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{
    "id": 1163466,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1163466/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 480,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Musuruve",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13188,
        "legal_name": "Getrude Musuruve Inimah",
        "slug": "getrude-musuruve-inimah"
    },
    "content": "initiative on this programme was well meaning. This programme is among the many cash transfer programmes that the Government has initiated. The Government has also initiated cash transfers for the orphans, persons with disabilities who are severely vulnerable and continued to intensify and encourage this one that has been brought by Sen. Nyamunga on the elderly. Madam Temporary Speaker, it must be very clear to our mind that the the elderly face a lot of challenges despite the fact that they have educated their children. Some of these children may be working locally or abroad and they have also started family life so they concentrate on their own issues. Some of these parents end up being neglected. Some have lost their children and spouses and are living alone. They lack basic needs stipulated in Article 43 of the Constitution. The elderly might not be able to go to hospital. They have no one to take them to hospital. They lack social security and so on. It is, therefore, well-meaning that these funds for the elderly be given at the right time. As Sen. Nyamunga has expressed, they are delayed. It is just in good faith that this money is given at the right time to the appropriate and deserving elderly. At the moment, there are some elderly people who do no receive this cash. Sometimes it even goes to the wrong pockets. As a nation, we have a duty to ensure that we are protecting them because they did a lot to us during their heydays. When their bones are weak and strengths have failed them, we should not abandon them. At the moment, they are getting Kshs2,000. I thank Sen.Nyamunga for bringing up the issue of capacity building. I would also like to argue that Kshs2,000 is not enough for medication and other things that have to be put in place. I congratulate the former Prime Minister, Hon. Raila Odinga, who has pledged that when he takes over this money will be increased to Kshs6,000. My prayer is that we look after the elderly. I am sure that the former Prime Minister will deliver this commitment that he has made and the elderly will remember and pray for him. Madam Temporary Speaker, we must think about the elderly. We would not have been here without our parents and grandparents. They produced a generation that eventually brought us on board and we are alive. Our children and our children’s children will be there because of our elderly people. We are living in a society that forgets about the elderly. When children get employed, some of them completely forget about home and abandon their parents. Some also feel ashamed of their parents. It is a constitutional demand that everyone should live with dignity. Dignity means being respected and living in respect. This can only happen if we are able to defend our Constitution. The Constitution is very clear that in the Articles that I have talked about when it comes to the elderly people. However, when it comes to executing, defending and oversighting on this, we are not doing very well. As Sen. Nyamunga has said, we need to pass legislation to ensure that the elderly taken care of in a dignified manner. Every county government must ensure that they have mechanisms of identifying them. After identification, there must be programmes to build their capacity. We must respect and uphold their rights as stipulated in some Articles of the Constitution."
}