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{
    "id": 1347811,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1347811/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 304,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nominated, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Dorothy Muthoni",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "comes with its unique challenges. It is one thing to appreciate because if you grow old without health issues, then you must be very lucky. In one way or the other, you need a lot of attention. As I go deeper into this Bill, I appreciate the Kenya Kwanza Government because it is the responsibility of every responsible Government to think of each citizen. I appreciate that the Kenya Kwanza Government has already put in place measures to start looking into the matters that are concerning the elderly people. The Government looks to recruit healthcare workers who will go around the villages. I am sure the target of the healthcare workers will be to attend to the elderly. Young people can walk to the nearest health centres. I appreciate the Kenya Kwanza Government because it has come out openly to increase the National Social Security Fund (NSSF). For a long time, people used to contribute meagre cents in the form of their retirement benefits. Today, the Government has increased the NSSF contributions, which will ensure that everyone who is retiring will go home with something reasonable, which can take care of their welfare. I am also equally disappointed when we talk about the elderly people, especially those who have worked for this Government responsibly and faithfully. I am talking about doctors, teachers and other workers. After retirement, those people languish in abject poverty because their pensions never come on time. They keep on tarmacking, waiting for them. Once they are out of the payroll, they do not know who to turn to. I urge that this Government should start hyping their game, take care and appreciate people who have worked tirelessly by rewarding them in a very timely manner. Having said that, this Bill is coming up to establish a council that will ensure efficiency in providing services to the elderly. It is good for all of us to note that families are growing smaller now. They are shrinking. Some years back, parents used to have five or six children, and some would be at home and oversee their parents in their old age. Today, families are too small that you cannot ensure all your children stay home to care for you. When established, the council will be responsible for ensuring that they have data and know where each elderly person is and their needs. The council will also be entitled to ensure that when money is disbursed to the elderly, it reaches the right people, unlike today, where every person is in charge of the elderly cash transfer, and we do not know if it reaches them or not. If we have a council in place, there will be a mechanism to ensure that even if the Government is giving a stipend to the elderly people, it will reach them on time. We all need to understand that if this Bill goes through, we must have funding. There is no way we can take care of the elderly when we do not have adequate funding for them. This will ensure that we accommodate them in very special homes and provide proper nutrition for them. Most of them are not sick, but they lack proper nutrition. This can only be provided for by the Government. We have mistakenly assumed that old people can source for their food. If we can get a mechanism and way of ensuring that…"
}