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{
    "id": 1111996,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1111996/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 292,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Kang’ata",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1826,
        "legal_name": "Irungu Kang'ata",
        "slug": "irungu-kangata"
    },
    "content": "I will give an example. I have a friend in Murang’a County who wants to move from Murang’a to Nakuru. However, you will find that one county agrees and the other one refuses. It may, therefore, make a little bit of sense when you have one singular national entity to handle such issues. Another issue that I have seen in this proposed amendment is the idea to ensure that there is representation of the counties in this body, so that when these matters are discussed, counties are given an opportunity to be heard. Madam Deputy Speaker, what I would urge my colleague to check is the constitutionality of the amendment. I guess the parliamentary staff ensured that these issues have been checked. I say so because the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution clearly gives counties what I would call exclusive powers on matters health. What is left at the national level is what we call a health policy. To that extent, he needs to triangulate with legal experts to ensure that the proposal is constitutional and does not negate the powers of the counties to manage matters health. Madam Deputy Speaker, beyond this proposal, we need to interrogate other gaps that exist in matters health. One of the major gaps that I see in the health sector is that very few homesteads in this country have health insurance. I will give an example of Murang’a County. As per the 2019 Census, Murang’a County had 318,000 households. I checked with the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) and realized that about 18,000 households have been covered by NHIF through the head of the household being a public employee within my county. About 22,000 households have taken the NHIF cover privately. In a nutshell, only 40,000 households in Murang’a County have an NHIF card. Madam Deputy Speaker, I always wonder what we can do to ensure that that number is increased. I am aware that there is a proposal to amend the National Hospital Insurance Fund Act, which is currently before the National Assembly to compel various stakeholders to take NHIF as a matter of law."
}