Prof. Sam Ongeri

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 571 to 580 of 1925.

• 14 Apr 2020 in Senate: equipment, I expect that some of this equipment will bolster and create capacity for Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and other facilities, which will then cope with the pandemic. When you do a wider survey, it is clear that this money has not gone to the right use. After this pandemic, we need to focus on how any equipment that goes to county governments is utilized to benefit Kenyans. This pandemic has not yet spread to the county level. However, it is clear that if it does, we will have a disaster in our hands. We will not handle it in ... view
• 17 Mar 2020 in Senate: Thank you Madam Temporary Speaker, for allowing me to weigh in on this subject. We have a pandemic. In 1990 we had a national disaster in the name of HIV/AIDs. I was then the Minister for Health. We had to persuade the President to allow the National Assembly to have a special sitting in the Continental Hotel in Mombasa for it to be declared a national disaster for obvious reasons. view
• 17 Mar 2020 in Senate: At that time the drugs available for the management of HIV/AIDs were under patent rights and therefore, were extremely expensive and out of reach for our populations. When that national disaster was declared we were able to trigger the World Health Organization (WHO) arrangement and agreement Article 6 that allowed this nation to bring in generic drugs. That was the message that we passed out to Kenyans that for every 100 Kenyans, 14 might be HIV positive. In other words 86 per cent were negative. The message was, “why do you not go for testing? I think we must borrow ... view
• 17 Mar 2020 in Senate: What must we do regarding Coronavirus? We have two levels of government. The National Government has done extremely well. They have become transparent and have been able to tell us where the problem is and how they are tackling it. We have the second tier of government; the county governments. I am not quite sure that they are in sync or follow strictly what the national Government is doing. I get the feeling that more emphasis is being laid on isolation kits and other places where those who are positive can be treated. There is no harm in doing so. ... view
• 17 Mar 2020 in Senate: As we go for recess for two weeks I would suggest that one of the most fundamental decisions that must be made both by the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) - and I wish they also had the Health Committees from both Houses sitting concurrently so that they could define the final strategies that should be put in force in congested areas in urban and city centres; what we can do with the rural populations and how we can package messages so that they are in full knowledge of what must happen and the meaning of self-quarantine. That is applicable in ... view
• 17 Mar 2020 in Senate: I would have expected that we would have also called in some of our premier research institutes such as the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) that are involved in virology or the infectious disease studies in our various universities to put their minds together rather than having one occasional person appearing in the television with messages on this disease. We should find a way of packaging a very powerful message of saving this nation. view
• 17 Mar 2020 in Senate: Madam Temporary Speaker, some of us should be available to give information on how these matters can be handled so that we do not make a mistake. If we make a 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. view
• 17 Mar 2020 in Senate: mistake, it will move from a pandemic to a national disaster then we may not be in a position to handle it. view
• 17 Mar 2020 in Senate: Earlier on, I heard one of the colleague Senators talking about resource mobilization and the loans that have been taken. How are these loans being utilized? Are they going only for --- view
• 17 Mar 2020 in Senate: Thank you, very much. I would have expected that we should be able to tell the Government how to utilize these resources that are coming and what methods must be used for prevention. I have seen the sanitizers. Yes, it is good to have them but they are expensive. The last time I bought one it cost Kshs700 and today I hear it costs Kshs3000. They are out of reach for many people. My message to the ordinary citizenry is that simple soap with running water is enough to be able to control COVID-19. It is a mild infection; it ... view