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{
    "id": 988506,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/988506/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 84,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Orengo",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Minority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 129,
        "legal_name": "Aggrey James Orengo",
        "slug": "james-orengo"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me also thank Sen. Khaniri for coming up with this timely Statement. I congratulate him similarly for quite often coming up with Statements like this which are very important. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, when the President spoke to the nation on 25th March, 2020, on that particular, they identified 28 cases of COVID-19 infections. Worldwide, there were over 400,000 cases. Today, in Kenya, the figure is approaching 370 and worldwide, it is now over three million. As we face this crisis, there are countries which are going in the opposite direction. In New Zealand, today or yesterday, they announced that they had eliminated the virus, although they still warn their people that it could still come back. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the issue of accountability is very important. In Kenya, when it comes to oversight, everybody is seen to be an enemy. If you look at countries which have done well, they have not only brought about enabling legislation, but they have also come up with a collateral statute, establishing an oversight committee. For example, in the United States of America (USA) where they have given a lot of money to the Government for the purposes of fighting against the pandemic, they have established a Committee of Congress to oversight the funds which have been given to the Government to fight the pandemic. In Kenya, normally the issues of oversight are very difficult to deal with because everybody seems to fear them. In the world, countries that have done well have got very effective oversight tools. One of such country is New Zealand. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has come up with a report of the performance of countries in Asia, including the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand. In fact, in Vietnam quarantine is now done at the expense of the Government. Testing and treatment are also at the expense of the Government. With this Kshs40 billion, we should be paying expenses for quarantine and treatment of the few that have been found with the virus."
}