THIRTEENTH PARLIAMENT

Fifth Session

Wednesday, 15th July, 2026 at 9.30 a.m.

PARLIAMENT OF KENYA

The House met at the Senate Chamber, Parliament Buildings, at 9.30 a.m.

PRAYER

DETERMINATION OF QUORUM AT COMMENCEMENT OF SITTING

QUESTIONS AND STATEMENTS

QUESTIONS

The Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport was also scheduled to appear to answer three questions. He also has engagements within the Ministry and will, therefore, not be appearing this morning. The third Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Forestry is around.

Question No.057

MAINTENANCE OF THIKA-KENOL A2 ROAD

Question No.061

CONSTRUCTION OF THE ISLAND-SIDE RAMP AT MTONGWE CROSSING

Question No.063

STATUS OF VARIOUS ROADS IN KAKAMEGA COUNTY

Question No.019

IMPACT OF BLUE ECONOMY PROGRAMMES AND INFRASTRUCTURE UNDERTAKEN BY NATIONAL GOVERNMENT IN KISUMU COUNTY

Clerk, you may usher in the Cabinet Secretary. Then, we will proceed with the Question by Sen. Hamida Kibwana.

[The Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Forestry (Hon. (Dr.) Deborah Barasa) was ushered into the Chamber] Hon. Senators, the Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Forestry is in the House. Welcome, Madam Cabinet Secretary and your team from the Ministry to the Senate. This is not your first time to appear before the Senate.

Sen. Hamida Kibwana, you can ask Question No.049.

Question No.049

EXISTING INTER-AGENCY COORDINATION FRAMEWORK IN ENVIRONMENT POLLUTION MANAGEMENT

1. (1) Could the Cabinet Secretary explain the enforcement measures in place to prevent and punish industrial pollution, unsafe e-waste handling, toxic dumping and other environmental practices that expose Kenyans to hazardous substances in soil, water and air?
2. (2) What coordination framework exists among the Ministry, the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), county governments, public health authorities and other regulators to monitor toxic exposure hotspots and ensure timely remediation and public protection?
3. (3) Could the Cabinet Secretary state whether the Ministry has undertaken a national or sector-based assessment of environmental health risks from lead, heavy metals, hazardous waste, open burning and industrial contamination, and what were the findings?
4. (4) What policy and enforcement reforms, drawing on lessons from countries with stronger hazardous waste and pollution-control regimes is the Ministry pursuing to strengthen environmental health protection in Kenya.

1. (1) The Sustainable Waste Management Act, 2022.

1. (2) The Environmental Management and Coordination (Air Quality) Regulations, 2024.
2. (3) The Environmental Management and Co-ordination (EMCA) (Water Quality) Regulations, 2024.
3. (4) The EMCA (Waste Management) Regulations, 2024.
4. (5) The Environmental Management and Coordination Regulations on (Management of Toxic and Hazardous Chemicals and Materials), 2024.
5. (6) Environmental Management and Coordination Regulations on Impact Assessment and Audit, 2003.
6. (7) Sustainable Waste Management (Extended Producer Responsibility) Regulations, 2024. The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) deploys trained and gazetted environmental inspectors to carry out targeted and random inspection of facilities across the country pursuant to Section 117(1) of EMCA, Cap 387. Gazettement is conferred only after an officer successfully completes the requisite basic enforcement course. Notably, NEMA has extended gazettement to officers from other lead agencies, including county governments, to broaden enforcement coverage. Enforcement actions have been significantly intensified. In Financial Year 2024/2025, NEMA conducted targeted enforcement of water quality regulation across 101 facilities within the Nairobi Metropolitan area, issuing directives to immediately halt illegal discharges and comply with environmental standards. I also wish to say that you can see the restoration occurring right now through the Nairobi River Restoration Programme. The Authority has additionally set a target of identifying and stopping 400 illegal discharge points along the Athi-Galana-Sabaki River system with mapping and improvement orders already issued in Financial Year 2024/2025. Similarly, NEMA identified and stopped 405 illegal discharges along the Athi-Galana-Sabaki River in Financial Year 2025/2026 and an additional 197 for this quarter. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, environmental audits constitute additional enforcement tool. All highest risk facilities are required to submit annual audits indicating the measures instituted to comply with the environmental management plans. In Financial Year 2024/2025, a total of 6,673 audits were submitted and in 2025/2026, this rose to 9,798 audits, all reviewed with records of decision, including improvement orders issued to operators. Furthermore, 22 control environmental audits were conducted in Financial Year 2024/2025 targeting hospitals, agrochemicals, renewable energy and mining sectors and 16 control audits were done in Financial Year 2025/2026 targeting asbestos disposal facilities. On extended producer responsibility, the framework compels producers to take responsibility for their waste post-consumer phase. Four producer responsibility organizations currently operate in the country managing non-hazardous, hazardous and e- waste streams. To date, 296 producers whose materials were found polluting rivers have been compelled to undertake clean-up activities and assume responsibility for their waste streams. Environmental restoration orders were issued as follows:

The EPR along Nairobi River Catchment - Nairobi, Ngong and Mathare rivers. The action taken was environmental restoration orders which were issued to 29 companies to clean sections of those rivers. The clean-up date was on 24th March, 2024. The EPR along Ngong River was done on 31st January, 2024 where the Environmental Restoration Orders (ERO) were issued to 86 companies. For the EPR along Kandisi River was done on 9th August where EROs were issued to 77 companies and a clean-up conducted on 2nd to 6th October, 2024 and EPR along Kirichwa River on 22nd November, 2024 where ERO was issued to 104 companies.

In the addendum, I believe it is important that we note that before the gazettement of the Sustainable Waste Management (Extended Producer Responsibility) Regulations, 2024, the Authority proactively undertook enforcement of EPR through Section 13 of the Sustainable Waste Management Act of 2022. During that period, NEMA compelled producers to undertake clean-up as highlighted in the tabulation.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, however, the Authority changed its enforcement strategy after the gazettement of the Sustainable Waste Management (Extended Producer Responsibility) Regulations, 2024 from clean-ups to issuance of orders to producer responsibility organizations, directing them to ensure full compliance of the regulation on behalf of their members. To further ensure reduced pollution, NEMA has compelled Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs) to get into consensus regarding compensation of value chain actors, especially waste pickers, aggregators and transporters to enhance waste collection and evacuation to recyclers and safe disposal.

