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{
    "id": 643805,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/643805/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 117,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Bishop) R. Mutua",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13137,
        "legal_name": "Robert Mutemi Mutua",
        "slug": "robert-mutemi-mutua"
    },
    "content": "and a lot of funds are misappropriated. This cannot be allowed to continue since county governments and their units are our center of service delivery. I am grateful to see that there are additional grants going to counties particularly in respect to health. In the recent past, our health services have deteriorated so much that we have reached a state where people are worried about what they are going to do. The most important thing for us to do is to allocate funds, but more than that, to have those funds applied appropriately so that we can have personnel that are capable, sufficient and able to work. Soon, we are going to have personnel within some of the Level 5 hospitals that are discouraged, demoralised and lamenting. This kind of a state must be addressed by all of us. Particularly, the county governments need to address that aspect so that we can have our medical personnel getting encouraged and motivated to offer services. The issue of having machines and no medicine and personnel is very serious. We cannot have equipment that we can see, touch and feel, and have services that we cannot access. This is not proper. Unless something went wrong at the procurement level where things were not properly planned, we must make sure things are working. This equipment cost the Kenyan taxpayer a lot of money. It is quite important to realise that when it comes to allocating resources for social security and safety net, it is important to bring on board people with disability. At the moment, there are just a few being identified here and there. The county governments have not taken the initiative to come up with appropriate data on the number of people living with disabilities within their counties. Therefore, they are not planning for them. They are not allocating sufficient resources for these people. Therefore, when we say we have only allocated Kshs14 million and it is supposed to cover the elderly, child welfare and disability, that is inadequate and cannot benefit Kenyans. So, we need to relook at that kind of allocation. Particularly, we need to come up with data that is accurate and reliable so that our people can access this service. You realise that the special units within our schools are in a deplorable state. They are poorly equipped. If you go to any school that has a special unit, you will wonder whether it is a school or a torture chamber. We would like to see those special units properly equipped and designed so that children who go there access quality services and education. They should not be treated as an attachment to the mainstream school. This again, needs to be addressed as they receive this additional funding. You realise that devolution was supposed to address the issue of inequalities. For many years, there was a lot of inequality that was being exercised in the national Government through the central financing and planning system. Now that the finances are going to the counties, it is high time this Parliament and the county governments observed closely how the funds are being applied towards removing inequalities which still exist. Sometimes we hear that all the schools have got electricity but if you go to the counties, you find that some schools do not have electricity up to now. What they have are posts that have been erected, wires put there but the lights are not on. They cannot access electricity and power yet we are now moving on to introducing the laptop project. What will happen to these schools? They will continue to lag behind and they will continue to be told they are going to be given solar power. When you give solar power to a school, you have denied the people around that school the ability to tap power and do some simple business like wielding that they can access. So, it is not important to put solar power, it is important to make sure that all our schools get electricity. The community around can also benefit from this. This is another issue that we need to address. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}