{"id":787953,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/787953/?format=json","text_counter":598,"type":"other","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"We, therefore, want to see the funds allocated to the health sector serving the people of Kenya properly. We do not want a situation where leased equipment is lying in containers in certain counties and we are still paying for it. I want the Senate Committee on Health to bring a report here telling us of how many counties have received the leased equipment, how many have been installed, commissioned and are functioning. This is so that we know whether we are getting value for our money or whether money is just being given away on issues that are not particularly helpful. Equally important, Madam Temporary Speaker, is the question of agriculture, which is a fully devolved function. However, increasingly there is a claw-back, where more money is kept at the centre rather than going to the counties. Even if we obligated counties to adhere to the Maputo Protocol of giving a minimum of 10 per cent of their budget to agriculture, with the amount of money that counties receive, they will not be able to do that; yet money for agricultural subsidies in terms of fertilizer and other things is still retained at the centre. Even if this money was sent to counties as conditional grants, if we are talking about security, strategic grain reserves or good nutrition, we must realize that food is produced in the counties. You will find that in the counties that are endowed with good rainfall and which ought to be supported in terms of farm inputs; the subsidized fertilizer usually arrives after planting and weeding. The farmer, therefore, ends up not utilizing it. This issue should be addressed. Madam Temporary Speaker, there was an issue that was brought to our Committee about building two new referral hospitals in each county. This flies in the face of logic because health facilities are built for the people and two referral facilities cannot just be irrationally built in each county. These facilities must be built in accordance with the population in each county. For instance, Nairobi County with 3.5 million people, Kiambu County with more than a million people and Bungoma County with more than a million people are, certainly, in terms of equity, not at par with our sister counties probably of Lamu or Isiolo, which have less than a 100,000 people. This is illogical. If you want to give counties health facilities, give them where the population pressure is heavy, where the existing facilities are inadequate and need to be expanded. I am not saying that other counties should not have facilities. However, where population is smaller, they should get facilities that are commensurate with serving that population. That way, the logic of equity will be more evident than what we are trying to do. Madam Temporary Speaker, we have seen the re-classification of roads. Now, Class D roads have been lifted from counties to the national Government. That notwithstanding, there are many areas in this country where roads need to be opened up, classified, graded and paved so as to make it easy communication. In Bungoma County, for example, areas like Mt. Elgon with serious security challenges, has even bigger challenges in communication. This is because for you to move from Point A to B, which may be just about 10 kilometres, you have to detour and make a trip of more than 50 kilometres to reach where you want to go. We would want to see resources being channeled to these areas, so that they can open up and spur economic growth. 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."}