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{
    "id": 1016668,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1016668/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 272,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Kasanga",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13185,
        "legal_name": "Sylvia Mueni Kasanga",
        "slug": "sylvia-mueni-kasanga"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, please, protect me so that I can be heard. I also want to appreciate our new Vice-Chairperson, Sen. Linturi, who is a very committed Member of our Committee, as all our Members are. I also want to appreciate Sen. (Dr.) Langat who was added to the Committee and his contribution to the Committee. As Senators will recall, the Ad hoc Committee on the COVID-19 Situation in Kenya was established on 31st March 2020 with an oversight mandate on actions and measures taken by national Government and county governments in addressing the spread and effects of COVID-19 in Kenya. Just to add a rider, COVID-19 is not over and we are not safe as a country and as a region. COVID-19 is still there and we are seeing many irresponsible things happening. We see crowds gathering, completely ignoring all the protocols that have been set by the Ministry of Health. We are still not safe. We are seeing in the West, where countries are going into a second wave. We are still looking at how prepared our counties are because we shall soon see a surge in the counties. There is still a lot of work to be done. So far, the Committee has held a total of 90 sittings. We have met with all sorts of stakeholders at the national and county level, county governments, frontline workers, healthcare workers, private sector, employers associations, trade unions, civil societies, business owners and experts in different thematic areas that we initially reported in our first reports. Unfortunately, The Pandemic Response and Management Bill (Senate Bills No.6 of 2020) has been declared a Money Bill in the National Assembly. We are hoping and waiting to see a direction on how we can proceed with it, so that we do not lose the Bill that was very progressive and the work of many Kenyans. While it was not possible to undertake site visits at the time of the lockdowns, we had to put a lot of pressure to be allowed to do so. After all the reports that we had received, it was necessary for us to go to the ground and assess the situation of preparedness in the counties. We visited Isiolo and Meru counties in June. With permission from the Speaker, we were able to visit Mombasa, Kilifi and Kwale counties. During these visits, we met and held discussions with frontline healthcare workers in the three counties. We met with human rights organizations, resident organization of Old Town Mombasa, National and county government officials as well as other organizations that had partnered with the county governments in responding to the pandemic. We also met the Red Cross Society of Mombasa and the Rotary Club of Mombasa. These were very fruitful engagements. In fact, we were truly impressed with the cooperation we saw with some of these organizations and county governments, especially the County Government of Mombasa. We saw how they were able to come together at such a critical time to help the citizens of the counties. With these engagements, the Committee was able to identify some key successes that we have now recorded. We also came across many challenges, which have hampered the containment and response to the pandemic in these counties. 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."
}