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"id": 247800,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. G.G. Kariuki",
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"legal_name": "Godfrey Gitahi Kariuki",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to support this Bill. The Bill is long over due. It ought to have come here, maybe, immediately after the HIV/AIDS scourge was detected. This was the time that most people did not want Kenya to be known to have people who were infected with HIV/AIDS, whereas this is the time the spread of this disease would have been controlled. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, between 1984 and 1995, people did not believe that the HIV/AIDS virus existed. Its spread continued until everybody came to know that, indeed, there was a problem. This problem ought to have been followed by a legislation like the one we are dealing with now although it is my submission that no legislation in this world will stop human beings from doing what they want to do. The time human beings would have been guided by legislation would have been long before we were born. The management of HIV/AIDS involves asking yourself several questions such as why people get infected and how they get infected. Even today, it is hardly known whether the HIV/AIDS virus is only transmitted through sexual acts. This cannot be explained by our medical doctors or professors. No one can determine how it happens. Even in the developed nations, no one is willing to explain how HIV/AIDS came about. We are fed with information that HIV/AIDS was genetically created from 1254 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES June 8, 2006 a laboratory. We are told that this was intended for the African communities to be killed by HIV/AIDS. I may be called a propagandist for saying something like that, but that is what has been said in the developed world as well as in the developing countries. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if HIV/AIDS is, indeed, a laboratory occurrence, the people who have that same knowledge of creating the virus should be able to detect and discover the treatment of HIV/AIDS. Trying to cure the disease without dealing with its causes and how it is infecting people is the beginning of our failure. I believe that what the Government should have done is to set aside a sufficient amount of money for research just like any institution in the world. Without dwelling so much on the history of this scourge, I think it is important for the Ministry of Health - I am happy the officers are here - to educate the people on matters of HIV/AIDS. Everyone knows how people get infected with the HIV/AIDS virus. For instance, most people who have other venereal diseases can easily contract the HIV/AIDS virus. What are we doing to provide our people with healthcare? Are we just waiting to get money from overseas to fight HIV/AIDS, whereas the HIV/AIDS virus came from that end. The virus has become nothing but commercial. It is an international business which we must be careful about. Let us provide our people with facilities that can treat them. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for instance, in some parts of this country, you find that a mother of 25 years has to travel for 15 kilometres to seek medical attention and yet, we pretend that we are the most affected by this situation as if we have just come from the moon. We belong to this country and we surely know that we are not taking care of our people's medical needs. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have failed to protect our people against minor diseases, through which HIV/AIDS thrive. If somebody does not suffer from any other illness, it is not easy for him or her to die from HIV/AIDS. Many people are dying from opportunistic diseases because they have no access to treatment. We have put a lot of money into the HIV/AIDS campaign, and yet we are not treating the minor illnesses. This is very disappointing! I agree with the Minister that education is part of the curative method because it enlightens people about what may happen when they engage in careless sexual activities. Every citizen of this country knows about the HIV/AIDS scourge. However, what are we doing to help our people? First of all, we have demonised the HIV/AIDS positive persons. That is why it is very difficult for people to go for the HIV/AIDS test, even the hon. Members. If we are genuine and honest, we should lead the country by voluntarily going for the HIV/AIDs test. That is the only way that we can change the perception that if you are HIV positive, you are on your deathbed. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there are some other diseases, like diabetes, which are worse than HIV/AIDS. Many people are suffering from diabetes, but this is not a scare disease because it is not being marketed by the Americans and the developed world. When it will be marketed by the developed world and said that it is dangerous and it is killing millions of people, experts will come out to say that, that is true like they will just have discovered the disease. We need to put more money into the treatment of the opportunistic diseases. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the money which is being spent on the fight against HIV/AIDS is spent through the Executive. Even in America, this money is not controlled by the Ministry of Health, but by the Executive. That is why HIV/AIDS is more or less a political disease. Why should we let the Executive control the HIV/AIDS money? Why is it so important? Is it not political? There is a lot to be desired in this exercise. African specialists go to the best universities in the world, but they still wait to be advised or directed by experts from outside. They wait until they are told that a certain disease is going to finish Africans and they start singing the same song. The time has come for our specialists to discharge their duties. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we witnessed the launching of a drug called Kemron. June 8, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1255 The Head of State was deceived and he attended the launching of a drug that was not there. We have become extremely money-minded! We know so well that at the moment, we do not have a cure for HIV/AIDS. Even today, we have a professor who claims to have found a cure for HIV/AIDS. When a certain Prophetess Nduta claimed that she could cure HIV/AIDS, she landed in a police cell. Why should we allow people to behave the way they are behaving? Something is very wrong! I would like to request the hon. Members and Kenyans at large to go for the voluntary counselling and testing, so that we can show the world that we know that this disease exists. This will also help the infected people to access treatment. This Bill is only encouraging people to go for the voluntary counselling and testing. All institutions should require their employees to go for the HIV/AIDS test. This is the only way that we will solve this problem. Employees should be made to account for their health. Let us not shed crocodile tears in this Bill. Let us encourage institutions like Parliament, universities and others to require their employees to go for the HIV/AIDS test. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other point which I would like to comment on, and the Minister has covered it very well, is about people who infect others knowingly. There was a time when people were trading with this virus. HIV/AIDS positive people were paid to have sex with people who were not infected, so that they could infect them. This was business! The Bill states that if an infected person infects another person knowingly, he should go to jail for not less than seven years or pay a fine or Kshs5,000. This penalty is so light that it cannot deter other offenders from committing the offence. The victim should serve a life imprisonment. If an infected person infects another person knowingly, he should be got rid of from the society. He is a murderer and should be treated like any other criminal! It is important for us to conduct compulsory HIV/AIDS tests, starting with this Parliament. The voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) centres are available in many places and we need to have one in Parliament Buildings where people can quietly go and be tested, so that they can know their status. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we are trying to hide as if HIV/AIDS does not exist. Some people, when infected, pretend they are not. That is just a waste of time. It will catch up with them! I think that is very important. We should be concerned about opportunistic diseases. The Minister promised to introduce an amendment to this Bill. The Seconder of the Bill was also very eloquent. I think we do not need to waste a lot of time on this Bill. We expect the amendments on this Bill to go through. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}