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{
    "id": 1581079,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1581079/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 473,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Navakholo, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Emmanuel Wangwe",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "What did she also observe? She observed that persons with albinism are unable to collect their skincare items due to the challenge of proximity to the collection centres. This is a specialised kind of service which is not in Navakholo Constituency. My person from Navakholo has to travel to Kakamega or even to Nairobi to access this kind of skincare facility. The Auditor-General also feels that the Council has not enlightened the persons with albinism on the provision of the skincare items. Some of our patients or persons living with albinism do not know that these items are provided for by the Government. The Auditor-General has brought it to our attention that it is important the National Council of Persons with Disabilities get to the lowest person to make them know the Government can provide these items. Finally, the Auditor-General talks of skincare items that expire in hospitals due to non- collection. Examples are lotions of persons with albinism. Some areas like those within proximity to Nairobi have advantage. They access medicine faster. How about anybody with albinism from Wajir, Mandera, Turkana, from Navakholo? How will such persons come to Nairobi for lotions to protect his or her skin? It is a challenge. In addition, infrastructure and equipment support programmes got the eye of the Auditor-General. It has not adequately improved the status of institutions supporting learners with disabilities. The Government is putting into institutions and our special schools equipment to support programmes for learners with a kind of albinism. What happens to this? The Auditor-General has seen three issues that happen. She says that the National Council for Persons with Disabilities infrastructural grants of Ksh2 million per institution has only benefited a small proportion of institutions out of the many deserving cases. We are only talking of Ksh2 million per year, could be for many institutions. We pass the budget here and such institutions are overwhelming. It is a whole ocean in the country. Maybe we get funds for 10 institutions in a year. Hon. Temporary Speaker, yourself being a teacher, you know how many schools there are in the whole country and the pace they are dispersing the Ksh2 million. It will be insufficient by the time we reach each corner of the country and the many institutions we have. Is this amount sufficient? The Auditor-General is observing a second issue. Despite having budgetary ceiling to only approve projects whose budget does not exceed Ksh2 million, the National Council for Persons with Disabilities went ahead and approved projects whose bill of quantity exceeded this amount. Disobedience. The accounting officer decided to ignore the capping. Maybe with other conditions in mind, such as the project being proximal to Nairobi or to whatever area, he goes ahead to approve more than the ceiling. The final issue the Auditor-General observes under infrastructure is that the Council has experienced shortage of funds due to reductions in the budget. That has greatly affected infrastructure development support for institutions. This Fund is one of the easiest places the Minister for Finance or the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Economic Planning runs to cut the budget when overwhelmed. That is without observing that persons with disability are greatly disadvantaged and they need support. He goes ahead and chops off a huge sum of funds that belong to the National Council for Persons with Disabilities. Hence, disadvantaging any new institution that would benefit from the infrastructure fund of this organisation. The second last issue that the Auditor-General felt is important for the House to be seized of is the assistance devices’ programme that has not adequately addressed the needs of persons with disabilities. This is a bit of technical language. When you put it in plain English, items like crutches, wheelchairs and others that help our brothers and sisters who are disadvantaged to move from point A to B are assistive devices. Hon. Temporary Speaker, the Auditor-General also made three observations under that programme. She said that the National Council for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD) is implementing the Buy Kenya, Build Kenya Initiative by procuring and issuing locally 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."
}