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"id": 605247,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale",
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"legal_name": "Bonny Khalwale",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I think my good friend, the Senator, should have the patience to live with facts, especially when they are coming from a doctor of Medicine. A birth rate of 45 means that for every 1,000 women, there are 45 deliveries. In Kiambu, it is 37. When you now factor it into the general population, Kakamega has more people than Kiambu. So, you cannot run away from it. People are just practicing bad governance. Let me not concentrate on that; you can challenge me in your own contribution. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the next thing that I want to talk about is the conditional allocation to compensate health facilities for foregone user fees of revenue. This is another area where Members might again need to know that the national Government is shortchanging the county governors. “Foregone user” means that if the national Government has stopped any little levies, for example, Kshs20 for a card, Kshs50 for a laboratory test and so on, then it is supposed to take to that hospital the equivalent amount, as if those people had paid. If I use my county as an example, Kakamega County is being given Kshs38 million for the whole year, yet in practice, it collects Kshs18 million every four months, which translates to Kshs54 million a year. So, if Kakamega had been allowed to be managed the way we were managing it – and I have worked there for several years – it was going to run better than when the Government sends them the Kshs38 million. But now it ends up sending Kakamega less money. That applies across all the hospitals. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, regarding conditional allocations for leasing of medical equipment, the Government after dilly dallying has finally brought that money. My advice to them, because it is not too late, is that you are going to waste money by buying equipment and taking it to, for example, Lamu or Kathiani where I have worked. They will simply not be able to use that equipment for two reasons; they do not have capacity and human resource. So, the wise thing for the Government to do is that instead of burning all these billions buying them, let them first equip the 11 Level 5 hospitals in the country, so that people in Nyanza region can go to Kisumu and others to Kisii. Some of those in western region can go to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Eldoret, and others to the former Kakamega Provincial General Hospital. That is the way to do it. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I now want to speak to the conditional allocation of the County Emergency Fund. My able Chairman of the Mediation Committee, Sen. Kagwe, I think we won. Regarding the Kshs4.4 billion which hon. Mutava Musyimi thought he had defeated us over, we faced Dr. Kamau Thugge in the eye, and I am glad that he has eventually included this money. Governors will now have money for emergencies on the spot. 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."
}