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{
    "id": 476635,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/476635/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 356,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Eng.) Gumbo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 24,
        "legal_name": "Nicholas Gumbo",
        "slug": "nicholas-gumbo"
    },
    "content": "Yes, I do, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I thank you for giving me the opportunity to contribute to the Motion. While I do believe that the Division of Revenue ought to be a function of the National Assembly, I think we have a duty to respect the decision of the court even though some of us do not agree with it. Health is a basic human right and if we were to revamp the Level 5 hospitals to be able to relieve pressure on the referral hospitals, this will be good for our country. As it stands now, the quality or lack thereof of health care in most of our hospitals is wanting. In fact, health care is becoming a preserve of the well to do in society which, in a way, is wrong. Health care should be available to all and hospitals, as of necessity, must be places of hope. Many Members have spoken to the conditions of hospitals all over the country. I do not want to go back there because they are pathetic. It is probably the one intervention that we need to make as a House to try to see if there is a way we can intervene to improve the conditions in our hospitals. Having said that, devolution - and I do support it like most Members - was meant to be a panacea for the yawning inequalities in our country, if the first one year of devolution in Kenya is anything to go by. But it has been a very big disappointment. What we have seen is wastages and even as we approve this Motion, I think it is also an opportunity for us to ask serious questions on the capacities of the respective county governments. In the counties, many people, from the governors to the members of the county assemblies seem to be more on an ego trip rather than offering services to the people who elected them. The level of wastages in our counties is now something that this House cannot ignore, and I think a time has come when we have to ask the hard questions. I have asked it before in different forums and I want to ask it again; Do the members of the county assemblies dotted all over Kenya have the capacity to provide oversight to the billions of shillings that we are devolving to the counties? This is very important, because one The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}