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{
    "id": 1375950,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1375950/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 84,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Malava, ANC",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Malulu Injendi",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. Today, I am a happy person because this Parliament will finally ensure that village elders are recognised in this country. Hon. Temporary Speaker, as I reply, I want to thank all the Hon. Members who have contributed to this Bill. I appreciate this Government for finally bringing this to light, so that those persons are valued and recognised in the Act and can finally get some remuneration. As you will recall, successive Parliaments have tried to come up with this matter of recognising village elders, but they were unable to realise it. I can recall a Bill that came up in the 9th Parliament, but it did not see the light of day. I joined the 11th Parliament in 2013 and I came up with a Motion on village elders which was discussed and deliberated. Every Hon. Member who contributed gave positive support. Unfortunately, when I went to make a follow- up on their payments, I was given a very simple response that there was no law guiding the national Government to pay those particular persons. In the 12th Parliament, Mhe. Mutuse also came up with a Motion which received positive support, but nothing happened to the village elders. I want to thank this Parliament for realising this Bill very quickly in the second year of its operation, so that those persons can finally be recognised and remunerated with some small money. Initially, I had proposed about Ksh3,000 every month, but I want to take on the recommendation by Hon. Abdul that the Government should consider giving them at least Ksh6,000 every month, which translates to Ksh1.6 billion every year. Hon. Temporary Speaker, I come from a family where there was a chief. My father was a very successful chief in the 1970s. I was very young; nine years old, but I could see the work that village elders did. Little did I know that those persons were not being remunerated. Each one of us with a similar background saw what they went through. Finally, I am happy that this Government will recognise persons who come to my office for assistance with school fees and many other things. Most Members of Parliament have confessed that when they appear before them, they do not look like leaders because they are dressed in tattered clothes and shoes. When you look at their homes and families, they are also pathetic. Today, I want to thank the 13th Parliament because during the term of the Fifth President, those particular persons will finally see the value of the work they have been doing for this country. Hon. Temporary Speaker, I beg to reply."
}