Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1558964,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1558964/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 204,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Westlands, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Tim Wanyonyi",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "who are 60 years, but the life expectancy in this country is about 45 years. I have been paying Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) for senior citizens in my constituency. Initially, we had set the age at 60, but it was nearly impossible to get the numbers. So, we had to reduce the age to 50 and that is when the numbers rose to 200 people. Very few people are 60 or 70 years and above, and so, I recommend that we reconsider and set the age at 55 rather than 60, so that we can include more people. Many vulnerable people have not yet been included. If you go to the village, people aged 40 years look like they are 70 years old because of poverty. All these people need social support. Hon. Temporary Speaker, cash transfer to people living with disabilities targets the household instead of the individual. However, if it targeted an individual rather than the household, it would have had more impact. When it is transferred to a household, it is rare that the person gets support from that money. As we provide social protection, we need to include assistive devices for people living with disabilities to enable them to move around, especially outdoors. People who need wheelchairs will be unable to move if they do not have access to one. The number of people living with disabilities in the rural areas is very high. During the national census, the question on disability was framed wrongly; the enumerators did not get the accurate numbers of people living with disabilities. They captured very low numbers. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that people living with disabilities make up 10 per cent of the population in every country, yet in this country, we estimate it at 2.2 per cent, which is not accurate. We need to check that because it marginalises people living with disabilities, preventing them from getting the necessary support they require. Hon. Temporary Speaker, we also need to look at the number of people supported by the Government and the level of support they are getting. I believe that Ksh2,000, given the current value of the shilling, is too low. It should be raised to Ksh5,000 and the number of people expanded. Very few people from our constituencies are benefiting from the Cash Transfer Programme. We need to change the way things are done so as to include more people. The numbers are very negligible. We need to reach as many people as possible. I am also not comfortable with the cash transfer being done through chiefs. There may be a better way to do it because some chiefs do not behave well. In fact, they even make it more difficult for these people to access their money. It would be better to use the constituency offices because they can provide more accurate information and be more effective in transferring the money to the people. Hon. Temporary Speaker, I support this Bill. Thank you very much."
}