On 10th July, 2026, NEMA witnessed reaching agreement between waste pickers and one PRO, Hazardous Waste Producer Responsibility Organization of Kenya (HAPROK), whereby they will be compensated at a rate of Kshs20 per kilogramme of hazardous waste collected. Other players such as aggregators and transporters will be compensated at a rate of Kshs7.5 and Kshs15 respectively. In this regard, waste collection will become a revenue stream for the value chain actors and enhance reduced pollution. The National Environment Management Authority has directed all PROs to enter into similar agreements with value chain actors to incentivize waste collection and management.

Additionally, NEMA partnered with the Kenya National Clean-up Production Centre in the Financial Year 2022/2024 to inspect and analyse waste-waters from 260 facilities within the Nairobi River Basin, leading to identification and mitigation of key industrial pollution sources. In 2025/2026, in-plant assessments were conducted in 26 facilities. Five industries halted pollution by installing new effluent treatment plants and 10 non-functional ETPs were revived.

Where inspections reveal non-compliance, enforcement actions available to NEMA include-

1. (1) Improvement orders under Section 117(3)(g) of EMCA directing cessation of environmentally harmful activities and requiring remedial measures within specified timeline.
2. (2) Restoration orders under Section 108(1) of EMCA requiring restoration of the environment to its pre-pollution state.

1. (3) Closure orders under Section 117(3)(f) of EMCA directing immediate closure of non-compliant manufacturing or industrial establishment. Resumption of operation is permissible only with written approval from the Director General. Two facilities this Financial Year 2025/2026 were issued closure orders following inspections.
2. (4) Arrest and prosecution before a court of law under section 117(3)(h) of EMCA as a last resort. In Financial Year 2024/2025, five individuals were arrested and prosecuted for environmental offences related to the illegal discharge of effluents. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the second one was on coordination framework among the Ministry, NEMA, county governments, public health authorities and other regulators to monitor toxic exposure hotspots and ensure timely remediation and public protection. Environmental pollution is most effectively addressed through a multi-agency approach. The Ministry, through NEMA, has spearheaded collaboration among relevant agencies and county governments through the following mechanisms. The Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) process Section 58 of EMCA requires that ESIA process take precedence over any other regulatory process and be completed before any project commences. As part of this process, copies of ESIA reports are shared with relevant lead agencies for technical input before a record of decision is made. This multi-agency collaboration enables early identification of negative impacts on public health and the environment with appropriate remedial conditions embedded in ESIA licenses which cover the entire project life cycle from pre- construction to de-commissioning. The ESIA process therefore serves as an early warning system that safeguards public health while fostering inter-agency collaboration. Secondly, the Authority conducts joint enforcement operations with relevant ministries, lead agencies and county governments targeting sector-specific high-risk facilities. For instance, NEMA has undertaken joint inspection with the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) targeting non-compliant facilities in the petroleum sector and has partnered with the Nairobi City County Government in mapping and cracking down on noise pollution hotspots. Capacity building through the Basic Enforcement Course (BEC). The Authority trains officers from other lead agencies and county governments through the basic enforcement course designed to equip officers with skills to undertake effective enforcement within their respective mandates. Officers completing the BEC are eligible for gazettement, extending decentralized enforcement capacity across the country. Under the National Environment Management Authority incident management system, the Authority operates an incident management system through which the public can report environmental incidents nationwide. It maintains a database of contact persons from all lead agencies across the country. Upon receipt and categorisation of an incident, NEMA forwards it to the relevant lead agencies for prompt action, playing a key coordination role in averting further pollution. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in the Financial Year 2025/2026, 12 incidences involving releases, spills, leaks, fires or explosions with toxic or hazardous chemicals including ammonia, chlorine, volatile organic compounds, pesticides and industrial

solvents were responded to. These incidents remain under active monitoring pending full restoration of affected areas.

The national or sector-based assessment of environmental health risk from lead, heavy metals, hazardous waste, open burning and industrial contamination and the findings. The Ministry, through NEMA, undertook a comprehensive nationally coordinated assessment of environmental health risk under the Africa Environmental Health and Pollution Management Programme (AEHPMP) implemented between 2020 and 2025 with support from the World Bank and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). The programme specifically targeted pollution risks associated with e-waste, hazardous chemicals and unintentional persistent organic pollutants which are closely linked to heavy metals, open burning and industrial contamination pathways.

Key outputs of the programme are, a national e-waste inventory covering all 47 counties and a country-wide solid waste situation analysis including identification and mapping of pollution hotspots. The second output, a national database on toxic substances and e-waste generation providing empirical evidence on the scale and distribution of hazardous materials nationwide. Thirdly, UPOPs hotspot mapping identifying areas with elevated risks of toxic emissions associated with open burning of waste and formal recycling and poorly controlled disposal sites and fourthly, development and deployment of monitoring screening and evaluation tools for environmental inspectors with over 100 inspectors trained to detect and track releases of hazardous pollutants.

The key findings from these assessments are as follows. Open burning of mixed waste and e-waste is a significant source of toxic emissions including UPOPs and heavy metals posing significant serious risk to air quality and public health. This is particularly in urban centres where waste segregation is limited and the informal sector dominates the recycling value chain. Secondly, informal e-waste management practices including manual dismantling and crude material recovery techniques expose workers and nearby communities to hazardous substances such as lead, mercury and other heavy materials with risk especially pronounced in unregulated environments lacking protective measures and pollution control technologies.

Thirdly, stakeholder mapping and value chain analysis identified systemic gaps in hazardous waste management including weak collection systems, limited formal recycling infrastructure and inadequate awareness among key actors contributing directly to environmental contamination and human exposure.

Fourthly, the assessment highlighted limitations in analytical infrastructure particularly laboratory capacity for comprehensive analysis of air and soil contamination underscoring the need for continued investment in environmental monitoring system. These findings have since informed key policies and regulatory actions including the gazettement of the Waste Management Regulations, 2024, the Extended Producer Responsibility Regulation, 2024, and the Framework for Management of Toxic and Hazardous Substance, policy and enforcement reforms drawing on lessons from countries with stronger hazardous waste and pollution control regimes being pursued to strengthen environmental health protection in Kenya.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Government, through the Ministry and National Environment Management Authority of Kenya (NEMA), is implementing a suit of policy and enforcement reforms informed by international best practises from jurisdictions with advanced hazardous waste and pollution control system and multilateral environmental agreements, including the Basel, Stockholm, and Minamata Conventions.

