The Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries held a meeting today to consider and adopt a Legislative proposal on the Nuts and Oil Crops Development Bill, 2023.

The Bill, which is sponsored by Nominated Senator Hamida Kibwana, MP, seeks to make provision for the production, processing, marketing and distribution of Kenyan nuts and oil crops and their products. 

The Committee on National Cohesion and Equal Opportunities, under the leadership of Hon. Yusuf Adan (Mandera West) met the Tourism Fund Chief Executive Officer (CEO)  Mr. David Mwangi to address concerns regarding employment diversity and procurement reservation for special interest groups.

According to documents presented by Mr. Mwangi, the current workforce at the Fund is  265 employees. The Committee expressed concerns over the dominance of two communities in the composition of employees at the Fund.

The National Assembly Departmental Committee on Defence, Intelligence, and Foreign Relations has inspected ongoing works at  Forces Referral and Research Hospital (FRRH) at Kabete, Nairobi.

Led by the  Committee Vice-Chairperson Hon. Major (Rtd) Bashir Abdullah (Mandera-North), Members visited the facility to assess the progress of the ongoing works, the challenges faced, the opportunities available, and the value of the money expended on the project.

The National Assembly's Public Debt and Privatization Committee chaired by  Hon. Abdi Shurie (Balambala) met with the Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Dr. Patrick Njoroge to discuss issues regarding the Consolidated Fund Services (CFS) Expenditures Estimates raised by the Auditor General in the Financial Year 2023/2024.

The National Assembly's Public Investments Committee on Social Services Administration and Agriculture chaired by Hon. Emmanuel Wangwe (Navakholo) met with officials of the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) to discuss audit queries raised in the Auditor General's Reports for the Financial Years 2017/2018, 2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021. 

Hon. Mary Emaase, MP has  brought to light alarming contradictions in the guidelines for implementing Junior Secondary School (JSS) education. 

The discrepancy revolves around Guideline 8.6, which places the responsibility of providing meals to parents and guardians, while simultaneously obligating school leadership to ensure that no child drops out due to unpaid lunch fees.

Hon. Mary Emaase recently voiced her concerns, calling on the Ministry of Education to address this contradiction and shed light on the actions being taken to rectify the situation.