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{
    "id": 917403,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/917403/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 272,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Halake",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13184,
        "legal_name": "Abshiro Soka Halake",
        "slug": "abshiro-soka-halake"
    },
    "content": "Thank you Mr. Deputy Speaker. I will not comment on that, but thank you for giving me the opportunity to comment on this important amendment to the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) Bill. I would like to congratulate Sen. Seneta very much because many of our legislations and Acts are still reading as though counties do not exist. It is about time this House took stock and an inventory of all Bills for their alignment to the Constitution and also for the acknowledgement of the fact that we have two levels of Government as we speak. Health, as everybody has said, is devolved leaving only policy matters to the national Government. As such, service provision, including procurement should have been devolved through the KEMSA Bill being consulted so to speak. As it stands, KEMSA does everything as though health is not a devolved function. Therefore, this Bill is very timely to provide a framework within which KEMSA can collaborate with counties, deal with assessment of counties and ensure that what they are procuring is based on the needs within the counties and not just what they would like to procure. In the health sector, there is a lot of below optimal procedures and below optimal practices that have resulted in a lot of waste for this country. By hierarchy, the Ministry of Health and the health sector tends to be one of the most mentioned in issues to do with corruption, misappropriation and not providing the required services. It is for this reason that the strategic direction of the country has focused on the Universal Health Care (UHC). We have seen a lot of drugs expiring because they were procured without a county needs assessment being done. It is about time the health sector was made to be aligned to the Constitution, namely, for the national level to remain with policy and policy frameworks and give service provision to the frontlines of service delivery, which is counties. I am very proud of the fact that this House is very keen to ensure that if there is anything that is contrary to the Constitution or is undermining counties, at least, this will be through practice, but not legislation. I would like to congratulate Sen. Seneta for these timely amendments. It is about time we looked at all these things. She has amended even the title to ensure that counties are recognized as service providers where health has been devolved. There is also the section where the definition 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."
}