In terms of strengthened legal framework, the Ministry has strengthened the legal framework through operationalisation of the Sustainable Waste Management Act and the gazettement of the 2024 Waste Management and Extended Producer Responsibility Regulations. These reforms adopt the polluter pays principle and a lifecycle management approach requiring producers to take full responsibility for hazardous and post-consumer waste, consistent with best practises in the European Union.

Additionally, regulations on the management of toxic and hazardous chemicals and materials have been developed and are being implemented, including stricter controls on generation, transport, storage, and disposal.

In risk-based and intelligence-led enforcement, the Government is transitioning from reactive compliance to a risk-based intelligence-led enforcement model, including targeted inspections in pollution hotspots, strengthened environmental audits, and the deployment of monitoring and screening tools to track releases of heavy metals, Unintentional Persistent Organic Pollutants (UPOPs), and other hazardous pollutants.

On enhanced inter-agency coordination, the Ministry is enhancing inter-agency coordination frameworks, bringing together NEMA, county governments, public health authorities and sector regulators to enable joint inspections, data sharing and coordinated response to environmental health risks in line with integrated regulatory approaches applied internationally.

With regard to formalisation of informal electronic waste (e-waste) sectors, we recognise the role of the informal sector in hazardous waste exposure, particularly the e- waste management. The Government is promoting formalisation and integration of informal operators into compliant systems, including support for material recovery facilities, licensed recyclers and safer technologies, drawing lessons from countries that have successfully transitioned informal waste systems into regulated circular economy models.

In institutional capacity and compliance assurance, the Ministry is investing in training of environmental inspectors, strengthening laboratory and monitoring infrastructure, and digitising compliance processes to enhance transparency, traceability and enforcement efficiency. Enforcement measures have also been strengthened through enhanced penalties, closure orders, restoration directives and mandatory remediation requirements for polluters along the application of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) obligations to ensure industry accountability.

For public disclosure and community engagement, the Ministry is advancing public disclosure and community engagement mechanisms, including access to environmental information and grievance redress systems, recognising that transparency and citizen oversight are critical components of effective pollution control regimes globally.

Collectively, these reforms are positioning Kenya towards a modern, preventive and enforcement-driven environmental management system capable of effectively addressing risks from hazardous waste, industrial pollution and toxic substances while safeguarding public health and the environment.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Government remains firmly committed to protecting all Kenyans from the harmful effects of industrial pollution, hazardous waste and toxic exposure. We will continue to enforce our laws with vigour, deepen interagency collaboration and draw on global best practises to ensure that every Kenyan enjoys the constitutional right to a clean and healthy environment.

I thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir.

establishment. The resumption is only permissible through written approval by the Director General. If that does not occur, then arrest and prosecution is the final line. As you are aware, industrialisation is ongoing, but we have to ensure that we are protecting our environment. So, those are the key steps that we follow up to support the various industries so that there is no pollution that takes place.

There was a question why despite audits, only five prosecutions and the two facilities have been closed. With regard to outcome, we continue monitoring. We conduct, as you have seen, the water quality monitoring, air quality monitoring, and other forms of assessment and enforcement by the individuals.

In terms of the publication of the e-waste inventory, it is ongoing and we assure you that we will share that with you for purposes of advocacy, even as we go to implementation. As you are aware, the game-changer for us was the extended producer responsibility which has been the sustainable waste management EPR regulation, which now proactively looks into enforcement. It was about clean-ups, but after we had passed the EPR, there was issuance of orders to producer responsibility organizations to ensure full compliance of the regulation on behalf of their members, who are the polluters.

They are the ones who are supporting us across the value chain of waste management to ensure that they are managing waste from the waste pickers, to the aggregators, to the recyclers, to safe disposal. They will be receiving a certain amount of money so that they can support in waste management. This is really a sustainability plan, a revenue generating stream for the value chain actors, while we are reducing pollution and ensuring that we have a clean and safe and healthy environment.

As I had said clearly, following the reports that we received, they were able to guide us in coming up and amending the Environmental Management Coordination Act and ensuring that we have incorporated the concerns that we had highlighted.

The other question was for regulatory impact assessment, that was also done.

In terms of industries, they are all required to have pretreatment of waste and we are monitoring the effluent, as I had said. The Owino Uhuru budget plan for this financial year is Kshs200 million. It is included in the budget. We hope to get the money so that we address that concern.

On clean cooking, a lot has been done. First, we developed our nationally determined contribution. We were second in Africa to bring that to the global team. We have developed our national climate change action plan and one of the areas we are looking on is green transition and clean cooking.

We work with the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum to support them in developing the climate action plan that is transitioning to clean cooking. We have reached out to multiple partners who support us in financing such as the Green Climate Fund (GCF), Global Environment Facility (GEF), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) among others. GCF supported us and the resources will be used to transition most of our schools into clean cooking.

Far beyond that, we have our carbon markets and designated national authority when it comes to the carbon space. A lot of these projects are in clean cooking. We are also encouraging the project developers in matters clean cooking, even as we look to the hard-to-abate projects as a country. Many of them have registered hence we can confidently say that Kenya is moving into clean cooking.

Additionally, IUCN has had technologies in Kajiado and demonstration centres to support homesteads and institutions in matters of clean cooking and technology. This is a huge topic and it needs us to work together with the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum. We, therefore, request for more time in order for us to give you a comprehensive consolidated report on how Kenya is transitioning into clean cooking. Thank you.

The last question was on avocado processing and organic waste. Kenya waste is predominantly organic waste. We take this seriously as the Ministry and as National Environment Management Authority (NEMA). NEMA has licensed facilities to treat organic waste.

We are currently encouraging the governors to look at circular economy because waste management is devolved. We are looking at how we can partner and coordinate to improve the waste management and circular economy. In Nairobi, we are currently addressing the concerns in Dandora site. The waste in that place is predominantly organic and it needs to be addressed. That waste can produce waste to energy or fertilizers which will then bring money into the pockets of Kenyans.

We have provided technical and the legislative component support. On the implementation, we continue to license so as to ensure that we address organic waste, including the avocado waste. I think those were the questions that were addressed to me. Thank you.

We should remember that far beyond the plastic bags, we have the plastic bottles and other plastic wastes. That is why we had to work on the extended producer responsibility, which was passed. This looks at how we can work with the polluters to ensure that they are paying principal and that the resources they have are going back to address the waste that they are producing. As I said, it looks at the whole life cycle.

The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is the way to go. It is all about creating jobs for the waste pickers, the aggregators, the transporters and safe disposal, among others. It looks at the complete life cycle. It means that people who are involved in the value chain will get resources because the polluters will pay principal and the resources will be used in waste management. So, we are creating jobs and recycling hence the circular economy space.

