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{
"id": 1545582,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1545582/?format=api",
"text_counter": 137,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 407,
"legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
"slug": "ledama-olekina"
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, it is imperative that Dr. Allan Azegele, who is the Director of Veterinary Services (DVS), appears before the Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries to provide full information on the FMD vaccines. I remember one day I was having a conversation with the new Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture and Livestock Development and he said something which was very important to me. He said that if these vaccines are to be imported, there has to be a demonstration that from the country which they are being imported, they are being used to vaccinate their livestock. Later on, when I continued talking to him, he insisted that these vaccines are produced and manufactured locally by the Kenya Veterinary Vaccine Production Institute (KEVEVAPI). Certainly, it is very important that our county governments build capacity for extension workers who can then educate livestock farmers on the policy of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development when it comes to the issue of vaccination. Also, on the kind of vaccines which were being carried out, I inquired heavily on this matter. This is why I am so passionate about the issue of livestock. I was told that the type of vaccines which were going to be rolled out were two; one is for foot and mouth disease. The other one was a Peste des petits ruminants (PPR), which was mostly for sheep and goat. The only problem we have and where we go wrong in this country is lack of proper communication, such that you do not get a buy-in from the professionals. I appreciate Sen. Chute for raising this matter, so that we can be clear. If indeed KEVEVAPI are the ones who produce these vaccines, it will be important for the The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1545583,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1545583/?format=api",
"text_counter": 138,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 407,
"legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
"slug": "ledama-olekina"
},
"content": "Committee on Health to go into KEVEVAPI facilities and see the entire process. This is so because there is a lot which is being discussed worldwide about the issue of vaccines. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, when you hear Bill Gates saying that these cows need to be vaccinated, so that they stop farting, it worries us. It is imperative for us to be educated and our county governments must take their role seriously. Earlier on when looking at the budget of the Ministry of Health, we realised that there is a presidential directive that has directed the Ministry of Health to build sub-county health centres. According to the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution, that is a function for the county governments. One of the things that was a bit vexing is the fact that one county; Uasin Gishu County, was allocated Kshs700 million when my own county, Narok County, is getting zero. We have to very selfishly guard and protect devolution. The Council of Governors (CoG) should have taken over the vaccine issue. Even if the Directorate of Veterinary Services (DVS) is the one that coordinates, but the implementation should be carried out by the county governments. When farmers are asking what is happening, even us who are the ombudspersons cannot tell them what is going on. Our communication leaves a lot to be desired and this must change. It is important to note that we do not have any foreign Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccine manufacturer registered in this country currently. If indeed we are dealing with the issue FMD, we have to delve deeper into the issues of the borders. If we take care of our cows in the country, what about the cows, sheep and goats that come from our neighbouring countries; Somalia, Ethiopia and Tanzania? All of us must be alive to these things. I hope that when the Standing Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries is going to investigate the issues that Sen. Chute has raised here, it can visit the Kenya Veterinary Vaccines Production Institute (KEVEVAPI). I also hope that Dr. Allan Azegele, the DVS, can pull up his socks and issue out communication to sensitise the professionals, so that they can educate our people when going into the field. Finally, there are a lot of fake parasites and animal vaccines in this country. Nowadays, people have moved away from the traditional dips, where they used to put the parasite in so that it can kill all the blue tick that is affecting the cows. It is about time that the county governments started rehabilitating the old dips, so that we can control these diseases. Some of the pumps being sold in the market nowadays are from China or made in many other parts of the world. You use them, but they are not even effective. The parasites are also not being controlled effectively. The DVS must now take charge to see that we can control animal diseases in this country. We cannot survive without livestock. I am sure Mheshimiwa Chute cannot survive without the sheep. Neither can I survive without the cows. I was in Marsabit County once and there were almost 10,000 sheep and goats being taken care of by one person. Therefore, it is important for us to work together to know our capacity. I like that question. “How much can we produce locally?” Since this is a function of county governments, can we then now talk to KEVEVAPI to set up stations across the counties, so that it can buy and get the approval from the farmers? This is a very good Statement and quite timely. I hope that all of us, when we get the report from the Committee on The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1545584,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1545584/?format=api",
"text_counter": 139,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 407,
"legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
"slug": "ledama-olekina"
},
"content": "Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, we can be convinced to accept that our cows be vaccinated. I thank you."
},
{
"id": 1545585,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1545585/?format=api",
"text_counter": 140,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Abdul Haji",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Sen. Veronica Nduati."
