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{
    "id": 1016190,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1016190/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 217,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wetangula",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 210,
        "legal_name": "Moses Masika Wetangula",
        "slug": "moses-wetangula"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. The Minister for Health appeared before the committee and said very outrageous things. One, this company was given a contract that was different from other contracts. We checked all the contracts and found that they were identical. This company was seeking a letter for support from the Government that was not part of the contract. Each company was given a letter of support. As a result, the MES project where it’s working and we want to salute the management of health services in Mombasa, I do not know if the Senator for Mombasa is here, it is a shining example of the MES success. We went to Mombasa hospital and every bit of equipment was working optimally yet in other areas, nothing is working. So, HCIT crumbled and now people have to keep running from Lodwar to Eldoret with X-ray images to be interpreted yet it could be done within minutes. We have recommended that those who terminated this contract did an unlawful act and action must be taken against them. Then we have the issue of our governors. Governors in the MES project have behaved like poor actors in a bad play. The Chairman of the CoG, Gov. Oparanya of Kakamega, appeared before the Committee and said he signed the contract under duress. When we asked him what the duress was, he said a chief went to a funeral and announced that a person had died because he had not signed the contract. Can that amount to duress? This is like the theatre of the absurd! In doing so, the governors abdicated their responsibilities completely. If governors paid attention to MES, if governors participated properly in the MES project, our counties would not be ripped off the amount of money that we are talking about. You can imagine a county like Tharaka Nithi, even in the new formula, the gain they got is only Kshs289 million and they are creaming off Kshs200 million every year for MES, for their county. The governors told us that they were blackmailed into signing the agreements. To date, governors have not come up with any clear direction apart from lamentations on how they can make MES Project to work. Look at Malindi, to fix a three phase power in a big town such as Malindi would not cost more than Kshs1.5 million. The equipment is lying there because there is no three phase power. This is a dereliction of duty and governors will also have to be held accountable for this kind of reckless behavior in the management of public affairs. We have government agencies such as Kenya Bureau of Standards (KeBS) and Pharmacy and Poisons Board. Some of these equipments have very high levels of radioactive material. You cannot believe that the Pharmacy and Poisons Board has no capacity even to test a blade for operation. All they do is look at documents, sign and say, “Endelea.” We have recommended that this House and the National Assembly need to look at the legislation that governs these agencies. When you talk to KeBS they tell you: “Ours is just to check whether the goods were checked at the point of source.” The Pharmacy and Poisons Board say: “We are not resourced, so we have no capacity.” 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."
}