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{
"id": 1591572,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1591572/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
"speaker": null,
"content": "fashionable to critique governments of the day, successive administrations, but more specifically, the current one, for reasons that you and I know, but are not very far from the reasons of what you said yesterday when we were interrogating the matter that was before us in this House. I was mentioning the example of payment of examination fees. Even as we try to shoulder the burden of parents who cannot afford to pay examination fees for their students, is it not a fact that there are those who can afford and, therefore, there must be a basic understanding of how you separate those who can afford and those who cannot afford, so that you do not end up running a near socialist republic because we are nearly becoming one? Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for every other policy nowadays, we are told, no, free primary education was introduced or another free was introduced. This is without ever reverting back to ask ourselves who is paying for all these free things that we want to enjoy in this country. We are told these ones are demonstrating; they need a salary increment. Yes, let us pay them, and then another load shows up. There is disconnect between our financial sense and the realities of the country that we live in. We are a country that is pennywise, but pound foolish. We believe that it is possible to ignore sense, but believe the shillings will make sense. It is not possible from an economic perspective and we must begin to think and reflect back on the proper way of rolling out our social intervention programmes. Then when we do interventions in the exam sector, we can have a conversation and say, for example, those who go to public primary schools, being certain that anyone in this day and age who allows their children to go to public primary schools needs Government support. Then those who go to a certain categorization of schools and academies can do with either half subsidies or no subsidy at all and their parents will be okay with it. However, we should not undermine the millions of other children who can benefit from these programmes based on the fact that it is not economically viable to make some of these programmes. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I was laying the basis for us to appreciate that as a country, a time has come for us to be under the full realization that it is not possible to have a one-size-fits-all proposal on various social intervention programmes and believe that things will definitely be okay. The specifics of this Bill is that it seeks to provide a framework for the administration of non-contributory social protection interventions in Kenya and establish the National Board for Social Protection. It also creates a comprehensive legal framework to guide implementation of social protection programmes that support vulnerable individuals and households. At least we have been able to map out the households through the Kenya National Population Survey of 2019 and the previous years. You can therefore tell the number of households that are in our counties. That is the data that we use for guiding policy decisions, just like the formula we have just passed. Therefore, this Board that we are creating is to advise and guide as well as ensure that these programmes are not run blindly. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1591573,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1591573/?format=api",
"text_counter": 330,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
"speaker": null,
"content": "If Sen. Cherarkey can recall, I said previously in this House that I will not move another Government Bill that creates another board. However, the specific nature of this Bill must make sense. I also hope that when we go to Committee Stage, we can put in the transition clause the bodies or Government entities that do social interventions and which must be wound up as a result of the creation of this Board, so that we do not end up with hundreds of boards that duplicate their roles. We are trying to reduce the cost of running Government and that cannot be achieved if we continue to have many boards. I have also said that we need to make special exception for boards such as this. I have laid the basis on why this is extremely important in a country where social intervention programmes are not rolled out in the form and the manner that they are rolled out. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I believe and it is my understanding that when we create this Board, they will interact with the Ministry of Education and ask them about the cost and payment structures, the support and capitation sent to public institutions that exist in this country and how they measure that, so that we do not end up in a situation where we believe it is possible to standardize and pay for the whole country. We must appreciate that we are not an oil-rich nation and that we have almost run out of fiscal headroom to either, borrow or tax Kenyans and yet, the cost of running government continues to increase. You can also see the kind of headlines we have where people believe that it is possible to continue paying and meeting every bill from health, education and all these other things without some level of measure. It is therefore the creation of a board such as this that needs to be needs-specific and ensure that we give. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, additionally, this Bill seeks to cushion persons in need against risks and contingencies, build human capital capabilities and resilience among those in need and promote the overall well-being of vulnerable persons. We know one of the biggest signature successes of this administration. You know, we live in a country where when a government does right, it is nothing, but wait until something goes wrong somewhere, then it makes headlines. One of the boldest decisions that President William Ruto took upon taking on the reins of power was the intervention on Government policy on those that are in the social support programme, the vulnerable and the elderly. They are paid before civil servants are paid. Previously in the previous administration, they would sometimes wait for three, four, five, six or seven months before getting their monies. I saw the statement here last week. It is part of documents that I table here every other day - month on month payment to the vulnerable. However, we need to ensure that the amount sent to them is enough to meet their basic needs and all people who meet the criteria of being vulnerable people and need to be supported end up benefiting. That is part and parcel of that. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, social protection is essential to address poverty and all those things that I have mentioned. Under Part I, clauses one to six are general terms. Clause seven to 27 provide for this Board I have mentioned and its functions, which include the Cabinet Secretary relating to social protection, designing and implementation. I would like also to highlight the roles of county governments in social protection as contained in the Bill. County governments will be responsible for implementing The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1591574,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1591574/?format=api",
"text_counter": 331,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
"speaker": null,
"content": "national Government policies through county-specific legislation. I had mentioned earlier that the specific needs of a certain category of people in Homa Bay may not necessarily be the same as those in Kericho, Nyandarua or Garissa where you come from, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, as well as the other counties. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, counties will also develop the inter-operable county registries for social protection beneficiaries, ensuring that they can counter-match what the national Government has and what the county government has. Sen. Cherarkey can remember that during the previous term, we passed in this House the County Statistics Bill because we said that it is not only important to use the Kenya National Bureau Statistics (KNBS). Even our counties need to develop capacity to develop their own statistics. Therefore, Part IV and V are for the various offenses. Clause 49 to 56 provide for repeal of the Social Assistance Act, transition of staff and the things I was talking about earlier. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, with those remarks, I beg to move and request Sen. Beatrice Ogola to second. This is because, faced with the choice of two young men who are hot-bloodied and a lovely mother like Sen. Beatrice, I would choose her to second this Bill. They will contribute to it."
