Serjeant-at-Arms, ring the Quorum Bell for 10 minutes. (The Quorum Bell was rung) Hon. Members, we now have the numbers. Clerk-at-the-Table, call out the first Order.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I also want to join you in welcoming all the students who have come to Parliament today. They look very beautiful and nice up there. Work harder, diligently and put your best foot forward so that one day you can come and stand in my place not just to lay papers but also participate in the House debates. I see a bright future ahead of you. May God bless all of you. They do not know how to say amen. Hon. Temporary Speaker, I beg to lay the following Papers on the Table:

Very well, the next one is the Vice- Chairperson of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, Hon. Pukose.

Hon. Temporary Speaker, I beg to lay the following Paper on the Table:

Report of the Budget and Appropriations Committee on its consideration of the Equalisation Fund Appropriation Bill, 2026. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

Very well. Vice-Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning. Give Hon. Benjamin the microphone.

Hon. Temporary Speaker, I beg to lay the following Papers on the Table:

Reports of the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning on its consideration of:

Very well. Hon. Members, before we go to Order No.7, allow me to reorder this Order Paper a bit. We prosecute Order Nos. 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 and then we will go back to statements. Call the Orders out.

Let us have the Mover.

I beg to move that the Public Participation Bill (National Assembly Bill No. 44 of 2025) be now read a Third Time. Can I make comments?

Appoint a Seconder.

Yes, I would like to say a few things. I thank the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs under the able chairmanship of Sir George Murugara, Senior Counsel, for a good job. This country has yearned for a public participation Bill for many years. We have left public participation issues to be deliberated and adjudicated by courts all the time.

Many good projects and initiatives have gone under because of lack of public participation, every time people rush to court to get interpretation on public participation. We have, as a country, lost a lot since 2010 because Parliament never enacted a law on public participation under the 2010 Constitution. Therefore, there was arbitrary abuse of issues of public participation. Any time someone disagreed with any small thing in this country, they would just rush to court to get orders to stop anything on the basis of public participation.

I thank Members of this 13th Parliament for the good job. May the good Lord bless all of you because we now have a Public Participation Bill in place. I ask everybody on the way of this Bill to move it fast, even to assent to it so that all good projects can now proceed. They include the Safaricom PLC divestiture, the Adani deal that went under, the good housing projects, markets and many other projects over which people rushed to court because of public participation. We are now in the process of enacting the law. I request that this law be expedited, assented to and given to the people of Kenya so that we make progress. I can see Hon. Oundo raising his hand. I thank you for your good output. Please, listen to me because you are a good legislator. We appreciate your output but we do not need it now.

I request Hon. George Best to second me. Thank you.

Hon. George Murugara, proceed.

Thank you very much. Allow me to say one or two words regarding this great Bill that I confirm Hon. (Dr) Otiende Amollo, Senior counsel, and senior advocate, Hon. Chepkonga, co-sponsored.

This is a very important law that now sets out how we go about doing public participation. This being Parliament and to avoid over-legislation, we have given various entities the mandate to do public participation. It is now up to them to wake up, study the Bill as soon as it is assented to become an Act of Parliament, and proceed to do public participation in accordance with the guidelines the entities will develop.

I beg to second.

Hon. Members, we had very good deliberations in the Committee. I was presiding over that Committee. Do you agree that we put the question?

Yes. (Question put and agreed to) (The Bill was accordingly read a Third Time and passed)

Order, Hon. Members. (Hon. Owen Baya consulted loudly) Hon. Owen, order. Hon. Members, I will now put the question. (Question put and agreed to)

Move Third Reading.

I beg to move that the Plant Protection Bill (National Assembly Bill No. 28 of 2025) be now read a Third Time. I request Hon. Mutunga to second.

Member for Tigania West.

Thank you. I second.

Hon. Members, there is too much movement.

