COMMUNICATION FROM THE CHAIR

DEMISE OF SENATOR BONIFACE MUTINDA KABAKA, MP, THE SENATOR FOR MACHAKOS COUNTY

Honourable Senators,

1) Today, we mourn the death of a colleague and friend, the Honorable Senator Boniface Mutinda Kabaka, MP, the Senator for Machakos County, which occurred on Friday, 11th December, 2020, while he was undergoing treatment at the Nairobi Hospital.

2) The late Senator Kabaka was indeed a great leader, an astute and articulate debater, a principled legislator and a distinguished man who passionately served not just the people of Machakos County, but Kenya in general.

Honourable Senators,

3) The late Senator Kabaka was born on 1st January, 1966 in Kabaa, Mwala Location of Machakos County. His passion for academic excellence was evident at a very early stage in his life and demonstrated by the illustrious awards he received while pursuing degree programmes at the University of Nairobi. These include a Bachelor's degree in Law (1990), Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law (1992), Master of Business Administration (2009), Master of Laws (2009), Master of Arts in Diplomacy (2011) and a PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) in Finance Law, which the Senator was pursuing at the University of Nairobi from 2015.

Honorable Senators,

4) Sen. Kabaka was an advocate of the High Court of Kenya and Senior Partner at Kabaka and Associates Advocates. He begun his career in 1993 as a Legal Officer at the Kenya Railways Training Institute, rising to the position of Assistant Corporation Secretary, by the time he withdrew from the service in 2001, to start his own private legal practice. Owing to his love of education, the Senator worked as a part-time lecturer at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa between 2010 and 2013, as well as consulting editor for the Lawyer Kenya Magazine.

5) The Senator served as legal consultant to the Governor of Machakos County between 2014 and 2017 and after vying for the position of Senator in the ensuing General Elections in 2017, he was elected to the Office of Senator for Machakos County.

Honourable Senators,

6) The late Kabaka relentlessly advocated for the needs of his constituents and actively participated in community projects aimed at improving the lives and livelihoods of the people of Machakos. He will be fondly remembered as a steadfast leader, an ardent defender of devolution and upholding the rule of law and constitutionalism, who put country before self, as witnessed during the deliberations on the third generation revenue sharing formula which concluded just recently on 17th September, 2020.

7) In Committees, he served as the Vice-chairperson of the Sessional Committee on Delegated Legislation, a member of the Standing Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries and a Member of the Standing Committee on Devolution and Inter-governmental Relations.

Honourable Senators,

8) On behalf of all Senators and the staff of the Senate, and indeed on my own behalf, I wish to take this opportunity to condole with the family of the late Senator Boniface Mutinda Kabaka, MP, the people of Machakos County, and all his friends in this most difficult time. The Parliament of Kenya has indeed lost a diligent and visionary leader.

Honourable Senators,

9) In honour of our departed colleague, I request that in the usual tradition we all stand and observe a minute of silence.

May his soul rest in eternal peace.

I thank you.

SEN. KENNETH M. LUSAKA, EGH, M.P.

SPEAKER OF THE SENATE

16th December, 2020