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"content": "says that the national Government is responsible for referral hospitals, it does not limit the national Government from creating a referral hospital in every county. Therefore, the national Government must have a referral hospital – what we used to call Level Four or Level Five hospitals – in Murang’a, Garissa, Mandera and everywhere in the country. That way, we will have the active presence of the national Government in health matters in every county. Then, the constitutional structure does not have to be changed but it should remain the same. Health remains devolved. The Constitution says that the national Government is responsible for referral hospitals. Who said that referral hospitals in this country will only be Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, Mathare Mental Hospital, Port Rietz for communicable disease and Tuberculosis (TB) and the Spinal Injury Hospital? We need to spread out. Sen. Haji and Sen. Mugo, the two Senators infront of me, can tell you that during the Kibaki Government, we had voted in the Cabinet to create 21 additional referral hospitals towards the end of the Kibaki regime. That has been shelved and nobody talks about it. However, now we have counties to create equity because this is now a country of equality and equity. Counties, for example, Nairobi with a huge population of over six million people should have a minimum of three or four referral hospitals apart from Kenyatta National Hospital. Then counties that are proximate to Nairobi, for example, Kiambu can have two referral hospitals. Otherwise, if you go to the countryside today, people are dying of very preventable diseases. A disaster has befallen on us. Even the passage of this Bill without attendant proper funding and coordination may not avert the disaster that is health. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, schools are another disaster staring at us. Education is not devolved except Early Childhood Development Education (ECDEs). In the countryside, primary schools are still dilapidated. In fact, if the Government had its priorities right - while it is important to connect electricity to every school, I would urge them to see to it that physical facilities – what is the point of connecting electricity to a school with 1,000 children, with two classrooms while the rest are learning under trees? Give them physical facilities. Let a child who goes to Class One see the difference between staying at home and wallowing in dust from morning to evening, from going to school to sit on a desk. During the time you went to school, and I was closely behind you, in Standards One, Two and Three you were taught in your mother tongue. In fact, it was called 3Ks; Kusoma,Kuandika na Kuhesabu . Then when you got to Standard Four, you graduated to a level where you were given an ink pot, an ink pen and a book to write on. The Government used to do this. Today, the parent must buy a pencil, a rubber, an exercise book and so on. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, a huge population is stuck in either ignorance or poverty which is a form of disaster for the country. If Cuba and many other countries can do it, we can do it even better. I want to see that this good law helps the counties. I am not quite sure that we should put a clause to deal with thieves. I would like to urge the Chairman, at Committee Stage, to come up with very stringent law; people who steal and misappropriate funds meant for disaster must be dealt with. 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."
}