Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 987994,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/987994/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 1248,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mathare, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Anthony Oluoch",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13425,
        "legal_name": "Anthony Tom Oluoch",
        "slug": "anthony-tom-oluoch-2"
    },
    "content": "is not very clear to many people how this has been addressed. On the issue of provision of equipment, the Chairperson of the Committee really wants us to say something has been done in this area. Leaders in the United States of America, like the Governor of New York, talk about the actual things that are required. He talks about the required number of PPEs, beds, ventilators and the amount of money required to address the issues. We have, to some extent, to address some of these issues. As it has been said, we have ring-fenced some money to address the issue of COVID-19. The National Assembly has set aside Kshs3 billion for that purpose. That will go a long way to address this matter. We would like to see the Cabinet Secretary addressing this more specifically. As he gives us the statistics of how many people are getting infected by the diseases, he should also be telling us specifically what they are doing. I saw in the Standard yesterday that they tried to give a breakdown of all the donations we have got from the Jack Ma Foundation. I have seen something trending today that we have already used Kshs40 billion. It is trending now. Whether it is true or not, many people are already questioning how we are spending Kshs1 billion a day to have already spent Kshs40 billion. We would like to see the Government giving more breakdown on how the money is being spent, especially on mass testing and acquiring the equipment. The other day we saw the Cabinet Secretary saying that we bought some testing kits from China. We would like to have more explanation on this equipment, so that we can be sure of success in the fight against this disease. We want to see something on food. As Dr. Mutunga said, we need to check on the Strategic Food Reserve. They already have about Kshs10 billion in their account. I see the Budget and Appropriations Committee has set aside another Kshs10 billion or Kshs12 billion for food. We need to consolidate these figures so that we do not keep on adding more money to the budget line. The work that has been done by the Budget and Appropriations Committee within this short period is good although there was less consultation with departmental committees. Most of us did not even see input from committees. However, I heard the Chair of the Budget and Appropriations Committee say that the Departmental Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries never gave an input. Basically, we were not informed. The Chairman said that although they were told over the weekend to give a report, they could not call the agencies to come and input something. Still, we commend the Committee’s work. The Committee has worked very hard and I thank the Members very much."
}