Order, Hon. Memusi. Hon. Murugara, you are totally out of order. (Question proposed) (Question put and agreed to) (The Bill was accordingly read

a Third Time and passed) Second Reading

Hon. Members, debate on this Bill was concluded. I will, therefore, proceed to put question. (Question put and agreed to) (The Bill was read a Second Time and

committed to Committee of the whole House)

Hon. Members, what remained on this on this Order was putting the question. (Question put and agreed to)

Hon. Members, I will proceed to put the question. (Question put and agreed to) Hon. Members, we shall go back to Order No. 7. There is one response from the Departmental Committee on Agriculture and Livestock but there is one request I will indulge. It is Hon. Mule to make his request then we will go to Hon. Mutunga.

Thank you very much. Pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order 44(2)(c), I request a Statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning regarding the operation of a company known as QVSE operating under the Global Investment Group in Kenya.

It is reported that QVSE, an online platform operating under the Global Investment Group, is offering investment opportunities to Kenyans by combining cryptocurrency payments with trading in United States’ stocks. The platform reportedly markets itself as providing a secure and convenient investment solution to enable users invest in United States’ equity using digital assets.

However, concerns have been raised regarding the platform's operations particularly its regulatory status, investment protection measures, and the legality of its activities in Kenya. Reports indicate that the platform targets every citizen—small-scale traders, teachers, bodaboda operators, and other economically vulnerable groups—by requiring a minimum investment of approximately Ksh65,000. It promises a fixed daily permission to execute one trade per day online by sending members a signal at 4.00 p.m. every day through a notification on their mobile phones.

The allegations have raised concerns that unsuspecting members of the public have been exposed to significant financial loss should the platform fail to honour its obligations. It is against this background that I request a Statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning on the following:

Very well. Is the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning, the Vice-Chairperson or any other member of the Committee present? Deputy Leader of the Majority Party, Hon. Baya, let the Committee bring the response in two weeks.

An Hon. Member: Hon. Temporary Speaker, there is a member of the Committee here.

It is fine. However, I have already guided.

Hon. Members, I wish to introduce to you, a delegation of seven students from the following schools who are seated in the Speaker's Gallery: Loreto Convent, Valley Road; Starehe Girls’ Centre and Kianda School. The students are in Parliament on a voluntary service scheme that runs during the school holidays for a period of one week. On my own behalf and that of the National Assembly, I welcome the students to Parliament and wish them a positive experience in their voluntary service to the nation.

Thank you.

Hon. John Mutunga, you have a response to give. Are you ready?

Yes.

Carry on.

Hon. Temporary Speaker, I rise to respond to the Statement requested by Hon. Mayaka.

What did you say? Did you say the Statement was requested by Hon. Irene Mayaka?

Yes, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I am responding to the statement as requested by Hon. Irene Mayaka directed to the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock on the invasive dodder weeds.

Hon. Speaker, the dodder weed has become a widespread invasive parasitic weed across many regions in Kenya. It affects both cultivated and wild plants, resorting to significant economic losses. The weed attaches itself to the host plant and forms dense thread like stems that may appear yellow, gold, orange or green, depending on the species. It spreads through the birds, animals, human activities, farm operations such as pruning, movement of infested planting material, contaminated farm equipment and contaminated soil.

The counties affected by this menace include Nyamira and Kisii in Nyanza; Vihiga, Bungoma and Kakamega counties in Western Kenya; Nakuru, Nandi, Kericho, Narok, Kajiado, Bomet and Uasin Gishu counties in Rift Valley; Murang’a, Kiambu, Kirinyaga and Meru in Central Region; and Kitui, Machakos, Makueni, Mombasa and Kilifi in the Eastern and Coastal regions. The crops affected include avocado, citrus, mango, passion fruit, sugarcane, coffee, tea, miraa, macadamia, maize, beans, bananas, cashew nuts, forest trees, ornamentals, hedges and shrubs.