Does that Section cause a problem in terms of NEMA regulating developers? Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir.

Let me, first, say that, indeed, I take this opportunity with a lot of passion, coming from the background and the impact it has on public health.

Secondly, when I came into office, I ensured that we had quarterly meetings with NEMA. Two months ago, we conducted an assessment along the Athi River. We were able to map out; they did their first assessment and they talked to the companies. I also joined them the second time. This is because we need to address this issue.

You can see that in this last quarter, what was done by the previous administration in one year, we have doubled it in one quarter. In terms of assessing reports, you have heard we had 405 illegal discharges that were stopped and identified in the last quarter and 197 during this quarter. That is because we take it seriously. Even as we take it seriously, there are two things we are looking at; industrialization and protecting our environment.

As I had said earlier, restoration comes before closure and before prosecution. So, we are giving improvement orders. We are giving timelines depending on what we have found. I can give an example where we went to one of the sites. We instructed them to conduct water quality monitoring in three months to see if there was discharge within the effluent or if the effluent had been treated so that we have tangible evidence if there is a discharge.

Secondly, we are monitoring, even from my office, to ensure that enforcement is going on, improvement orders are being executed by the various companies and industries and restoration orders so that they go into the pre-pollution states. If that does not work, then we will come to a closure because we are encouraging Kenyans to build on the industries. We also ensure that Kenyans have something in their pockets, but we also protect our environment and restore it. So, for Athi River, we are doing that and I will continuously monitor with them around the country even as they share the reports.

As I had said, we have a dashboard. I am very happy to come and share with you, on what we are doing on water quality monitoring and air quality monitoring by these industries. That way, we can be able to see who is above the threshold that is needed, which can be damaging to the health of Kenyans. From that report, we can now move and support them in their improvement and restoration. If that does not occur, we move to closure and prosecution.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have taken it up seriously and we will be able to share a detailed report that will be shared on our website to show Kenyans that water quality and air quality monitoring reports must be doubled every quarter so that the impact is felt and we are restoring our environment even as we look at industrialisation.

On the question from Sen. (Dr.) Mungatana, about NEMA, yes, we are collaborating with the county commissioners to establish the multi-agency team to enforce on gypsum mining and will definitely be visiting your county and the coastal counties to assess the impact within that region. This is long overdue. We were supposed to go there but because of some conflicting issues--- We assure you that we will go, assess and give a comprehensive report on that.

For enforcement, as I said, we are not much on the closure and prosecution; we want to help restore. We want restoration orders and we want improvement orders to the companies. So, we are working with Kibos Sugar and Mara Sugar companies which have

been issued with the restoration orders. We have given them timelines, and we will be visiting them to ensure that they are implementing and that the effluent that is being discharged is treated.

I also take note of the concern raised about the conflict of interest. NEMA as a regulator issues the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) through a consultancy. We have experts in the environment; they are the ones who write the NEMA reviews and make decisions. So, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process is open, transparent, evidence-based and followed up by technical experts. So, we believe that they are well-capacitated to address and conduct their EIA in a free and fair manner.

On the question by Sen. Mandago, yes, we take note of the sewer networks; they are being expanded. It cannot be done overnight; you can see the time that the Nairobi River restoration has taken. We conducted mapping, we saw who was discharging effluent, we were able to close them and now we are cleaning up the Nairobi River. You can see how many years and how much it has taken.

So, we will continue working extensively to ensure that we are restoring the rivers Again, where resources allow, we will restore and also support. Maybe through the National Infrastructure Fund, we can also look and ensure that restoration occurs. We have the infrastructural development and industrialization. The environment also has to be protected. So those are things that we are really advocating for so that the Ministry can receive resources to support those aspects.

For Sen. Kavindu Muthama, yes, expansion of the treatment facilities is occurring in Kinanie and Machakos. Okay, that is the report. So, I think those are the questions that have been raised.

(An hon. Senator spoke off record) We are already there. I was there; we started from the area of Mlolongo going down. I was there and we will continue assessing. So, they give me reports routinely and where they have challenges with the industries, we visit the industries.

Yours has been responded to. You did not listen to it; about the experts. She has addressed that matter.

The technical team should be able to assist you with registering questions so that you do not do two and four. It is just Athi River and sugar and tea factories in Kakamega, Bomet, Kericho that discharge of effluent into the rivers.

The Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Forestry (Hon. (Dr.) Deborah Barasa): Yes, so all of them have been mapped and I have talked to my technical team. Restoration orders have been given. Therefore, we will highlight those ones which are highly discharging effluent. We will visit the sites. I can assure you I will visit them personally but the team has been deployed to conduct assessment and support. They have given restoration orders. They have given them an implementation timeline. They will go back to review and ensure that they are adhering to regulations so that the treated effluent is what is being discharged. If there are challenges, then now we will move to closure. We have mapped out and we will share that even in our dashboard on what we are doing in terms of monitoring; where we have visited ---

Yes, thank you. (An hon. Senator spoke off record)

Kisii at Ringa and Mwata, the trees have been cut and there is no replanting of these trees. I do not know whether the Cabinet Secretary is aware what the implication of this would be.

We are still having disruption of tourism facilities, where you find cages have been placed right opposite beautiful hotels, and yet the Ministry was involved in site suitability assessment.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we still have pollution as I have said. Can the Cabinet Secretary commit to this House that she will bring a report or undertake an impact assessment on pollution in Lake Victoria and take proactive measures to ensure that cage fish farming does not become another environmental disaster; that we do not prioritise the economic benefits, the tariffs and licences they are collecting, over our environment?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Sen. Onyonka talked about the bagasse, which is indeed an energy source. Factories are sustainably using bagasse for making briquettes. We also talked about block boards as well as organic fertilisers.

I want to highlight about the 15 billion tree-growing programme. As a Ministry, we are happy to share more on what we are doing. You will take note about our key achievements in the 15 billion trees programme.

Kenya is going green. This is not just by counting the number of trees because we know people can cook that. Just look at your satellite images. When you look at other countries in Africa and especially our neighbours, Kenya is indeed going green. We are among the top countries when it comes to restoration. Therefore, a lot is ongoing in terms of tree-growing. That is happening because of your support.

We have the Forest Conservation and Management Act which is now law. One of the concerns that was addressed is ensuring that when you cut a tree, then replanting should take place. Far beyond that, there are interventions to ensure that we meet our 15 billion trees target or 1.5 billion trees in a year.

