Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1129482,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1129482/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 85,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cherargei",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13217,
        "legal_name": "Cherarkey K Samson",
        "slug": "cherarkey-k-samson"
    },
    "content": "Insurance Fund (Amendment) Bill is coming before the House. These are 250,000 people. You have heard Sen. Sakaja say that these are few people. They can know each other. I saw him say in JKL and I have seen him saying this today here--- I watched because you were there. These are few, 250,000 out of 47,500,000 Kenyans according to the 2019 census. What is hard for the Government to provide them with NHIF cards? You know at that age there are many diseases that might just decide to come. I think we must put in place that we agree with it. Madam Temporary Speaker, the Committee must really assist us in ensuring that this special audit--- I do not know the resolution of the Committee, whether they have written to the Auditor-General, so that when we come back from the long Christmas Holiday recess, we must be told who has the money. You know I told the Principal Secretary (PS) who was the former County Commissioner of Mombasa by the name of Mr. Nelson Marwa. He was complaining that some young people like me were withdrawing money. They are becoming old so that they can receive that amount of money. I hope as we make the resolution, the Committee led by Sen. Sakaja has met with the PS. We must be told why because if a PS of such Ministry makes such serious allegations, then there must be proof. What is the role of the DCI and the EACC? It is unbecoming if anybody is abusing this issue of ensuring that they become old and yet they are young. I do not know why young people or people within Government offices would want to benefit from something that they have not. They are not their age. Why would you want to take Kshs2,000 for a70 year old? That Kshs2,000 means a lot to that retired person. Madam Temporary Speaker, the Committee has done its bit, but the National Treasury must be blamed. The National Treasury must tell us why there is a delay in disbursements of cash for the Inua Jamii Programme. It is very important because when the budget has been appropriated. Why is it that wazee who are over 70 who depend on the cash transfers programme when the money has been disbursed to departments and ministries? We know of other programmes such as the issue of the Nutrition Programme, supporting the Orphans and Vulnerable in the Society. I think the National Treasury must ensure that they put measures in place. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, we should also have a natural attrition system of people who have been registered. Maybe at a certain age when you are 70, some beneficiaries have died. What is the system that the Ministry of Public Service and Special Programme has put in place? How do you ensure that if the beneficiaries have died, they are exited from the system, so that you do not pay ghost people? Secondly, Madam Temporary Speaker, there are people who were not 70 years in 2017. In 2021, they are now 70 years. How do you capture that data? I hope the Chairperson of Committee on Labour and Social Welfare should have sat down and listened to the very serious Solomonic submissions that I am making or he can consult the HANASRD later. Madam Temporary Speaker, as I was saying, we have somebody who is 69 years today. Does it mean we need to start registration? I thought it should be continuous. Why is it that it is easy to continuously register voters to vote and it is hard to register Kenyans who are attaining 70 years and they become vulnerable because they are sickly? They are old and they need that small amount of 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."
}