Before I give Hon. Mayaka an opportunity for any follow-up question or questions, allow me to recognise visitors. In the Public Gallery this afternoon are visitors from Moto Primary School, Kuresoi North Constituency, Nakuru County; Olanti Primary School, Kajiado South Constituency, Kajiado County, and Harvard Institute of Development Studies, Thika Constituency, Kiambu County. We welcome them to observe the proceedings of the House this afternoon.

Hon. Mayaka, are you satisfied with the response?

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I acknowledge the efforts that have gone into this particular response. More so, on the research of the number of counties affected, the different crops affected, and the work done in terms of research. All the gaps that have been identified relate to a lack of budgetary allocation. When we come to the very last point, in terms of when this budgetary allocation will be made, there is no specification.

If the Ministry has identified that the biggest issue we have in dealing with dodder weed is the lack of budgetary allocation, and has even mapped out the specific amounts for each particular area, but does not say when this budgetary allocation will be made, then it is purely literature. Budgetary allocation is made depending on a specific financial year. There is no indication of which particular financial year is going to deal with this issue. I have seen that the total amount comes to about Ksh46 million. The allocation is spread across the different counties.

The number of counties affected is 25, and some of the major counties that are the breadbaskets of this country are affected by dodder weed. If you drive from Kisumu all the way to Nyamira and Kisii, along the road you will even see the yellow plant and how it has affected the plantations. We cannot have an uncertain indication of which particular financial year we are talking about. What if they are talking about after we go for the election? What if

Very well. Hon. Member for Funyula, is it on the same matter?

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. You heard the Chair of the Committee mention Busia as one of the counties that has been affected severely by dodder weed, the one we call the yellow-yellow weed. We refer to it that way because it is yellow and it reminds us of some yellow-yellows here in Nairobi, that we normally meet with from Limuru. We used to say that you knew that you are approaching Nairobi when you started seeing yellow faces around Limuru.

Personally, in my own compound, the dodder has suffocated all my oranges, and I feel something needs to be done. I have spoken to the agricultural extension officers, and they have also looked helpless. The only solution they are offering is to cut the tree and burn it, which looks too destructive and very expensive. I just want to urge the Chair, as Hon. Irene Mayaka has challenged, to find some resources in the budget-making process or in the Supplementary Budget to provide resources to do some work. Chair, you can reach out to the Budget and Appropriations Committee.

There are so many departments or offices that have a lot of money that they waste every single day. If they only donated Ksh50 million, it would save this country and many parts of it. Just go to the Budget and Appropriations Committee and let them reduce the number of watchmen who go to State House so that you can save those resources for this. It will save the people of Kenya. They are more important than benefiting individuals for no apparent reason. I hope you have heard my plea and that of the people of Busia, Nyamira, Bungoma, Kakamega and Vihiga. If you do not do anything, allow us to take care of ourselves.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

On a point of order, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

What is out of order, Hon. Kipsanai? Hon. Members, use your cards. It will help you make interventions.

Hon. Temporary Speaker, is it in order for the Member for Funyula, Hon. (Dr) Oundo to insinuate that it is wrong for Kenyans who are taxpayers, the ones who elected the Government of the day that is currently serving and in future, to visit State House? Is it in order for him to imply that they are going there to spend money and call them watchmen, cooks or whatever? Those are Kenyans; they deserve to go to State House today, tomorrow and in future. That is their office. That is why we say this is a Hustler Government. You are out of order.

Hon. Donya, is it a point of order or a follow-up question? I will come to you, Member for Funyula.

We are discussing matters of agriculture and food security for the nation, and then someone starts bringing up issues of money. That shows that you have an intention of communicating. This is not the right forum to give responses on who goes to State House or what happens there. This is a very important matter of agriculture and food security. What are you telling the learners who have come all the way to see what is discussed in Parliament? It is a shame for the Hon. Member to speak so blatantly. Next time, he should know that we have public rallies and other avenues where he can take his discussion, but not to be trivial in this House.

Thank you very much.

