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{
    "id": 1139287,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1139287/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 189,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 407,
        "legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
        "slug": "ledama-olekina"
    },
    "content": "that this money is not State money, but taxpayers’ money. It is our money since we pay a lot of taxes. Madam Deputy Speaker, if you look at your pay slip, about 40 percent of it goes into taxes. Do you really want your taxes to be getting into the drain? No! We want to be responsible. That is why we are calling for responsibility. We cannot be using the process of Parliament to sanitize misappropriation of funds. These county governments must pay because we have sent money to them using the County Allocation of Revenue Bill (CARA). We began the process with the Division of Revenue and counties are getting money. In the last financial year, they got Kshs370 billion. If the National Treasury has not released that money, why order for medicine which is not even available at KEMSA and not pay for them? I am a big critic of KEMSA, but I want to stand with the truth here. We cannot allow mismanagement to continue prevailing. Madam Deputy Speaker, I encourage my sister, Sen. Shiyonga, to further amend the Bill or when it goes to the Committee Stage, we bring an amendment. This is to ensure that county governments and the Ministry of Health meet their obligations to KEMSA. We have people who are employed there. The other day, KEMSA was letting go about 600 employees. They said their workforce is around 938, but the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) has approved only 380 employees. Obviously, 600 employees will go. Who will pay for those employees yet the money is supposed to rotate? Madam Deputy Speaker, we cannot be creating a hole and instead of trying to fill that hole, we continue digging in. It is impossible. If I take this bottle of water and make a hole and then I open it to drink water, by the time I finish this bottle of water, I will only have taken an ounce and not the entire bottle. For us to bring change into the management of resources in this country, we cannot allow ourselves to be brought into the interests of the counties where they mismanage money and do not meet their obligations because Parliament is the one that passed that legislation. Parliament can then change it. Madam Deputy Speaker, as I wind up, instead of me bringing an amendment, as a member of the Committee on Health, I will ensure that I make those changes to guarantee that county governments meet their obligations. I thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker."
}