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{
    "id": 569480,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/569480/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 176,
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    "speaker_name": "",
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    "content": "Whatever strategies the central Government had in place were supposed to be carried along in the new dispensation. Sen. Mugo was the Minister in charge of health services in the country together with Sen. (Prof.) Anyang’-Nyong’o and they came up with very brilliant programmes to mitigate health issues that affect Kenyans. One such issue is that of HIV/AIDS, which is a threat to the lives of our people. The strategies that the Ministry had come up with were not devolved yet the functions were devolved. The funds are also allocated in every financial year. The problem is that we have not devolved the strategies by the Ministry of Health except a few interventions which were already in place. In the North Rift, there were interventions by the Americans using a programme called Ampath. When we devolved, there was excitement all over and new employees left their plum jobs from Nairobi and other towns to the counties. The originator of this Motion is saying that we should have also decentralized the department called the National AIDS Control Council to all the 47 units especially in the top hospitals in the counties. This would mean that county governments should have been brought on board and given the status of the county in terms of how the HIV/AIDS scourge has affected the people of that county. If there were more funds set aside by the national Government in fighting and mitigating the effects of HIV/AIDS, the funds would have been devolved to the counties hit hard by the scourge. There are some counties which are leading in this HIV/AIDS scourge. Therefore, one would imagine that the money from the national Government would proportionately be taken to Homa Bay, for example, so that the problem can be fought head on. The officers who had already been trained should also have been seconded to the county governments. The challenge is that when county governments came into place, there was no law that regulated the employment of civil servants. You will be surprised that in the county hospital of Homa Bay, West Pokot or Kapenguria, the local employees aligned themselves to the new leadership and were given jobs. They may not have been experts in this field but since there was room for people to transfer, they took advantage. This is because when devolution kicked in, a number of professionals in the hospitals left. There was a window in which we almost seemed to have lost the war. Today, people are talking about misuse of funds in the counties but nobody is talking about the silent killer in the counties. Where there is money being misused, there is an increase of carelessness in the lives of people to the extent that we are not surprised if there is an increase of this problem in our counties. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, as I have said, a number of people transferred to the counties but this problem may have increased. We should not bury our heads in the sand. The originator of the Motion says that the National AIDS Control Council (NACC) that used to be very visible has disappeared. They used to have programmes on television, radios and in newspapers. The reason is that some of the donors may have pulled out. The Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret was not hard hit because the Ampath programme brought many facilities. Some of the beneficiaries are West Pokot and 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."
}