Hon. Members, I know you are opening a different matter because the owner of the question has asked about budgets, and the Chair will respond. Hon. Zamzam, is it another point of order?

Mhe. Spika wa Muda, wajua haya magugu yellow-yellow yako kila mahali hadi Mombasa. Wakati tunazungumza mambo muhimu na tunataka msaada, ni makosa sana Mbunge asimame na aanze kuzungumza mambo ya watu kutembea State House. Toka jadi, wakati wa Moi, wa Kenyatta na wote hawa, watu walikuwa wanaenda huko na kuzungumza mambo ya kimsingi. Hii ndiyo kazi ya Rais. Ukiona amekaa na watu wake State House, hawa ndio walimpigia kura. Wakiwa na masuala yao huko ndiyo ofisi ya Rais. Wana haki ya kwenda, iwe usiku ama mchana. Hata ofisi ya Mhe. Oundo pia watu wanaenda usiku na mchana. Kwanza wanaenda hadi kwake nyumbani. Aachane na State House; ni wakati wa Rais Ruto ajibarizi, na aite kila mtu aende huko. Hata mimi nangoja kuitwa huko ili niende na mambo yangu ya Mombasa.

Bunge hili tunapigania mambo ya magugu ambayo ni ile yellow-yellow inayosumbua hadi Mombasa. Tunahitaji bajeti ya kuweza kusukuma ili tupigane nayo. Ahsante sana, Mhe. Spika wa Muda.

I will come back to you, Member for Funyula. I really wish Members would come with their cards. I do not want you to raise your hands. Member for Mogotio, you know, it looks terrible when you are raising your hand in the House with Hon. CPA Rutto. Kindly replace your cards if you have lost them. This House needs some order. But I will indulge you, Hon. Kiborek for a minute.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I will join my colleagues in reprimanding the Member for Funyula. All sovereign power belongs to the people. The President sits in State House on behalf of the people of Kenya, and State House belongs to the people of Kenya. The State House belongs to the people of Kenya. Everyone has the liberty and the right to visit State House whenever invited. Hon. Oundo has cast aspersions on Kenyans who visit the State House to discuss matters of the economy of this country with the President. He is out of order and that should not be allowed.

Thank you.

Hon. Rutto, you are the Vice-Chair of the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning. You are the ones who source for money. I will give you a minute. Maybe you will tell Hon. Mayaka the budget.

Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker. Allow me now to bring back the discussion to the mood of the Member who made the request for a Statement. Food security is a matter of national interest like any other security matter. In the absence of food, there can never be stability in the country. It is the way we feel threatened by aggression and attack from outsiders. Food security is something that we cannot give a second thought, especially at such a moment where we are staring at drought that is ravaging the country. I am sure you are aware that parts of what we call “the bread basket” of the country are now experiencing challenges because of drought. We are anticipating crop failure. So, that put together with the issue of the yellow-yellow weed that is seriously attacking cereals, especially the maize crop, we cannot have shortcuts about them. Whether there is money or not, this is something that the Government of the day has to consider as a matter of priority.

As I have said, it is a national security issue. The way we set money aside to buy ammunition and hammock cars should be the same way that we set money aside to provide food. You do not need a gun to shoot hunger but you need food. Countries have fallen down. We have seen uprisings and governments being brought down because of food. This is something we cannot sit on. I want to ask the Cabinet Secretaries in charge of the National Treasury and Agriculture to consider this challenge as a matter of priority. We need enough

I want to bring this to a close. Chair Agriculture, you will have the final response.

Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I want to strongly disassociate myself from the utterances of Hon. Oundo. I expected Hon. Oundo, a professor, to be more inclined towards learning Kenyans and not unlearning them. It is really absurd to hear that from Hon. Oundo. I want to say two things. One, he is out of order as far as Standing Order 105 is concerned. He did not substantiate his statement of watchmen going to State House. Hon. Oundo is aware of the budgeting process.

