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{
    "id": 553057,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/553057/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 260,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Prof.) Anyang’-Nyong’o",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 193,
        "legal_name": "Peter Anyang' Nyong'o",
        "slug": "peter-nyongo"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to add one or two things on this issue of preventive healthcare or public health that my colleagues, Sen. Mugo and Sen. (Dr.) Machage have been discussing. It is true, as Sen. Mugo said, that we need capacity at the local level; in villages, townships and so on to deal with cholera. You will find out that the geographical occurrence of cholera is usually in the highly populated rural or urban communities, where, as Sen. (Dr.) Machage said, certain environmental and sanitation issues arise. One of the most dangerous things in Kenya and I have always said so, is this continued reliance on pit latrines in places like Kibera, Mathare and in rural areas. As population increases, more people will inhabit very small pieces of the earth. Therefore, digging pit latrines raises the danger that when it rains or when people build, you will expose yourself to the faeces. First, these environmental and sanitation practices can be stopped by law and application. Secondly, they could be stopped by better infrastructural development in terms of having no pit latrines but modern ways of getting rid of faeces. If you look at small countries like Cuba, Costa Rica and even Rwanda for that matter, with what I call less developed economies but better local governance, respect and implementation of law, you will find that they do not easily become predisposed to problems of public health or sanitation. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, if you focus your mind back to colonial times, you will find that the chiefs had a lot of power. This was not devolution; it was deconcentration. Power was deconcentrated from the top to the grassroots. The chief had a lot of power. He or she implemented public health and sanitation laws. The chief’s word was final. You had to do what he said. This was the colonial way of making sure that public health and sanitation in rural areas and in popular cottiers were respected. What we need now is to make sure that this responsibility for water resources, land use, health, sanitation and so on are fully handled at the local level the way the chief handled it in colonial times and the way it is handled in such societies, for example Costa Rica, Cuba and so on where systems of local governance like we have here, which is now devolution, are properly and effectively put in place. 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."
}