That is what the previous administration did in five years. We have surpassed and done that three times in the past three years. It means every year we are doing what the previous administration did in five years. We will continue with restoration and work together with the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) to ensure that we not only restore but also have a whole-of-government approach.

The next question was regarding Bungoma. That was about climate action plans as well as issues of waste management. Our highlight on this is that waste management is devolved. That, again, poses a challenge in terms of ensuring that the Ministry exhaustively meets. We have an intergovernmental framework. We support county governments but we really need your oversight to ensure that we manage waste well. As it has been said clearly, we have regulations in place to support us in those aspects. We have taken note of that and we will send a team to go and conduct assessment to see how to enforce in Bungoma.

We take note of deforestation that has occurred in Mt. Elgon. Definitely we are working on that. We will launch one of the plans on restoration of Mt. Elgon because it is not only a transboundary ecosystem but also rich in biodiversity. For example, we have colobus monkeys and elephants. It is also a water tower, a transboundary and has a peace building initiative attached to it. Far beyond that, we need to restore.

Those discussions are ongoing within the Ministry. We have identified one of the patrons who comes from that community. They will be supporting us to ensure that we restore it. That is one of the sites we will restore during the Mazingira Day, key activities being aerial seeding, manual planting with the community and also fencing while ensure accessibility of the community once in a while into the forest, so that they can also practice beekeeping among other activities to improve their livelihoods. We take note of that. It is indeed on our radar to ensure that we restore.

There was also a question on carbon credits. We are happy to report that a lot of regulations have been passed, the recent one being the Climate Change (Carbon Markets) Regulations. The only one remaining is the Climate Change (Non-Market Approaches) Regulations.

Recently, I signed guidelines to support the community and improve public and community awareness. Therefore, a lot is ongoing. Partners have reached out to support us. As a Ministry, we will ensure we have resources to support that.

Some of the projects like the Green Zones Development Support Project which we hope will be passed will aim at capacitating communities to understand the issue of carbon markets. This is because they are entitled to 40 per cent of the money but if they do not know, someone else will take advantage of that. Therefore, a lot of public awareness is going to happen. What we wanted is to ensure we have the regulations before moving to the next point. The projects are on through the Designated National Authority (DNA). We have had multiple projects. We encourage community engagement and benefit from carbon markets.

Sen. M. Kajwang’ asked a question about Lake Victoria which we take note of. We will bring the report on the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) on pollution in Lake Victoria and have proactive measures. We have been looking at how we can support through the various agencies like the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC), among others.

As a Ministry, we have received some resources which will go to supporting that. It is one of the projects that is on the radar because Lake Victoria is a key transboundary ecosystem and also a source of livelihoods for many within the region. We assure you that we will have the report ready. We will also allocate resources to support on its restoration.

Sen. Abass, this was a wonderful question on what we are doing in the ASALs. I am happy to report that we received some resources from the World Bank. It is called the Kenya Watershed Services Improvement Project (KEWASIP) and the ASALs will really benefit from this. We are looking at restoration and improving livelihoods and other environmental conservation initiatives. Therefore, you will see us there many times. I hope you will also be present to support us as we restore the ASALs in Kenya.

Regarding a question on EVs that was asked by Sen. Faki, indeed lithium is a toxic substance that is not good for our people and the environment. When you look at the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), the issue of hazardous waste has been looked into. We are working with Producer Responsibility Organisations (PROs).

For any waste picker who identifies hazardous waste, they will be paid Kshs20 per kilogramme. Therefore, we are encouraging and incentivizing waste pickers and Kenyans to collect hazardous waste like lithium products to be managed within the communities. We will create awareness and use EPR. Definitely we also have regulations on chemicals. The issue of safe disposal has also been addressed within the guidelines by the Ministry.

There was also a question on public participation. We have adequately engaged in public participation. Thank you so much for highlighting what has been done in the clean cooking space. However, we are requesting more time to consolidate everything because this is a multi-agency implementation strategy led by the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum.

I think we have been able to answer all the questions. For Kajiado, we have also mapped the area and we will send officers there to address those issues and enforce compliance to ensure that our environment is safe.

On the refinery, yes, we take note of that and we will be working on it. You know the lead Ministry is the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, but the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) will work with them to ensure that we are creating public awareness. Definitely, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) must be done, and we must also ensure that implementation is seamless as we work towards a safe, healthy and clean environment so that our people are not affected.

Thank you.

MOTION

MAINSTREAMING A FRAMEWORK FOR CLEAN COOKING IN KENYA

THAT AWARE THAT, Article 42 of the Constitution guarantees every person the right to a clean and healthy environment, which includes access to safe energy options; FURTHER AWARE THAT, over 900 million Africans, including more than 90% of households in Kenya’s rural areas, still rely on traditional biomass (firewood, charcoal, animal waste) for cooking, resulting in high levels of indoor air pollution that cause premature deaths, particularly among women and children; CONCERNED THAT, in Kenya, indoor air pollution has been linked to over 23,000 annual deaths, with women and girls bearing the

disproportionate burden of time spent collecting firewood and cooking, limiting their education and economic opportunities; NOTING THAT, traditional cooking methods contribute significantly to deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, and climate vulnerability at the county level, undermining national commitments under the Energy Act, 2019, the Climate Change Act, 2016, and Kenya’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs); RECALLING THAT, the Africa Clean Cooking Summit (Paris, 2023) mobilized USD 2.2 billion in commitments for clean cooking, and the International Energy Agency has recommended urgent financing and policy action to achieve universal access by 2040; ACKNOWLEDGING, the efforts of some counties, development partners, and private sector actors in piloting clean cooking projects, but recognizing that these remain small-scale and fragmented; NOW THEREFORE, the Senate resolves that the: - i) Council of Governors develops county-level policies, frameworks, and budgets that mainstream clean cooking into devolved energy and health functions; ii) National Treasury and Ministry of Energy prioritize clean cooking in financing frameworks, including results-based financing and blended finance models to de-risk private investment; iii) County Governments incorporate clean cooking targets in their County Integrated Development Plans (CIDPs) and ensure public institutions such as schools, health facilities, and prisons adopt clean cooking solutions; iv) National Treasury and County Governments to fast-track letters of authorization to unlock carbon finance markets (Article 6.2 and CORSIA) for clean cooking projects; and v) County Governments engage the private sector actors, and community organizations to expand clean cooking access, create local jobs, and reduce pressure on forest resources.

