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{
    "id": 988803,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/988803/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 381,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "The Senate Minority Leader",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the second issue, you remember the case of Madison, by Chief Justice Marshall. That case in a way involved former American Presidents. It was about an official who had been appointed by one President and the other President would not appoint. The good thing about this case is that, it led to probably a decision and a case in America which is greater than any other in constitutional law. It showed that however high the office is, you cannot sack or refuse to appoint or sack and fire public servants or State officers. In Kenya, I know you remember the case of Mr. Steven Mureithi who again was sacked by former President. The matter was later on resolved by the courts. I hope that the Cabinet Secretary (CS) who is in charge of the Ministry of Health and a former Senator is doing a very good job. I have no doubt about his capacity. However, there are things that if you begin to do they may erase the good work that one is doing. The public officers who are leading this charge, particularly the scientists, should not be treated in a manner in which it appears the Director of the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) was being treated. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, when we were appearing for doctors with my colleague, Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr., many people did not realize that at one time we will need these doctors. Now the whole world is looking for doctors. In fact, the other day could you imagine Somalia sending 20 doctors to help Italy? Can you imagine just like we have Cuban doctors here, another 200 went to South Africa? Doctors and health workers play a very important role. I hope we will not just appreciate them now but even in the future. When there is a crisis like the one we have at the moment, that is when some people become very difficult. Our doctors and health workers have shown that they are true patriots and heroes. They should be so recognized. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other day, I saw on the social media, somebody who had been frustrated at Mbagathi Hospital and wanted to commit suicide. You could see all the health workers including nurses praying to this guy and tweeting; “please do not fall from the roof to commit suicide”. These are some of the issues they are dealing with and yet they have not been trained to deal with them. Thirdly, the counties are not very well prepared. They are completely unprepared. You find that in a county, somebody goes into a hall somewhere and says this are going to be our wards for the quarantine. Somebody sees that a stadium in the United Kingdom (UK) of the United States (US) has been turned into a hospital or a conference center, and they also go to a stadium and put some tents there and hope that, that will deal with this pandemic. A time has come and I hope the governors will realize that they should be ready for these pandemics. Some of them if they do their work properly - like I am seeing the Governor of Mombasa County seems to be readier than even the national Government. You can even see that in the US, some of the States are doing much better than the Federal Government. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, finally, we live in a different world and science is very important in the current world we live in, be it in climate change or things confronting humanity. We should have people properly trained. We should have more research institutes and not just KEMRI. We need more of those institutes being given money. 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."
}