},
{
"id": 1545586,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1545586/?format=api",
"text_counter": 141,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Veronica Maina",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I rise to support the Statement that has been brought to this House by Sen. Mohamed Said Chute, the Senator for Marsabit County, on the foreign nationals working in Kenya's informal business sector. At the onset, it is important to note that Kenya has an open visa issuance system, where it has encouraged many visitors from different countries from the neighbourhood and within the African Continent to visit our nation. However, the number of foreign nationals working in the informal business sector has fundamentally increased. Hon. Temporary Speaker, as you are aware, every county and the national government is grappling with how to create jobs for the young people within the Republic of Kenya. We have jobs like saloon, hawking and small-scale enterprises being done by foreign nationals. In a very ideal situation, even foreigners should help to grow the economy. However, there is a balance that needs to be struck and a framework developed. If foreign nationals are allowed to work here, then they should fall within the legal framework that is set by the nation. Why do I say so? If you track down Kenyans who are in the neighbouring countries like Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Congo or South Africa, every jurisdiction and nation is pushing that rules on immigration are implemented. The Kenyans in South Africa would have to make certain applications to be allowed to work within South Africa. Until we have developed a framework within the African Union (AU) that enables the nationals to crisscross the countries, remove the boundaries and make a system like what we have as a Schengen Visa, it becomes very difficult when one country has opened its boundaries and the rest of the countries around that nation have equally not opened those boundaries and allowed the nationals to work. The request by Sen. Mohamed Said Chute is that we take stock of the number of foreigners who are working, the target being in the Kenya's informal business sector where the Kenyans should first be given priority. We need to take stock and see whether we are having a proper balance of trade between our nation and other nations. The way other nationals come here and work in the business sector in the small-scale businesses, are Kenyans able to work the same way? For instance, in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Somalia, Sudan, Egypt and across the continent and the seas in Europe and the United States of America (USA), are they able to work like that? You will find every nation has its own structure and systems. I support this Statement, especially because we must ensure that our young people who are looking for jobs and opportunities within the small-scale business enterprises and the macro-economy sector are not cut off by the foreign nationals that have to work. I support this Statement that the Cabinet Secretary should come and account to the House on the number of foreign nationals who could be working within Kenya and the existing labour and immigration policies that need to be implemented. That data The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1545587,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1545587/?format=api",
"text_counter": 142,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Veronica Maina",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "should now be considered with the Kenyans who are working abroad to see whether we are getting complementarity in terms of application of the immigration laws and policies. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I support this. I also support that every foreigner who is working in Kenya must definitely do so when they are licensed within the special sectors they should be working in. The taxation should net the benefit they are receiving from the Kenyan economy and go back to support the infrastructure within which they are trading. What is the taxation regime that is being applied to the foreign nationals when they are earning in Kenya? Are they keeping to the labour laws or are they using the visitor's visa to work gainfully earn money from Kenya and go back to the other countries without maybe even paying the taxes that are required to be paid within Kenya? So, I support this and I hope that once this talk and audit are taken by the Cabinet Secretary and a report is presented to this House by the Standing Committee on National Security, Defence, and Foreign Relations, I would also hope that the Standing Committee on Trade, Industrialization, and Tourism is involved in this matter. Once this report is brought to Parliament or the Senate, then we will be able to tell whether we have extinguished opportunities that should be due to the young people in Kenya or whether the foreign nationals are working within the framework that is provided within the Republic of Kenya. I thank you."
},
{
"id": 1545588,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1545588/?format=api",
"text_counter": 143,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Abdul Haji",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Sen. Andrew Omtatah, you have the Floor."
},
{
"id": 1545589,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1545589/?format=api",
"text_counter": 144,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Okiya Omtatah",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for the opportunity. I will begin by commenting on the Statement regarding the vaccination or the much-hyped vaccination of animals. Clearly, we were dealing with something that was not ordinary. Vaccination of animals has not been a new thing in this country. Animals are vaccinated and they are usually handled by departments. A nationwide one-time vaccination of animals has never happened in this country unless where we have got quarantines and the quarantines are not new. Towns like Karatina are corruptions of the word “quarantine” because they used to be major quarantine centres. So, when we came up in this particular state, I would like the Statement to get out of where we are trying to be persuaded to go and tell us what the emergency that required the Head of State to personally take up and run with this particular vaccination programme. What were the intentions? What were the expected outcomes? It was totally out of the ordinary. We usually have periodic vaccinations with outbreaks of diseases and outbreaks. I cannot recollect a day when there was vaccination driven from the State House. That vaccination from the State House is the elephant in the room; not just the question of whether or not animals will be vaccinated. Even today, animals are being vaccinated. I also would like to support the observations by Sen. Olekina. We have very many fake products in the market. I do not know how the standardization or the inspection of these products is done, but there are many fake products and many farmers have fallen The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1545590,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1545590/?format=api",
