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{
    "id": 719783,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/719783/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 87,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Wakhungu",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1889,
        "legal_name": "Chrisantus Wamalwa Wakhungu",
        "slug": "chrisantus-wamalwa-wakhungu"
    },
    "content": "cases, this allocation for biscuits should not be encouraged. For instance, in my own county of Trans Nzoia, the allocation for tea biscuits was the highest all over the country. This has created room for corruption. We must have priorities. We cannot just go around allocating money to cases which are not a priority. I also want to mention the amount of money allocated for the free maternity programme. It has been proposed that the money for the free maternity programme should go directly to the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF). I find a danger in that. Initially, this money was a conditional grant to the county governments. We have seen governors going on record to say that they do not receive the money for free maternity. When you go to the villages, the pregnant mothers have not seen this money because of poor implementation. You make it worse when you propose that it will be in a form of reimbursement. We are not sure whether county governments will agree to waive this so that they can be reimbursed by the national Government. We have been seeing a lot of delays and this has affected the delivery when it comes to matters of free maternity. We can have good equipment and facilities but human resource is very critical. Right now, we have the doctors’ strike. I thought there would be a provision as we discuss this, whatever the case, so that doctors can be paid and the strike can end. I see a deliberate move in the lack of attention towards the doctors’ strike. For how long will Kenyans die before we resolve this issue so that doctors can get back to save lives? It is very embarrassing that we have a working Government and no efforts are being put in place to resolve this issue of the doctors’ strike. We know very well that many Kenyans are poor and cannot afford to go to private hospitals. It is high time the doctors’ strike is declared a national disaster so that measures are put in place when it comes to appropriation so that this issue can be resolved. If passed, the Division of Revenue Bill gives a basis for the Budget Estimates. We know that this is an election year and many things are done haphazardly or in a hurried manner. It is our humble request this time that we must pay attention as far as the budget estimates are concerned. I also wanted to mention the Equalisation Fund. Hon. Lelelit tabled a constitutional amendment Bill. I do not even know where that Bill went. We had differences between this upper house and the lower house. It is high time we knew where that money is. Every year we allocate about Kshs7.7 billion. When you look at the reports, this money has never been disbursed. Where does this money go? We need to be told. Kshs7.7 billion being allocated for all those years is a lot of money. When this Bill came to the Floor of the House, there was a lot of lobbying. I am told that this is petty cash for some people. I am told that this is money that goes into the Harambees that we have been seeing all over in the country. Others are talking of money in form of campaign funds. It is high time we knew where this Kshs7.7 billion that we have been allocating during every financial year has gone. Another issue I want to speak about is on the rehabilitation of youth polytechnics. Youth polytechnics are a devolved function. They are a function at the county level. It is good if the national Government is allocating a supplementary amount of Kshs2 billion to the county government. We need accountability because polytechnics play a critical role as far as imparting skills to those students who cannot go to universities and access diploma courses are concerned. In the Matiang’i results, so many people got grade “E”. Where will those people go? We must give them hope. The only hope is for them to go to the village polytechnics to train in things like woodwork, carpentry and plumbing so that they can have a source of livelihood and improve their welfare. My humble request is that those funds must be disbursed in a timely manner to the 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."
}