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"content": "and yet we know that these are people who have helped build this nation. Some of them are our own parents and our own senior citizens. In the past, the African tradition placed the responsibility of taking care of the elderly and the aged on the entire society and the family structure in particular. At the level of the family, that is, the brothers, the sisters, their sons and daughters, close and distant relatives had responsibility of taking care of the aged and the elderly. However, family ties, bonds and the entire family system is giving way and gradually weakening. So, the elderly and the aged are now facing a serious threat of being neglected and consequently exposing them to misery and suffering. The aged ones do not only suffer from senile dementia, but they also suffer from other illnesses like pneumonia and other diseases of old age, including some of the emerging diseases such as cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and the related complications, kidney problems, ulcers and so on. More importantly, they also suffer from the effects of poverty, particularly those in the villages. They do not have enough food and some of them need to have special diet which they cannot afford. Some of them do not even have adequate clothing during cold weather. Some do not have accommodation at all. Sen. Murungi has correctly identified health facilities as one of the most critical of those that the old and the elderly require. Many of them live in remote areas where these facilities are not easily available. The worst form of suffering comes from social isolation when they are left alone, neglected and abandoned when they are out there alone. I also want to make reference to our own Constitution, particularly on the chapter on the Bill of Rights where all Kenyans are guaranteed certain rights. Even the aged ones are also guaranteed those rights. We should undertake the provisions of the Constitution to provide opportunities for them to enjoy those rights regardless of age and social status. It is, therefore, our duty as a society to ensure that the vulnerable in our midst, particularly the elderly and the aged are able to enjoy their rights as long as they live. I, therefore, support Sen. (Prof.) Lesan’s Motion because I am also aware that the aged in our country are facing enormous challenges. In my own area, I am aware of a number of grandmothers who worked very hard when they were able to do so, educated their children to the level where these children moved out of the village, went out to the towns and started working, raised their own families, but with the arrival of the scourge of HIV/Aids, these young families were wiped out, leaving behind young children. Since there was nobody in the towns where they were working to look after the young children whose parents have died, the children were taken back to the grandmothers in the village. This is a completely new environment which the children are not familiar with. The grandmother herself is sickly and does not have the physical enough to cook for them. You can imagine the amount of suffering, not only for this grandmother, but even for the children. I feel that there is a very strong case to support Sen. (Prof.) Lesan’s Motion because the spirit of the Motion clearly captures the suffering which the elderly and the aged face. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I feel that these old people are entitled to some element of dignity. We should have a mechanism to assist these people to ensure that they live in comfort and dignity. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}