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{
    "id": 1523897,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1523897/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 133,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Sifuna",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13599,
        "legal_name": "Sifuna Edwin Watenya",
        "slug": "sifuna-edwin-watenya"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I could sense some anxiety on the part of the Senate Majority Whip when the Statement by the Senator for Kirinyaga, Sen. (Dr.) Murango, was being read. It was as though he did not want us to have an opportunity to speak about the Social Health Authority (SHA) issues. The Chairperson of the Rural and Urban Private Hospitals Association is a young man I schooled with. He is called Dr. Lishenga. He was my candidate for Senate in Kakamega County under the Orange Democratic Movement party ticket. He has done a fantastic job representing those rural hospitals. He has informed me that in as much as they have suspended hostilities for now, their issues still abound. We, at the Committee on County Public Accounts, had the opportunity to sit with the Auditor-General when she appeared before our Committee. This is a matter of great national interest and our colleagues should not appear to want to gag Members when they are discussing a matter that is in the public domain. Some of the issues that emerged from the meeting with the Auditor-General is that there are a lot of questions to be asked about the way that we have rolled out the Social Health Insurance Scheme. She singled out a few issues and I want to mention them. The first one is unbudgeted procurement and uncompetitive procurement. She also mentioned unfavorable clauses to the people of Kenya. I heard the President say when he was in Malava that there were no public resources used in this procurement. I do not know how the President defines public resources. This is because the Auditor-General has flagged that in that contract for the digital system, the owner of the system, who is not even the Government but a private consortium, takes 2.5 per cent of my monthly contribution. Every time I pay Kshs32,000, that digital system’s operator takes 2.5 per cent. They then get 5 per cent on claims to hospitals. This is something that does not make any sense to me. Why are claims being subjected to 5 per cent deductions by the system operator? There is something also called track and trace that they charge 1.5 per cent. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}