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{
    "id": 448954,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/448954/?format=api",
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    "content": "presenting to the House this Statute Law Miscellaneous Amendments of 2014 that have been generated by this House with the sole objective of responding to our needs and to constitutionally align all the legislations to be in line with the new devolved systems of Government. Many people ask themselves what the Senate is doing as far as devolution is concerned. It is true that a Senator may not go and supervise the construction of a road. However, it is this House that determines, through legislation – the Division of Revenue law - as to how much money will go into that county. It is this House that determines who will be allocated which function under which law in terms of unbundling allocation of functions. So, it is important that the Republic and the people of this country appreciate that in the separation of powers doctrine, this House was given the responsibility to make law. There is no better thing to do in this initial stage than to assist the Transition Authority to devolve systems of Government by aligning all the legislations to be in line with the Constitution. To start with, on the Statute Law Miscellaneous (Amendment), Bill, we have an amendment on the Cancer, Prevention and Control Act. Access to medicine is a very integral provision of our Constitution in terms of ensuring that there is right to health. The right to health as provided for under Article 43 of the Constitution is primarily a function of County Governments and to a small extent when it comes to the national referral facilities, a function of the national government and policy making. Cancer, in the recent past, has become a menace in our country. The statistics are worrying. If you go to many funerals, you are told that the person died of cancer. One of the things that doctors like yourself – you are an expert in this area – have said that the biggest problem is diagnosis. Cancer should be diagnosed in good time. Due to lack of equipment, ability and access to diagnose that becomes a problem in terms of prevention. Therefore, the amendment to this Act will allow county governments to partner with the national Government and to get proper representation in the institutions that will ensure county governments play their role in allowing people to access medicine. The referral hospitals, which are known, in this country are only two. Therefore, it is important that there is a clear partnership and support of the facilities that are within a county. In my county, one of the medical infrastructures we have is a mission hospital. Therefore, one of the innovative ways we have suggested is that as counties continue equipping and building public hospitals, they must also partner with mission hospitals that are there to provide certain equipment like the testing equipment. The equipment should be designated as county equipment. The facilities should charge fairly so that our people can access medicine. This is a welcome amendment in terms of ensuring that the role played by the institution in partnership with county governments is recognized and in particular in the appointments of the person that will sit in that board; respecting Article 62 of the Constitution that talks about consultations and cooperation between national and county governments. One of the biggest problems we have is that every time a county officer has a problem with the national Government – this is an advice to the Council of Governors – there is a feeling that we are anti-devolution. We should not always create a chorus that talks about anti-devolution. Every person who does not agree with your point of view The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}