Two, he is also out of order with respect to Standing Order 91, which basically tasks him to be personally responsible for the utterances he makes. Having said that, we shall be very particular as a Committee to look into what the Ministry will propose as a budgetary provision towards the control, sensitisation and research of this invasive weed.

Thank you.

I can see Hon. Mayaka doing a thumbs up. She is satisfied for now.

Thank you, Hon. Ariko. I have been told that I said CPA Rutto is a Vice-Chair. He is a Member of the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning, if I am not wrong. I had given him a position that is not his. So, I withdraw it.

Hon. Mayaka.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I just want to acknowledge what my fellow Chair has said in terms of budgetary allocation. I want to assure him that when the time comes, I will be there, very keen with the pen, to confirm that the Ksh46 million is actually allocated for this very important thing.

If I may just finalise on this, you can see the list of the crops that the Chair mentioned. They are very important cash crops in our country. The Government has gone out of its way to ensure that the amount of money for buying fertiliser is reduced. We cannot put so much effort to ensure that crop production increases then it is affected by this weed. So, I will be watching very keenly to make sure that that allocation is done. Thank you.

Very well. We have made very good progress. Hon. CPA Rutto, I am told that you are serving your second term. You should be the Chair of the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning because I had promoted you.

Next Order.

Is the Chairperson, Committee on Implementation in the House? Has he delegated?

Hon. Members, this goes to the Chairs. In the Liaison Committee, you communicate if you have business in the Order Paper. If you know you are not there, kindly delegate so that we do not keep calling Orders that are not moving. We shall defer this.

Next Order.

Chairperson, Special Funds Account Committee. Anyone delegated to move? We shall defer this Order.

Next Order.

The Chairperson, Public Investments Committee on Social Services, Administration and Agriculture, is the Chair in the House. Again, we shall defer it.

Chairperson, Departmental

Same as Order 20; we shall defer. It is under the Chairperson, Committee on Implementation.

Chairperson, Departmental

Same to the Committee on Energy. The Motion shall also be deferred.

On a point of order.

What is out of order, Hon. Makali? Before Hon. Makali, I will acknowledge Hill School from Kesses, Uasin Gishu County, who are in the Speaker’s Gallery. Your Member of Parliament is here, so I will give him a minute to welcome not just you, but also other learners who are visiting. Hon. Rutto.

Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for according me this opportunity to delightfully welcome the Hill School Eldoret. I am again saying that Hill School Eldoret is the oldest school in the constituency, and a school with traditions, known for excelling in their academics and performance, and even in their character.

You are welcome to learn from this honourable House and also develop your aspirations, because I know all of you have different careers and expectations in future. Should you choose to run for political leadership, I will be delighted to see some of you here in the future. But the bottom line is working hard, not only at Hill School but also at other schools. Please take your commitment to your education seriously, because that is the way out to the success of your life. Thank you and welcome. I am happy to see you and happy to meet you here.

Thank you.

Hon. Makali Mulu.

Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker. Maybe before I raise my issue, I just want to join my colleague in also welcoming the students. We are very happy when we see them in Parliament, especially to observe what happens here.

I am a bit concerned because you have read over six Motions, which are supposed to have been debated by this House, and from where you sit, you have no choice but to defer them, basically because those who are supposed to move them are not in the House. We are aware that the Order Paper is published normally 24 hours before the time of debate. I do not know what the Leader of the Majority Party will be telling us. I see the Deputy Leader of the Majority Party here. I do not know what he will be telling Kenyans in a situation where those who are supposed to be moving Motions are not here. This is serious business for the country so I want your guidance on how we proceed.

We have seen these tendencies, for example, the Committee on Implementation. Last week, it was the same case. Is it that the Chairs are not being told about this? Who is failing who? I think this matter must be addressed. Thank you.

The Temporary Speaker (Hon. Martha Wangari): Indeed, it is quite distressing for us to defer over five Orders yet the communication is usually sent out in the morning. I am the Vice-Chair of the Liaison Committee. We had alerted all the Chairs who were supposed to be in the House. It is quite unfortunate that we have to keep deferring. Hon. Oundo.

