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{
    "id": 1613507,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1613507/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 4547,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nyeri Town, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Duncan Mathenge",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Hon. Temporary Speaker, I am happy that we have money to revitalise New Kenya Planters Cooperative Union (NKPCU). It will serve the whole country in warehousing coffee irrespective of where it is coming from. I am happy we have money for settling coffee debts. Our athletes have really made our country proud. However, in the recent past, we have suffered the shame of some of them being caught in doping. The fact that this Budget has provided money for testing and educating our athletes is a big plus. The Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector is a game- changer in this country at a time when formal employment is shrinking and digitisation is changing work. The acquisition of technical skills is one of the areas that is going to help our people go into self-employment. The fact that we have provided additional resources for hiring technical staff is a big plus. I am an alumnus of the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC). Higher education funding in this country has discriminated diploma students for a very long time. Students pursuing medical and diploma courses have not been benefiting from HELB. Yet, Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs) fall under the Ministry of Education. It is instructive in this Budget that part of the health budget has been appropriated to provide HELB for KMTC students. I am urging this House to collectively look at the issue of funding tertiary education so that none of our young people are discriminated. Hon. Temporary Speaker, we have been complaining about services in our national referral hospitals. One of the biggest burdens in those institutions has been the shortfall in personnel emoluments. I thank the Budget and Appropriations Committee for accepting the proposal by the Departmental Committee on Health, where I am a member, to fully provide for the personnel emoluments package for all our referral hospitals workers. Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is heavily dependent on the provision of diagnostic services at the lower-level facilities, including Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 and Level 4 hospitals. The expired Managed Equipment Services (MES) program has stood in the way of the implementation of the National Equipment Placement Service (NESP) that is supposed to benefit UHC health facilities. Therefore, I am happy that money has been provided for the closure of the MES program and paved the way for NESP. One of the saddest issues is failure to immunise our children on account of failure to remit funds for vaccines that are provided through Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) and United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). I once again thank the Chairman, Hon. Atandi, for caring for the children of this country. He has ensured that the requisite funding for our vaccines as well as for Human The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for informationpurposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}