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{
    "id": 1095102,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1095102/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 218,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kikuyu, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1835,
        "legal_name": "Anthony Kimani Ichung'Wah",
        "slug": "anthony-kimani-ichungwah"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for protecting me from the Member for Garissa Township. Probably he runs a hospital in Garissa or somewhere. I am not saying he is one of the tenderpreneurs. I know him. He was not involved either in the MES scandal or the KEMSA COVID-19 billionaires scandal. I was speaking about those who were involved. We are also in a state where State capture is so real. I must be a cautious Member of Parliament. When I see attempts to give such powers to the NHIF Board, I must treat it with caution. When we come to the Committee of the whole House, I will be doing the necessary in relation to, at least, those two aspects as envisaged by clauses 11 and 24. However, it is not all darkness for the Bill. There are very good aspects of the Bill that I support. Top among those issues are issues that Hon. Kolosh has touched on like the question of being able to identify a registered member of the NHIF. The use of biometrics is one progressive way of moving away from cards, stamps and manual things that the NHIF has done over the years, which is encouraging. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, it is also important to graduate from how we contribute to the NHIF. It is not fair that we punish a young 18-year-old student who has just graduated from high school or a young person who is hustling and make it compulsory for them to contribute Kshs300 while a Member of Parliament pays Kshs1,700. With the kind of money that I earn as a Member, it would be possible to cushion young unemployed persons. Instead of making it compulsory for a young hustler who is unemployed to contribute Kshs300, we should graduate our contributions to an extent that anybody who is earning Kshs50,000 contributes Kshs1,000. Someone like a Member of Parliament, who has a good salary of above Kshs500,000, should contribute up to Kshs30,000 to Kshs40,000 and, therefore, cushion millions of other Kenyans who are not able to contribute. Again, when we get to the Committee of the whole House, I will be looking at how we can bring amendments that will reflect a graduated sort of contribution. This is a good Bill, which I support with the few reservations that I have pointed out, especially the question of State capture and the misuse of State corporations to enrich a few individuals who hold power as well as the misuse of legislation to create avenues for them to continue looting public resources and impoverishing our people."
}