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{
    "id": 550339,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/550339/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 195,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Hassan",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 431,
        "legal_name": "Hassan Omar Hassan Sarai",
        "slug": "hassan-omar-hassan-sarai"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, a section of Members of the National Assembly said that they were going to initiate a programme or an amendment in the National Assembly. I even saw some Senators speaking to it; that they shall seek to return the health function back to the national Government. I feel greatly pained as a Senator who is supposed to defend the interests of the counties to have a debate by Members of National Assembly that they intend to take back such an important and fundamental role of the counties back to the national Government. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we had 47 county representatives from all over the country and we asked them to speak to this issue. One person after another from Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Turkana County, Mandera County, Wajir County and many other counties indicated that they were better off than they were a few years ago. Is it possible for us to start a debate over the transfer of such a function over “non-performance of Governors” within a span of two years and yet, in the last 50 years, the health sector has not had any extraordinary delivery? This is the House whose Committee on Health, led by Sen. (Dr.) Kuti and in which Sen. (Dr.) Machage is also a Member, in my assessment, has the mandate to visit health facilities and do an empirical research, so that we determine the extent of progress in the implementation of county health. We also saw it under the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) report; that one the highest investments by counties - a whopping 25 per cent - is in health care. For us, as Senators sitting here today, we cannot sit pretty and pretend that this debate is just an innocent debate. I saw the choreography of this. It started in Mombasa and I have seen other legislators pick it up. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as I conclude, some of us strongly believe that as a Senate, health must remain within the purview of county governments. The fact that there are certain structural or functional issues that are fairly a challenge to the counties - that is a matter of management. It is not failure of the system. We have hardly tested the system so we cannot abolish it. I feel pained when a section of Members of the National Assembly go round this country attacking devolution; that in its two years of existence, it has not sorted out what the national Government was not able to do in 50 years. Lastly, what is more painful is to try and attribute the spread of cholera to devolution. How dare they? Cholera broke out when I was in school. I first saw it under President Moi’s regime. I also saw it as part of the challenges that President Kibaki’s regime had to handle. How can anybody with sanity, decorum and reason attribute the outbreak of cholera to the fact that devolution had anything to do with it? I ask Senators here to take note that this is the debate out there. We must counter this kind of polarization internally and externally that intends to transfer this important function to the 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."
}