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{
    "id": 800779,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/800779/?format=api",
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    "content": "are not functional up to now? The operators and the doctors who are supposed to give services using this equipment have not been trained to date, yet in each and every particular budget, we continue to pay. Are we really being sincere? As Members of Parliament, why are we not speaking about this? Is it because we have AON and Jubilee Insurance covers that enable us to walk into Nairobi Hospital and other good hospitals for treatment? It should concern us that the people who voted for us do not get value for their money because the insurance is this money that we are passing. The value of a good healthcare system is not the equipment, but the service that is provided to the people who require that service. This is a question that we must continue asking. There is something that I pointed out and will not tire of doing so. I know for a fact that in almost 150 to 200 constituencies, the Government through, the National Government - Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) is building a technical training institute. Even with this, the National Treasury still wants to give the counties an additional Kshs2 billion in this financial year to rehabilitate youth centres. What are our priorities as a country? If you have a technical training institute that is being set up and built to modern standard, why do you want to rehabilitate old institutions that, perhaps, nobody uses anymore? We ignored the directives of the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA). The CRA was asking for only Kshs4 billion to develop regional cancer centres and the National Treasury could not listen to them. Now, they want to set aside Kshs2 billion to dish out and tell governors: “Please, find out in the villages if there is any youth centre that requires rehabilitation and allocate money there.” We are not being sincere. Our thoughts as leaders and representatives of the people are important because the design, structure and architecture of this Constitution is such that it is a public participative exercise. Our thoughts and ideas this year should inform the decisions of the National Treasury and the budget makers for the next financial year. It is unfortunate that many times we have spoken and the good words and nice contribution that my colleague Senators continue to present in this House just dry up. Nobody takes them into consideration. It is a question that we must answer. The Kenya Urban Support Programme (KUSP) featured so well during our Legislative Summit. We discussed this. The Chairman of the Committee on Finance and Budget gave a very good explanation. That you cannot claim to be supporting devolution and its entrenchment into our system and culture as a country if you are only supporting the executive and do not have any particular thoughts on how you can even build up the county assemblies. County assemblies do not have capacities to do many of these things. You cannot claim that you want to give a grant or loan but you do not want to give the securities and ways of ensuring that money is put to prudent use. As a House, we may soon have to pronounce ourselves and say, despite the fact that you are assured as a loan giver that your money will be paid because this is government to government, if you are putting money that will be wasted, then it is better that we do not accept it unless the framers and drafters of this programme can consider ways of capacitating our county assemblies so that they may be able to check. I am glad 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."
}