NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

Papers laid

• The Social Assistance (Repeal)l Bill(NA Assembly Bill No. 16 of 2020)-Majority leader Hon. Amos Kimunya
• The Price Tabulation Target and Economic Policy of the Government for the FY 2021/2022 Budget-Majority leader Hon. Amos Kimunya
• The Report of the Auditor-General in respect of the TVET Curriculum Development Assessment and Certification Council for the year ended 30th June 2020 and the certificate therein-Majority leader Hon. Amos Kimunya

Committee of the whole house

• The Supplementary Appropriation(No. 2) Bill(NA Assembly Bill No. 33 of 2021)-Hon. Kanini Kega
• The Public Private Partnership Bill(NA Assembly Bill No.6 of 2021-Majority Leader hON. Amos Kimunya

Motions

• Reduction of Publication Period of a Specified Bill-Hon. Kanini Kega

Communication from the Speaker

The Speaker said that his office has received a petition from Kevin Macharia who is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya calling for implementation of various interventions at streamlining access to justice during the ongoing pandemic.

His office also received a petition from a group called Cultivation of Short Rain crops which are unfortunately routinely invaded by marauding elephants and other wild animals from Tsavo East and West National Parks.

Report of the Budget and Appropriations Committee on its consideration of the Supplementary Appropriations Bill (No. 2) (National Assembly No. 33 of 2021) 

The report was tabled by Hon. Kanini Kega.

The Supplementary Appropriation (No. 2) Bill (NA Bill Bill No. 33 of 2021) 

It was read the first and second time.

Hon. John Mbadi stated that as much as ministries, departments and state agencies are hailed, the pending bills which have become a thorn in the flesh of Kenyans need to be settled and that is lacking in the supplementary budget and it continues to lack in all budgets that have been prepared and presented in the House. Action needs to be taken.

He also added that a policy is already in place but the PFM Act has not been amended which clearly stipulates that pending bills become the first charge. 

Hon. Aden Duale stated that the government is ready and has committed to pay the debt it owes Chinese. It needs to pay the debt it owes the World Bank and all multilateral agencies. A pending bill is a debt. He urged the government to pay the money that belongs to Kenyan citizens.

Hon. Wilberforce Oundo contributed to the debate saying that the government is the biggest spender in most third-world countries and when the government does not spend, there is no money in the economy. In his view the economy continuously contracts, because if there isn’t spending, there is no purchasing power as well.

County Governments (Amendment) Bill (Senate Bill No. 13 of 2018) 

Hon. Peter Mwathi moved that the County Governments (Amendment) Bill (Senate Bill No. 13 of 2018) be read a second time.

Hon. Josphat Kabinga stated that the Bill is very simple yet very important. He said that if we really want to succeed in the area of devolution, we must professionalize all areas to ensure that we don’t place human resources under the carpet. 

Hon. Esther Passaris stated that there is a need to ensure that integration and inclusion is actually monitored and evaluated. Not only through ethnic inclusion but also through the gender lens.

She further stated that the amendment should also look at ensuring that there is a way to monitor and evaluate progress. There should be a penalty that should be paid by counties that are not doing the right thing in terms of inclusion and the spread of communities.

Report on the departmental committee on Agriculture and Livestock on its consideration of the Sugar Bill (NA Bill No. 68 of 2019)

Hon. Silas Tiren laid the report on the departmental committee on Agriculture and Livestock on its consideration of the Sugar Bill (NA Bill No. 68 of 2019).

Hon. John Mbadi expressed his disappointment stating that if a chair and vice-chair for whatever reason would not be available and there is no other member who would help in moving a motion, the best thing for them to do is to alert the House Business Committee so that the  bill or motion is deferred to a later date.

Hon. Ndindi Nyoro reminded the House of the role of the whip. He stated that he supposed that the whip ought to have known the business that is bringing them to the house so that he can alert the relevant personalities so that they are not in the kind of a quagmire they found themselves in. 

Committee of the Whole House: Public Private Partnerships Bill (NA Bill No. 6 of 2021)

Hon. Kimani Ichungwah stated that the National Assembly being the people’s representative  needs to have an opportunity to interrogate the PPP agreement. If the Bill was tabled in other countries, the agreements would be good to pass as they are where public scrutiny of agreements is open.

He further stated that the only way that they can protect public interests is by having the National Assembly to have a role in scrutiny of the agreements so that they ensure they are able to get public assets that are done efficiently.

The Bill was passed.

Impeachment Procedure Bill (Senate Bill No. 15 of 2018)

Nominated MP Hon. Jennifer Shamalla moved that the Impeachment Procedure Bill (Senate Bill No. 15 of 2018) be read a second time.