Hon. Temporary Speaker, this is unprecedented in the history of Parliament of Kenya since Independence. It is extremely unprecedented. When you are elect a Chair of a Committee, there is some sense of responsibility that is bestowed upon you, and you cannot afford to let down the people of Kenya, and let down the House of Parliament on a day like this that we reserve for clearing these kinds of Motions. That is why we go all the way to 9.00 p.m., so that we can clear all these very significant matters that normally trigger other administrative and policy actions. I want to challenge the Majority side. They are the ones who normally cajole or get these persons to be appointed as Chair.

Actually, Hon. Oundo, it is not just the Majority side. The Chairs here, including the Committee on Implementation, Special Funds

Hon. Temporary Speaker, you remember there is a mongrel they have created somewhere called Broad-Based Government that has blurred the division between Majority and Minority to an extent now you do not know which is the Majority and which is the Minority. That is the essence. That is the result. That is the result of undertaking.

On a point of order.

What is out of order, Hon. Owen?

Sorry. You know, Hon. Temporary Speaker, while I recognise the PhD holder, Dr Oundo, on many things, and on many fronts, you see, he misses the point. The issue of mongrel or whatever animal you are talking about does not arise. These committees constitutionally belong to the Minority. If you look at them, and even within our Standing Orders, it is not just about whatever you are talking about. If you look at the Committee Chairs who are not here, the Committee on Implementation, according to the Standing Orders, is chaired by the Minority. Again, the Chairperson of the Special Funds Accounts Committee, according to our Standing Orders, is chaired by a Member who is either Independent or on the Minority side. If you look at the Chairperson of the Public Investments Committee on Social Services, Administration and Agriculture, you will see public investment squarely belongs to the Minority side. The Departmental Committee on Labour is the only one that we could talk about and the one for Energy but all others belong to...

You have made your point.

So, what I want to say, and I think that is my point of order, is that I would like to tell Dr Oundo not to use this Floor of the House to seek re-election. You know this Member has a syndrome… (Hon. (Dr) Ojiambo Oundo spoke off the record) This Member has a syndrome that every time he pokes holes here and there, people will see. Actually, I want to tell him that the people of Funyula do not even own televisions. They will not even see him. He needs to go and...

Order, Members. You do not need to cast aspersions because both of you have been elected more than once.

On a point of order.

Hon. Member from Mombasa, hold on. (Hon. (Dr) Ojiambo Oundo spoke off the record) I will give you time for rebuttal. He was on a point of order and so is Hon. Zamzam.

Mhe. Spika wa Muda, naona kama Chair wa Committee on Implementation ni Chair wangu. Hata nimeuliza kwa group mbona hajadedicate mtu. Kama mimi niko hapa nimekaa, imeitwa lakini ilikuwa sina ufahamu. Niweze kumwambia Mhe. Oundo, wajua wakati mwengine ukipigwa na baridi sana ambayo umeichagua mwenyewe, unachanganyikiwa. Hapa tuko katika Bunge ambapo tunaulizana machair wetu wa makamati hizi zote, huku na huku, hawako. Wanafanya mambo ya Wakenya yanarudi nyuma. Hawako hapa kusoma hizi wala hawajachagua mtu yeyote kuwawakilisha. Hii issue yake ya kuleta sijui Broad-Based Government, nimwambie arudi darasani kidogo. Asiweke tu siasa mbele. Hapa tunaongea mambo muhimu sana. Yeye alichagua huko kwa baridi na huku mbele tutaona vile mambo yatakuwa, na inshallah yatakuwa mazuri.

Bila shaka kwa sababu viongozi wengine wa makamati ambazo ziko, wale wamekuja hapa kwa muhula wa kwanza, unapata wako na uadilifu pia na tajriba ya kutosha kuweza kufanya kazi.

