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{
    "id": 494464,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/494464/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 293,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Maanzo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2197,
        "legal_name": "Daniel Kitonga Maanzo",
        "slug": "daniel-kitonga-maanzo"
    },
    "content": "Museveni, who is the Head of State. We hand an opportunity of understanding how to deal with Ebola . President Yoweri said that Uganda has been hit by Ebola thrice in the past and that the virus does not even last 21 days, if well managed. Therefore, some of the precautions they have taken in Uganda are good. People are not greeting each other and they avoid any contact which could be infectious. He also stated that Ebola could be found in forested areas because in these areas people eat monkeys. Therefore, in Uganda, they have taken steps to curb the spread of Ebola . In our case here, 25 days ago, a Kenyan who works in Seychelles Victoria, in a fishing company had visited on vacation. He was a technician and he came from Makueni. Thirteen days after reporting back to work, he vomited and exhibited Ebola - like symptoms. But it was not Ebola as it was ruled out by KEMRI and South Africa, because samples were sent here before a decision could be taken by the health authorities. When four hon. Members travelled from Kenya to that place recently, I included, we met their health Minister. We were also much assisted by their Vice-President and their Foreign Affairs Minister to reach a final conclusion. We ageed that the body of the deceased could be repatriated because a case of Ebola had been ruled out. But still the health authorities were not convinced and they insisted that we must have a lead sealed coffin; which is very expensive for the family. In fact, before we left and we were grateful to the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs because she did all she could to assist us, we also discovered that as a country we do not have a policy on how to deal with Kenyans who suffer prejudices abroad. You have seen recently what happens to Kenyans working in the Arab World. The authorities threatened to cremate the body if it was not collected. It was advised that if it was not cremated, then it had to be buried by other people other than the relatives. The family has been very much affected. This was a child without a father. There is a widow with seven other children and the late was a bread winner for that family. It is our culture that we bury our own people here; they cannot be buried abroad. In fact, the mother cannot afford air ticket to attend the son’s funeral abroad. We had to make every effort to make sure that this very important Kenyan is brought home for a decent funeral. Following the international regulations, it was apparent that the Kenyan could not be repatriated in the normal Kenya Airways flight. We were told that we had to use a private chartered plane which had to be sprayed or the Air Force plane."
}