Hon Ole Sankok seconded this motion.

Hon. Amos Kimunya stated that he has faith that the Bill will seal the loopholes and at the very least, remove the confusion on the intent of impeachment as a tool to engineer good governance as well as confusion in respect to the constitutional standard for impeachable offences.

Hon. Millie Odhiambo stated that gross misconduct is very subjective, by leaving it without definition, it may be subject to abuse.

Inspection of visits to ascertain the impact of revenue enhancement initiatives

Hon. Isaac Waihenya moved a motion on the inspection of visits to ascertain the impact of revenue enhancement initiatives on revenue collection. 

Hon. Gladys Wanga seconded the motion.

She stated that when they went to JKIA for example, they went to the cargo area. The scanner in the cargo area was not working, it had broken down. This means that for every piece of cargo that comes, the KRA people at JKIA have to decide which packages to open to find out whether the packages are carrying what has been declared. That alone results in a lot of loss in revenue. 

She further stated that we need to deal with the issue of our tax regime. When they went to the border of Uganda, they found plant and machinery going to Uganda meaning Kenya is losing manufacturing to Uganda because perhaps they have a better regime of taxation than we do.

Hon. Ndindi Nyoro tabled his views that as a country, to increase the revenues, we have to look at the enterprise that has got increasing returns especially where we blend production and we infuse technology in it so that we are at an economic level of countries that are actually growing.

Questions

Hon. Moses Injendi directed a question to the CS-Sports

• Could the CS state the assistance the government has extended to Mr Patrick Matasi or his dependant who plays for the National Team, Harambee Stars, following a road accident which occurred on 11th May 2021?
• Hon. Ferdinand Wanyonyi directed questions to the CS for Water, Sanitation, Irrigation.
• Could the CS provide a status of the situation of the Kapsitueti-Aseka-Marinda Dams in Kwanza Constituency?
• What necessary measures has the Ministry put in place to address the huge number of students admitted to secondary schools which lack necessary infrastructure to accommodate the expansion particularly students admitted to Belgut – Starehe Boys and Belgut – Starehe Girls considering these are special schools initially meant for orphans and needy students within Belgut constituency?
• What immediate steps has the ministry taken to ensure that a huge number of students admitted to Belgut Starehe Boys and Starehe Girls are provided with the necessary facilities, in the form of dormitories, classes and teaching staff?

Hon. Charles Njuguna directed questions to the CS Labour

• Could the CS explain why the elderly persons cash transfer programme database record has not been updated since 2017 in Mwingi West Constituency?
• What steps is the Ministry taking to rectify errors, update databases and synchronize all the data following the migration from the manual exercise to the new bank card based payment including reinstatement of more than 176 beneficiaries who were left out during the 2017 migration?
• Could the CS state the amount of funds allocated to the said programme with respect to Mwingi West constituency during the financial years 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 and explain how the funds were utilized?

Hon. Elijah Memusi directed questions to the CS for Education.

• Could the CS explain the criteria and considerations applied in the selection of form 1 students to public secondary schools in the country?
• What is the rationale of students selecting schools which they may not be called for or taken for admission despite having preference on the schools?
• Could the CS consider publishing the list of students and their preferred choices of schools against the schools they selected?

Requests made in the House

Hon. Amin Rashid requested for a statement from the Chairperson of Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs regarding a petition for pardon of Mr Hassan Abdi Ali.

Hon. Kanini Kega moved a procedural motion on the reduction of the publication period for a specified bill.

The Majority Leader Hon. Amos Kimunya requested the Speaker to step down in the Committee of the Whole House the Public Private Partnerships Bill (NA Bill No. 6 of 2021)

The Sitting Speaker Hon. Christopher Omulele acceded to the request by Hon. Amos Kimunya to step down the Waqf Bill (NA Bill No. 73 of 2019) from the order paper.

 Hon. Joseph Kipkosgei sought a statement from the Committee on Lands regarding a caveat imposed on title deeds of formal settlements within the Mau Complex, Kuresoi Constituency.

Hon. Rehema Jaldesa sought a statement from the committee on administration and national security regarding resurgence of banditry attacks and killings in Isiolo County. 

Hon. George Peter Kaluma requested for a statement from the Leader of Majority regarding the status of appointment of the following persons to the Judiciary: 

1. Justice Weldon Korir
2. Justice Aggrey Muchelule
3. Justice Joel Ngugi
4. Justice George Odunga
5. Mrs Judith Omange and 
6. Mr Evans Makori 

who were recommended to be appointed to the Court of Appeal under the superior courts.

SENATE

The Senate is still in recess until 06th July, 2021.