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{
    "id": 1009211,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1009211/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 256,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Zani",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13119,
        "legal_name": "Agnes Zani",
        "slug": "agnes-zani"
    },
    "content": "can protect, create safety and well-being of the citizens of Kenya and also of those in the frontline. Madam Temporary Speaker, we are now beginning to experience a situation where we are losing some of the healthcare workers within the hospitals and various institutions. We are also experiencing a sense of fear because these are the frontline warriors who have to deal with this. Issues such as protection, wearing of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), ensuring that they are well protected and their needs are taken care of becomes very critical. Another key area that this Committee has dealt with is the area of education and its institutions. Recently, we had the Cabinet Secretary of Education, Hon. (Prof.) Magoha giving the way forward. There have been different reactions from Kenyans. Some people think that we should have tried to proceed like other countries have. However, Kenya has made a position. Many Kenyans are supporting that position because we cannot put our children at risk. We cannot allow them to go to school without the proper mechanisms. The current situations is that Technical Vocational Education and Training Institutions (TVET) and colleges will start operating in September then the other institutions will start later. However, the policies and the processes to ensure that as they begin that they can be protected is very important. Other issues that this Committee has dealt with are measures to protect employees, retrenchment and losses of work. There are areas do with provision of isolation centres and ICUs, as has been mentioned here. We find that we have up to 27 counties which do not have ICU beds. Some of the reports that were coming through are that we now have some of these ICU beds being put in private homes. Madam Temporary Speaker, maybe these are the new challenges that are facing this Committee. It is clearly stated in this Report that these are the challenges. As the issue continue to get worse, then they have more work to do in terms of identifying how to go about it. Referring to the Seventh Report, at that time, certain Cabinet Secretaries (CSs) had not honoured their invitations. However, looking through the Seventh and Eighth Reports, this seems to have improved immensely. For example, CS, Hon. Munya, gave his comments directly regarding the food sector and reserves and very insightful ideas about exactly what is happening. Madam Temporary Speaker, even when it comes to other stakeholders and memoranda, one of the greatest strength of this Committee is that they have really maximized. Despite the COVID-19, they have ensured that through each of the specific questions they were asking, they have been able to get various memoranda to answer those questions. They have put this in a systematic way. In the Seventh Report, we also note fact-finding visits to Isiolo and Meru counties. They held meetings with National Emergency Response Committee on COVID-19. I do not want to use a bad name, but I know we have armchair sociologists. So, I will borrow. We had ‘armchair’ Senators going to the counties and crosschecking what is happening within the specific Ministries. This is key. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}