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{
    "id": 1381376,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1381376/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 170,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Abass",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13587,
        "legal_name": "Abass Sheikh Mohamed",
        "slug": "abass-sheikh"
    },
    "content": "In this country, the most neglected people are the retirees. We are talking about counties but those who have worked in the national Government equally suffer the same predicament. It is painful, having served the country with dedication and when you retire at the age of 60 or 65 years, you move around struggling to get your pension. What happens in the counties is that the money for such deductions is used as miscellaneous funds. When salaries delay, they pay against salaries and when they have other commitments, they use the same money. As a result, this money accrues interest because those institutions have deducted from the Local Authorities Provident Fund (LAPFUND), the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and others. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as we talk, my county is currently paying Kshs1 billion for those statutory deductions. The most unfortunate thing is that the second term governor whose term ended in 2022 is looking for his gratuity because he failed to submit that money. Today, the same governor is looking for the same money but he failed to submit that money when it was meant to be done. The best thing to do is to change the institutional framework for pensioners and decentralize it. Pensioners come all the way, from far-fetched areas of the country, struggling every morning to visit pension offices in Nairobi and they stay here for months without getting their pensions. They are then told that the money will be sent to them and they should go back to their homes. At that time, they do not even have fare and they become stranded in Nairobi. Mr. Speaker, Sir, Kshs90 billion is a lot of money. This House has to come up with a Bill to change the Pensions Act. This will compel every county to submit that money on time and if they fail to do that, the pensioners should ask them. They do not even give interest because they do not have money. Sometimes, trustees hold this money by saying that a child must reach 18 years. If we say the child must reach 18 years and they cannot even go to school, that beats the purpose of paying that pension. This should also be reviewed. Mr. Speaker, Sir, during this time when these pensioners get blood pressure and all kinds of diseases and yet, they cannot access treatment. To be fair, the House needs to act in order to help retirees in this country. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}