HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 895124,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/895124/?format=api",
"text_counter": 331,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Mwaura",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13129,
"legal_name": "Isaac Maigua Mwaura",
"slug": "isaac-mwaura"
},
"content": "to prove the source of money. I recently had a conversation with the Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), Dr. Patrick Njoroge, whom I must commend for doing a good job. He made a very clear case by saying that if 90 per cent of Kenyans do not have that kind of money, who is complaining? It is well elaborated and telling that it is the 62 per cent of the formal economy. We, therefore, need to have a situation where we incentivize the informal economy, first to pay taxes, but also for the people to see that there is value for their taxes. However, as long as people pay taxes, willingly or unwillingly, and then they hear of the grand corruption schemes, it just follows that they will not be incentivized. That means that we will continue to borrow. Recently, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the National Treasury issued the third Eurobond. We are, therefore, borrowing to fill in holes. We just cannot sustain ourselves, yet our country was 93 per cent independent of debt and donor dependency when President Kibaki left office. We, therefore, need to look at the issue of microeconomics; we need to look at the issue of how people feel they are excluded from the center because that, in itself, is a challenge. I am quick to say that we must relook at our constitutional architecture by ensuring that we expand the Executive. This is because I have come to realize that being in the Government is a feeling. If you ask my fellow ODM party Members who sit to the left of the Speaker, they think that they are in Government. Therefore, being in Government is a feeling. Therefore, if we have a Prime Minster and two deputies; we distribute them among the so-called tribal nations, because that is the reality of our political mobilizations, then people will feel included and it minimizes the risk. You then make sure that the Leader of the Opposition comes to the Senate and the running mate goes to the National Assembly. That way, we will hold the country together so that every five years, it is not at risk to anarchy and the edge of the precipice. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, there is so much that has been spoken about with regard to the Universal Health Care (UHC). However, we also have to address that while this has been a very great ambition – to ensure that every Kenyan has received universal health care and that 39 per cent of the counties so-piloted have had an upsurge of the need - it means that when we now need to ensure that when we will be covering the whole country, we have to check on quality and not just quantity. Let us not just say that we are implementing the UHC and that it is covering everyone; and, so, it is fine. No; we also have to move from quantity to quality. There are so many issues that we need to canvass, not to provide bottlenecks, but just to enhance the process and the procedure. This can be, for example, in terms of leasing medical equipment or the number of medical professionals and how they are remunerated; the state of our referral hospitals and how we collect money from the various non-user fees forgone. All of those issues need to be interrogated so that we have a robust system, other than just saying that we are having the UHC. Finally, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, when we are doing the housing project, those houses should be compliant. They should also be usable by both people who are abled and disabled. Sometimes when we are doing universal designs, we do not remember that there are individuals in this country who also require to use those houses; The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}