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"id": 190136,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Mututho",
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"speaker": {
"id": 97,
"legal_name": "John Michael Njenga Mututho",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. In supporting this Motion, I want to plead with my colleague, the Minister for Public Health and Sanitation, to note that we have one of the best products to control mosquitoes; pyrethrin and pyrethroid. This product is 1724 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 9, 2008 organic in nature and widely available in our country. The Pyrethrum Board of Kenya has not paid farmers for a very long time. Subsequently, production of pyrethrum has dropped. Instead of spending billions of shillings to buy mosquito nets and other things--- I suspect that we are turning malaria control measures into a big business. Instead of doing that, let us ask our colleagues to liaise with the Office of the Prime Minister so that they can pay the pyrethrum farmers so that we have adequate supply of pyrethrin and pyrethroid. Once we have the pyrethrin, then we will not have to wait, like hon. Shakeel said, for the President to visit Kisumu to spray our environment. It can be done because the products are available and they are good. I am saying this with a lot of seriousness because it is in the public domain that during the Ninth Parliament, it was reported in this House that the Pyrethrum Board of Kenya was holding stocks in excess of Kshs1 billion in pyrethrin. That product disappeared miraculously from the stores or godowns and the farmers have never been paid for their deliveries. Subsequently, the industry has gone down. Now we have heard that other factories, like Midland Factory, have come up and yet the farmers are down trodden. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the issue of fake drugs finding their way into our market is not news. It can only be the manifestation of inefficiency in drug control agencies. If truly, fake anti-malarial drugs can find their way to the shelves, all we can say is that somebody is planning to do mass killing of Kenyans. The fact is that even fake drugs are bought. I was a victim of a fake drug in 1979. If you take those drugs with the believe that you will be cured and you are in those remote places and may be you do not have more money, you will die. So, we will take it as an emergency from the hon. Minister for Public Health and Sanitation that if somebody is caught selling fake drugs because the law is there, we will take him like any other criminal or a carjacker who tries to kill people or steal from them. I am saying this because multinational companies always go to the backyard. The multinationals should have administrative capability. If they cannot control fake products carrying their brand names, then they are part of the scheme. They should not be protected to the extent that the products bearing their own logos are found in the market. Otherwise, we shall just conclude rightfully or wrongly that they released factory jets and found their way into our market. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, poor planning by the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation should not constitute an emergency they are trying to instill on Kenyans. They have the capability even with the meagre resources that they have--- I really want to thank hon. Shakeel who said that if President visits Kisumu, I also saw it in Kitui last year, when the President visited Kitui town, for three weeks there were no mosquitoes. Why can we not have that \"Presidential Mosquito Control Team\" move from town to town to save our children who are dying because of malaria? I agree with the doctors who said that some sprays will last for three months, six months or even one year. I have a slight problem with the use of compound products that will have adverse environmental effects. The longer the rescue effect, the worse it is. That is half life. I would really persuade the Minister to use only five per cent of his big Budget on malaria control. That will help farmers in Kisii and Molo to produce pyrethrum. Once pyrethrum is produced in bulk, then we shall not have this problem. I also would like make a comment on this story about the neighbouring countries. Hon. Members talk about a buffer zone. A mosquito is a very small animal and does not have the capability to fly for 100 kilometres overnight. It will need a lot of energy and logistics to organize itself. What I am trying to say is that we should not fear that our neighbours are not spraying mosquitoes. As long as we have a buffer spray zone, and we spray from the central point all the way to our border point, and then we make spraying regular around the border points, I do not think mosquitoes can fly from the Busia-Uganda border to places like Kakamega overnight. I need to be advised on that one. July 9, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1725 Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do sympathise with the Assistant Minister for Environment, Mr. Kajembe, that because of poor plans in the Government, they are not able to do the basics like controlling use of plastic materials, where mosquitoes breed. They are not even able to effect simple policies like repairing broken sewage. In Naivasha, there is one that has been leaking for the last three weeks, yet there is cholera in Nakuru. This Government, particularly now that it is manned by very able and young Ministers - young on the job and not in the profession--- The Minister is the most experienced health professional we have in that field and should know what I am talking about. If he could use just one per cent of his experience to control mosquitoes, he does not have to come to the House for even two hours. He will control all these mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are not like locusts, they are easier to control, and we have units in this country. Under the Ministry of Agriculture we have more than five aircraft which can do mass spraying. The Office of the Prime Minister should co-ordinate use of the capacity that we have to do spraying. Using our knowledge of locust control, we can work on mosquitoes. Our professionals have been able to control quillea birds using the aeroplanes. Also the military has the capability to tackle any insect, including mosquitoes. All that I can say is that if the Minister is willing to support this 0Motion, as he has said, and has a commitment at heart, then controlling mosquitoes should not be an issue any more. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in conclusion, let me also remind him that we have a jigger problem. A jigger problem has something to do with poverty. It is a matter of us ignoring the less fortunate people. They are our voters. They are dying of jiggers. I think it is time that hon. Members came to the realization that as much as we rely on our partners, we are also failing and we have failed. We cannot control mosquitoes and jiggers; soon the Minister for Livestock Development is going to tell us that they cannot control ticks. These are very basic things to do. We have invested a lot of money in the HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis management. We are pleading with the Minister to allocate funds, as the Ministry of Agriculture did the other when it gave Kshs300 million to Equity Bank for a special package to finance farmers to the tune of Kshs3 billion. Look at the people who are dying because of the small insects that can be controlled. Help the Pyrethrum Board of Kenya to pay the farmers, get the pyrethrin and then hire the aircraft from the Ministry of Agriculture--- Do not hire these because you an use military aircraft. Instead of them going to Mt. Elgon, let them come and take on the mosquitoes. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}