november 2011 hansard questions - kewopa
TRANSCRIPT
NOVEMBER 2011 HANSARD
QUESTIONS
Date: 1st November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: Non-payment of hardship allowance to teachers
in Suba District
� She noted that issues raised in respect of Suba affect Mbita because they formed
one district before they were split into two.
� She noted that the policy the Minister for Education was adopting was unconstitutional and discriminatory and requested him to comply with the
Constitution so that he can treat people the same way.
� She added that Suba and Mbita were excluded in the Map of arid and semi arid
areas and yet they are semi arid.
Date: 1st November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Martha Karua
Contribution she made on: Issuance of Identity cards
� She noted that it takes the Ministry of Immigration 17 days to produce an
identity card in Nairobi and yet the same Ministry was issuing a passport in one
day.
� She asked the Minister to explain why it takes close to three weeks instead of one day to get an identity card.
� She asked him to explain how he was going to accelerate the issuance of identity
cards to the millions of youths who are not yet registered and who will need to
exercise their right to vote.
Date: 2nd November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Dr. Joyce Laboso
Contribution she made on: Status of informal sector inclusion fund.
a) She asked the Assistant Minister for Finance if the special funds that the Government had come up with like Women Enterprise Development Fund, Youth
Enterprise Development Fund and the Informal Sector Fund were reaching the
people they were intended to.
� She noted that the bank channels give people so many conditions yet the
Government intended to avoid all the conditions by making it a special fund.
b) She sought to know what measures the Government had taken to ensure that
the money benefits the informal sector people for their small-scale businesses.
Date: 3rd November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: Enforcement of section 53 of Employment Act
She asked the Minister for Labour:-
a) When he would make regulations under Section 53 of the Employment Act on
activities that are deemed harmful to the health, safety and morals of a child
aged 13-16 years.
b) What is considered “light work” that a child can undertake under the law.
Date: 3rd November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Beth Mugo
Contribution she made on: Upgrading of Makuyu Health Centre
She replied that:-
a) Her Ministry would liaise with the Ministry of Medical Services to which the Question was initially directed, because on elevation, the facility would leave her
Ministry’s jurisdiction and move to the Ministry of Medical Services.
b) If elevation of the health centre was approved, an Accident and Emergency Unit
would have to be constructed to comply with its new status of a Level IV facility.
c) The Government had allocated funds for the supply of ambulances to the model
Health Centres built under the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) in the
financial years 2010/2011, 2011/2012. However, the process is yet to be
finalized. Once the process is through, ambulances will be supplied on priority
basis.
� She informed the Members that at the time, the Office of the Deputy Prime
Minister and Ministry of Finance had to reduce from all Ministries certain amounts
of money because of the drought situation for the money to go to the
emergency. Therefore, they were allocated Kshs200 million only, with which they
were buying 43 ambulances from CMC dealers.
� She added that as soon as those ambulances are bought, the Ministry will have
15 of them delivered on 15th November and the balance will be delivered by 31st
December. They will be distributed according to the very difficult districts – the
ones with very long distances, particularly those in North Eastern Province.
� She added that in the division of health facilities between the Ministries under community health are Level I, dispensaries, and Level III, health centres. In
these facilities, preventive activities take place. These are activities like
immunization, child care, maternal health and all other things that have to be
done in health centres.
� She added that the Ministry of Medical Services begins with Level IV, which means facilities with beds where patients are admitted. Levels V are provincial
hospitals and Level VI is national hospitals.
� She added that when the status of a facility changes; the budget changes because the facilities change. Therefore, until there is money budgeted for that
particular facility to elevate it to that level, it would be impossible for her to give
a timeline, hence she was consulting the two Directors of Public Health and
Medical Services as to how to smoothly move from one level to the other.
� She added that she acquired from the World Bank 90 utility vehicles and five
heavy duty ambulances; both were tendered for last year, but because of the fall
in value of the shilling, the dealer refused to release them hence have to be
tendered . When these vehicles come, again, they will be given on priority basis
to the big and hardship constituencies; and slowly by slowly, be able to cover all
the constituencies.
� She confirmed that all North Eastern model health centres were completed.
Date: 8th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Martha Karua
Contribution she made on: Eviction of Kyang’ombe/ Masai villages
� She noted that the Minister of State for Provincial Administration and Internal
Security gave an undertaking that there would not be further demolitions yet
there were demolitions at Njiru over the weekend and prominent among those
standing over the demolitions were uniformed Administration Policemen.
� She requested the House to employ all means to know exactly where the
demolitions came from so that, if the Minister of State for Provincial
Administration and Internal Security gave incorrect information, then the House
should take appropriate sanctions.
Date: 9th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Rachel Shebesh
Contribution she made on: Findings of investigations into drug trafficking
� She asked the Assistant Minister of State for Provincial Administration and
Internal security to be candid because there was a lot of expose on television on
how compromised they were as a security agency of this country and how the
issue of drug trafficking has become a cartel that cannot be touched.
Date: 9th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Martha Karua
Contribution she made on: Findings of investigations into drug trafficking
� She noted that the drug menace is real and that the people of Mombasa and
Kenya are crying for help.
� She asked the Assistant Minister to explain what he was doing about the police reforms and removing the officers at the Coast - majority of who were
compromised by the drug cartels to ensure that the drug menaces as well as
other crimes are completely brought under control.
Date: 9th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Martha Karua
Contribution she made on: Non-payment of wages to youths under KKV in
Bangali
� She informed the House that the issue of payment of arrears under the KKV
programme was a countrywide problem and not only in Bura.
� She asked the Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports if he had taken stock of the number of youths still unpaid countrywide, and if not, when he would do that
and table it in the House.
Date: 9th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Martha Karua
Contribution she made on: Owners/ Directors of Zonal Holdings Investment
Company
She asked the Attorney-General:-
a) If he was aware that the Government froze the assets of Zonal Holdings and
Credit Investment Company Limited in 2001 after complaints by members of the
public through Parliament that the said company had collected varying sums of
money from them but failed to keep its promise.
b) Whether he could tell the House who the owners/directors of the company are
and what the findings of the investigations of the case were.
c) What the value of the frozen assets was and when the depositors will be paid
their money.
Date: 9th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Charity Ngilu
Contribution she made on: Drought intervention measures in ASALs
She answered that;-
a) Ministry of Water and Irrigation had taken the following measures to mitigate the
effects of drought in ASAL areas since May, 2011: 152 boreholes were repaired;
21capt boreholes equipped; 13 boreholes drilled and equipped; 242 community
water schemes were given fuel subsidy; served 996 water tracking centres using
53 Government of Kenya hired tanks and tankers; hired 37 water tankers, 426
plastic and collapsible tanks were distributed; 90 rural water schemes were
rehabilitated and extended and 100,000 taps distributed to disinfect water at
household levels.
b) The Ministry had since May, 2011, implemented 61 projects as intervention
measures in ASAL areas under the current Drought Intervention Programme.
c) The Ministry had spent Kshs584.5 million on rehabilitation of boreholes, water
tracking and fuel subsidy; Kshs126,300 on drilling and equipping of boreholes
and Kshs164,596,947 on construction and de-silting of small dams and pans.
� She clarified that the money was put in the ASAL counties. It is taken to the
District Water Officers with specific instructions on where they will do the work in
each constituency.
Date: 9th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Charity Ngilu
Contribution she made on: Illegal subdivision of plot 505
She replied that;-
a) She was aware of the existence of Kiro Dam also known as Gacheru Dam or
Kiharu Dam by the local community.
b) She was also aware that some people neighbouring the dam had attempted to
grab the land and sub-divide it into two plots. However, the local people
protested and the District Commissioner (DC), Nyandarua West, intervened and
stopped any processing of title deeds. The land on which the dam stands was
therefore intact. Ewaso Ng’iro Development Authority had awarded a contract for
the rehabilitation of the dam.
� She added that the contractor is Global Construction Company Limited and would
start work on Kiro Dam after completing work on a nearby Kilometric Dam.
c) Since the processing of title deed was stopped, the dam plot remains a public
utility. Ongoing measures include organizing the dam water beneficiaries into a
management committee that will oversee water utilization after rehabilitation of
the dam.
� She added that there was already a management committee on the ground
which was going to work with the Ministry to ensure that the land is not
grabbed. The Water Resources Users Association, the community and the
Ministry would stop any destruction of the dam
� She added that the Ministry was encouraging people to grow more trees to
protect the water from siltation and were also putting money wherever they
construct dams and pans to ensure that communities around there can plant
more trees.
Date: 10th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: Mandate of film classification board
She asked the Minister for Information and Communications:-
a) Whether the mandate of the Film Classification Board includes classification of
videos shown in video cafes.
b) How the Ministry protects children from harmful content of videos, especially in
rural areas, where there is apparently no control/regulations.
� She requested the Assistant Minister to inform the House that in his answer he
had indicated that there were several youth who were arrested for watching
pornographic material. The emphasis seemed to be on the consumer who is the
category that we are trying to protect instead of targeting the suppliers.
� She noted that the lack of regulation was not due to weak legal framework but a
question of lack of effective implementation by the Government. The Sexual
Offences Act has very comprehensive provisions; that is protecting children from
harmful content or pornographic material.
� She asked what the Government was doing to ensure that all the laws that
protect children including the Children Act, the Sexual Offences Act and the
regulations and laws quoted by the Assistant Minister were implemented.
Date: 10th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Martha Karua
Contribution she made on: Congestion at Kerugoya District Hospital
She asked the Minister for Medical Services:-
a) Whether he was aware of the congestion in Kerugoya District Hospital, especially
in the male and female surgical wards, and also of the number of patients in the
said wards who are unable to raise money for metal plates and other surgical
accessories required to fix fractures.
b) The percentage of the inpatients at the facility who are victims of road accidents
involving motorcycles (boda boda)
c) What he was doing to ensure that patients who cannot afford surgical
accessories get support from the Government.
� She requested the Assistant Minister to clarify whether the percentage of boda boda victims was 50 per cent or 60 per cent, and whether this relates only to
Kerugoya or is the case countrywide.
� She noted that the cost of feeding and keeping patients who cannot afford metal
plates in hospital per day is in excess of Kshs1,000 and wondered if it made
economic sense to keep a patient in hospital for six months and use almost
Kshs200,000 on him, and for the Government to continue saying that it cannot
afford the metal plates to assist this category of Kenyans, who cannot afford the
implants, and keep the hospitals congested.
