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I will be very brief. I will paint with a broad brush. I do not want to go into any particular details regarding the schedule or content of the report but I support the report. In doing so, I note what is contained in the two schedules. The broad point is that even with the money that has been set aside for allocation to the counties on equitable basis; I still believe that the way we are giving resources to the counties and managing the counties is not within the contemplation of those who made our Constitution. One of the most important pillars of this Constitution is the Bill of Rights. Truth be told, even under the old Constitution we had a Bill of Rights. We also had provisions that deal with the management of public finance. Under the old Constitution, one of the things that were not addressed in any way, not even in a clause or sentence, was the question of devolution of power and resources. That was completely empty in so far as that Constitution that was repealed was concerned. That was a major departure from the Independence Constitution that had provisions relating to the regions and the counties. So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for everybody who lifted the Bible to take an oath of office in the Republic of Kenya, one of the things we must be conscious of, is the assurance that we give the public by the proclamation of this Constitution in 2010, that devolution would be protected. The Senate is the protector of the counties. As we speak, I still believe we are not giving enough emphasis to the counties. The way people are treating devolved units of Government around the world, whether authoritarian or not, is different. Even in China where central control is part of the structure of Government or the old Soviet Union Russia, you would still find that the regions are given reasonable autonomy, not only in terms of governance but in terms of resources because without resources there is no way you can run the counties. I have just had a meeting with the governor and that is why I was not here at the beginning of the session this afternoon. The picture that the governors are painting The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

(Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki): Thank you very much Sen. Orengo. From where I sit, I am not supposed to express what I make out of your sentiments but I am sure the Senators have heard you. Let us now have the Senate Majority Leader.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to support this important Motion. However, by way of introduction, we have to be careful when we are opposing Sen. Orengo. There is something that he told us when we were dealing with the amendment of security laws and a few of those people here who were enthusiastic about it became its victim in less than a year as he said. So, people have to be The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

(Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki): Why are you fearful?

I am fearful because we are paying public money.

(Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki): You fear for the country?

Yes. It has moved to Kshs200 million and maybe next year it will be Kshs300 million. We need to stop this before it The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

(Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki): Serjeant-at-Arms take note; switch on the air conditioning.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, secondly, when it comes to the conditional grants, it is important that in the accountability within the counties - the Chairman of the County Public Accounts and Investments Committee (CPAIC) is here - we want to see the Auditor-General’s report in so far as the conditional grants are concerned, because it is easy to track the money that has been sent to counties, but the conditional grants have a player at the national level; sometimes you have a donor, then you have national Government office and then you have a county government office. Again, for purposes of accountability, I hope that we can then track this money to the very end so that we can look at the Auditor-General’s report in so far as the resources that are going to the counties are concerned. Mr. Deputy Speaker, public monies are important and devolution is a great thing. Despite the misgivings that Sen.Orengo mentioned here, devolution has done a wonderful thing in this country. Even the fact that Kshs4.4 billion is going to be spent in Elgeyo Marakwet County, I do not think that would have happened in a centralised system of government. Whether it goes to the Recurrent Expenditure so that people are purchasing goods at the local level or going to do few roads in Elgeyo Marakwet County, by the local government, devolution has revolutionised this country. Many counties are doing a fantastic job. Kenyans are witnessing counties doing things that I can say, for example, in my county a few things have been done, including the refurbishing and re-equipping of the county referral hospital in Iten. You have situations where a few roads have been opened in Elgeyo Marakwet, you have the Rimoi Game Reserve in Kerio Valley which is now functional, attracting many investors. Even as we say so, we must be ready to challenge our counties to perform. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, my county spends almost Kshs3 billion of the Kshs4 billion they get on Recurrent Expenditure. Why? Like what the President said the other day, we are doing good politics, but bad leadership. We must be able to interrogate whether it is still necessary for county governments to have the number of staff they have in areas that are not critical. It is not only doctors, nurses or ECDE teachers, but many of the staff at the county level are consuming public resources. There must be a plan that will ensure that at least half of resources of counties can go to the development budget. Can you imagine now you have less than half 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.

(Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki): Order!