On a point of order, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

Mbunge wa Funyula, nitakupa fursa mwisho. Kwanza tuskize hoja ya nidhamu ya Mbunge wa Kitui Rural, Mhe. David Mboni.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for speaking in Kiswahili. I listened to Hon. Baya who said that all those Chairpersons are from the opposition except one.

No. I said two.

Except two who are in the Broad-Based Government. Walijiunga na serikali.

Hon. Members, I would like us to separate these issues. I think we are getting carried by the politics of the day, forgetting that we have Standing Orders and committees that elect their chairpersons. They have a responsibility to this House regardless of the side they represent. At the end of the day, we have adjourned about five Orders that were to be moved by different Chairpersons just because they are not in the House.

Hon. Nyikal.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. This is a serious matter. We had to step down important Motions like the Sessional Paper on the National Energy Policy, the Sessional Paper on the Petroleum Policy and Audited Financial Statements for various State Corporations, like Kenya Medical Supplies Authority and Agriculture and Food Authority, because the committee Chairpersons are not present. But there is one major issue we are not addressing. It is how we relate the work in Parliament with politics, particularly campaigns. The bigger issue is that there is an assumption that we are now in a campaign period. People have literally abandoned Parliament and gone to campaign.

When does the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) declare the start of the election campaign period? We do not have a law and that is why as early as one month after an election, people start erecting campaign billboards. We must put a law in place to ensure people do not start campaigns immediately after elections. It is bad for the country’s development. I have been asking myself, do we have a law that declares when the campaign period starts? We need to look into that. We may think about it lightly but it has a negative impact on development because that is what people do for five years. Hon. Temporary Speaker, look at the bigger picture. We need to be serious about our work.

Thank you.

Hon. Members, I give Hon. Oundo this chance because he was interrupted. You have one minute. Thereafter, I will give a few more Members. We need to close this issue.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. There is no need to belabour the point. It is usually convenient when it is one Government. The bigger picture is that Kenyans elect Members of Parliament to sit in Parliament and legislate. If you have elected a Member of Parliament who is not in Parliament today, being a day when the House sits, you must go and ask them what business they have representing you if they cannot represent you in the House of Parliament. We understand the Standing Orders and the procedures of the House very well. Mama Zamzam, I know things are not good. Lakini usijali dada yangu; mambo yatakuwa sawa.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker.

Hon. Rozaah Buyu.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for this opportunity. Hon. Oundo seems to be trivialising a very important issue. The issue at hand is that Kenyans elect Members of Parliament so that we can transact business that can change and impact their lives positively. It does not matter whether you are in the Opposition side, in the Minority Party or the Majority Party. As long as you are a Member of Parliament, you have been elected to improve the lives of Kenyan citizens. What we are seeing today is that the Chairpersons, regardless of which side they belong to, are letting Parliament down. We need to transact business for Kenyans. This is an opportunity to change and give opportunities to other people who might be more interested in serving Kenyans in those positions.

I thank you.

Thank you. Hon. Waqo, you have one minute.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for this opportunity. It is unfortunate that we keep discussing the chairpersons of different committees. I remember in the last Session, we also struggled a lot because of quorum. We agreed that the chairpersons will always be here to represent their committees and do their work. We cannot blame what happened today on the campaign period. That cannot be an excuse.

It is unfortunate that the chairpersons are not doing their work. This House and its leadership should do something. Last evening, we also deferred all the Motions and business on the Order Paper. We should avoid this going forward because we are soon going on recess. We have Thursday to Monday to be in our counties and do whatever we want to do. We only have three days, that is Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. This morning we struggled to attain quorum. We cannot afford to continue this way. If the Chairpersons are unable to do their work, they should retire or resign to allow us to elect others who can represent Kenya well.