MOTION

PROVISION OF IFMIS REPORTS FOR COUNTY GOVERNMENTS TO THE SENATE

Sen. Andrew Omtatah Okoiti, are you ready to move your Motion? Please, go ahead.

Sen. Okiya Omtatah: Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to move the following Motion-

THAT, AWARE that, Article 96 of the Constitution provides that the Senate represents the counties, and serves to protect their interests, determines the allocation of national revenue among counties, as provided in Article 217, and exercises oversight over national revenue allocated to the County Governments; FURTHER AWARE THAT, in the case of Senate v Council of Governors and 6 others (Petition 24 and 27 of 2019 (consolidated) 2022) KESC 57(KLR), the Supreme Court affirmed that the Senate’s oversight authority extents to both nationally allocated and locally generated revenue; CONCERNED THAT, that Senators are constrained by lack of access to real time to data from the IFMIS system for the respective counties they represent, thus affecting effective oversight of County Governments; FURTHER CONCERNED THAT, in some instances data and information presented to the Senate by the Auditor-General and the Controller of Budget are received and considered late as a result of the backlog resulting into too much information not getting properly reviewed by Senators; NOTING THAT, as a result of unchecked financial information and systems, County Governments have continued to accumulate pending bills resulting from unplanned expenditures, unaccounted for and inflated cost of projects; NOW THEREFORE, the Senate resolves, that the Cabinet Secretary in charge of the National Treasury shall on a monthly basis forward to the Clerk of the Senate all IFMIS transactions and reports for each County Government for onward transmission to the respective Senator for information on accountability and transparency, in order to strengthen their constitutional oversight and promote good governance in the management of public finances. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Motion seeks to cure a very serious problem on the ground. Once a budget is passed by the county assembly, assented to by the governor, and implementation begins, everybody else goes blind. Only the Governor and his team know what is happening. Payments are made, contracts are awarded, but you do not know what has been paid for.

If you go to the office of the Controller of Budget, they will tell you they do not even have read-only access to IFMIS payments. IFMIS payments have become extremely opaque, and a lot of mischief takes place. Procurements are voided, unapproved procurements are carried out and paid for, while genuine procurements remain unpaid and accumulate as pending bills.

Ideally, a Senator representing a county should be able to access the financial transactions of that county in near real time. Once you know a project has been paid for, you can then check against the budget and verify the status of the project on the ground. Is it commensurate with the amount paid?

Without that, you find projects being done but you do not know at what level they are, whether certificates have been issued, whether they have been paid for, or whether they have stalled. The county is then left at the mercy of the governor and his administration.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this Motion seeks to remove that opaqueness and give the Senate, through individual Senators, the capacity to see what the county government has paid for. Once procurement is done, you can hold the budget in one hand and the IFMIS report in the other and compare to know what is happening. Otherwise, we are totally constrained. When you go to the ground and people complain, you have no starting point. The county assembly has passed the budget, the Governor is implementing it in a manner that is not transparent, and those of us mandated to do oversight are left guessing. These documents should be available.

IFMIS does qualify for the documents which are not supposed to be disclosed under the Access to Information Act. The Access to Information Act clearly has a category of the kind of information that should not be disclosed.

It does not go to the point whereby the IFMIS payments which have been paid out are kept secret, yet we live in a world whereby--- The Public Finance Management Act requires that all contracts be published. So, if you are doing a contract in a village, for instance, building a road, let us know at what stage the road is and what has been paid for this road. Let us know what is being paid for. That way, we will be able to understand the extent to which the budget is being implemented and we will also be able to question these things called pending bills. If we do not do that, we are going to end up in a situation whereby, we fight here, send money to the counties and then do not know how the money is being utilised.

We have a responsibility to follow that money, look at how it is being used and not to do it in a manner that you are depending on hearsay, that somebody is telling you, this and that have happened, then you end up sometimes not being able to perform effectively. Rather, we shall be able to do a scientific oversight of the governors. We will be able to say, this item has been paid for, where on the ground is it? This item was budgeted for so much, how come it has been split and paid several times? This

procurement was approved, why was it voided in the system? If it was voided, where is the money? If Senators can have that capacity to have these reports in the manner requested in the Motion, we will be able to check the utilisation of funds in the counties. Otherwise, we are left running around, not knowing what has happened.

Even if you go to a project on the ground and you find that the project has not been completed, you have no capacity to tell whether that project has been paid for or not, or what the problem is. However, if we had access to the IFMIS records, for instance, the vote books, it would be very easy for us to get there and say that this particular item has been paid for, but has not been delivered.

So, the importance of having access to the payments that have been made by the county government to third parties is extremely important and cannot be overstated. It speaks for itself, and especially for us who have the obligation, at the end of the day, to tell the electorate, those who elected us, what the governor is doing in the county.

This is a Motion that we should make sure is passed, and once it is passed, then we shall have the “eyes”. We shall be able to mulika mwizi as they say in Swahili. That mulika mwizi solution is the only thing that is going to save our counties from expenditure that is not explained, theft of public funds, financing projects that have not been approved in the budget, as well as help us arrest the waste and abuse of public resources.

So, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I really plead and pray that the Members of this House consider this Motion, approve it, pursue its implementation, to ensure that oversight of county governments is done in a scientific and measurable manner.

way, our people will benefit, the Senate will become effective, and individual Senators will not be held to unnecessary questions when they go to the ground and also look lost.

So, with those remarks, I move the Motion and I ask Sen. Onyonka to second the Motion.

even markets that are being done. You know the work for the markets belong to the counties but individual members of National Assembly are the one running with this project in the counties and abandoning the governors.

I remember an incident in Kiambu when one of these markets was being launched and there was a fight where a young man was killed because the argument was who should be doing the markets. The markets should be done by the counties; they are the ones who manage them. This applies to many other projects.

It is important for every single transaction which takes place at the county level that the same information within that month be relayed to the respective Senator to oversight and to check what has been done and when we go on the ground to be able to counter check that the same projects have been done.

Otherwise, you do not want to fall into a trap because quite a number of governors have trouble accounting for what has been sent to them. Quite a number of other governors have appeared before the Senate and have accounted for every coin. They have answered questions that have been sent back to come and account and to the satisfaction of everyone.

While we sit in that Committee, I said the CoB and the Auditor General are there. More important the Ethics and Anticorruption Commission (EACC), so that if it picks a sudden thing going wrong in a certain county, they are able to investigate and go forward.

