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"speaker_name": "Mr. G.G. Kariuki",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this chance to say a October 17, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2951 few words on this Vote. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, first of all, I would like to congratulate the NARC Government for the work it has done, especially in health sector. But I have an issue to raise with the planners of the Ministry of Health. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it has become a tradition that when one becomes a Minister, he and other planners in that particular Ministry continue to do what used to be done many years ago. The time has come for planners in our Ministries to move with the times. For instance, they need to appreciate the ever changing demography of the country. If you visit hospitals in the so-called traditional districts, you will find that they have facilities. However, there are some districts in this country, especially the newly settled districts, for example, Nakuru that really need to be given special attention. It is very unlikely to get a Permanent Secretary or a Minister being appointed from these areas. You know how things are done in the African Continent. When a Permanent Secretary comes from a particular district, very likely, that district will be favoured a lot in terms of development. I think the planners in this country need to get out of politics and plan according to the needs of the people. What is making our country grow very unpopular? It is because people have become loyal to their tribes. Planners and many other people have become very loyal to their tribes at the expense of the system itself. It is a shame that even very educated people are behaving in a very simple or casual manner. I think the time has come for Permanent Secretaries or Ministers to distinguish between politics and real planning. Unless that is done, some areas of this country will continue to lag behind in development. Look at what is happening in places like Laikipia, Nyahururu, Nakuru, and Nyandarua! Unless we plan properly and take services to the people living in these areas, we should not continue to pretend to be one country. We cannot continue having planners who have fixed minds. Some of them just wait for the Minister to come and tell them: \"Please, allocate that vehicle to So-and-so.\" What is the criteria here? Why can we not go by the set criteria? Why should a Minister or Permanent Secretary make a decision without actually considering the needs of the people? Why would anyone want to make political mileage using Government facilities? Our planners, that is, our Ministers and Permanent Secretaries, need to get out of that old traditional way of planning that used to thrive after Independence because it is still going on. They are still following that trend. It is a pity that people from poor areas will be elected to come to Parliament only for them to vote for money that will never assist their people. Some of us who come from poor areas of the country have been taken for granted. We are always told that whatever we propose is not possible whether we like it or not. We may not have the power to bargain, but time is coming when everybody will have to understand that all Kenyans have matured politically. We insist that the criteria of distributing vehicles to dispensaries and health centres be made transparent. It is not just a matter of one person deciding with impunity which way a whole community should go. I think the issues of population density and the vastness of an area need to be considered. Some areas are quite big and people might not settle there unless medical facilities are availed. It is a shame that in this country you will find cases of women dying on their way to hospital to deliver. You will hear cases of women being transported to hospital on a tractor and so on. There are no medical facilities at all, and yet here in this House, we keep on praising ourselves that we have done so much. Truly speaking, we have done nothing for these people who are dying in the villages. We shall only be considered to have done a lot when we manage to distribute resources equally in all parts of this country. That is a new area that I would request the Ministry of Health to look at, especially the newly settled areas where settlements have been established since Independence. These are the areas that do not receive support of any kind. Currently, most hon. Members of Parliament are using the CDF money to build 2952 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES October 17, 2006 dispensaries and health centres. In my constituency, we have built about 24 dispensaries. This has arisen from the needs of the people. There is no politics in this game. We have built about 24 dispensaries and we have spent over Kshs38 million in this endeavour. You will find that in some of the dispensaries which are complete, the Ministry is asking the community to employ personnel to man the facilities. If a person is poor why should you tell him to take care of himself? What does that mean? It is very unfortunate that these things that I am talking about are taking place in our country. The Government needs to take over all the dispensaries that we have built using the CDF money and employ personnel to man them. You cannot ask poor people to look for money from their pockets. Some of them do not even have those pockets. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, probably the planners who are here are listening to what we are saying. Let us not all the time be taken as politicians who do not know what they are talking about. We definitely know what we are talking about and that is why we are sitting here to give the Ministry of Health money to go and spend at will. Parliament will not follow them to ask where they took that money. Parliament will also not follow them to ask how many vehicles they bought and where they took them. So, we should not just be taken for granted. Mr. Deputy Speaker, the Ministry is always responsive. For example, when I started building the 24 dispensaries in my constituency, I invited the Ministry's officials to come and see what we were doing. I was delighted that officers from the Ministry came to the ground. It does not matter whether they will take over the dispensaries or not, but, at least, they displayed their interest in the projects and I give them credit for that. Matters related to medical facilities in the country are very important. Our country needs very serious men and women who are able to see beyond politics and look at matters affecting human beings whenever they are involved in planning. That way, we shall have a very likeable country. We shall be admired by the people in our neighbouring countries. So far, the way we have been conducting ourselves--- Tanzanians once said of us:"
}