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{
    "id": 1502183,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1502183/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 100,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "By containing inflation, we have—in a significant way—managed to contain the high cost of living. I know we are not yet there. However, the message from the President is that we are getting there. With the fall of the dollar against the Kenya Shilling, we have saved in our debt servicing cost. You can imagine that for every dollar we borrowed, we saved almost Ksh33, which is significant to Kenyans. It is money that we can deploy in development activities across the nation. In speaking to the realisation of the national values and principles of governance, the President spoke in detail about the investments in the affordable housing programme and employment of 56,000 teachers in only two years. He stated that by the time he took over office, we had a shortage of 110,000 teachers. That tells you we have only employed 50 per cent of the required teachers. He also enumerated the gains we have made in the education sector in trying to stabilise the shaky industry we had when he took over two years ago. We had a new Competency Based Curriculum (CBC). We were not sure where we would host our CBC students in Junior Secondary School (JSS). All Kenyans know these young ones are hosted in our primary schools. Massive investment has been made in the education sector. Close to 11,000 classrooms were built within a year to ensure that our JSS children have classrooms across the nation. I must commend the collaboration that Members of Parliament have given the Ministry of Education through the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF). They have made it a reality that across our country, children transitioning from Grade 8 to Grade 9 in January have classrooms and laboratories to help them cater for their education. The President indicated that in January 2025, a further 20,000 teachers will be hired, bringing the total to 76,000 teachers to bridge the deficit of 110,000 teachers . In the health sector, the President enumerated the transition that we have made. He thanked the House for the enactment of the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) and the other laws that this House and the Senate passed that have enabled this country to transition from the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to SHIF or Taifa Care as it has been christened. As the President indicated, the Taifa Care Programme is designed to expand healthcare access to all citizens, and not just the privileged few. NHIF largely catered for the privileged few who were employed with salaries. However, Taifa Care caters for those not privileged to be employed and those working in the informal sector. More importantly, it caters for the vulnerable populations of unemployed people and the elderly who benefit from the Cash Transfer Programme and are now automatically being on-boarded, upon registration into the SHIF. People have demonised this programme largely out of disinformation and misinformation being propagated out there without realising the huge benefits. I am very happy today because Kenyans across the nation are now posting their testimonials of the benefits they have accrued on social media. Mothers who deliver in hospitals are getting both prenatal and postnatal care under SHIF. People who suffer from chronic illnesses— under the Emergency, Chronic and Critical Illness Fund—access dialysis. Those who suffer from cancer access chemotherapy care under Taifa Care enjoy the benefits of this Fund without waiting. Kenyans"
}