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{
    "id": 1143126,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1143126/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 358,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Matungulu, WDM-K",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Stephen Mule",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2321,
        "legal_name": "Stephen Mutinda Mule",
        "slug": "stephen-mutinda-mule"
    },
    "content": "Last but not least is that community health workers require some essential commodities to facilitate them to do their job. These commodities must be factored in this year’s Budget. If we have the staff and the community health workers but we do not have the essential commodities like a bag, gloves, Panadols and the basics so that they can attend to any case, it is in vain. That must be provided by the Government and the county governments. It should be taken care of within the Budgets we make. So, this a holistic Bill which brings health in this country through a different format, way and approach. I urge my colleagues to move with speed so that we get to the Third Reading of this Bill. As I have urged the leadership of the House to fast-track it, we do not have a lot of the luxury of time. We should fast-track it, go to the Third Reading, finish with it and send it to the President for assent. I know that by the time we get there, the Bill from the Senate will be ready. It is a matter of harmonising the two Bills, bringing them back here, passing them and then they go for assent. We have attended several meetings with Mr. Owino. We had a meeting on Zoom which was organised through the Ministry of Health and Kanco. He spoke about it at an international level whereby our colleagues from Canada were shocked that Kenya is making a milestone to take care of the missing gap, not only in Kenya but also in the entire world. So, I want to thank you Owino because you will go into the Guinness Book of Records for realising a gap within the health sector and curing it through legislation. Congratulations. Last but not least, with all due respect, county governments must be put on notice to clear their bills with the organisation called KEMSA. If you look at KEMSA, it is not able to provide the essential commodities required right now because counties pick goods and commodities from KEMSA and they are not paying. We must be a country whereby we are accountable. The governors who have picked goods from that organisation and they have not paid are doing a disservice to this country. We saw it on television the other day. The acting Chief Executive Officer put it very clearly that they have a bill of almost Kshs7 billion with the counties. I suggest this: as we are dealing with the Budget for this year, we should allow the Ministry of Finance and the National Treasury to deduct all the pending bills from the money for counties before they send it so that we make sure that we restock our reserves for medical services and medical commodities in this country. That will make sure that we do not get into the quagmire of having a warehouse which does not have commodities. Please, governors, can you pay your bills? I find it very funny that if you look at the pending bills of most of these county governments, I do not know what they are thinking of. They have serious pending bills. They have not paid bills from contractors. Now they have not paid KEMSA. We do not know who else they have not paid. They have not paid community health workers in their counties. Surely, there is something amiss. I want to go on record that we are going to find a solution to make sure that healthcare in this country is given a priority. Thank you very much. I support this Bill."
}