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{
    "id": 1414181,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1414181/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 221,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "At that time, when the terrorists hit Garissa University, so many students were shot, some killed while some were injured. Parents were filled with anguish. It was around summer time in Garissa, if there is summer time in Kenya. Temperatures were soaring to highs of 40 degrees celsius. I had an engagement with a medical officer who was serving in the region at that time and coordinating that disaster from Garissa. The bodies of those who unfortunately lost their lives were being taken to the morgue at the Garissa District Hospital. However, due to the high number of bodies, the morgue could not handle. By that evening, bodies had started decomposing. By the time the Government mobilised resources from Nairobi to fly to Garissa and get fingerprints from the bodies that were already decomposing, it was not possible. I was told by those in the medical profession that when bodies stay under such temperatures, they get disfigured. Fingerprints were disfigured and it took a long time for families who had already been notified that they had lost their loved young ones at the university, to identify the bodies. You can imagine the anguish the parents had. Some were accommodated at the Chiromo Campus, University of Nairobi. There were harrowing stories of parents being subjected to walking from Chiromo, all the way to Nyayo Stadium every morning to wait for buses at the Nyayo Stadium to see if they would be able to identify those who were arriving in buses from Garissa and get information about the loss of their loved ones. I engaged a parent who had travelled all the way from West Pokot and had sold his three goats to get fare to come to Nairobi. He exhausted that money by trying to get accommodation in Nairobi and when they were eventually hosted by the University of Nairobi in Chiromo, he had to walk daily for almost a week-and-a-half before he could finally identify his deceased child from Garissa University. That motivated me to ask: what is it that we can do if such a disaster strikes again? There is a coordinated way to handle such a disaster or others. From the Members' contributions, you could feel the anguish they go through now and then. For instance, with simple disasters like the blowing off of roofs of primary schools by strong winds or floods, when floods ravage our constituencies, be it in Budalang’i or the Eastern Region of Kenya, Kenyans are left suffering, because there is no coordinated way through which the Government at the national and county levels coordinates to handle disasters. We sought to have this Bill address some of the said challenges, and ensure that we not only provide the legal framework for disaster risk management but also, enhance the The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor"
}