� She requested the Assistant to consider having a policy of bulk buying the implants to not only alleviate the suffering of these accident victims but also free
the many hospital beds countrywide – not just in Kerugoya District Hospital but
in every district hospital in this country – to be used by other patients.
Date: 16th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Rachel Shebesh
Contribution she made on: Provision of affordable mortgage to Kenyans.
� She noted that the Minister for Housing had rightly said that a population of about nine million Kenyans who live in urban areas rent their houses and sought
to find out where the land is that the Ministry was planning to use to house nine
million people when the Government clearly said that all land purchases currently
taking place within urban areas were fraudulent, and that the land that will be
bought will put Kenyans in the same situation as that of Syokimau.
Date: 17th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Martha Karua
Contribution she made on: Murder of Franklin Walubengo Mutoro
� She noted that a crackdown by nature is restrictive of the freedom of movement
and added that if the Assistant Minister for Internal Security was to impose a
crackdown, it has to be pursuant to the law.
� She sought to find out if the Assistant Minister was in order to say that he had commenced a crackdown on boda boda operators beyond 8.30 p.m. – a measure
that is illegal because he had not put in place any regulations to allow him to do
that.
Date: 17th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Beatrice Kones
Contribution she made on: Number of prisoners with KCPE qualifications.
� She replied that the number of prisoners who sat for KCPE was as follows:-
Coast Province 2008; 87, 2009; 122, 2010; 83 and Rift Valley 2008; 56, 2009;
80, 2010; 174
� The Ministry did not have a specific allocation for any particular prison. However, it normally receives Kshs500, 000 to cater for examinations and invigilation in the
entire Department.
� With regard to teachers, in 2010, the Ministry posted teachers to prisons with
KCPE and KCSE candidates. Most of them were P1 teachers and the rest were
trained graduates. They were posted to serve in the prisons and were yet to go
through training in the Ministry of Home Affairs training centre.
� She added that there are two borstal institutions in the country. There is Shimo
La Tewa and Shikutsa in Western Province. In Shikutsa Borstal Institution, there
are five teachers who are registered with TSC. Six of them are not registered
with TSC. In Shimo La Tewa there are 11 teachers. Five are registered and six
are not registered,but registration was in progress and the Ministry was waiting
for the response from TSC
� She added that the Ministry was planning to increase the budgetary allocation to cover for the necessities in prison schools.
� She added that normally, willing donors and NGOs donate books. In addition, the
Ministry had established two libraries, one in Naivasha and another in Nakuru.
Date: 23rd November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Peris Chepchumba
Contribution she made on: Measures to promote silk production.
She asked the Minister for Agriculture:-
a) What measures the Government had taken to promote silk production and
weaving and whether he could also state the number of extension officers
currently in the field to provide specialized services in Eldoret South
Constituency.
b) When the Government would introduce silk farming in Eldoret South
Constituency following the launch of National Sericulture Stations in the country.
c) The number of specially built houses for sericulture the Government had
introduced in the constituency.
Date: 24th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: Fate of “pyramid schemes” money held by banks.
� She informed the Attorney-General that he can use Article 23 (3) (e) which
states that a court can give an order for compensation.
� She noted that people’s rights were denied. Article 22(c) says that a person acting in the public interest can do that. Article 20 says:- (3)“In applying a
provision of the Bill of Rights, a court shall (a) develop the law to the extent that
it does not give effect to a right or fundamental freedom;”
� She added that the Attorney-General can ensure that innocent Kenyans who were denied their rights in one way or the other are helped.
Date: 24th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: Ratification of Hague Convention on Child
Adoption.
She asked the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Development:-
a) Whether Kenya had ratified the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of
International Child Adoption of 25th October, 1980.
b) How many Kenyan children have been adopted by foreign nationals from 2008 to
date
c) What the Government was doing to protect children against possible trafficking
through the International Adoption Process.
� She informed the Minister that a lot of children are trafficked through several
processes; through abduction especially by divorced parents; adoptions; stealing
and through miracle babies.
� She added that since the Hague Convention of 25th October, and the Convention of 29th May on Protection of Children and Co-operation go together in relation to
the issue of trafficking and in respect of inter-country adoption, she requested
the Minister inform the House when the Government intended to ratify and
domesticate the treaty on child abduction to protect the children of Kenya
� She asked the Minister to clarify cases where the adoption societies use homes
that are not regulated. People go and actually adopt children that are not
available for adoption.
� She requested the Minister inform the House what she was doing to ensure that
children are not declared free for adoption when they are not free for adoption.
Date: 24th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Dr. Naomi Shaban
Contribution she made on: Ratification of Hague Convention on Child
Adoption.
She replied that;-
a) She made a correction that the Hague Convention of 25th October, 1980 on the
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction” and not adoption. Kenya has not
ratified the convention in question.
b) Between the years 2008 and 2010, 197 Kenyan children were been adopted by foreigners. Figures for the year 2011 will be available at the end of the year.
c) To protect children against possible trafficking, several measures have been put
in place, which includes, the National Adoption Committee which approves the
registration of local and foreign adoption societies to conduct adoption. This
registration is valid for 12 months and it is renewable. The local adoption
societies declare children free for adoption and place them with their adopters as
per Section 156(1) of the Children’s Act. They also receive quarterly post-
adoption reports from affiliated registered foreign adoption agencies of the
receiving countries for the first three years.
� She added that at the same time, the Government has put in place strict vetting
mechanisms for anybody seeking to adopt a child. For example, the Immigration
Department demands a letter of no objection from the Director of Children
Services before issuing passports to adopt the children.
� She added that applicants have to produce authenticated adoption certificates from the Registrar-General accompanied by a High Court adoption order bearing
a court seal.
� She informed the House that the ratification of the convention will be done in
line with Article 94(5) of the new Constitution, which requires Parliament to play
a role in the process, unlike in the past when this was a preserve of the Cabinet.
The Ministry sought the advice of the Attorney-General’s office and was advised
that the latter was drafting the Ratification of International Treaties Bill.
� She added that last year October, the Ministry came with a certificate of
conformity under Article 23 of the Convention, which is given to all foreigners
who are adopting children; that is the only way of ensuring that the child who is
being adopted, and the people who are adopting them, have undergone full
vetting by the Adoption Committee.
Date: 29th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Charity Ngilu
Contribution she made on: List of bore holes in Mwala Constituency.
She replied that;-
a) The number of boreholes drilled in Mwala Constituency since the year 2006 to
date is 41. Out of which, 13 boreholes were still capped due to budgetary
constraints.
b) To equip one borehole, there are parameters considered before arrival at the
final cost like the depth, yield, head to pump, quantity of water to be pumped
and the source of energy to be used.
� She added that the civil works like tanks, pipelines and auxiliary works are also considered. The average cost to equip a borehole could range from Kshs1 million
to Kshs5 million when the above factors are considered. The Ministry has funds
under the Drought Mitigation Programme and the capped boreholes will be
considered under this programme.
c) The Ministry through the Water Services Trust Fund has set aside Kshs5, 398,8
14 for use to improve water services in Mwala/Wamunyu Water Project. Further,
Mbaika/Mwasa/Kibauni/Wamunyu Water Supply will receive a further Kshs76
million for rehabilitation in the current financial year.
� She added that the policy in the Ministry is that there are areas where they can only give people water through boreholes. There are others that they can give
people water through using available rivers or streams.
Date: 29th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Esther Mathenge
Contribution she made on: Purchase of rice by the Kenya Red Cross.
She replied that;-
a) The Kenya Red Cross Society does not buy rice and has never bought rice locally for food distribution. The entire scope of their food interventions whether via
direct food aid or food security initiative are non-rice related unless there is a
specific rice donation.
b) Therefore, the Red Cross does not buy any rice from Mwea Society
� She added that since one scheme was under process, the Government would
buy because then it will be under obligation to support the farmers. However,
under the Act that incorporated the Kenya Red Cross, she could not dictate to
them where they will purchase their rice or other foodstuff.
� She added that the Ministry has a contract with a supplier and when the rice is needed, the Mwea Irrigation Scheme did not have adequate supplies and they
were also not willing to sell at the price that the contractor wanted to buy.
Date: 29th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Martha Karua
Contribution she made on: Purchase of rice by the Kenya Red Cross.
� She asked if there was anything preventing the Government from bulk buying
the rice just like they do the maize and providing rice as a relief food. After all, it
is easier to cook than maize.
Date: 30th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Charity Ngilu
Contribution she made on: Completion of irrigation dams/reservoirs in Kieni.
� She replied that the programme that will include construction of six irrigation
dams was under feasibility study which is being funded by the Arab Bank for
Economic Development in Africa through a grant aid of US$400,000 which is
equivalent to about Kshs40 million. The feasibility study will be completed by
May, 2012 and a detailed design is programmed to start thereafter and be
completed in February 2013.
� She added that construction of dams will then start in May, 2013 and is expected
to be completed within two years, that is, by May 2015, the expected cost of all
the works is about Kshs5 billion.
� She clarified that it is not possible to design dams of that size and get them
through the tender processes. The funding was already obtained and, therefore,
it was not possible for this to be done earlier than May, 2015, with all the
designs and the construction work having been done.
� She added that when the Government signs contracts for a project of that
magnitude with donors, sometimes there is a requirement that the co-funds 10
per cent of the cost of the project. That money comes from the Exchequer. That
way, the donors are able to see the seriousness of the Government in funding
and completing projects.
Date: 30th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: Mbagathi Hospital in deplorable state.
She asked the Minister for Medical Services:-
� Whether he was aware that Mbagathi Hospital was in a deplorable state and
some wards, such as Ward 1 do not even have windows.
� What he was doing to improve the condition of the hospital, which serves many
Kenyans.
� She indicated that she got complaints from members of the public, many of
whom she did not know and were just texting to indicate their concerns.
� She sought to know what the Ministry intended to do to ensure that he hastens the repairs and puts a quality that does not fall off easily since this hospital
serves many women.
� She added that most of the hospitals are in deplorable states, including those in
Mbita and Lagdera.
� She added that under Article 43(1) of the Constitution, it is indicated that every person has the right to the highest attainable standard of health. From what the
Assistant Minister indicated, indeed, that hospital did not show that the
Government was complying with that Article.
Date: 30th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Rachel shebesh
Contribution she made on: Mbagathi Hospital in deplorable state
� She noted that the Assistant Minister for medical services had done a good thing
by acknowledging that the hospital was not originally designed to be a general
hospital. However, effectively, it was running as a district hospital that serves
many of the Nairobi residents.
