Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1229204,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1229204/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 309,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Okenyuri",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Thank you Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I rise to support this Bill by the good Senator of Tana River, Sen. Mungatana, MGH. This encompasses so many other aspects that are going to strengthen devolution that have for some time got me worried on whether we are actually progressing or killing devolution. Sen. Mungatana, this was well-thought-out. I want to bring to the attention of Members very worrying statistics that were given on 16th March, 2023 by the Ministry of Health. Six million Kenyans have no sanitation facilities. Twenty-eight of those are in rural areas, 32 per cent are in urban areas, such as we are in Nairobi. There is 90 per cent of open defecation in 15 counties. I do not want to name the specific counties, but it brings into reality what we are actually facing. As I said, these were the basic issues that are being talked about and giving those worrying statistics. It is a cause for concern to us, honourable Members, to get to action. Even though, I commend the initiatives by the Kenya Kwanza Government and the President to be specific. He seemed to have understood that once you make the basic things available to ordinary Kenyans, then even governance becomes very easy. That was the same thing as what Sen. Mungatana has done. This Bill covers most of the aspirations of the “Bottom-up” blueprint we had and that we largely campaigned on during the last campaigns. Sen. Mungatana, I also commend the bit on conditional grants to counties. I have seen how conditional grants in the area of education work. I worked for a long time in the Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) sector. One of the reasons the vocational training centres at the counties were doing very well was because of the conditional grants that were going there. That means counties cannot divert that money elsewhere, but use it for the intended purpose. This is what we want to see even in the health sector, so that we do not have a situation where money is going down and not where the intended purpose is. Currently, if any ordinary Kenyan goes to hospital, and if I take Members back to the case of Baby Sagini Junior who lost his life after a fork jemb e was lodged in his head, he was not able to even raise the deposit and get admission in hospital. Those are the scenarios we are faced with on a daily basis. I hope this Bill is going to open room to some of those issues. As a very poor Kenyan, why should I give deposit for me to even receive the basic emergency services that I need before you consider whether I am in a position of giving the money or not? The other thing is on the accessibility to housing, which is one of the basic rights we are seeing here. This Government is talking about affordable housing and with the major intention being supporting young people with the relevant skills to get into this housing and manufacturing initiatives we are engaging in. That way, you are also supporting young people because we make up most of the population in Kenya and the women."
}