The Senate has resumed its sittings this Tuesday 13, February 2024 after a long recess.

During today`s sitting members deliberated and endorsed a list of the Senators who will serve on the Senate House Committee that is tasked with the mandate of planning all House Businesses in the Third Session.

The Lawmakers contributed to the motion of approval that was moved by the Senate Majority Leader and Kericho County Senator Aaron Cheruiyot.

Today the Senate County Public Investments and Special Funds Committee held a meeting with Kitui County Executive to scrutinize the Auditor General's report on Kitui County Empowerment Fund. 

The Governor for Kitui County, H.E. Dr. Julius Malombe appeared before the Committee to respond to the issues raised by the Auditor-General on the financial statements of the aforementioned fund.

Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC), chaired by Hon. George Murugara (Tharaka), held an engagement workshop on the administration of justice, with officials of the Judiciary and the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

Hon. Murugara welcomed the meeting, stating that the forum created an avenue for the deliberation and formulation of suitable strategies for an effective working relationship between the Judiciary and the Committee.

The Public Debt and Privatization Committee chaired by Hon. Abdi Shurie (Balambala) held a two-day collaborative workshop with officials from the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) and Institute of Public Finance (IPF) to evaluate Parliament's capacity for overseeing Public Debt Management.

𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟏𝟎, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

The Budget and Appropriations Committee (BAC) chaired by Hon. Ndindi Nyoro (Kiharu) has concluded a two-day retreat aimed at evaluating legislative proposals with significant fiscal implications to the economy.

The Senate County Public Investment and Special Funds Committee today held a meeting with the County Executive of Nandi to interrogate reports of the Auditor-General on the financial statements of the Nandi County Education Fund; the Nandi County Executive Car Loan and Mortgage Scheme Fund; and the Nandi County Emergency Fund for the years ended 30th June 2020, 30th June 2021, and 30th June 2022 

The Senate Ad Hoc Committee on the Compensation of the Kenyan Victims of the 1998 Bombing of the United States of America Embassy in Nairobi has today considered and adopted its report. 

This comes after the Senator Agnes Kavindu-led Committee held sittings with the victims, lawyers and representatives of the victims, Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration, Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, Cabinet Secretary for Health, and the National Council for Persons with Disabilities. 

Four Departmental Committees of the National Assembly yesterday welcomed a delegation from the Ukrainian Parliament. The four Committees were: Defense, Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committee, Trade, Industry and Cooperatives Committee, Environment, Forestry and Mining Committee and Regional Integration Committee.

In welcoming the delegation, the session Chairperson,  Hon. Maj. (Rtd) Sheikh Abdullahi expressed gratitude to the Ukrainian delegates for the visit.

𝐊𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐚, 𝐔𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚 
𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

The Speaker of the National Assembly, the Rt. Hon. (Dr.) Moses Wetang’ula re-elected as Africa bloc representative in the Standing Committee of the CSPOC during 27th Convention.

Speaker Wetang’ula was appointed by consensus to serve a second term in the Committee due to his exceptional leadership ability.

𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝟕𝐭𝐡 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 
 

The Speaker of the National Assembly, the Rt. Hon. (Dr.) Moses Wetang’ula hosted the country’s Attorney General, his predecessor the Hon. Justin B. Muturi who paid him a courtesy call at his office in Parliament Buildings. 

The two leaders discussed crucial national matters, emphasizing collaborative strategies to enhance the functionality of their offices geared towards promoting transparency, and fostering good governance. 

The companies contracted by Worldcoin to undertake the iris scans and data collection from Kenyans could have harvested critical information from underage Kenyans, due to lack of clear guidelines on Worldcoin registration guidelines. This is according to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the subsidiary Company - Sense Marketing -  Mr. Kevin Olende.

The National Assembly Committee on Diaspora Affairs and Migrant Workers chaired by Hon. Lydia Haika (Taita Taveta) has appealed to all stakeholders that deal with the placement of migrant workers abroad to work together towards improving the welfare of Kenyan migrant workers.

Noting that there is sustained goodwill by the Government on this matter, the Committee called on the Ministry of Labour and Social protection to expedite the on-going establishment of Bilateral Labour Agreements (BLAs).

Senate Committee on Trade, Industrialization and Tourism held a meeting today to consider Ministerial Responses on Statements requested by Sen. David Wakoli and Sen. Prof. Tom Ojienda, SC.

The Bungoma County Senator had requested to know the management structure of the Metropolitan National Sacco Ltd, listing all branches of the Sacco in the country; details of officials of the Sacco at national level; and when the Annual General Meeting of the Sacco was last held tabling the minutes of the meeting. 

The County Public Accounts Committee (CPAC) has called on the Officers serving in the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) to be proactive and reorient their operations to be of value to county entities while carrying out auditing.

The Committee argues that the current adversarial approach in auditing must be abandoned and a more friendly tact adopted if the auditing process is to of value and meaningful to public finance management.

The Senate Committee on County Public Investments and Special Funds (CPISFC) led by Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi met today to address concerns raised in the Auditor-General's Reports regarding the financial statements of three water companies in Nyeri County today.

The reports covered the fiscal years 2018/19, 2019/20, and 2020/21. The three water companies under review were Mathira Water and Sanitation Company Limited, Tetu Aberdare Water and Sanitation Company Limited, and Mutitu Water and Sanitation Company Limited.

The National Assembly’s Ad-hoc Committee of Inquiry chaired by Hon. Gabriel Tongoyo (Narok West) met with the Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Information, Communication and the Digital Economy Mr. Eliud Owalo.

The legislators sought to know among others; the Ministry’s level of awareness of the data harvesting activities, as well as any legal and regulatory frameworks that should have been observed to avert this.

The Public Debt and Privatization Committee led by the Vice-Chairperson Hon. Makali Mulu (Kitui Central), met with officials from the Office of the Auditor-General, to be briefed on loans disbursed by the Government and commitment fees.

The National Assembly Budget & Appropriations Committee chaired by Hon. Ndindi Nyoro (Kiharu) has concluded a week-long engagement with Members who made proposals to amend various existings laws.  

Amongst the Bills considered by the Committee include;  Legal Education (Amendment) Bill, 2023 by Hon. Babu Owino (Embakasi East), the Horticultural Crops Bill, 2023 by Hon. Sabina Chege (Nominated), and the National Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill, 2023 by Hon. Faith Gitau (Nyandarua). 

Two Parliamentary Committees have held  week-long stakeholder engagement to receive submissions regarding the revival and commercialization of State-Owned Sugar Companies.

This follows a directive from the Speaker of the National Assembly, Hon. Dr. Moses Wetang'ula and a proposal by the Leader of the Majority Party, Hon. Kimani Ichung’wa, MGH, MP on the National Treasury Memorandum on Action Plans to Revive and Commercialize the State-Owned Sugar Companies, which was tabled in the House on August 22, 2023.