� She sought to know for how long the Ministry would allow Nairobi residents to continue using a facility that was not designed to be a hospital in the state that it
is.
QUESTIONS BY PRIVATE NOTICE
Date: 1st November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Peris Chepchumba
Contribution she made on: Civic education on effects of GMO food
She asked the Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology;
a) If the Government had a plan to conduct civic education on the effects of
consuming Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) food.
b) If he was aware that due to inadequate information on the importation, sale and
consumption of GMOs, farmers in grain growing areas were suspicious of seeds
being provided by Government agencies.
c) The number of experts on GMOs the Government has in the country and,
particularly, in Eldoret South.
d) If the Minister could confirm to the House the number of GMOs, particularly
seeds were imported into the country.
Date: 2nd November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Rachel Shebesh
Contribution she made on: Details of grenade attacks in Nairobi
She asked the Minister of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security:-
a) If he could apprise the House on the particulars of the recent grenade attacks on civilians in different parts of Nairobi and provide an update of the progress of
investigations into the incidents
b) If he could confirm that the grenade attacks on civilians in different parts of
Nairobi was related to the “Operation Linda Nchi” in Somalia.
c) What measures the Ministry had instituted to enhance security and guarantee
the safety of Kenyans, especially in Nairobi.
� She sought to find out when the police would complete investigations so that
they could know for sure who were behind the grenade attacks that affected the
lives of 25 Kenyans.
� She noted that despite the Minister’s response that he had carried out enough civic education and sensitization, it was not done sufficiently.
� She asked the Minister to inform the House what he was going to do to ensure
that Kenyans understand how these kind of attacks are undertaken and what
packages would be used to mount them.
Date: 2nd November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Esther Mathenge
Contribution she made on: Formulation of policy on protection of IDPs.
She responded that:
a) Kenya lacks a national policy on the prevention of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). In recognition of this gap, they prepared a Cabinet Memorandum in May
which was circulated to various stakeholders.
b) Through the Operation Rudi Nyumbani, the Government had managed to
persuade 350,000 individuals to go back to their farms. The Ministry was able to
give ex gratia payment of Kshs10, 000 and Kshs25,000 equivalent to
Kshs2,562,290 to various people who were affected by the Post-Election Violence
(PEV).
� She added that the Government had also obtained a loan of Kshs1 billion from
the African Development Bank for the construction of houses for the Internally
Displaced Persons (IDPs) both in Nakuru and Uasin Gishu counties. 13,443
houses were constructed of which 12,732 are occupied. An additional 30,953
houses that were burnt were reconstructed both by donors and by the
individuals through an ex-gratia of Kshs25, 000.
� She added that as per the data bank that the Ministry has, 6,978 households are in 20 self-help groups. Out of those, 2,093 IDPs were settled on 7,008 acres of
land.
� She added that the Ministry was in the process of demarcating and planning
1,447 acres where they would settle 843 IDPs. Another 928 acres was at various
stages of procurement and would accommodate 331 households.
� She added that arrangements were also underway to construct 2,593 houses for
the Turkana IDPs who were also displaced. However, the process of constructing
those houses was delayed due to disagreements with the local leaders and the
communities on the type of houses to be built, but discussions were going on, on
whether they should do inter-locking blocks or mud walled houses.
� She added that there were 424 refugees out of the 640 who had fled to Uganda and were back. They were given both the Kshs10, 000 and the Kshs25, 000
exgratia.
� She added that the Government had also settled a total of 46,340 households
who were in 110 transit camps and the modalities are being worked out to
resettle the remaining 158 households in eight camps within Kuresoi District.
� She added that the Ministry would take care of all IDPs who were not taken care of.
Date: 2nd November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: Formulation of policy on protection of IDPs.
� She thanked the Minister for Special Programmes for taking into account the
Turkana IDPs and added that she was lobbying persistently for integrated IDPs
especially in Kisumu, Homa Bay and Mbita counties specifically.
� She asked if the Minister was considering integrated IDPs in the policy and when she intended to pay IDPs from Homa Bay, Kisumu, Mbita and Suba.
Date: 2nd November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Martha Karua
Contribution she made on: Formulation of policy on protection of IDPs.
� She informed the House that she would forward a list of integrated IDPs in
Gichugu and any other list provided to her by the sufferers.
� She requested the Minister to assure the House that she was coordinating with the Ministry of Lands because there was a push and pull with regard to the
settlement of the post-election violence IDPs.
� She asked the Minister if he could also confirm that where land is not readily
available, she will consider giving those IDPs money and ensure that she settles
entire camps to ensure no people return after that exercise.
Date: 3rd November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Martha Karua
Contribution she made on: Eviction of Kyang’ombe/Masai villages residents.
She asked the Minister of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security the
following Question by Private Notice.
a) Why the residents of Kiang’ombe and Masai villages in Embakasi area, Nairobi,
evicted without notice
b) Why the Government did not provided the residents with alternative settlement.
c) What measures the Government had taken to offer assistance to the evictees.
� She informed the Minister in charge of internal security that the Constitution
talks about social justice hence one cannot evict people without preparing and
showing the concerned where they will move to.
Date: 16th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Martha Karua
Contribution she made on: Traffic congestion between Ruiru/Thika towns.
� She advised the Minister for Transport to consider liaising with the police to ensure that at every diversion where congestion occurs there are policemen to
guide traffic in order to avoid traffic jams.
Date: 16th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Martha Karua
Contribution she made on: Eviction of Kyan’ombe/ Maasai residents
� She tabled a letter from one of the residents of Kyang’ombe/Maasai Villages
which clearly showed that the residents, who had permanent and semi-
permanent houses, had been paying the requisite fees to the City Council.
� She added that it was therefore totally misleading for the Minister for the
Minister for transport to claim that they were not settled there by any authority.
� She noted that it took time to build a semi-permanent or permanent house and
wondered why the Government waited until those residents had put up their
houses only to go and demolish them. She added that the eviction letter stated
that the property in which people were evicted from were being occupied by the
Chinese and sought to know if the eviction was for security purposes or for
foreigners to occupy.
� She pointed out that the notices that the Minister tabled were a general notice addressed to residents of Kiang’ombe Village. It omitted Maasai Village. Two of
the notices were addressed to specific individuals, while the rest were general
and wondered why notices were not issued to each house.
� She referred to Article 40(6) of the Constitution, which clearly says that the rights to ownership under this Article “do not extend to any properties that have
been found to have been unlawfully acquired”. All the Ministers and Members of
the House swore to defend the Constitution hence it was unlawful for the
Minister not to follow the institutions set up by the Constitution and for the due
process.
Date: 16th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Rachel Shebesh
Contribution she made on: Eviction of Kyan’ombe/ Maasai residents
� She noted that in urban areas every time towards, an election, there are political
games played. Sometimes houses of the majority of residents in urban centres,
particularly Nairobi, are razed down. People are displaced in order for some
people to gain political ground and in order for other people to lose ground; this
is so especially for those who have a lot support certain areas. She asked the
Minister to state whether there was politics being played in the demolitions, but
using the excuse of Al Shabaab.
Date: 23rd November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Martha Karua
Contribution she made on: Disappearance of Mr. Kinyua Marui in Mt. Kenya
forest.
She asked the Minister of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security:-
a) If he aware that Mr. Joseph Kinyua Marui disappeared in Mt. Kenya Forest where he had gone to graze cattle on 26th October, 2011 and has not been traced since
b) What efforts was the Government making to ensure that the said person is
traced.
Date: 23rd November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Martha Karua
Contribution she made on: Disappearance of Master Kenneth Muriithi
She asked the Minister of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security;-
a) If the Minister was aware that Kenneth Muchiri Muriithi, a Form II student at
Kiine Mixed Secondary School in Mara District, disappeared on 7th September,
2011 and has not been traced since
b) If a report on the disappearance was made to the police by the School and, if so,
when.
c) What was the Minister doing to ensure the whereabouts of the student were
established.
Date: 29th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Martha Karua
Contribution she made on: Measures to avert nationwide strike by health
personnel.
� She sought to find out in view of the seriousness of the matter and the Assistant
Minister for Medical Services having admitted that there is massive brain-drain,
what comprehensive plan the Government had about improving the doctors’
terms and conditions, including the nurses and all other staff in the hospitals and
also to equip our hospitals.
� She noted that some of the conditions in the hospital include lack of proper
diagnostic equipment and lack of proper facilities for treatment, including cancer
treatment
COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE CHAIR
Date: 15th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Martha Karua
Contribution she made on: Correction of errors detected after scrutiny of bills
passed by Parliament.
� She requested that the Report of the Committee tasked by the Speaker to check
on the errors in the Bills be tabled, so that hon. Members and Kenyans can know
which errors they were and in what clauses of the said Bills.
Date: 15th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Martha Karua
Contribution she made on: Selection Committee on appointment of registrar
of political parties.
� She noted that the communication contained certain information conveyed to the
House by the two Principals, which was totally inaccurate.
� She added that where the political parties were concerned, reference to the Party of National Unity (PNU) and its affiliates would erroneously include
NARC(K) which was not consulted, and which forms a substantial part without
which they cannot even merit to nominate the people they have nominated.
MOTIONS
Date: 2nd November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: free treatment of cancer patients in Kenya
� She supported the motion and noted that a law on cancer was long overdue and
urged the mover of the motion to hasten the process.
� She noted that cancer is not necessarily a death sentence. With proper and
accessibility of medical care, it can be managed. Therefore, accessibility of a
support system by the majority of Kenyans is long overdue given that the cost of
managing cancer is very high.
� She added that the commencement one week treatment is about Kshs100, 000
for chemotherapy alone, and not many Kenyans can afford it, and with even
subsequent treatment.
� She noted that Kenyan as a country must invest in further research, especially on
traditional herbs. There are a lot of traditional herbs with curative qualities that
are left to foreigners to take them and sell after re-branding.
Date: 3rd November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: Adoption of report on approval of Chairperson and
members of CAJ.
� She clarified that Equity assists the vigilant and not the indolent and added that the public actually gave CIOC written memoranda which they looked at and even
called some for clarifications.
� She seconded the motion and agreed that the nominees were very highly
qualified and brought very divergent strengths, because they are only three in
this Commission.
� She added that it was important that there are 3 persons with very divergent
strengths in law, gender and development, community development and
grassroots work as strengths.
� She noted that on Section 254 of the Constitution, one of the challenges they were going to face as a House is the issue of addressing equality and equity at
the same time. The Constitution provides for both but where somebody is
qualified, they must take them into consideration and give them a chance yet
there are cases of historical injustices.