"text_counter": 145,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Okiya Omtatah",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "victim to buying these products and administering them to the animals and they do not get the desired results. Associated with that is the cost of vaccination. Vaccinations have become very expensive and most ordinary farmers cannot afford them. Even when you have vaccinations offered by the county governments, you will find that county government officials who are employed to serve the public at times those veterinary officers turn around and charge for their services. Some tell you we have gotten this, we have gotten that on our own, so we are charging a fee. So, we would like also those kinds of things to be looked into and be told why would a government employee during office hours performing the duties they are employed to perform add a fee of consideration to the services they are giving. The other thing is the qualification of veterinary officers. I had an incident personally where I lost more than 100 goats over about one month depending on veterinary officers in Busia trying to come and intervene. It was until somebody said ‘why do you not try somebody’ and then they gave all manner of theories about what could be happening. They ended up saying that the climate change was what was affecting the goats. Now, when I called the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) Naivasha, they asked me to send a picture of one of the animals on WhatsApp . When I sent a picture, this fellow said, ‘oh, this is a problem and we must intervene immediately.’ They sent somebody from Naivasha to my farm, and in no time, that problem was contained. So, what makes me wonder is what kind of veterinary officers we have in Busia who over one month could not resolve a simple viral infection that required a kind of intervention. Other than fake vaccines, we have fake veterinary officers who are purporting to be doing extension work or helping farmers here and there. The Committee may also want to look at the criteria for employing people to serve in the county governments in this very critical area. Related to fake veterinary officers in terms of animal diseases, we have got the meat inspection officers. This is an area that is largely neglected but one that is extremely important given the current trend, where there is a transfer of diseasea across species from animals to human beings. We need to look at the question of remuneration, training and other aspects of equipping meat inspectors to do scientific work when they go out to inspect the meat our people eat. Many areas within the animal industry would go along with them because vaccines are about diseases in the industry that need to be looked into. There is a statement on SHIF and SHA. I would have loved to contribute to it but, unfortunately, I am litigating it in court. I have noticed that a lot of the issues raised here are before the court. Maybe, the Secretariat might want to guide the Committee on how to deal with it, given that some of those issues are being litigated in court. That being as it is, it is an extremely important case that needs to be looked into about the cost of this platform, especially in the light of the confirmation, I do not say the finding but the confirmation by the Auditor General of things that many Kenyans have been saying and complaining about and of the Government not raising a finger. There are three funds under SHA; there is only one fund that is being debated or discussed in the public discourse, and that is the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF). The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1545591,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1545591/?format=api",
"text_counter": 146,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Okiya Omtatah",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "There is a fund for primary healthcare and there is a fund for emergency healthcare. These two funds in the construction of the Act, you do not see how they are being fed and where they are getting their money. It is designed that the money will come from the Consolidated Fund. Now when you look at Article 206 of the Constitution, you will find that all money raised by the Government is supposed to be deposited in the Consolidated Fund, except where Parliament excludes that money to go into special funds. I would like the committee to look into that issue and tell this House when that Act was made by Parliament, whether we created a fund that is not being resourced. The SHIF, as we are debating and fighting it and whatever it is designed, will be funded from premiums that people will pay. That is okay for setting up a fund in terms of the law, but the two other funds do not have a provision. So where will that money come from? It cannot come from the Consolidated Fund. Article 2(6) is an absolute bar. It says where Parliament sets up a fund, it must also set up a mechanism to exclude the monies from going into the Consolidated Fund. It does not say that Parliament will set up a fund to draw money from the Consolidated Fund. Under the Social Health Authority (SHA) arrangement, we have two funds designed to get money from the Consolidated Fund. What informs that kind of disregard for the Constitution? If you go further and look at the Public Finance Management Act and the Public Finance Management Regulations, you will find that they underscored the word “that”. If a fund is set up, it must be resourced by the Legislature. Parliament must say where the money will come from. So, as the Committee looks at this particular issue of SHA, which is the umbrella of the Social Health Act that also creates it under which the Social Health Insurance Fund is created as one of the three funds. In this particular case, I would like the Committee to focus on these two other funds that are lying there, hidden in the law, and that are designed to get money from the Consolidated Fund. I do not know how that will be done. I hope it will not be considered that they are those that are anticipated under Article 223 of the Constitution where we have in the event of unforeseen circumstances, a supplementary budget can be made to provide. I hope those two funds are not placed there as unforeseen circumstances that will be used to draw money from the Consolidated Fund. The question of transport in the statement by Prof. Ojienda, in Port Victoria, sorry, the Kisumu Port. I am sorry to have used the words Port Victoria. You know Busia has a lake. Port Victoria was in Busia, not in Kisumu. I am a bit confused there, but he raises an important point in terms of the Kenyan economy as a transit economy. Our economy is largely a transit economy. If you look at what we call the economy of Kenya today, it is where the Uganda Railway passed. The railway passed from Mombasa going to Uganda. So, that corridor is very important. When you look at the traffic on our roads, the most common vehicle is the trailer; either carrying goods into the hinterland or empty containers from the hinterland back to the coast. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}
]
}