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{
    "id": 699507,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/699507/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 244,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "I hope that going forward, things will move even if it is by e-mail. It is time the county governments woke up. One of the challenges we have faced in the Senate is the inability to look at how county governments are collecting revenue. I am sorry to say that today Nairobi County is in a crisis. The Nairobi County alleges that they have moved to the digital stage but it has failed because of the technocrats. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the Governor of Nairobi County has a team that has let him down. The team has left a slap on his face. The governor cannot perform alone. If his team embraced the digital way of doing things, Nairobi County would be different. If he embraced a better digital automation in the parking lots, the county would be better. They would not be bankrupt. It is not only Nairobi that faces this challenge but also many other counties. However, there are other counties that are doing well. In Kiambu County, they are doing well in collection of revenue. In Nyeri and Narok counties, in as much as they have their challenges, they are doing well because of automation. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, there are simple things that counties would have done for their people. In the medical sector, we have all the equipment but if there are no experts who have been trained on the new technology, how will the dialysis machines be run? Today, there are hospitals that will send the patient’s results in five minutes through email and it will be received via phone. However, at the Kenyatta National Hospital we cannot do that. We have refused to link the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) with the hospital. A patient needs to carry around his or her NHIF card. Our President is fighting to embrace Information and Communications Technology (ICT) because it will fight corruption. However, every institution is fighting for their dockets when they are fused into the Ministry of ICT. The ICT is a network that solves problems faster. I hope as we move forward, the officers in different sectors can embrace ICT to save us from going to courts. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, in Parliament, there is so much paper and files. The reason why Parliament was being dragged by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) in the newspapers is because of lack of a digital system that has a list of Members of Parliament and their status. We need to embrace technology so that if you make a follow-up, you can easily see how each Member is doing. Therefore, we should embrace ICT in our own institution. Why should we be signing receipts when we take food? All you need is a card that can be swiped to pay for a bill. The signing of papers and receipts should stop in Parliament. If we are talking about digital technology, we need to start with the basics because they will help the staff and Members do their work faster. These things can only end when we bring in a digital system that involves swiping cards for many transactions. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we have gone digital in the education sector. There was a time teachers were not sure whether to embrace it, but finally they did. How will you embrace a system that all people will feel comfortable with? In the counties, they have not embraced ICT because they like looting money at the source. That is why in some counties, they claim that a policeman stole Kshs3.5 Million when he may not have done so. The owner needs to be jailed first before going after the policeman because what was he doing with Kshs3.5 Million? These are some of the things that we should worry about. It is the County Government of Tharaka--- 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"
}