� She noted that there are minority communities and the women who for many
years had not been given opportunity. Because of that, whenever the House
makes considerations, it must look at issues of equity.
Date: 3rd November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: Adoption of report on approval of Chairman and
members of IEBC
� She seconded the motion and noted the proposed Commission brought divergent
strengths. There are lawyers, sociologists, managers and accountants.
� She was pleased that there was equalizing opportunities for the marginalized.
Date: 3rd November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Bishop. Margaret Wanjiru
Contribution she made on: Adoption of report on approval of Chairman and
members of IEBC
� She supported the motion and added that she had worked with some of the
individuals whose names were on the list, in particular the Chairperson, Mr.
Ahmed Isaack Hassan who is not only patient, but is also a man of integrity.
� She noted that integrity is not the state of one’s religion but the state of the principles that a person lives with.
� She noted that the Chairman had been tried, is acceptable and failure to appoint
him would be detrimental to the country.
Date: 3rd November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Dr. Joyce Laboso
Contribution she made on: Adoption of report on approval of Chairman and
members of IEBC
� She supported the team and added that in the new Constitution gender has been
taken into the mainstream of our affairs; those ladies who were appointed were
going to make a difference.
� She noted that Kenyans were looking up to the members of the Commission to
ensure that the elections are peaceful and fair
Date: 10th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Martha Karua
Contribution she made on: Adoption of report on nomination of Chairperson
and member of National Gender and Equality Commission.
� She opposed the amendment to delete the full stop at the end of it and inserting
the words “subject to deletion of the recommendations under paragraph 7.2 on
page 13 of the Report” and inserting the words “that the House approves the
nomination of Miss Winfred Osimbo Lichuma as the Chairperson of the National
Gender and Equality Commission in place thereof.
� She noted that all the four ladies were qualified, but in order of merit. The
reasons that the two Principals gave for rejecting candidate number one were
based on the ethnicity they ascribed to her.
� She added that the Report showed that they were wrong on her ethnicity, and even it was stretched to her ethnicity by marriage, they were wrong.
� She added that the Constitution does not only talk of ethnicity and region. It starts with meritocracy as number one. After consideration of meritocracy,
regional and ethnic balance could then be considered.
� She added that the process was wrong and was pitting Kenyan professionals against each other through no fault of their own.
� She noted that the second reason that the two Principals gave was that there are two other people who are in the commission, who are from the same region or
ethnicity as candidate number one, which is not correct. Even the two that were
being alluded to, one had joined the Commission on Administration of Justice.
� She urged the House to take the Motion as it was and reject the names for the
Chair, so that the two Principals could reconsider the position and go back to the
House with better reasons, and not with reasons that are factually incorrect.
Date: 10th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Charity Ngilu
Contribution she made on: Adoption of report on nomination of Chairperson
and member of National Gender and Equality Commission.
� She opposed the amendment and added that it would set a very bad precedent.
The Constitution shows clearly how people will be appointed.
� She added that the Committee sat down and interviewed people and could
therefore not be let down. An advert was put in the newspapers and people
applied for those positions. They were called for interview. This is the final
product or results of that interview.
� She noted that accepting the amendment would set the precedence that
Parliament was breeding ethnicity.
Date: 17th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: Adoption of PSC report on Senate Nominees to
Salaries Remuneration Commission.
� She supported the motion and agreed with the Commission in relation to the
reasons that they had given.
� She was glad that they took into account the issue of regional balance because the Constitution provides that every nomination, must take into account regional
and ethnic balance.
� She noted that even though the Constitution does not define what a region means, Parliament must either come up with a law that defines what a region is,
or must start thinking what constitutes a region.
� She advise the Principals that whenever major issues of nomination occur, there
must be a memorandum or some written explanation to Parliament, so that there
are no questions that would, cause the public to question the suitability of the
nominees.
� She added that all ethnic communities in Kenya should be taken into account
because there are certain ethnic communities that are more populous than
others. Therefore, in appointments, there must be some level of equality while
taking into account equity.
� She added that while giving opportunities to the majority communities, they
must also take into account the smaller communities.
Date: 29th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: Establishment of the Catering and Health services
Committee.
� She supported the motion and added that she was happy with the composition
of the committee because it actually debunks the gender stereotypes.
� She was happy that in this committee, out of 11 members, there were nine men
and two women.
Date: 30th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: Formulation of Geo- information policy.
� She thanked Hon. Otichillo for the motion that can contribute to the development
of this country and speaks about issues of the concern to ordinary Kenyans.
� She noted that one of the primary aims of the information system that is set is to
help in planning.
� She noted that it is very embarrassing to see a country where buildings come up
and then look for roads through these buildings.
� She noted that the country has many young people who are looking for jobs and
can do excellent work hence the motion will force the planners to effectively
plan, so that when we need all the information on planning, then one can
actually google and see a road reserve, a game park or a place that was
designed for children to play on.
� She added that the Motion would reduce corruption. In this country to get get information from any Ministry, whether it is the Ministry of Lands or that of
Immigration and Registration of Persons, that information is not readily available
unless one is willing to part with a lot of money and this is so across the whole
country.
� She noted that with this system, it will ensure that all the information is, as
provided in the Constitution, availed at the click of a button. This will reduce
corruption because a computer does not ask for a bribe.
� She added that it will also facilitate the inclusion of marginalized groups in the
development of this country, because it will give information about gender and
development. It will give information about security, tourism and areas with
potential for tourism like Mbita Constituency.
� She urged the House to ensure that once they support and pass the Motion, the Committee on Implementation should follow up and ensure that it is
implemented within the life of this Parliament.
Date: 30th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Martha Karua
Contribution she made on: Formulation of Geo- information policy.
� She supported the Motion and noted that it meant that the Government was
being pushed to set up a system that becomes a major planning tool. This is
because with the Geo-Information System (GIS), it will bring to an end
demolitions and excavation of roads to let water pipes or any other
communication equipment to pass through.
� She added that with this system in place, it will be possible to track the allocated
funds, their use and even with discretionary funds, be able to see how the
discretion holders are spending those funds. In Ministries where there is
infrastructure, there is always a discretionary fund which becomes a tool of those
in authority to use as they please. If there is transparency in how they allocate,
people are able to track what they are doing at the touch of a button.
� She added that with the system, it will be easy to track the owners of all mobile
phones about the fraud that is escalating through mobile phones.
� She noted that all those around Nairobi and elsewhere, who have been traumatized by demolitions and evictions, when they go to search at the Lands
Office, they are falling at the hands of fraudsters and given searches which are
not authentic. When there is transparency in the way the information is stored
and accessed, then the public is more likely to get accurate information. If there
is any inaccuracy, the time to respond and detect it, is much sooner.
� She added that at the Registrar of Companies, searches take long. Registering
companies is taking long because they too have to search for information to
know that there is no other company by those names. They need certain details
of people and have to liaise with other Government departments.
� She noted that if procurement can be tracked online, it means it is open for
everybody to see and it becomes much more difficult to try and seek to
manipulate or alter the specifications or even to help alter for a preferred
contractor when the process is on because it is exposed. It is about
transparency, accountability and planning.
Date: 30th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Rachel Shebesh
Contribution she made on: Formulation of Geo- information policy.
� She congratulated the Dr. Ottichilo for coming up with a very timely Motion, and
for doing the work that should be done by the Executive arm of the Government,
which is formulation of policy.
� She took the opportunity to speak about climate change talks that were going on
in Durban, Republic of South Africa. In those talks, there is a critical issue about
the Kyoto Protocol, and whether or not the Kyoto Protocol will be renewed.
� She noted that the Kyoto Protocol remains the only legal instrument through
which African and developing countries have to hold the developed world to
account.
� She noted that the Kyoto Protocol talks about mitigation by the developed
countries by cutting down their greenhouse gas emissions, and adaptation by
vulnerable countries like Kenya of the climate change mitigation initiative.
� She added that talks about Kyoto Protocol, without the kind of information the
geo-information would be an exercise in futility.
� She noted that the issue of disaster risk reduction is one of the components that
highly need the geo-information policy because all the Ministries must have a
component of disaster risk reduction, especially Ministries that deal with the food
security, specifically the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Environment and
Mineral Resources, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation and the Ministry of
Energy.
� She noted that if the Ministries do not have components of disaster risk reduction
in their planning and policies, a food crisis is created. The maize crop in the last
season failed because we did not look at the necessary information, which must
have been available. If information was not available then, it must be made
available.
� She noted that data on gender would help look at critical areas where gender discrimination is being practiced. This information may be available at certain
levels but it is not available at the national level for everybody to look at, be they
in the public or private sector.
� She added that the motion was critically addressing the issue of information on
gender and development. The aspect of gender development is not about
representation of women, but how women and men are playing equal
participation in development in the country.
� She noted that the youth are techno savvy and know how to build very complicated ICT systems which are used internationally. Therefore, the country
is not lacking people who can come up with this kind of information.
� She added that the Motion is speaking to a web-based spatial data
infrastructure, both at the national and county level. This information will never
disappear and cannot be used for corrupt purposes.
Date: 30th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Dr. Naomi Shaban
Contribution she made on: Formulation of Geo- information policy.
� She congratulated Dr. Otichilo for bringing the Motion and noted that The Government had already embraced this concept. In almost all the primary and
secondary schools, the children are studying Information Technology (IT).
� She added that the country should embrace this technology because it is useful
in many areas, be they in health, land administration and management, gender
development, security and safety systems.
� She added that the prevalence of diseases country would have been dealt with better if we embraced this technology. Areas where these diseases are prevalent
would be mapped and help people to take the necessary precaution.
� She noted that there are professional squatters because of lack of land administration system in this country. These are people who move from area to
another. Everywhere they go, they are resettled. Because of lack of information,
they keep on running from one place to the other looking for land to settle. If
Government wants to resettle people, with the help of this system, it is easy to
get their names.
� She noted that the branding of the country is so important because we cannot
talk of how successful the tourism industry without branding our country. There
are countries with less attraction sites or animals but they are doing better than
Kenya because of aggressive marketing.
MOTION FOR ADJOURNMENT UNDER STANDING ORDER
NO.23.
Date: 8th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Martha Karua
Contribution she made on: Road carnage along Nakuru-Nairobi highway.
� She seconded the Motion and noted that the country was suffering from a self-
inflicted misfortune.
