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{
    "id": 1126982,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1126982/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 461,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Ugenya, MDG",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. David Ochieng’",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2955,
        "legal_name": "David Ouma Ochieng'",
        "slug": "david-ouma-ochieng"
    },
    "content": " Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, this has been challenged in court and governors have protested. It is not just a court issue but it has been litigated and has been a subject of debate not just in this Assembly but in the Senate too. This particular thing about this Medical Equipment Leasing Project is what you can describe how the deep State operates. They must accept and they have no option. We had Cabinet Secretaries coming to justify this when I used to sit in the Departmental Committee on Health. There was no justification at all of not involving the counties and letting them choose what equipment they required. It was one size fits all; you take it or take it. There was no option of leaving. Even as we speak now, the Senate has been having these questions every year: Why are we paying for things that we are not using? Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, if you went to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) today, you will find an MRI machine that was supplied at Ksh200 million but the market would give it to you at Ksh70 million or Ksh80 million. They argue that it was brought to them by the national Government. So, it is basically a corruption conduit that national Government just decides to supply equipment to the counties. I want to note that it was so much necessary for this particular Bill to indicate that the national Government cannot pick and choose what it will send to the counties in money or in goods. It should be clear that the national Government cannot choose or procure unless asked by the relevant county. We should have seen that provision in this Bill. I hope to have a chance to propose an amendment to this Bill to reflect that position."
}