},
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"id": 1591575,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1591575/?format=api",
"text_counter": 332,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Abdul Haji",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Sen. Beatrice."
},
{
"id": 1591576,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1591576/?format=api",
"text_counter": 333,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Ogola",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I also thank the Senate Majority Leader for granting me the opportunity to second this Bill. I resonate so well with the ideals that you have just explained here. Sometime back when I was a young woman, but growing into leadership, and at the time of the grand coalition then, you must have been in school then and Sen. Cherarkey and Sen. Eddy were elsewhere that we might not mention today. Then, I was growing up in Homa Bay District, as a young woman leader. I had been chosen by the District Development Committee (DDC) to sit at the policymaking body nationally, at the initial social protection that dealt with the coming up of the elderly cash transfer form. That is why I am excited and willing to second and support this Bill. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, however, when we started with the elderly cash transfer, before the orphans and children’s cash transfer came in, I would like to relate a story that has worked well for this country. Initially, two areas, Nyeri and Bondo, were picked as pilot areas for obvious reasons. The then President was from Nyeri while the Prime Minister was from Bondo. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, that has been a success story in the country. At the implementation time, they began by paying out cash of Kshs2,000 to the identified elderly people. You should have seen the state in which those old elderly people were. Apart from the fact that they were aged, a number of them were also sick. When they were brought to pick the initial Kshs2,000, which was paid in cash, they were brought like they were being taken to a hospital. You should have seen the success story and pictures after the initial reception of the Kshs2,000. A number of these elderly people were even taking care of orphans despite the fact that they were elderly. This tremendously transformed their lives. Initially, support was given in terms of kind. The Government would provide maize and beans as support The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1591577,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1591577/?format=api",
"text_counter": 334,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Ogola",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "to such people. However, an idea came that people needed to live in dignity, that, even though they were elderly, they needed to decide what they wanted to do with themselves. You do not need to prescribe for somebody what they are going to eat in terms of maize and beans. So, with the provision of the Kshs2,000, they were able to plan for what they needed. Where you needed some rice, I would need some fish or just buy soap for my family. A number of those elderly people used this little money that we thought was so little to pay school fees for some of the orphans that they were staying with. I can give evidence of such elderly people that ended up paying fees with the little they had apart from the subsistence of taking care of themselves."
},
{
"id": 1591578,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1591578/?format=api",
"text_counter": 335,
"type": "scene",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "[The Temporary Speaker (Sen. Abdul Haji) left the Chair]"
},
{
"id": 1591579,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1591579/?format=api",
"text_counter": 336,
"type": "scene",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "[The Temporary Speaker (Sen. Veronica Maina) in the Chair]"
},
{
"id": 1591580,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1591580/?format=api",
"text_counter": 337,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Ogola",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Therefore, Madam Temporary Speaker, I stand here to say that this initial initiative has continued to expand and now there are many in number. This is a real success story in this case. Finally, Madam Temporary Speaker, in consequent months when these elderly people were paid, a number of us asked ourselves whether they were still the elderly people that we saw initially at the commencement of the project because they were people who consequently had lives in themselves, looked happier and were living in a dignified way. Madam Temporary Speaker, we live in an African set-up in a community and we cannot lose our brotherhood. We must be a people in terms of leadership or families, who care about the vulnerable. It is on that basis that I rise to second and support this Bill. Madam Temporary Speaker, allow me to give out certain key thoughts from myself on the Social Protection Bill (National Assembly Bills No.12 of 2025). As we talk about the elderly, there have also been commendable programmes by the Government on the orphans and vulnerable children, which closely followed after the elderly cash transfer that was initiated at the time of the Grand Coalition Government. However, there are seriously vulnerable cohorts in our society that I would like to single out. As a country, we must pay attention when we talk about social protection to certain calibre of people amongst ourselves. Do we ever think about college and university students out there? I am not talking about their tuition money. I am talking about certain support that I see lacking. The Government certainly is giving some support. I would like to talk from a personal experience I have had a number of students that I relate with. I know all the leaders here and elsewhere relate with them. It breaks my heart when I see the life that some of the university and college students live in a number of our institutions. Just recently, I realized that there are some students in our universities and colleges, because they are not able to pay rent and buy food, even when fees has been paid, live in very miserable situations. The basis of this Bill that I support is banked on the fact that people need to live with dignity. A child, young person or anybody who lives The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1591581,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1591581/?format=api",
"text_counter": 338,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Ogola",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "and grows in dignity grows to be a strong personality and people who are confident of themselves. That is what this nation needs. I am happy that the objects of this Bill are about cushioning some of these people in their livelihoods. It is about helping people to grow well, promoting quality life and equity. I am talking about social justice amongst everybody else and especially as a Kenyan. Madam Temporary Speaker, I have talked about these college and university students. As a country, we must think about those cohorts. As I have said, even though the Government and guardians might provide for fees, there are specific students who are languishing in poverty in our colleges. What as a nation are we doing about them? Can we not have a mechanism in which we can pick out some of these students, so that they grow in their professions, but not languishing in poverty?"
}
]
}