It is because the culture of giving---

(Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki): Majority Leader, you know that if a Senator is entitled to an allowance, it should be considered as an entitlement, notwithstanding the wealth or commercial status of the Senator.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, that is true. However, it is also true that the President of the United States of America (USA), Donald Trump, does not take a dime of his salary because he donated everything to his The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

(Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki): Thank you, Senate Majority Leader. It is well spoken. However, next time when you are invited to witness a non-existent tarmac road which you are told is subterranean; I recommend you should have reported the matter to the police immediately because that is a grave offence in the nature of abuse of office. We are making good progress. I will now giver the Floor to the Senator for Homa Bay County.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for this opportunity. I rise to support this Motion that the Senate do approve the Report on the Cash Disbursement Schedule for FY2018/19. It is rather difficult to make a contribution after prolific speakers like Sen. Murkomen, the Senate Majority Leader and Sen. Orengo, Senate Minority Leader, respectfully, in this House. However, on behalf of the people of Homa Bay County and the nation at large, I also tender my public support for this Motion. However, I will keep it very brief. I sympathise with the debaters who have said that this could be an exercise in futility. I understand how important this Cash Disbursement Schedule is because, last financial year counties did not get money on the pretext that Senate approved a Cash Disbursement Schedule that had typographical errors. Yet, again this year, the Committee reports to us that the Cash Disbursement Schedule has got errors on Schedule One. There are errors on percentages and dates. We ask ourselves whether Treasury is not setting us up or is not serious about its duty. I congratulate the Committee for flagging the errors in this Schedule so that it is not used as an excuse again. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, secondly, we must ask ourselves whether we want to follow the law with fidelity to the last detail. The law says that this Cash Disbursement Schedule shall be agreed between Treasury and other players and shall be approved by Senate not later than 30th of May of any year. Today, it is the 18th of September, 2018. If someone was to go to court to ask for an interpretation on whether the actions of Senate are within the law, we might find ourselves in trouble. The County Allocation of Revenue Act (CARA) is supposed to have been approved by 30th of April of any year. It is the CARA that gives rise to this Cash Disbursement Schedule. However, it was approved on 29th of June, 2018. The Public Finance Act (PFM) says that within 15 days of the approval of CARA which is expected to be Mid-May, the Cash Disbursement Schedule shall have been approved by Senate.

Madam Temporary Speaker, it is for that reason that I subscribe to those who say that this could be a futile exercise; that we do so because only because the law requires us The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

That is very good. I do not see Sen. Linturi in the House. Is he sitting somewhere? Sen. Omogeni.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I also rise to support the Report of the Committee on Finance and Budget on the County Governments Cash Disbursement Schedule for Fiscal Year 2018/19. This Schedule is coming to the Senate at a time when those of us who are here to protect devolution and our county governments are still processing the Memorandum that has been sent to the National Assembly by His Excellency the President. We are made to understand that its implication will lead to the reduction of money that was due to go to the counties by a whooping Kshs9 billion. Madam Temporary Speaker, most of us in this Senate and our governors, agree that the money that we give to our counties is not enough to support development that The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