� She noted that in 2003 when the Michuki Rules were enacted, accidents reduced drastically. Kenyans were committed then to obey the law and ensure that the
matatu drivers also obeyed the law.
� She added that impunity was fueling the carnage. The drivers know that all they
have to do is go back to their pockets, bribe their way around. If they go to
court, they can talk to the prosecutor and the next person.
� She noted that there is need to fight impunity, reform the police force, make it a
priority and also seek cooperation between the Ministry of Transport and the
Ministry of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security.
� She added that there should be enforcement and issues of the rule of law first
and use the speed governors, which were quite effective at that time to make
sure that rules are obeyed and that there is no overloading.
� She suggested that the Ministry should buy gadgets to measure the speed which
the traffic police will be having at their stops because most accidents are caused
by over-speeding and defective motor vehicles especially those with defective
breaks.
Date: 8th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Rachel Shebesh
Contribution she made on: Road carnage along Nakuru-Nairobi highway.
� She supported the motion and congratulated the Member for Naivasha, Hon.
Mututho for addressing it as a matter of national concern.
� She noted that there was an increase on the number of accidents and it is no
longer safe to drive on the roads.
� She added that Ministry needs somebody who will go and get his hands dirty on
the ground. To deal with the police, un-roadworthy vehicles, the issue of speed
governors and safety belts will not be done in the comfort of offices.
Date: 8th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: Road carnage along Nakuru-Nairobi highway.
� She supported the motion and noted that the culture of impunity was a
challenge.
� She challenged the Minister for Transport to restore order in the Ministry. � She added that there is need to look at accidents in relation to planning of the
cities. A lot of the rural areas were quickly turning into urban areas. However,
the planning was coming up so haphazardly.
� She added that the emergency response mechanism is very poor and suggested
that there should be life sentences for people who drive defective vehicles and
cause deaths.
Date: 15th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Martha Karua
Contribution she made on: Demolition of Houses in Syokimau Estate.
� She supported the motion and noted that the Government had violated the
Constitution by carrying out all these demolitions and had forgotten the principle
of social justice, which is rooted in the Constitution.
� She added that it did not matter whether the land is in Mavoko or Nairobi. These
are Kenyans who had title deeds to this land issued by Government officials;
therefore, it was the GoK, through its officials, that misled Kenyans.
� She noted it was a case where under Article 40 of the Constitution and owners would deserve compensation if the Government actually needed the land. They
deserved notice, if it was compulsory acquisition because of the need to change
the user from residential to something else.
� She sought to find out why only Kenyans and not multinationals were affected
because the Chinese have some structures in Syokimau but were not affected.
� She added that someone must go to court and compel the Government to pay
for their misery, pain and trauma, and not just for the houses they had
constructed.
� She added that the Government of Kenya was violating the rights of its own
people by creating destitutes out of hardworking people and traumatizing
children and adults.
� She added that Parliament should rise up to the occasion and compel the
Government not only to pay compensation urgently, but also to have a policy on
evictions. A serious Government would not cause a humanitarian crisis in the
name of a security operation.
Date: 15th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Wavinya Ndeti
Contribution she made on: Demolition of Houses in Syokimau Estate
� She noted that the demolitions were unconstitutional, unlawful and resulted in
loss of millions of hard-earned shillings.
� She informed the House that the schemes in question were Uungani Settlement,
Mlolongo Brothers and Jumbo Settlement Scheme. The issue of Uungani
Settlement Scheme was in court.
� She added that the General Development and Land Use Plan for the Jomo
Kenyatta International Airport, which was published in 1995 and which she
tabled, clearly indicated that where the scheme lies is far from where their
boundary is. The Kenya Airports Authority had already secured and fenced its
land.
Date: 15th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Rachel Shebesh
Contribution she made on: Demolition of Houses in Syokimau Estate
� She noted that one of the issues is that the flight pathway for Jomo Kenyatta
International Airport was interfered with and added that Wilson Airport has the
same problem.
� She added that the cabinet would not victimize people for things that the
Government was watching silently, sitting by, waiting for people to build houses,
investors to put in money and then a Cabinet decision is made by Ministers to
demolish the buildings.
Date: 15th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: Demolition of Houses in Syokimau Estate
� She emphasized that the country is governed by a Constitution and by the rule of
law and if people were given titles deeds wrongly, it must compensate them.
� She noted that the problem in the country is impunity and it begins with the
Government itself.
Date: 15th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Cecily Mbarire
Contribution she made on: Demolition of Houses in Syokimau Estate
� She noted that Article 40(2) of the Constitution states that; - “Parliament shall
not enact a law that permits the State or any person to arbitrarily deprive a
person of property of any description, of any interest in or rights over any
property of any description”.
� She noted that the House could not pass laws to allow the State to arbitrarily take away property and should demand full compensation to these people who
were deprived of their property.
� She added that the KAA should defend itself and state who directed them to do
what they did.
BILLS
Date: 3rd November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Dr. Joyce Laboso
Contribution she made on: The Unclaimed Financial Assets Bill (Committee of
the whole House)
� She supported the motion and noted that there are so many unclaimed assets,
particularly, to widows and other people who have lost so much property. All this
property is enriching a lot of banks. The rightful administrators of the estates of
lost loved ones can now begin to enjoy some of these assets.
Date: 9th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Rachel Shebesh
Contribution she made on: The Constitution of Kenya (Amedment) Bill (First
reading).
� She noted that the Minister for Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs knew that in canvassing for the two-thirds principle and subsequent
agreement to the constitutional amendment, women were never informed that
due to the two-thirds principle there would be an amendment of the election
date and another amendment relating to boundaries.
� She requested the Minister to take time to listen to the fact that as much as
women support the constitutional amendment in order for the principle of two-
thirds to be achieved, not all women would agree on the amendment relating to
the election date.
� She noted that combining the three amendments together had created the
perception that Parliament is quick and ready to amend the Constitution without
looking critically into issues to do with the spirit and the letter of the
Constitution.
� She urged the Minister to break down the Bill into three, so that the three issues could be dealt with separately.
Date: 16th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Martha Karua
Contribution she made on: The Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill (first
reading)
� She noted that the bill was omnibus and dealt with more than two chapters of
the Constitution; the chapter relating to representation and the chapter relating
to the composition of the Legislature.
� She added that the bill brought together matters that were too heavy and that
ought to be separated, especially to enable meaningful participation by the
people of Kenya.
� She added that issue of boundaries although relating to elections, ought to be dealt on its own so that it is comprehended.
� She noted that the current Constitution does not know Cabinet as an initiator of an amendment. It refers very specifically to an initiative by Parliament hence it
was improper for him to initiate the amendment.
� She noted that the Committee on Implementation of the Constitution (CIOC)
disowned the initiative because it ought to have gone through a relevant
Committee of Parliament to enable participation.
� She noted that for the budget cycle to change it should to be in accord with the Constitution and there is room for it in the Constitution.
� She added that the Constitution must be held in reverence and only be amended
as a last resort.
� She noted that the Minister for Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs was present in Parliament when the Political Parties Act and the Elections
Act both of 2011 were passed. At that time, there was opposition by Members of
the House to allow or to make it mandatory for parties to nominate one-third
women among the people they present for elections and wondered why the
Members would oppose a simpler mechanism to fulfill the gender quarter, and
then go to the amendment of the Constitution.
� She reminded the House that the reasons why Kenyans wanted a new
Constitution is because they felt that the old document had been so violated by
frivolous amendments that it had ceased to resemble the document they knew
and urged Parliament to be very careful not to develop a culture where anything
they do not like makes them initiate a constitutional amendment.
� She noted that there is nowhere in the world had the term of Parliament been
interpreted to include the elections. Therefore, if a term of Parliament is five
years, elections must be within those five years and not outside five years.
Date: 23rd November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: The Cancer Prevention and Control Bill (second
reading)
� She supported the bill and noted that there were increased cases of cancer and the country ought to do something to deal with it.
� She noted that one of the challenges is lack of awareness especially on issues of health. Cancer disproportionately affects women much more than it affects men
especially cervical and breast cancer and yet many people do not know how to
take early intervention measures.
� She added that it is strictly a responsibility of the Government to ensure that
information is availed to the public.
� She added that accessing palliative care is a very difficult challenge because the centres are extremely few and many of them are not for the Government and
are extremely expensive
� She noted that it is important that research be enhanced and be centered in a
facility that actually looks at issues of cancer and especially on medicinal plants.
Date: 24th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: The Partnership Bill (second reading)
� She thanked the Attorney-General for moving the bill and sought to know he was
bringing a new Partnership Bill when there is already an existing one.
� She also requested him just to bring terminology and wording such as “Minister”
in conformity with the current Constitution.
� She noted that it was a good initiative especially in relation to members of the
public especially in the legal sector where of lawyers get into partnerships and
when the partnerships breaks which is often very acrimonious, the interests of
the clients are not taken into account.
� She encouraged the Attorney-General to also put a lot of emphasis on third
parties that are likely to be affected by the actions of the partners.
� She noted that on partners owning property in trust on behalf of the others, it is, especially women who may be affected when their husbands are in partnerships.
When a husband dies and he was in a partnership, most of the partners get
quiet and they do not inform the families and spouses of the deceased partner
about the benefits that they may be having in the partnership.
� She noted that the law presumes that all Kenyans have information about the
law and suggested that there should be laws that are self-executing and where
one does not put the onus on ensuring the law is executed on the public, but on
the law itself.
� She noted that the same manner and the same approach had been taken by the
other new laws like the Sexual Offences Act and the Counter-Trafficking in
Persons Act; hence there should be a section on implementing this law. As a
matter of practice, every law should have an implementation clause so that
Kenyans are protected.
Date: 24th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Prof. Margaret Kamar
Contribution she made on: The Partnership Bill (second reading)
� She supported the Motion and noted that the issue of partnership had created a lot of acrimony among Kenyans. We have heard enmity arising out of how
partnerships are formed and sometimes people are taken advantage of. People
have entered into partnerships only to discover that their liabilities have been
generated without them knowing.
� She requested the Attorney-General to tell the House how the information could
be passed on to Kenyans and especially women who have been great victims of
these situations where spouses die without declaring which companies they were
in
� She noted that the youth were being encouraged into youth groups and some of
them had moved beyond youth groups because of the existence of the Youth
Enterprise Development Fund to form small companies that can enable them to
do things for themselves hence should be informed of their rights in a
partnership.
Date: 24th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: The public Procurement and Disposal
(Amendment) Bill (second reading)
� She noted that the amendment had given life to Article 227 of the Constitution
because as a human rights defender his is one of the areas where they were
implementing the human rights based approach.
