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{
    "id": 1218124,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1218124/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 211,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Tinderet, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Julius Melly",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I would like to thank Hon. (Eng.) Nzambia for bringing this Motion to the House and, more so, for bringing to the attention of the national Government and the Executive the plight of the aged and elderly members of the society. Hon. Temporary Speaker, our Constitution in Article 57 is quite clear about the need to care for the vulnerable in the society. A vast majority of the vulnerable in the society are the elderly who are 65 years old and above. I concur with Hon. Muhia, Member for Kipipiri. I do not understand what the Principal Secretary meant by saying that people aged 70 or 100 contest in elections so that they can organise for their cash transfers. It is bad and unacceptable to put senior citizens in such a position, knowing that they contributed to the development of this country up to where we are today. We took over from them. They are the fathers, grandfathers, grandmothers and leaders who brought Kenya to where it is. We need to take care of them. I just want to point out that we do not need to go out there and carry out those registrations every other time. The Registrar of Persons should know every Kenyan in this country. We need to digitise. We need to know the vulnerable members of society who are unable to meet their needs and who do not have enough food, homes and access to medical facilities. It is upon the State Department for Social Protection to ensure that cash transfers are done on time and in a humane manner. They should not ask the elderly to line up in a bank or in a cash transfer facility in the hot sun. We need to ensure that the money goes towards making sure that the elderly have proper medical cover. There is the NHIF aspect in the social protection scheme. However, every time the elderly presents their NHIF cards at medical facilities, they do not work. Those facilities normally say that there is no money and that the Government has not remitted the funds. We need to first ask the Cabinet Secretary and the Principal Secretary to give a status report on the health aspect of the social protection programmes. This is because when we go to our constituencies, people normally ask us where their money is. They tell us that they have not received money for the last four or six months. In addition, the sick are turned away from hospitals because their NHIF cards are not active. This Motion is quite in order, and it also calls upon the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection to come up with proper regulations to ensure that those monies are protected. Caregivers of the aged are known to pinch this money and misuse it. At times, the beneficiaries of that money are caregivers who are not trustworthy. Field officers in the State Department for Social Protection need to look into this. Every time Members of Parliament – who are the first-line officers – meet those people every weekend, the first thing they ask is why they are not getting that money. Ask every Member of Parliament who is here. The people back home say that they are unable to buy food, blankets and medicine. As Hon. Mwalyo has said, as you age, medical issues arise not because of anything but because of aging. This is a very important thing that we need to strengthen as a House. Let this House enact a law to ensure, one, that the money is transferred to the recipients on time. Two, those who take this money from the aged be punished and three, the elderly should not be taken through vigorous activities to prove that they are alive every other day. Being asked to register themselves every time is quite unfair. Sometimes they are moved from Post Bank to the Kenya Commercial Bank and back. This is not good."
}