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{
    "id": 346492,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/346492/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 449,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Eng. Maina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 75,
        "legal_name": "Ephraim Mwangi Maina",
        "slug": "ephraim-maina"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I stand to oppose this Bill. In this country, we are at a particular stage and we must be weary of what we are doing. It is apparent in Kenya with all the strikes we are witnessing that at the high level we are very generous but at the lower-middle level where it matters, like primary school teachers, the nurses and the doctors they are hardly living. Therefore, I find it morally difficult to accept because some of these people retiring have good benefits already. I remember at one time I visited the late president Nyerere in his retirement. He was living humbly in a simple house; living a simple life and taking simple meals because that is what his country was. The late Winston Churchill’s wife was selling jewellery to survive and he actually told Parliament never to pass a law to include her in pension. Even the first legislators never came to this House for monetary gains. When you are in a public office you must first of all be driven by the need for patriotism and nationalism. So, let us not try to imagine in this House that we are going to compensate any officer of the Government or a public officer with any amount of money. That is wrong. Even if it is to be done, let it be done in a humble way; in relation to the economic status of the country. I find it completely and morally difficult to recommend millions to go into some luxurious living when this country has people who cannot afford drugs and people still dying of hunger. This country still has people who are destitute and we cannot afford to feed them. This country has youth loitering with no jobs. I feel that these resources should be put in that kind of proper use. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this country is getting overburdened and if we are not careful, already the wage bill in this country is very heavy. I am sure the Minister for Finance knows that. He knows how much money we are spending on Recurrent Expenditure when we need money for development as a growing country. We have to start changing our priorities in this country. Again looking at this Bill, there is nothing that really says when somebody loses his benefits. They are just being given. There should be a way of showing under what terms one can lose the benefits. One should not be automatically entitled. Some of these offices are political and are going to remain so. So, let us not try to say that only those people who go to those offices have served this country. At any particular time, there is only one position in an institution but there may be dozens of people who have served in other capacities. When our army went to Somalia, there are some officers in the rank of Private who actually did much more than the senior officers. How are we going to ensure that they are compensated in relation to the way we are compensating or putting terms for their bosses? Therefore, I find it extremely and morally difficult to support this Bill. The other day I went to a hospital in Karatina and I met only eight nurses out of 123 nurses. The rest were on strike. There were only 23 patients in a hospital where there are normally 200 patients. The reason was that the nurses were on strike. Let us try to address those issues because people are dying in this country for lack of services. In future when Kenya is rich or wealthy then we can afford this kind of luxurious benefits. As of now, I feel that God in heaven is with me when I say that I oppose this Bill. I find it morally difficult to ask this House to support it. With those few remarks, I oppose."
}