Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 707969,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/707969/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 105,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Dr.) Pukose",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1458,
        "legal_name": "Robert Pukose",
        "slug": "robert-pukose"
    },
    "content": "The other example is Clause 16(2) where the Director-General for Health shall be recruited by the Public Service Commission through a competitive process, vetted by Parliament and appointed by the President. The Senate had deleted this and substituted therefor the following new clause: “The Director-General for Health shall be recruited by the Public Service Commission through a competitive process and be appointed by the Cabinet Secretary.” The essence of the amendment is to remove the need for vetting of the nominee for the position of Director-General by Parliament and the subsequent appointment of the Director- General to be the responsibility of the Cabinet Secretary. The Committee rejected this due to the seniority of the Director-General. Parliament should be involved in his or her appointment. The Director-General for Health shall be answerable on health matters in the whole country. Therefore, the Committee felt that this should be done by Parliament. Paragraph (b) talks of a medical practitioner registered by the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board (MPDB) as a requirement for the Director-General. The Senate had proposed that that could just be a health practitioner registered by the respective regulatory body. The Committee rejected the proposal from the Senate because the best practice shows that Director- General for Health should be somebody who is a qualified medical practitioner who understands matters of health. Further, the amendment seeks to open up the position of DG to other health practitioners in the sector and not to be a position for a medical practitioner. The DG shall be the technical adviser to the Government on matters related to health. Therefore, the Committee felt that in matters within the health sector, this person should have the highest qualifications. In terms of the functions of the DG, the Senate amended Clause 17 of the Bill by deleting the provision for guidelines for registration, licensing, certification and gazettement of all health facilities. The DG was also responsible for internship programme for health workers. The Committee rejects the proposed amendment by the Senate to delete paragraphs (j) and (k) where the role of the national Government is developing standards, policies ad guidelines for registration, licensing, certification and gazettement. It is also the responsibility of the national Government to be in charge of the internship training programme, which is training and capacity building as a function of the national Government as provided by the Constitution. These are some of them. I will be able to submit the Report and Members can go through it and contribute effectively. Therefore, I beg to move and ask my colleague Dr. Nyikal to second."
}