Thank you

Hon. Owen, you will close this. Hon. Chepkonga.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. At times, you Chair the Liaison Committee. We should not just cast aspersions to the Chairpersons. In fact, three of us here sit in the Liaison Committee. We are here but we did not have any business to transact this afternoon. We cannot lay blame on the Chairpersons alone. I request the clerks of committees, through you, to be conscientious and alert their chairpersons when there is business in the House. If the clerks alert the Chair and the Chair give apologies; you should designate a Vice-Chair. In the absence of the Vice-Chair, we also have the Chairperson of the Committee on Members’ Services and Facilities. He should not merely be

Hon. Chepkonga, you are trying very hard to make excuses for Chairpersons.

No, I am not.

As the Vice-Chair of the Liaison Committee, I can tell you that during the 9:30 a.m. Morning Sitting, there was a communication regarding which chairpersons had business on the Floor of the House. If you are not in, get your Vice-Chair or a Member to move. We really should not make excuses for inefficiency.

Can I make a request, Hon. Temporary Speaker? The Liaison Committee will sit on Wednesday, next week. I request you to put the absence of chairpersons in the House as the first agenda.

Very well. You know we have had it as an agenda for quite some time. That is why I am not going to excuse inefficiency today because it is a bad show.

Member for Magarini.

Asante, Mhe. Spika wa Muda. Japo tunakazia Wenyeviti kamba, lakusikitisha ni kuwa kuna Mratibu wa Chama cha walio Wengi na Mratibu wa Chama cha walio Wachache ambao, kama Jumba hili limekosa Wabunge wa kutosha, wanastahili waende kuwatafuta na wawalete. Wote wawili hawako. Kazi hii itaendelea vipi? Vilevile, IEBC imetangaza kwamba kampeni zitaanza Mei mwaka ujao. Wanastahili waweke sheria na wakaze kamba kupiga marufuku swala la mikutano ya kisiasa wakati kuu.

Asante, Mhe. Spika wa Muda.

Hon. Wangwe.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. Allow me to speak as a Chairperson, who has business slated on the Order Paper. I seek that you invoke Standing Order No. 1 and also consider the definition of the precincts of Parliament, as per Hon. Adan Keynan's definition. I was in my office attending to two of my constituents, and when I listened and heard that I was next on the Order Paper, I came.

Hon. Wangwe, we have deferred the Orders; we cannot undo that. You can only do better tomorrow. If your business is on the Order Paper, show up on time.

Hon. (Dr) Christine, you may proceed.

Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I believe Chairpersons of committees are responsible people and normally respond. However, for them not to be here means they must explain what could have happened to them. They may have very good reasons, but we have not heard those reasons up to now. So, it is very difficult to blame them. Secondly, how long does it take to communicate that they need to be here? Maybe the notice was too short for them to respond and be here on time. It is also a question…

Hon. Ombaka, I hear you. Hon. Members, allow me to bring this matter to a close. However, I want to give Hon. Owen, as the leader in the House—someone mentioned that you are not here, but I can see the leadership is present. Hon. Waqo and Hon. Owen are in the House. The Member from Magarini has said that the leadership is not present. Hon. Owen, please take an undertaking on behalf of the chairpersons.

Thank you. It is one of those days. And being one of those days, you and I—the Speaker and the leadership—are a team. Sometimes, we falter here and there, but as the ultimate leader in the House, sometimes you are hard on us.

Hon. Owen, you know we are on the same side. I have also taken the blame for the Liaison Committee because we have had these discussions in the Committee. I know we will do better.

Hon. Members, let us not view this as mere bashing; it is about ensuring that we do our work properly. We are also a House of records and precedence. We have already surpassed the point where we can resuscitate the orders. I would only request that tomorrow or at the next sitting, those who have business make it on time, and we will prosecute it. Let today be a learning day on how not to conduct business so that we can improve and do better tomorrow. Standing Order 1 is usually for matters that are not specifically provided for. It would be very unprocedural to return to already deferred Orders.

Order, Members. Hon. Members, the time being 3.56 p.m., this House stands adjourned until Thursday, 13th August 2026 at 2.30