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"id": 932670,
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Kibiru",
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"legal_name": "Charles Reubenson Kibiru",
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"content": "Unfortunately, that is where we have this calamity, and the issue will be debated shortly. The Level 4 hospital was described as a “dying” hospital. I want to hear of one county, other than Machakos, where health institutions are actually giving the services that are deserved. I believe that it is not an issue of public relations. Every day, the news is full of health institutions that are not working. As much as we say that health is a devolved function, I repeat that we need a marshal plan. We need to come together, as a nation, and ask ourselves what the cause of these problems is. At one time, the nurses are on strike; the next time it is the paramedics or the doctors; and at another time, the MES programme is not working. In Kirinyaga County, for example, which has 52 doctors, half of them have been in school for the last two years, yet we continue paying them. These are some of the recommendations that, as the Committee of the Senate, has made. In some of the reports, we need to ask ourselves what it is that we can do, so that health services work. There are countries where this works. It works in Mauritius, the United Kingdom (UK) and even in some of the tiny countries. We need to put our work together and make that work. If you look at all the reports that have been presented here, one glaring issue is on value for money. Let us pay the bills because the Auditor-General has said so. We will be recommending this, and I believe that, that is what will be debated tomorrow. However, the question of value for money can never be ascertained. This is because a road was graveled, some fish fingerlings were bought and put into the water, but a service was done and a proper process of procurement was also done. We need to relook at what it is that we can legislate or put in place to ensure that whatever project is undertaken, somebody puts in time to justify value for money. Mr. Deputy Speaker, as per that last audit, the value of the projects that have stalled are in excess of Kshs366 billion. I believe that as we progress, we are probably at Kshs400 billion. We are losing money. Here we are saying that the country does not have money and that the economy is not performing well, yet at the same time, we have projects that are not being utilized to generate money. As we look at the reports and the recommendations that we have made, I saw in today’s newspaper that in terms of revenue collection, the Nairobi City County already has a shortfall of 1.7 billion. It should bother us, as a country and as the Senate, which protects and oversight the counties, that counties with the potential of collecting Kshs60 billion are still over relying on shareable revenue. There is a report that was carried out by the national Government and supported by the World Bank (WB) that indicated that Nairobi City County can generate over Kshs60 billion. There is one county that I was keen to know its potential to raise revenue; I think it is Kericho County. Somebody told us they are able to collect over Kshs10 billion in own-source revenue. The framework and the discipline need to be instilled. We need to encourage counties to increase on their own-source revenue. Finally, we should discuss the new formula that is coming up, on sharing of revenue. One of the key issues that will come up is that of prudence and the way counties perform when it comes to accounting issues. A percentage will be given to that. The other 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."
}