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{
    "id": 438734,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/438734/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 238,
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "I want to thank the Budget and Appropriations Committee for allowing the Committee on Health to make these very important contributions, in line with the recommendations of the Select Committee that was appointed by this House to look into the issue of miraa . I hope that by the next financial year, our scientists will have done enough to enable them give us reasonable data and reasonable scientific evidence that will back our demand that as a cash crop, miraa can be marketed just like any other crop. In this regard, our Ministry that is concerned with negotiations with the World Health Organisation (WHO), should take this matter into consideration. If we lose that key factor of production, it will affect many areas of our production. It will affect many of our youths. It will affect our sales volumes and hurt revenue collection. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, some of the key areas of the economy of this country relate to the 30 per cent public tenders allocation that has been set aside for youth and women. When many of the Ministries appear before the Parliamentary Committees following appropriation of the Budget, they say that they have set aside 30 per cent of their respective tender monies for youth. However, if you look at the items from which the youths are expected to benefit, you find that they are tenders for supply of newspapers and other office items. These are Budget items that have been allocated Kshs5 million or Kshs2 million, which is really not significant. That way, we cannot justify and say that the youths are being engaged positively. The various Ministries need to be able to give youth what they deserve; the 30 per cent equivalent. In one of the Ministries, when you look at the items where they are talking about giving money to the youths, it is training of the youths. Training is not generating enough income for these youths. One of the key issues that we did in this House in the Division of Revenue Bill, we brought an amendment in the House that made the conditional grant to be lumped together with the other amount of money. When this went down to the Senate, the Senate has now requested that we should be able to apportion the money for the Level 5 hospitals. Currently in this country, we have only two national referral hospitals. This is unconstitutional because in as far as regions are concerned, each region is supposed to have at least a national referral hospital. In the Health Act that is coming, we intend to have the Level 5 and Level 6 to be national referral hospitals. If the Level 5 and Level 6 are going to be national referral hospitals, then we need to think forward on how these facilities are going to get money. In the last financial year, the money that was allocated to Level 5 hospitals was not given to those facilities. Those facilities are operating under very difficult circumstances. This is money that needs to be ring-fenced, but where do we get the money? Are we going to get it from the national Government, or are we going to get it again from the county government? With those few remarks, I support the Report."
}