I do not think that is sufficient. Even when those three sit there with us to help us oversight, there is a lot of compromising and compromises going on. You find that an investigation is never concluded. An example is the one of Kathwana, the Headquarters of Tharaka Nithi County that has been delayed by investigations from the EACC which never complete them.

The moment we have got the IFMIS transactions with us, then it is easier now even to follow up with the EACC, to follow up with a governor and the county and make sure that there is effective oversight to the county.

Many citizens have misunderstood us to mean that we want to go and do primary oversight which is the work of Members of the County Assemblies (MCAs). It is wrong. Oversight is not about abusing the governor in a public rally. I cannot go to vet a County Executive Committee Member (CECM) in the county. I should not be expected to do that. That is the work of the local assembly. The county assembly should be able to do that and question the county government. They have powers to summon the CECs.

We have handled several impeachment Motions here. If a governor is not performing, he has breached the Constitution and has done a few things the county assemblies are not happy with, they impeach and bring them to this Chamber to confirm whether the impeachment was properly done or not. If so, we try the governor and render a verdict.

So, while supporting this Motion, I think it is important to come out strong, guns blazing to oversight the counties that we represent. We have fully done our job and made sure that everything has been done in accordance with the law and the Constitution. That is why this Motion is important. Every month, I should be able to go to the Clerk or he should be able to forward it to my office. I can monitor and assess every single

transaction the county government has conducted, what it was for and whether that particular job was properly done.

I support.

So, if we have IFMIS reports from the Controller of Budget or from National Treasury, this House will be able to manage money that is being used and we can stop mismanagement of money and the issue of stalled projects.

We need to have the IFMIS report as requested by the sponsor of this Motion. We also need to form the project management committees so that Senators and other public representatives, including youth and women, can be able to know what kind of project has been done, where it has been done and how much money has been spent. Therefore, we will be able to, at least, hold responsible the various governors who believe that the county is their private business.

With those few remarks, I beg to support the Motion.

available to the Senator for purposes of enhancing the oversight rules. This is not a very difficult request to make to the National Treasury.

I say this because as a Senator of Tana River County, I do receive exchequer releases from the National Treasury. Somebody always sends me that information so that we are up to date on what is being released by the National Treasury.

So, this is a matter of simply complying with a request from the Senate. One is to look for the figures, compile them and transmit them. The National Treasury does that when it releases exchequer reports on the spendings that are sent all over the country. I urge that the National Treasury complies once we pass this Motion. There is nothing difficult about doing this.

Number two, I support this Motion because it enhances the overall function of accountability that must be borne by the governors of this Republic of Kenya. Right now, we are limited in terms of acting in real time. We are dealing with audit reports. The Auditor General brings the reports to the Senate, and we start examining those reports after the act has happened. This means we are morticians. We do post-mortem analysis of how the funds have been misused or used by the governors of the 47 counties.

The good thing about this Motion is that it will bring real-time information to the Senators. They will now know that IFMIS has released this kind of money and this transaction that has happened. From there, we will be able to trace and make the necessary political influence on those transactions. We will also be able to, in real-time, raise the issues so as to prevent the happening of corruption. We do not have to wait for corruption to happen then do a post-mortem in the Senate.

This is a beautiful development of management of our funds. I say so because in the past, in 2003, we passed what we used to call the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) Act those days. The CDF Act did not have rules or regulations. It was a free kind of money that was put on the table and many Members of Parliament misused it. The Members of Parliament at that time would be the chair of the CDF itself.

I remember one particular Member of Parliament who was the chair of the Fund and he appointed his wife as the treasurer and his son as the secretary. He asked them to sign their part for the withdrawal and whenever he needed money for use or whatever, he would just put his signature as the last signature and withdraw the money. You can imagine the amount of misuse that was there.

I even remember one particular Member of Parliament who used to use the CDF as his personal kitty for Harambees. That parliamentarian was followed into court and he served a short stint. The national CDF was amended after 10 years, in 2013, to make it better in terms of management of funds. It was again amended after the promulgation of the new Constitution following a court decision to make it the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF).

The point I am putting is that the NG-CDF has had its progression towards superior management of public funds. It has had its process. What we are saying with this improvement in the IFMIS is that where it is, is not good enough. It is not a good tool for us to use to track the information of the transactions that are being done at the county level.

This Motion will convert the Senate from merely dealing with audited reports, some of which are old. We will move from being morticians to dealing with things that are real time. So, I urge colleagues who are listening to me and those who are listening online that we should pass this Motion as soon as possible. As soon as the debates are over, we should pass this Motion without delay.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, real-time overseeing of transactions gives us the advantage of prevention. An Englishman once wrote and said that prevention is better than cure. I remember, there was a planned trip by the Governor and some fellows in Tana River County to go to Canada to learn about governance. You are talking about a governor who has been a Member of Parliament and a retired major in the army. There is nothing they were going to learn.

Where were they going? They were going to some small county in Canada to learn about governance for two weeks. When you cost that together with the people who are going to accompany him, the county was going to spend about Kshs12 million on one trip. From the communication, the office of the Senator took it up. We liaised with the Canadian Embassy and wrote to that county informing them that the trip was a waste of public funds and that, the county has been misusing funds hence, they were going to learn nothing.

Finally, that trip never happened. Why? Because there was real time monitoring on what the monies of the people of Tana River County were being utilised for. If IFMIS reports and transactions are going to be real time every month, then we are going to see what is happening. If there is ongoing fraud, we will be able to take the necessary steps.

With those very many remarks, I urge that we support this Motion which I support. Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir.

The only time that this House will be able to do their oversight role in a better manner is through provision of the IFMIS reports to the Senators so that they can access information in real time and make decisions.

When it comes to procurement, this is one of the things that has really given us a lot of headache. As we speak now, there is no single county that has no pending bills. There is also no single county or even the national Government that can give us a proper report on procurement. The role of this House is oversight; if we are going to be equipped with this IFMIS reports, we will be able to do our role diligently.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I know the county assemblies as well as the National Parliament try as much as possible to do their budgeting. However, we do not have a tracker to ensure that the itemised budget is implemented accordingly. These things have been specified fully within the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act and other statutory instruments. They can enable us to do our legislation and oversight roles which are envisaged in the Constitution. I request this House to move with speed and ensure that once this Motion is approved, it is implemented to the letter. I believe it is going to sort out a number of problems that we face.

We have a lot of monies in this country within the national Government and county governments. A number of projects are being run, but authoritatively, I can say that, a number of us do not have the facts of how much those projects cost or whether they have been paid for.

