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{
    "id": 1218019,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1218019/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 106,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Githunguri, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Gathoni Wamuchomba",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. First of all, allow me to congratulate Hon. Nzambia, a very aggressive lawmaker and a second time Member of Parliament. He has decided to bring salvation to the elderly persons of Kenya. Congratulations Hon. Nzambia. The elderly Kenyans are somehow forgotten. They have no voice. If Hon. Members do not come to this House to represent them, they have no one to turn to. Hon. Temporary Speaker, allow me to say that the issue of elderly Kenyans is a very sensitive one and it needs to be given a lot of weight which it deserves. These are the people who fought for the independence of the Republic of Kenya. They took care of us and took us to school. They worked so hard to make Kenya grow economically, politically, and socially to where it is now. Unfortunately, when most of these people retire as public servants, they do not have a medical cover, yet that is the time they are very vulnerable to all manner of diseases. The Government of Kenya, through Article 57 of the Constitution, is obliged to take care of the elderly Kenyans. Unfortunately, we have been discriminative. We provide the social assistance programmes to these people discriminatively. We entrust the area chiefs and sub-chiefs to take care of our people but they seem to discriminate against the elderly persons, especially during registration for the social assistance programme. I, as a lawmaker want, first of all, to make it very clear that I have invested very seriously in the elderly persons. For records, I already have a Geriatric Bill, 2020, which I tried to table in the 12th Parliament, but I did not succeed to push it to the end. I am excited because through an amendment of the Standing Orders, I now have an opportunity to push it to the 13th Parliament. It is already published. I want to add something to Hon. Nzambia’s Motion. It is the right of the elderly persons of Kenya to get social assistance without begging from the chiefs and sub-chiefs to be registered for social assistance programmes. In the past, the elderly persons were only allowed to get into the registry of social assistance programme if they proved that they do not have a dignified house or dependent children or caregivers who earn well. This is a task that an area chief cannot prove. Therefore, registrations were done discriminatively. There are so many elderly persons in the villages who do not receive the monthly stipends just because they were discriminated against during registration. The fact that my mother lives in a stone house does not mean she has an income. She could have got it through her late husband who is no longer providing. She could have been working somewhere and, of course, had income, but now she is retired and cannot even afford a cup of tea. Therefore, it is important for us to come up with a serious Bill. We need to make a law that will provide for a dignified social assistance programme for our elderly persons in Kenya. Other than just the social assistance, we need to look at the health of the elderly people. We need to provide medical care for them. If you go to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), you will find all manner of doctors. I am humbled to see some of the doctors who have served The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}