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{
    "id": 628010,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/628010/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 281,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wangari",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13123,
        "legal_name": "Martha Wangari",
        "slug": "martha-wangari"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I rise to support this Report, which is work well done by the Committee on Finance, Commerce and Budget. The Budget Policy Statement (BPS) is the first most important budget document because it is where the cycle begins. It is the first interaction that Parliament gets in the budget making process. It is where as the representative of the people we are meant to make serious input in terms of how our taxes are spent and monies are allocated. That is exactly why this was done. I also want to thank the Committee for inviting the Cabinet Secretary to clarify issues and making sure that the BPS went to all the standing Committees. We interrogated the policy in the Committees. I want to pick a few issues in the Statement. Matters of health are critical. In fact, the biggest customers of any health provision in this country are women and children. I know we have had many issues. The Committee has also noted that we need to improve in terms of money disbursement to the counties. As we know, this is a fully devolved function, but the challenges that we are facing in the counties are enormous. We have issues of negligence and maternal deaths that were preventable. People even die in ambulances. These are issues that we can be dealt with even at the county level. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, recently, we had an issue in Nyeri that was reported in the media of a woman who gave birth while standing in a Government hospital. That baby, of course, did not survive. This is just one case that was reported. Many other cases have been reported in the past and we have requested for Statements here to do with negligence. We must look at the national Government and fault it in terms of the release of money for free maternity care. It must be timely and reliable. We must prioritize this during our engagement with the National Treasury, to prevent deaths. The other issue is cancer prevention, which is a programme under the Ministry of Health that is carried out in the counties. This money should be released and prioritized. The other issue on health is lease of equipment. I know that we have queried this issue in statements, but we have not got satisfactory answers. Article 189 of the Constitution envisages that these two levels of Government must have some kind of cooperation between them. It is not so difficult to share information unless we have something to hide. We must make sure that we expedite this issue of lease of equipment. We know that the Council of Governors also The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes"
}