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{
"id": 1143929,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1143929/?format=api",
"text_counter": 338,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kipipiri, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Amos Kimunya",
"speaker": {
"id": 174,
"legal_name": "Amos Muhinga Kimunya",
"slug": "amos-kimunya"
},
"content": "are notorious but that, if you see notoriety in one, it could spread into the others. The best thing is to get the best practice, learn from it and protect everyone else. There is also an issue that is unique to these bodies within the health sector. You will find that membership is conditional and in favour of members of that profession. For you to be appointed a chairperson of the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, you must be a registered pharmacist. We know the work of the chair does not require that technical expertise. We understand that you will, as the CEO, understand the technical groups. It goes further. You will find that people are even being resistant to even allowing legal practitioners and finance people to join those Boards yet these people would benefit from those skills, including who becomes the corporation secretary. We know the law is very clear that a corporation secretary needs to be a certified public secretary. But because of how these laws are currently, they cannot get that benefit. This amendment is seeking to open up that space so that, for example, for purposes of who becomes the corporation secretary, it accords with across the other institutions where we say that a corporation secretary must be a person who is qualified to be a certified public secretary. That is so that the person enriches the board in its decisions, by providing that expertise. Every board will basically be looking at enriching one another with different expertise so that boards can perform on behalf of the membership. Basically, I do not want to get into what is so straightforward. The 17 pieces of legislation are all listed within the memorandum to this Bill. It may look big but, once you understand one, you can get all. We have the Pharmacy and Poisons Act, the Mental Health Act, the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Act, the Nurses Act, the Kenya Medical Training Colleges Act, and the National Hospital Insurance Fund Act. Part of this will be overtaken by events because we have already passed the National Hospital Insurance Fund Act. So, we will be removing some of these things when we get to the Committee of the Whole House. The others being affected are the Laboratory Technicians and Technologists Act, the Tobacco Control Act, the Nutritionists and Dieticians Act, the Cancer Prevention and Control Act, the Public Health Officers Act, and the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority Act in terms of the appointment of the chairperson of its board and the corporation secretary. Again, these are policy issues. There is nothing to do with the counties. Other laws being affected are the Counsellors and Psychologists Act, the Physiotherapists Act, the Health Records and Information Managers Act, the Clinical Officers (Training, Registration and Licensing) Act, and the Health Act of 2017. Basically, all this is about the appointment of their governance bodies. So, the long and short of it is that, once we approve this, these bodies will have to streamline their governance structures to be better prepared for the implementation of the Universal Health Coverage, which we need to make sure that our Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and children improve the quality of their lives by accessing better health care. I can go on and on but it will not add any value beyond what I have said. I, therefore, beg to move and request the hon. Joyce Emanikor on behalf of the Departmental Committee on Health to second. I thank her for having spared her entire afternoon to be here waiting to second. I know her Chair is involved in some preparatory activities of the Universal Health Coverage. There is a training workshop going on in Mombasa where the Committee is expected to contribute. The Vice- Chair has been involved in looking at the Supplementary Budget. Thank you, hon. Emanikor, for taking it for the Committee."
}