� She noted that the youth form the majority of the population of the country and
they are the ones who do not have access to resources and services in. That is
why the Constitution acknowledges that and in very many areas, tries to redress
this
� She requested the Attorney-General as the advisor of the Government to inform
the Government that it needs to pull up its socks because the youth and the
women were going to get their fair share.
� She noted that there were many principles put in the Constitution but many
people were erroneously saying that principles are not alive and that principles
cannot be put into effect. So, for any word to have gone into the Constitution
there was an import and a reason.
� She added that the Government must start to interrogate what social justice
means. It means inclusion of the youth, the marginalized and the women.
� She referred to Article 6(3) of the Constitution which says:- ‘‘The national State organs shall ensure reasonable access to its services in all parts of the Republic’’.
The equity and equality first goes regionally and then to categories of groupings.
� She noted that the initiative by Hon. Wamalwa was another testimony to the
great changes that the country was going to see because it means that every
time there is procurement in the country, 25 per cent must go to the youth. This
is one of the ways of dealing with the issue of youth unemployment.
� She added that she would move an amendment to include women because those
who agitated for the inclusion of this were thinking of the young people, women,
minorities and persons with disabilities.
� She noted that Article 227 says that; When a State organ or any other public
entity contracts for goods or services, it shall do so in accordance with a system
that is fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective.”. Sub-Article
(2), talks about inclusion of categories of preference in the allocation of contracts
and the protection or advancement of persons, categories of persons or groups
previously disadvantaged by unfair competition or discrimination.
� She added that there must be mainstreaming in action in every Ministry.
Date: 24th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: The public procurement and Disposal
(Amendment) bill (second reading).
� She noted that the Constitution is very clear that as much as you may not
discriminate on the basis of age, you can put in place affirmative action
measures which take into account the marginalization of certain categories of
persons including the youth, women and persons with disabilities.
� She referred to Article 227(2) of the Constitution on procurement of public goods
and services which says:- “An Act of Parliament shall prescribe a framework
within which policies relating to procurement and asset disposal shall be
implemented and may provide for all or any of the following – (b) protection or
advancement of persons, categories of persons or groups previously
disadvantaged by unfair competition or discrimination.”
Date: 29th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: The Ratification of Treaties Bill (second reading)
� She moved that The Ratification of Treaties Bill, Bill No. 28 of 29th July, 2011, be
read a Second Time.
� She added that the Bill is for an Act of Parliament to provide for the ratification of
treaties and for connected purposes. Though not specifically indicated, it also
seeks to give better effect to Article 2(6) of the Constitution of Kenya that
provides:- “Treaties ratified by Kenya shall form part of the laws of Kenya.”
� She added that the bill also seeks to give effect to Article 94(1) of the Constitution that provides: - “The legislative authority of the Republic is derived
from the people and, at the national level, is vested in and exercised by
Parliament.”
� She added that it may also give effect to – but not in a strict sense – Article 2 (5)
of the Constitution that provides: “the general rules of international law shall
form part of the law of Kenya.”
� She noted the reason she said that it did not strictly refer to Article 2 (5) but may, in a way, affect is because the process of crystallization of general rules of
international law is very different from the way treaties or conventions crystallize
or become law.
� She added that Governments go through a deliberative effort of coming up with
treaties or conventions and one of the processes is through ratification of
treaties. This was one of the issues that was the main bone of contention during
the campaigns for the Constitution, where the “No team” was actually using
Article 2 (6) to oppose the Constitution because, in their view, they were saying
that if we leave the ratification of treaties, then we are taking away the mandate
of the people of Kenya through their representatives in Parliament to enact
legislation and pass legislation that Kenyans have looked into and Kenyans have
examined and Kenyans are satisfied with.
Date: 30th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: The Ratification of Treaties Bill (second reading).
� She noted that for a law to crystallize as a general rule of international rule, then it must have been a practice that has been adopted by several states over a
number of years and there would be near unanimity. Therefore, the issue of
ratification does not apply. If a country does not agree with a general rule of
international law, they can refuse by being a persistent objector.
� She noted that the arguments by the opponents to the Constitution in relation to
Article 2(6) were to the effect that the application of international law in Kenya
without the necessary legislative oversight by Parliament amounted effectively to
legislation by the Executive and yet by the new Constitution, there is a clear
provision for separation of powers.
� She noted that in the past, the ratification of treaties was the pure and absolute preserve of the Executive and the Legislature has not been involved in it.
Sovereignty as a concept is now becoming very fluid because the world is
becoming a global village. With a global village, no country is going to watch any
other country kill its own people, violate the rights of its own citizens and argue
that it is a sovereign State.
� She added that the treaties negotiated should be done through parliamentary
approval process much more in light of the fact that Kenya is becoming part of
several international and regional blocs with several bilateral and multi-lateral
treaties.
� She added that the risk of legislating on issues that might clash with the
Constitution was becoming real. The East African Treaty has always been sighted
as a case in point especially on the budgetary process.
� She noted that there has been argument that Kenya needs to amend its
Constitution to conform with the East African Treaty but the best approach is to
provide for ratification of treaties through Parliament so that Parliament and the
Executive is involved so that when they go out to ratify treaties, it will have the
blessings of the Kenyan people through Parliament. Through that process, it will
not be seen to be sneaking in legislation or provisions that are not attractive to
Kenyans.
� She indicated that there are many conventions that Kenya has ratified that are of
importance, both in the environmental field and in the human rights field, such
as the Convention on Bio-Diversity, the Vienna Convention on Treaties, the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention Against Torture and the
Convention on Elimination of all forms of discrimination Against Women.
� She noted that most of these conventions are very favourable because they
provide progressive rights, most of which are already mirrored in the
Constitution. The law, therefore, provides that as per the effective dates, the
treaties that were ratified will not necessarily come through this process but this
law will take effect now onwards.
� She noted that Part I is the preliminary and it gives a short title, interpretation
and application. Part II is the ratification of treaties and it covers approval by
Cabinet, consideration by Parliament and under Clause 6, approval for
ratification. Clause 7 is on ratification of the treaty and the granting of full
powers and provides for offences under this law for persons who may ratify the
treaty without Parliamentary approval.
� She added that under Part IV, it provides for the establishment of the Registry of
Treaties and also establishes the Office of the Registrar of Treaties who would be
a person who is conversant with international law and International Relations.
� She noted that Part IV is on general provisions and also says that the public shall be made aware of the treaties that will be ratified in compliance with the
Constitution that talks about public participation.
� She added that Clause 13 provides for reporting in compliance with the terms of
the treaties, denunciation of certain treaties and for general rules.
� She added that since the Bill came up, she had received several memoranda and
had several discussions with members of the public, with organized groups and
even with different Ministries including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
CONSIDERED RULING
Date: 22nd November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: The Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill is
admissible for first reading.
� She appreciated the speaker’s ruling and noted that public participation is mentioned more than ten times. That mention is not accidental and public
participation is one of the four pillars ofa human rights based approach to
development and legislation.
� She noted that while dealing with a constitutional amendment, it must be very
clear because this was a negotiation between Kenyans and the sovereign. To
cede certain authority to the sovereign, people must be consulted yet again
when the sovereign wants to take it back from the people. The Constitution is a
complex thing and Kenyans want to address one issue and deal with it especially
after having gone through such a rigorous process
POINTS OF ORDER
Date: 1st November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Martha Karua
Contribution she made on: Acid attack on Ms. Farida Rashid
� She asked for a Ministerial Statement from the Minister of State for Provincial
Administration and Internal Security regarding an incident on 24th October this
year at Sai Rock Hotel, Mombasa, where the Prime Minister was having a
stakeholders’ forum, where a lady known as Farida Rashid was leaving the
forum, acid was thrown at her by some youths.
� She requested the Minister to tell the House why arrests of those known youths had not taken place and why they were let to go scot free and whether the
incident was related to an earlier incident where bodyguards of a prominent local
Mombasa politician fired at demonstrators, killing one of them and whether the
investigations in that case had brought in anything.
� She also requested the Minister to confirm that Farida, at that forum, had asked
the Government to step up war against drugs.
� She added that the residents and the lady were worried that Mombasa has been
taken over by cartels, and asked him to tell the House whether he and the police
were ready to uphold the rights of the residents of Mombasa, and crack down on
drug peddlers.
Date: 17th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Martha Karua
Contribution she made on: Deliberations on Committee on Justice and Legal
Affairs by HBC.
� She noted that it was wrong for the Members to blame the clerks of Parliament
and noted that as a member of the House Business Committee, there is a power
game between the coalition partners; one partner withdrawing the Members and
a decision by the House Business Committee to reconstitute but the whips were
unable to agree on the names.
� She suggested that to resolve the problem, the two coalition partners ought to
each give and take because the stalemate was a power game.
Date: 24th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Rachel Shebesh
Contribution she made on: Shooting of Ibrahim Ondego and Joseph
� She requested a Ministerial Statement from the Minister of State for Provincial
Administration and Internal Security with regard to the fatal shooting of Messrs.
Ibrahim Oketch Ondego and Joseph Nyaberi, who were shot on Wednesday, 23rd
November, 2011 in Kawangware, Nairobi. In the Statement, the Minister should;-
a) Confirm whether the deceased persons were executed by police officers on their
way to Gikomba Market, Nairobi, and whether their shooting was a case of
mistaken identity;
b) Confirm whether a car belonging to the Criminal Investigations Department
(CID) was seen at the scene of crime, and whether the officer was trying to
interfere with the scene.
c) Explain the action being taken by the Ministry to apprehend the culprits and compensate the bereaved family.
Date: 24th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: Measures to address political violence.
� She requested the Assistant Minister while he responding to the issue of growing violence as we move towards the general elections, if he could also clarify what
the Ministry had done in relation to supporters of ODM who were attacked in the
Ikolomani by-election and, to date, there is no information about what was done
to arrest the persons who attacked the ODM supporters in Ikolomani.
PRIME MINISTERIAL STATEMENTS
Date: 2nd November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: Kazi kwa Vijana I and II
� She congratulated the Prime Minister for a very comprehensive answer and
thanked him for personally responding to issues of the youth.
� She requested the Prime Minister to clarify that given that Kshs7 billion was
availed and has helped the youth benefit,
� She noted that there were issues raised in the first phase that needed to be corrected and requested the Prime Minister to confirm that under ineligible
expenditure number two, indeed, it had to do with monitoring and evaluation of
the project which will ensure better efficiency and more youth benefit.
