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{
    "id": 1034784,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1034784/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 262,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Tharaka, DP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. George Gitonga",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13491,
        "legal_name": "George Gitonga Murugara",
        "slug": "george-gitonga-murugara"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker. Let me add my voice to this Report we are being asked to adopt this afternoon, especially with regards to the seriousness of the COVID-19 Pandemic that is with us. I recollect very well that during the month of March, the Committee on Delegated Legislation, which I sit in, sat through and came up with lots of laws and regulations to try and control the pandemic, including setting aside money through a Fund that would be used to combat the disease. Unfortunately, it never took long before it came to the limelight that in fact, the civil servants entrusted with that money misappropriated it. They stole the money and diverted it to their own personal use to the detriment of Kenyans. The net effect is that the health workers were exposed and every other person who worked in that sector got exposed. The results of that exposure are what we are witnessing today. Our medical doctors and other health workers are dying in big numbers because they do not have protective gear. They do not have the facilities they are supposed to work with. I have read the Report and the recommendations. What I am worried about is that these are just recommendations. If we are not careful, they will just be thrown away and nobody will look at them. They will not be implemented and that will be the end of the chapter. I agree with the observation that in fact we should have been direct. Where a crime has been committed, we should engage the relevant crime-fighting agencies. Where something wrong has been done, we should actually refer the matter to that agency with a clear recommendation for them to act, so that if the agency fails to act, we can have recourse. We can summon the actors to this House and make them answerable. Mere talk is not helping Kenyans. Kenyans are now dying in big numbers. All of us are exposed and we are losing our constituents. Most importantly, towards June, when we discovered these thefts, His Excellency the President gave an ultimatum of 30 days to the investigative agencies to come up with reports as to who was culpable for the misappropriation of the funds. Thirty days are over. We have heard no report. We do not know what happened. The only thing we talk about today are the COVID-19 billionaire heists and what they were able to rip off from the country and get away with it. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}