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{
    "id": 984008,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/984008/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 47,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, after the 14th day which was on 23rd March, 2020, the Ministry of Health gave us a clean bill of health and allowed us to resume our normal lives but, of course, with caution just as is expected of each of us. However, yesterday and today I have received distress calls from members of staff of Parliament who had traveled with us on that trip. They said there is a team from the Office of the President referring to itself as a Multi-Agency Team that is moving around picking members of staff of Parliament from their houses and forcing them into quarantine at the Kenya Institute of Special Education (KISE) in Kasarani. Upon receiving this information, we notified the Clerk of the Senate who is the Secretary to the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC). They reached out to the Ministry of Health and to our shock, the Ministry made it categorically clear to us that they are not aware of any team that is supposed to be picking citizens from their homes and sending them to isolation facilities. As we speak, the home of one of our staffers is under siege. That team is at her gate and they are insisting on getting in purporting to have instructions to go away with her. This brings up a difficult issue which I want your guidance on. I ask for this clarification as a Member of Parliament and as a Commissioner who is in charge of staff welfare. It is true that the staff can be exposed to some hazards as they go about their duties, but this is not the kind of hazard that they would wish to be exposed to. They picked up a gentleman yesterday together with his wife and a four-month old child, yet he had religiously followed the 14-day isolation guidelines. The gentleman is now in an isolation unit together with people who arrived in the country in the last three or four days. This is the second day and no tests have been conducted on them. They have not even been allowed to access their bags. I beg your indulgence. You should direct that the Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of national Government and the Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Health assure the country that there is only one centre of command. This is a health crisis and it is being handled professionally by the Ministry of Health. They should ask the police officers to back off from this exercise. Secondly, they should file a response with this House confirming to Parliament and the Republic of Kenya that we do not have two teams working at cross purposes. This confusion is very dangerous. You saw what the police officers did in Likoni. They grouped people together yet we have been told to keep social distance. This can get out of hand. Therefore, I direct that you give a proper direction to this issue before we proceed with the business of the day."
}