Date: 9th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Rachel Shebesh
Contribution she made on: The recent cabinet appointments
� She noted that the statement from the Prime Minister had clearly indicated that
the decision to reinstate the Minister for Foreign Affairs was an issue that was
consulted on widely among the two principals and it was on agreement.
� She requested the Prime Minister, as the principal present in the House to speak
on his own behalf and tell the House how the two principals would ensure that
the issue of corruption was not muddled in political games and warfare in a way
that is helping those who are forming alliances to do away with those who they
think should not be in those alliances, especially those who were using this issue
of corruption to intimidate and silence critics of the other side.
Date: 30th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: Current and projected weather patterns/rains in
the country.
� She thanked the Prime Minister for addressing the issue of climate change and
the way it is affecting lives.
� She noted that areas that were hitherto not affected are getting heavily affected by floods.
� She sought to find out the measures were in place to ensure that the persons,
especially in Ogando, Lambwe Valley who were affected are helped.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENTS
Date: 3rd November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Beth Mugo
Contribution she made on: Distribution of aflatoxin-contaminated Unimix
food.
� She responded to the allegations that between 60,000 and 100,000 Kenyan children from certain parts of Eastern Province, Coast Province and almost the
entire Northern Kenya region stand a great risk of being affected by bad maize
that had been given to them by a company known as Proctor & Allan in the form
of a product known as Unimix, which is said to be exposing the children to
aflotoxin.
� She added that her Ministry conducted a survey on safety of maize in the
country, from 25th to
� 30th April, 2010 and gave inter-Ministerial recommendations for prevention of
aflatoxin in the country. The recommendations included procurement of moisture
meters and mobile driers by the Ministry of Agriculture; replacement of
contaminated maize with safe maize by the Ministry of State for Special
Programmes; rapid testing for active aflotoxin; search in the vulnerable
communities by my Ministry; and fast-tracking of the implementation of
warehouses receipt system to encourage farmers to store their produce in
National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) stores.
� She added that her Ministry was notified by M/s Proctor & Allan vide a letter dated 6th October, 2011, that three batches of Unimix food products, which Red
Cross Society had bought from them and distributed to hunger stricken Kenyans
were later confirmed by Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) as having high levels
of aflatoxin.
� She added that on getting this information, the Ministry moved fast and put
measures in place in order to prevent dangers caused by aflatoxin exposure and
immediately issued an alert through telephone calls to public health officers
countrywide to immediately scale up surveillance on Unimix products from Batch
Nos.236.011.1, 236.011.2 and 237.011.1.
� She added that the Ministry had since seized all Unimix products recalled by the
Kenya Red Cross Society and stored in their warehouses amounting to 183
metric tonnes.
� She added that the Ministry had issued a public health alert to all health workers in the affected regions, detailing the signs and symptoms of acute exposure to
aflatoxin poisoning. The Ministry had written to all agencies dealing with cereals
and grains that were condemned to destroy them in accordance with the court
orders
� She reported that their investigations revealed that the maize for Unifi production
at M/s Proctor & Allan had been tested by M/s SGS and M/s Pillion Services
Laboratories and found to have acceptable levels of aflatoxin of 1.0 and 5.0,
respectively, out of the maximum 10 ppt.
� She added that routine sampling by the Kenya Red Cross was carried out during
distribution to the targeted regions and the samples were analysed by KeBS and
SGS laboratories. The KeBS sampled the products on 25th August, 2011 and
submitted the results to the Kenya Red Cross on 23rd September, 2011.
� She added that Kenya Red Cross (KRC) did not share the results with Proctor and Allan or her Ministry. It is Proctor and Allan who notified the Ministry of the
existence of the contaminated batches when they got their results on 12th
October, 2011. That means there was a lapse of three weeks or almost a whole
month when the contaminated maize would have been withdrawn had the KRC
informed the Ministry or the supplier immediately.
� She added that the Ministry, in collaboration with the KRC society and manufacturers, were still recalling the consignment which was distributed
irrespective of whether it was suspected to be contaminated or not.The KRC
distributed the unimix to the schools at the Coast, lower Eastern, upper Eastern,
North Eastern and North Rift regions. A total of 726 schools with a population of
274,375 pupils had received the Unimix.
� She added that the companies mentioned to have tested had different
certificates to that of Proctor and Allan. Therefore, for them, it was clear that the
maize was clean. They did not keep it after milling and was distributed
immediately because it was needed. When it was given out, that is when further
tests were done.
� She clarified that the maize was purchased from Bomet and Narok district and
not from outside and the Ministry was trying to have the contaminated maize
destroyed for the last three years, but it had not been destroyed.
� She added that the doctors in the field were alerted and, so far, they had not seen any symptoms from the areas they visited. If anything comes up, the
companies had confirmed that they were willing to have the children treated.
� She added that the Ministry was making a surveillance of children in the areas
where the food was distributed in order to address any long term medical
complications.
� She added that the different agencies had different responsibilities and
modalities were being worked on by all those agencies to destroy it in a manner
that is safe for the environment.
� She urged Kenyans to be vigilant and should immediately alert the Ministry of
any maize that is not properly dried, instead of going ahead and consuming it.
� She added that the Ministry had not detected any cases and the medical staff
were on the ground and would be open about it.
Date: 8th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Martha Karua
Contribution she made on: Acid attack on Mrs. Farida Rashid
� She noted that there were two assaults on that particular day when the Prime
Minister was holding a consultative forum with stakeholders in Mombasa at the
Sai Rock Hotel. Farida, in the company of others raised the issue of the need to
fight drug use and drug cartels in Mombasa. She added that Farida clearly stated
that she was pointed out and accosted by youth in the company of Ali Joho.
� She noted that the statement did not mention Ali Joho at all and requested the
Assistant Minister to clearly states whether a statement was taken from Ali Joho
who is one of the suspects, according to Farida.
� She asked the Assistant Minister for Provincial Administration and Internal
Security if he was also aware that before the assault on Farida the same group
led by Ali Joho had assaulted a Mr. Farouk in the presence of the PPO, the
Provincial Administration and almost quite a number of police officers and
nobody assisted him.
� She sought to find out if the Assistant Minister and the Government were sincere
in fighting the drug menace, in protecting the lives of Kenyans and in combating
crime.
Date: 8th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Prof. Margaret Kamar
Contribution she made on: Impending strike by staff in public Universities.
� She informed the House that in 2003, the Government allowed university
academic, middle level management and non-teaching staff in public universities
to join trade unions for purposes of negotiations of their terms and conditions of
service with the public university councils. Two unions were, thereafter,
established and registered. They are the University Academic Staff Union (UASU)
and the Universities Non-Teaching Staff Union (UNTESU).
� She added that before then, there was already a union representing the support staff called “The Kenya Union of Domestic Hotels, Educational Institutions,
Hospitals and Allied Workers”.
� She added that in the meantime, in 2003, in order to negotiate as one, the public
university councils, as employers, formed the Inter- Public University Councils
Consultative Forum (IPUCCF) as an affiliate of the Federation of Kenya
Employees (FKE) and entered into collective bargaining agreement with the three
unions.
� She added that the negotiations for the current cycle, which the issue of the impending strike touches on - the 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 cycles - between
the forum and the three unions actually started and stalled. The forum sought
time off to consult with the relevant Government organs on negotiation
guidelines, especially on the maximum levels to offer to the unions.
� She added that on 16th April, 2010, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for
Finance through Treasury Circular No.5 of 2010 on Guidelines for Preparation of
2010/2011 and 2011/2013 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework Budget, froze
new wage negotiations in the public sector.
� She added that on 13th February, 2011, the then Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology wrote to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for
Finance forwarding a draft Cabinet Memorandum on Collective Bargaining
Agreements (CBAs) between public universities and the trade unions seeking
Cabinet’s authority for the resumption of the stalled negotiations.
� She added that on 25th May, 2011, in a Circular Ref.OP/CAP2/23A on
Determination of the Review of Remuneration in Public Service, the Head of
Public Service and Secretary to the Cabinet directed the Salaries and
Remuneration Commission to determine and advise on setting or review of
salaries and allowances. The circular further said that such salary reviews would,
therefore, have to wait until the commission had been operationalized through
an Act of Parliament
� She added that on October 13th 2011, she had a meeting with the Academic Staff
Union (UASU), and in a letter written to her on 17th October, 2011, questioned
the validity of the circular from the Head of Public Service. They, therefore,
sought to jumpstart the stalled negotiations with the Forum.
� She reported that following consultations that she undertook with the Ministry and between the Ministry and the Head of the Public Service and the Attorney-
General, both the universities and the unions were on 2nd November 2011
advised to resume the stalled negotiations. It was noted that in the absence of
the Salaries and Remunerations Commission, which had not been constituted,
normal industrial relations would be subject to the Labour Relations Act of 2007.
� She noted that the unions could be reluctant to attend the negotiation meeting in
Kisumu and immediately held consultations with Vice-Chancellors and, thereafter,
they formally invited the unions for further consultations.
� She noted that one of the grounds, which was very important for Members and
the public to know, was the item that the salary restructuring and harmonization
could only be deliberated on and negotiated by the Ministry of State for Public
Service and not by their colleagues in the universities as councils depend on the
Exchequer.
� She added that her Ministry was doing the best they could to make sure that
they avert the strike.
Date: 8th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Martha Karua
Contribution she made on: Impending strike by staff in public Universities.
� She asked the Minister for Higher Education if there was any entry point that she could find to engage the university lecturers in serious and meaningful dialogue
� She noted that through meaningful dialogue the lecturers could see commitment
from the Government and therefore, avert the national strike.
Date: 8th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: Impending strike by staff in public Universities.
� She requested the Minister to clarify the difficulties the Government had in
paying lecturers because through the parallel system the lecturers were bringing
a lot of money but were being extremely underpaid.
� She suggested that they could be paid straight from the parallel system money
instead of forcing them to go on strike.
Date: 9th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Prof. Margaret Kamar
Contribution she made on: Impending university staff strike
� She noted that there was a problem with that kind of a strike because there was
no room given for dialogue.
� She responded that the universities must not always go on strike to be heard but
the nature of unions is such that they negotiate their terms and salaries. So, the
process is a normal one but it should never boil down to going for a strike.
� She added that the most recent stalling occurred because of a circular that came
from the Head of Civil Service, who had informed the Ministry that because of
the new Commission on Salaries and Remuneration being put in place, there was
going to be a freeze on any other negotiations. It was agreed that they allow
negotiations to begin.