There is a lot of fraud going on; you will find a lot of things happening within the county governments and even the national Government. You will find that a contractor has been paid and because of technology, they go to an extent of removing the payment from the system and re-entering it just to be used as a cash cow.

These are some of the problems that can be weeded out if the Members are notified on time once monies have been paid. For this House and her committees to act, they always rely on the Auditor General 's reports which takes a whole year to be ready. It is a total mess because then, we will be auditing the report in the next financial year. If we would have corrected these issues instantly, I believe this nation will move forward.

I urge the Members of this House to move with speed in ensuring that they pass this Motion. I also agree with Sen. Mumma for the clarification that the House has 67 Senators. It is our collective responsibility as a House to ensure that the oversight role, which is the major mandate is done by the 67 Senators.

I support and urge the relevant office to ensure that this is implemented immediately.

Thank you.

has cited in this Motion, the Senate versus Council of Governors Petition No.24 and No.27 of 2019.

Looking at this Motion, the main intention is to ensure that we extend the ambit of transparency and accountability on the use of public resources so that our governors can operate a system that is accessible to Kenyans and one that they have no fear if a third party is also going through to ensure that they are acting in compliance with the Constitution and all financial regulation and laws of this country.

I want to draw the attention of this House to the kind of collaboration that exists between the House of Commons and the office of the Auditor General in the House of Commons. The two work hand in hand. The intention is to ensure that public resources are used for their intended purposes. These two offices should work hand in hand.

Now that these are open, remember that this third Senate of the Republic of Kenya has now empowered senators with a fund, a small fund that helps senators undertake their oversight role. The two should work hand in hand with the Office of the Auditor General.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, you have that work in your county office. The Vice Chairperson, Sen. Joyce Korir. We know that as the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC), we have supported the nominated Senators with a few staff members. These officers should work together with the office of the Auditor General and the office of the Controller of Budget (CoB) so that we can monitor how requisitions are made and payments are made by county governments.

In the UK, they even do value-for-money reports because it is not about payments. We want to see that when you issue a tender and you undertake a project, there should be value for money. I do not know what happens in other counties, but I have tried to follow.

For example, budgetary allocations for water projects in my County of Nyamira, every project I have visited, the only thing that the governor does is to drill a borehole. Once he drills the borehole and sets a water kiosk in that particular place, that is the end. If you are to talk about value for money, once you drill a borehole, you should connect water to homes. Civilisation demands that we supply water to our women.

When I go to Nyamira County, I do not want to see my women going to collect water from a borehole that is 1.2 kilometres from their houses. I want to see my women in Nyamira donning a hairstyle like Sen. Joyce Korir. I do not want to see them carrying water buckets on their heads, more like Sen. Wakwabubi here. We want our women to make nice hairstyles and draw piped water from their homes. That is when I will truly say that devolution has reached our counties.

People who reside in the cities do not go looking for water from boreholes, wherever that is. They draw water from pipes in their homes and that is my dream as the Senator of Nyamira; that when we will work so hard to send money to our counties, women should draw piped water from their homes. That is the only time we will say that, truly, now we are seeing the fruits of devolution.

If you go through audit reports year in, year out, you will see the auditor making disclosures that some counties are making unsupported expenditures. You will see many pages drawing the attention of this House to irregular procurements in our counties. You

will see reports by counties that have over-employment above 35 per cent. I do not know what the percentage in Tana River County is. In Nyamira, we have hit 67 per cent of the revenue that we send to counties going to salaries.

We did a special audit in Nyamira and found somebody is employed by TSC is still being paid a salary by the County Government of Nyamira. Chief Officers, if you read that audit report, cannot account for staff in their respective departments, yet the money that goes to counties is supposed to take services closer to the people.

We want to see excellent Early Childhood and Development Education (ECDE) classrooms in our counties. We want governors to stop this mentality that when you talk about county roads, it is just marram roads. We want them to start tarmacking our roads. Our Vision 2030 is to ensure that a marram road is 1.5 kilometres from the homes of Kenyans. That is our Vision 2030.

If every financial year we send money to our counties and all they can do is to murram roads, when will this country achieve our goal of attaining a certain number of roads that are tarmacked?

So, I support this Motion because it will put governors on the spot on how they are utilising the resources that are sent to their respective counties. We need to work very closely with the CoB and office of the Auditor General.

Every Senator's office should have contacts. Like now, auditors have landed in Nyamira County. They are doing an audit for the last financial year. I want them to work very closely with my staff because it is we who hold the responsibility of ensuring that money is used properly in our counties. When they land in Bomet, you should have a keen interest. Which projects are they visiting and what will that report look like when, finally, that report lands on the Floor of this House?

I have received reports that the Governor of Nyamira has done something unprecedented. As soon as the external auditors landed in Nyamira, he suspended the internal auditor. Section 65 of the County Government Act, the only office that has the authority to hire and fire is the County Public Service Board. A governor has no authority to hire or to fire a member of staff, let alone an internal auditor.

If you make an internal auditor answerable to a governor, then you have killed audits in that respective county. So, if the Governor of Nyamira is watching or is listening and I am speaking to him as a senior council, let him allow the internal auditor to undertake the tasks of her office without any interference.

Let the holder of that office, avail all documents to the external auditor. Otherwise, I will bring that matter to the Floor of this house so that the House takes it up. If we allow staff in our counties who are supposed to be independent, to be harassed by governors, we are going to kill accountability and transparency in our respective counties.

Therefore, I support this Motion by my good friend, Sen. Okiya Omtatah. Maybe I will propose that we amend it to go further and allow as an entry, to work hand-in-hand with the office of Controller of Budget and the office of the Auditor General.

I have given you a very good example, how this works in the House of Commons. These offices work very closely. In fact, public accounts committee meetings in the House of Commons are supported by the office of Controller and Auditor General in the United Kingdom. That is what we should use as best international practice and

incorporate it so that we can work together with those offices to ensure that money that is sent to counties is used for the intended purposes to bring services closer to the people.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, with those many remarks, I support. Thank you.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I beg to move that the Motion be amended in the last paragraph by deleting the words, “respective Senator” appearing in the fourth line of the last paragraph and replace it thereafter with the words, “relevant oversight committees” as proposed by Sen. Catherine Mumma. I also wish to beg to move that the Motion be amended in the fifth paragraph, line three, by adding, “virement” after the word, for.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

ADJOURNMENT