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{
    "id": 644365,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/644365/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 181,
    "type": "other",
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    "content": "the Executive as well as the National Assembly in the passage of the Division of Revenue Bill, I am happy that we have come to an understanding in terms of how we discuss and pass that Bill. The President stated that in the last three years, counties have received more than Kshs1 trillion. That is very important to note that the Jubilee Administration has supported devolution. The Constitution initially predicted one of the greatest threats to devolution would be the national Government. That is why institutions like the Senate and other constitutional commissions were put in place. However, in the last three years, it has become apparent that the greatest threats to devolution are internal mismanagement of counties. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I speak with a heavy heart knowing that in the last three days, hospitals across Nandi County have been shut down because health workers countywide are on strike. We know that the issue of health workers’ salaries and promotion are national problems. However, every county government has had opportunity to sit down with their health workers and agree on a formula and even get into some agreement and working formula in terms of ensuring that health services are not disrupted. I am sad that we had such a crisis in our county. The county government attempted to deal with the issue, but they were unable. We had to step in to mediate in the process and hammered out an agreement between the County Government of Nandi and the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN). We agreed on certain things that the county government had to do and the responsibility of the KNUN. It is sad that the county government has ignored every bit of their responsibility in that collective agreement with the KNUN. This has led to another crisis. Since Independence, we have never witnessed a situation where all the health facilities in Nandi County were closed. It is only happening under a devolved system of government. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the intentions and objectives of devolution could not have been that we would find ourselves running into more trouble than we had under a centralized system of Government. Therefore, I call upon the County Government of Nandi led by the Governor that it cannot be business as usual that we continue losing innocent lives of Kenyans who have already paid taxes. These are law abiding citizens who voted in the Senator and the Governor yet we now subject them to untold suffering just because we do not want to sit down and carry out our responsibilities as leaders and Government. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the reason health services were devolved was that it was intended to bring the management of health services closer within the county in order to give an opportunity to our county governments to ensure that every bit of the health sector is addressed. However, this dream remains far from being achieved in our county. I, therefore, call upon the county government to prioritize. One of the greatest challenges of our county governments is lack of proper priority. It cannot be a priority in Nandi County to build some monuments and water fountains just to celebrate and inform people that they are now welcome to Nandi County. How does that help? They have spent millions of shillings on building things that are not useful such as monuments, instead of using the same resources to ensure that our health facilities are up and running. 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"
}