� She added that they therefore expected university councils to initiate the process of negotiating the terms and salaries that had stalled. The universities responded
very positively and had an inter-council forum for public universities. They went
to Kisumu where negotiations were supposed to begin the previous day but the
unions did not appear there.
� She added that the negotiation was not with the Ministry, but between the university councils and the unions. As far as the Ministry was concerned, the
councils had shown goodwill it is just that the unions did not take the
opportunity seriously and go for the negotiations.
� She added that the unions had stated that they would like to discuss with the Ministry of Planning, National Development and Vision 2030, they were back to
the letter from Amb. Muthaura which stated that the negotiations should be done
by the Commission on Salaries and Remuneration, which is under the Ministry of
Planning, National Development and Vision 2030.
� She noted that part of the funds from the parallel degree program go back to
develop the institutions. About 30 per cent is used to pay the lecturers over and
above their normal salaries but 70 per cent of the money collected is used partly
to supplement the other original salary because the capitation was not enough.
� She appealed to the universities and the unions that the only way they could broker a deadlock was through dialogue and added that it was wrong for the
unions to avoid going to the round table and claim that nobody had allowed
them to discuss.
� She appealed to the Union and university lecturers that at stake were all the students. Some students pay. There are parallel and privately sponsored
students within the same institutions who should be disadvantaged because of
an issue that can be resolved.
� She added that according to FKE, this was an illegal strike because there was no stalemate in the negotiation itself. According to the law, people cannot go on
strike unless they have had a stalemate in the negotiation but in this case there
were no negotiations.
� She added that the country takes professors seriously hence for that reason, in 2003; they were allowed to form their own union. It is out of the union that the
current salaries are on and all employees of the universities actually have their
separate unions for purposes of negotiating.
� She added that the Ministry was preparing itself to serve the increasing institutions by increasing members of staff and increasing institutions.
� She clarified that everybody was affected by the depreciating shilling and that the strike had to do with negotiations that stalled in 2009 which were being
jump-started irrespective of whether the shilling misbehaves or behaves.
� She appealed to the Members to talk to the professors and lecturers because the
country could not afford to close the universities even for a week because of the
programmes going on and the way they were synchronized them.
Date: 9th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Dr. Joyce Laboso
Contribution she made on: Impending university staff strike
� She asked the Minister to clarify whether the country takes members of the
academia seriously and if they recognize the efforts that go into becoming a
university professor.
� She asked if they were remunerated in line with their effort that they put to be in
the positions that they do.
� She added that it was very sad that some professors were hardly able to even
feed their own families.
Date: 16th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Martha Karua
Contribution she made on: Allegations against Hon. Mwau by former US
Ambassador
� She noted that the Assistant Minister for Provincial Administration and Internal
Security had given a very exhaustive statement, except in for not stating
whether any culprits had been arrested for drug trafficking.
� She noted that drugs were ruining the lives of many and asked the Assistant
Minister whether any of the accused in criminal case No.3165 of 2004 had any
relationship, whether through employment, affinity or consanguinity, with any
Member of Parliament.
� She asked the Minister to state if the police while investigating parliamentarians
in order clear them, they were also investigating who the drug traffickers are.
Date: 16th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Rachel Shebesh
Contribution she made on: Insecurity during Gor Mahia/AFC soccer match
� She requested the Assistant Minister for Provincial Administration and Internal
Security to consider having a long lasting relationship where his officers who go
to man matches are trained specifically on how to deal with hooliganism because
the same police officers who deal with criminal matters on the streets, who are
sent to deal with football matches sometimes could be the cause of more tension
because of the way they react
� She asked the Minister if the Ministry could train police officers to man sport
areas.
Date: 17th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: Stray wild animals from Ruma National Park.
She asked for a Ministerial Statement from the Minister for Forestry and Wildlife to
answer the following questions:-
a) If the Minister was aware that wild animals had escaped from Ruma National
Park and were posing a threat to human life. Buffalos were sighted at Kipasi and
Rapora area that afternoon.
b) What was the Government doing to immediately recapture the animals and to
ensure the people of Lambwe were secure.
c) What the Government was doing to hasten providing electric fencing to deal
permanently with the issue.
Date: 24th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Dr. Joyce Laboso
Contribution she made on: Insecurity in Rift Valley region.
� She requested the Assistant Minister for Provincial Administration and Internal
Security to clarify that these were incidents of thuggery. There is no issue of
ethnic tension involved and thugs, particularly the case of Sotik, are thugs and
not a question of which tribe they are coming from.
Date: 24th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Rachel Shebesh
Contribution she made on: Insecurity in Rift Valley region
� She noted that the Assistant Minister had said that residents in the area were not willing to co-operate with the police to give information and requested him to
state why residents in an area where there is insecurity would not trust the
police.
� She asked him to clarify whether the police were part of the problem in terms of
the way they have treated the residents of these areas when crimes are
committed.
Date: 24th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona
Contribution she made on: House Business for the week commencing 28th
November, 2011
� She requested the Assistant Minister, Ministry of State for Provincial
Administration and Internal Security to clarify, from the Bills that he had
indicated, she did not see any of the Bills that are in the Fifth Schedule of the
Constitution, especially the ones that have one year to 19 months time frame.
� She noted that the House not t fall into the trap of rushing things while there is time and asked when he intended to schedule the Bills so that the Members can
start working on them before the House goes on recess.
Date: 29th November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Wavinya Ndeti
Contribution she made on: Nomination of IAAF female athlete of the year
� She responded that the IAAF World Athlete of the Year Award takes place every
year to recognize and reward excellence by the athletes in the season under
consideration. The season begins in November and ends in October the following
year.
� She added that the IAAF shortlists outstanding athletes of the season and gives their names out for voting. Voting is done by selected athletics public bodies by
sending in their choices of outstanding athletes. The voters are IAAF and IAF
council members and IAAF member federations, IAAF committee and
commission members, IAAF meeting directors, IAAF ambassadors, athletes’
representatives, top athletes, international Press and IAA staff.
� She added that further eliminations are done in three rounds of voting. The best
10 athletes in each category are put to the final voting and the international
community votes for them. The voting ends on the night preceding the Gala
Night in Monte Carlo, Monaco, Headquarters of the IAAF where the final verdict
is given.
� She clarified that the selection of the athletes goes beyond performance and also
looks into the outstanding personality of the athletes, media friendliness and
etcetera. Because of this, sponsors also lobby behind the scenes and push for
their athletes.
� She added that the decision finally arrived at is final and cannot be petitioned. This year, the female category was won by Sally Pearson of Australia in the 100
metres hurdle race. During the season, she won 10 out of 11 competitions. She
won the events at the World Athletics Champions in Daegu, South Korea, with a
time of 12.28 seconds which was the fourth fastest time ever in the event.
� She added that Kenya’s closets athlete to this title was Vivian Cheruiyot who won the Senior Women 8 kilometres event in the World Cross Country Championship
in Punta Umbria, Spain. She also won the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres race
at the world championship in Daegu.
� She added that after the rigorous selection process given above, the IAAF council reached the final verdict and made the announcement during the world athletes
of the Year Gala in Monaco.
� She agreed that it would appear that Vivian Cheruiyot’s performance was more
impressive than that of the final winner Sally Pearson. However, the decision is
final.
� She urged Kenyans to get into the habit of voting whenever the opportunity to vote for our people presents itself at the international forum. This would make a
significant change in the outcome of this contest in the future.
� She noted that what went wrong is that Kenyans are not involving themselves in
voting internationally, when some of these things come up.
� She requested every Kenyan to be alert and as a Ministry they should sensitize Kenyans that when something like that comes up, they should put their efforts
together and try to vote for our own to win.
PERSONAL STATEMENT
Date: 3rd November 2011
Member of Parliament: Hon. Beth Mugo
Contribution she made on: Disparaging remarks about Hon (Mrs) Mugo by
Members.
� She requested to make a Personal Statement regarding very harsh, false and
misleading sentiments that were uttered the day before on the Floor of the
House by some hon. Members, led by the Member for Ikolomani, Hon. Khalwale.
� She quoted:-“Mrs. Beth Mugo has been in the House and deliberately dogged answering this question; not her nor the Assistant Minister. They have gone
away because they do not care. This is because to them, a few poor people
dying is good riddance”.
� She stated that the Statement sought was not due until the afternoon of the
previous days as evident from the HANSARD on Thursday 27th October, 2011. It
was, therefore, misleading to insinuate that her Ministry or the Government had
failed because as directed, she was in the House in the afternoon ready with the
statement.
� She added that she was in the House the previous day’s morning but went out at
11.00 a.m. to attend a meeting of the Constitutional Implementation Oversight
Committee (CIOC) which was meeting to determine or to finalize the Report
which we were doing. Indeed, she was all along ready to issue the Ministerial
Statement but its allocated time was not due in the morning. This also emerged
to be the position during yesterday afternoon’s session when she was still ready
with the Statement but the Prime Minister’s session took long prompting the
issuance of the Statement to be rescheduled to that day.
� She added that for the Nation and Standard newspapers to have gone ahead and carried a misleading story even after she clarified the correct position as per the
HANSARD was wrong and malicious and requested the Chair to caution the
publishers and also to ask for an apology from the two media houses.
� She noted that the insinuation that she did not care was false because her Ministry was fighting for safety of food in Kenya for Kenyans and especially
aflatoxin speaks for itself. Kenyans will recall that when aflatoxin contaminated
maize was first imported into the country sometime back, she ordered that the
maize be shipped back to the country of origin and personally travelled to
Mombasa with her officers to ensure the order was complied with.
� She added that her unwavering fight against harmful GMOs was also a matter of
public knowledge.
� She noted that insinuations that she did not care about Kenyans were insulting and intended at painting her character as a disreputable Government Minister
and leader. In light of all these, it is important that the concerned Member be
made to withdraw and apologize and that the contribution and similar ones by
other Members be expunged from the records of the House.
� She added that Members should not be allowed to scandalize others in the
pretext of keeping the Government on its toes. They should not be allowed to
mislead the Chair in full glare of national media because when the truth has been
established, the damage will already have been done and Kenyans will already
have been misled.
� She noted that it was also important that the Chair is vigilant to this
unacceptable trend and added that the Deputy Speaker also went ahead to even
add more damage when he continued to malign her instead of informing the
hon. Members what the HANSARD contained on the order that she was to give
the Statement later in the afternoon.