Hon. Senators, before we continue, I would like to reduce the time to 10 minutes so that we give the rest of the interested Members time to contribute to the Motion. Next is Sen. Kibiru.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. From the onset, I stand to support the disbursement schedule. We will definitely require to see results for the Kshs314 billion that we are taking to the counties. Once in a while, I look at counties as a firm or organisation. I look at the electorate as the stakeholders or shareholders. At the end of the financial year, shareholders ask what the bottom line is. They also ask what you have done with the money that they entrusted to you to do business and carry out issues or development. Several issues have been mentioned by Members. One of the issues that is coming up is about pending bills, which I have heard the Chairperson of the Committee on County Public Accounts and Investments (CPAIC) mention. Madam Temporary Speaker, this is a huge bill. One of the things that is happening is that, everywhere we go in this country, people are saying that there is no money. People are wondering what happened to money. Some of these monies are in the pending bills. There are people who did genuine businesses, whose property is being auctioned by banks because they supplied and have not been paid, one and half or two years down the line.This is an issue that should be addressed so that the genuine suppliers are paid. Let the law take its course on those who did not do genuine supplies. Madam Temporary Speaker, looking at it also from the national Government, we are only hearing about the external debt and the money that we owe other institutions that have lent money to this country. Nobody is talking about the money that the national Government owes the suppliers, road contractors et cetera . We need to tell the national and county governments to stop misusing supplier credit. The more they use the supplier credit, the more they are making the upcoming entrepreneurs go down the drain when it comes to realizing value for the monies they have invested. It is high time that both the national and county governments started practicing prudent ways of doing business by way of honouring contracts. They should pay promptly when certificates are presented. There can never be a more fertile ground for corruption than when one is chasing payments in the national and county governments. Madam Temporary Speaker, if we want to avoid costly projects and corruption, we need to streamline the way we do and contract people to do business. We need to only order for goods that we are ready to pay for. That way, we will increase money circulation in this country and make businesses grow. There has been mention about the way county governments are getting a lot of problems when it comes to dealing with the Budget Office and issues of the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS). The knowledge that I have The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I also stand to support the approval of the Report on the County Governments Cash Disbursement Schedule for Fiscal Year 2018/2019. As other hon. Members have indicated, the three Schedules have clearly indicated the equitable share disbursement, the disbursement for conditional allocation and the conditional allocations that are from projects and grants. Madam Temporary Speaker, the Constitution of Kenya 2010 was overwhelmingly voted for because of the Article on devolution. That is because Kenyans believed that this was the moment of change and that this was the way to capture that change. We have seen countries like America, for example, that have a system that is quite close to ours in terms of devolution. Their state level is more or less like our county levels; including what we have also seen in the systems of accountably and transparency. Without accountability and transparency, we are going to have the same resource pilferage that we are talking about. We are talking about a lot of money that is going to 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.

Two minutes is not possible. Just wrap up in a half a minute.

Madam Temporary Speaker, nothing is rocket science. The Rostovian Model for development has been put into place. You must first accumulate and then divide. You cannot do that with increased taxes. You need to have a strategy on how to accumulate and them divide and I think that is the direction we want to go. I thank you.

That has been a good debate. Sen. Mwaura, you have the Floor.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I rise to thank Sen. Olekina for allowing me to jump the queue. That is kind of him. Recently when we were at the ASAL Conference, we had some informal conversation with some people. After many governors had presented on how they are doing well in their counties, someone asked whether it is them or the counties they come from. That summed it all. We are here to approve the County Disbursement Schedule to governors who I heard Sen. Omogeni describe as “payroll masters” but I disagree with that. County governors are doing well. This morning, we were discussing this matter somewhere. The truth of the matter is that the devolution aspect is working in some places and not in others because governors have learnt how to circumvent the law. They are not accountable to their source of revenue because they assume that it is their own kitty. If you looked at the last report of the Controller of Budget, you could tell the counties were doing badly, including Nairobi and Kiambu counties among others. We have a problem because of liquidity and cash flow management issues at the National Treasury with regard to how we receive our revenue. We have three sources of revenue which are rates, loans and private equity. We were advised that we have an economy that is 25 per cent richer than it actually is. I think that was ingenious of our competitors looking at the effect of the economies to make African economies to stall because this has predicated us to have a high appetite for debts. Currently, our nominal debt is at Kshs5.1 trillion. As a result, therefore, it has become extremely difficult to finance the operations of counties because a huge chunk of the monies that are designated for counties are supposed to come from loans. That is the truth of the matter. Theoretically, we would first divide the sharable revenue through the Division of Revenue Bill which, as a consequence today, we are discussing how to disburse monies in the Schedule as presented therein. Because of the issues of cash flow and liquidity, collection, missing of targets and repayment of loans that we took before, it follows that counties are at the lower end of priority when it comes to availability of cash at the National Treasury. 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.

Sorry Senator, as a matter of priority, we will give you a balance of six minutes, if you will be available tomorrow, followed by Sen. Olekina.

Hon. Senators, it is now 6.30 p.m., time to interrupt the business of the Senate. The House, therefore, stands adjourned until tomorrow, Wednesday, 19th September, 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.