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{
    "id": 838795,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/838795/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 149,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nyaribari Chache, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Richard Tong’i",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2611,
        "legal_name": "Richard Nyagaka Tongi",
        "slug": "richard-nyagaka-tongi"
    },
    "content": "I have another concern. I am sure it is also a concern for most of the Members of Parliament. It is about health centres which were constructed by the National Government- Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF). Most of the health centres we constructed under that Fund are now ghost buildings. They are not utilised at the moment. Most of them have been abandoned by the counties. They are saying it was not their function and that they are not their brainchild. All of us agree that those health centres were meant to mitigate the congestion at the national Government hospitals and the county government hospitals. We need to make a provision as a House even if it means giving leeway for a one-off so that we use the NG-CDF to fix those health centres to a good status. We can surrender them to the counties in a usable state. That way, they will not have excuses. I have a number of health centres in my constituency, for example, Kiogoro Health Centre, Boronyi Health Centre, Nyakebako Health Centre, Nyamagwa Health Centre and Birongo Health Centre, just to mention but a few, which have not been surrendered or taken up by the county government simply because they were NG-CDF projects. I am sure we are capable and we have what it takes to ensure that, that provision is given. We would wish to do that at the earliest opportunity possible so that we can get value for money. The kind of resources and investments we have put in those places must be utilised for the good of the country. The money we used there is public money. It was the taxpayers’ money. They need to have value for it so that our people can access good quality health services. Also, we will as a country have opportunity to create employment for our people. We could even privatise those health centres. There are many NGOs which are willing to partner with us. Because of the position of the NG-CDF at the moment, we are incapacitated because we cannot bring them to completion or usable levels so that they can be taken up by the counties or the NGOs which have shown interest in taking them up. I hope that will be one of the provisions that we shall look into. We need to seriously consider it so that we can utilise those ghost projects or white elephant health centres which are not being used. The lacuna is in law because health is considered a county function. As I finish, we had proposed that we need to come up with emergency health centres on our highways. These will address the problem of accidents. We have lost so many people, not because they were meant to die or that the accidents were so fatal, but because we do not have a provision for emergency treatment. If you go to countries which have succeeded in the provision of health care services, you will find that they have provided for emergency centres. The emergency centres are constructed along roads. We know people have been paralysed and been put on wheelchairs permanently not because they deserve to be there, but because the first 30 minutes of an accident are critical. They define who you are and how you are going to be managed. If they do not handle you well in the event of an accident, even carrying you from the The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}