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{
    "id": 613208,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/613208/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 341,
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    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, having read through this Report, I just want to highlight one fundamental issue. Most of the people who frequent Pumwani Maternity Hospital and other Government institutions, unfortunately, are not from our rank and file. My daughter was born in Nairobi Hospital, with the highest care and level of attention one could ever imagine. Most of us here have either given birth in such prestigious hospitals or have had access to such types of facilities, if not for ourselves, then, for our grandchildren and many others. As leaders, we need to appreciate that we lead poor people. One of our most fundamental duties is to protect the poor. However, this is a country where the poor have been made very vulnerable by systems that are so skewed. I have said it in this Senate that I believe I will live to see that day when the Government will make it illegal for anyone who works in Government, be it the Senate or any structure of Government, to be attended in private hospitals. That is the only way we will improve public health care. If you knew that your daughter would be born in Pumwani Maternity Hospital, as the Governor or the Senator for Nairobi or any county of this country, you would make sure that it has the highest level of care. Most of us have found private solutions to issues affecting the public. We have the best health care money can buy. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, as we interrogate this, we also have to interrogate the consciousness of this nation. Our consciousness as a nation is extremely and fundamentally flawed. I have entered public hospitals many a time. Most of the times, we go there for political grandstanding for the purposes of getting opportunities. Governors, Senators and other politicians walk in and out. Until and unless we commit actual resources to these types of hospitals, I do not think the doctors, politicians or hospital managements are to blame. The politicians and leadership of this country are to blame even multifold. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this Report demonstrates the level and extent of neglect, 50 years after Independence. We said we were getting Independence to fight with disease, ignorance and poverty. Majority of Kenyans today still live below the poverty line while a few of us languish in almost stinking, filthy and immoral wealth. A few of us access the best health care when people today are dying of basic disease. So, let us not interrogate two patients but what this system has done to the many of us. I thank this Report for exposing just one particular incident. For us to acknowledge that there is rot somewhere in this country, an incident must occur. If this incident is not a conscience score, then I do not know what else can be. This country needs to take action and I believe we must move progressively to that extent. No private schools or universities to functionaries of Government, unless you care for it yourself. It is the only way that we will determine public good. Sen. Elachi talked about our generation. It must have a fundamental shift from the past. Today we live in a community of the privileged and grandeur. The Pope shamed all of us upon arrival. Even, I, as the Senator for Mombasa had a bigger car than the Pope when he landed in Nairobi. Forget about the fleet of vehicles. The Governor of Nairobi, the President and everybody else were leading with fleets. The Pope did not come for flirtation with the mighty but to give hope to the poor. This political class has failed time and again. Most of what we do here is just emotional outbursts for the purposes of 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."
}