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{
    "id": 1506457,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1506457/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 228,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kitui Central, WDM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) Makali Mulu",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Because this is under Standing Order No. 95, I cannot donate a minute. So, I am sorry, colleagues. First of all, I appreciate the interest shown in this Bill. I appreciate the serious input in terms of thoughts towards it. I have picked four critical things that I will be taking forward in terms of amendments. One of them is the issue of the age of a child, 18 years. It has come out clearly that even though we talk about 18 years in the Constitution, most of our children now, even at the age of 24 or 25 years, are still in college and under our care. It is important that we make an exception, just as we do with the insurance, to that fact. The other point that has come out strongly and that I agree with is that the Parliamentary Service Commission should administer the pension fund. We will be factoring that. The other matter that has come out strongly is the issue of retiring on medical grounds, which you are proposing we consider Persons Living with Disabilities (PWDs). We are saying that as long as a medical doctor or a board of medical doctors have confirmed that you are retiring on medical grounds, you can easily access your benefits. And the last one is the medical scheme. We want to make it very clear that this will be a contributory post-election medical scheme so that we can start contributing when we are in office, and when you retire, your medical issues are taken care of through this. As I conclude, I assure Kenyans that this has always been a contributory pension scheme and will remain so. It has nothing to do with additional taxes or expenses from the National Treasury. We are only streamlining the process so that when Members of Parliament retire, we are within the law as stipulated in our current Constitution, just like the Salaries and Remuneration Commission proposes, so we are not outside the law. We assure Kenyans that we will ensure we work as per the law. With those many remarks, I beg to reply."
}