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{
    "id": 1563849,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1563849/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 257,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 407,
        "legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
        "slug": "ledama-olekina"
    },
    "content": "passing the budget, will pass a budget that does not have NG-CDF? You know, there are things that we should waste our time discussing, and there are things that we should just give up and say, it is time for us to now click the reboot button and look at our policy direction when it comes to education. Are we able to change? My argument is very simple. We are not going to be able to consolidate these bursaries. A Motion in this House will not be able to be implemented because you will be fighting left, right, and centre. The only way for us to be able to get a solution to narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor, between those who have and those who do not have, when it comes to the issue of education, is for us to go back to the Constitution and change the system of education that we have in this country. How we fund education in this country, is very crucial. There was a time when, in the then Committee of Public Accounts (CPAC) where we were questioning county governments. Why are they building secondary schools? Why are they building primary schools yet it is a mandate of the national Government? A governor will come and tell you, then, if the national Government does not want to build, what am I going to do? The national Government did not want to build back then because it was who you knew who was in the Government. So, the only way that we can guarantee free primary education and ensure that every child in this country gets access to education, whether you know Sen. Olekina or the distinguished Senator from Murang’a County, is when we decide to scrap all these bursaries. Let us do away with the bursaries. Let us make it free education. That is the argument that I want to have. I do not subscribe to the school of thought that thinks that if we consolidate these bursaries, we will be able to make sure that a child in Mosiro or Kirinyaga gets education. That child in Kirinyaga will only be able to pay for their school fees or go to primary school and afford to have that Kshs 20,000 if that child knows Sen. Olekina or the Senator from Murang’a County. Madam Temporary Speaker, I completely oppose this Motion. It is time for us to be realistic and to see what can help this country. The only thing that can help this country is if we make sure that all the policies take us to a point where there is free and compulsory education. Yesterday, we were with the President in Narok. The President said that it is the responsibility of every chief and assistant chief to make sure that a child who is of the age of going to school is taken to school. If that child is not taken to school, the chief or assistant chief will be the one to answer why that child is not in school. I want us to go a notch higher. How do we ensure that that child who is not in school, because the parents cannot afford to take that child to school, that child is allowed to go to school? Today, we are talking about the Social Health Authority (SHA). We have created a system in SHA whereby we will be able to access. If you can pay to get medical, you have to pay. If you have very little money, you pay Kshs200; if you have a little bit more money, you pay Kshs500. Some of us here pay maybe Kshs1,700 or something like that because we can be able to afford it. Can we come up with something similar to that to 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."
}