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{
    "id": 418349,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/418349/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 254,
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    "content": "have never known why we have never come up with a policy to think of what we should do with our people when they are aged. When they are young, we use them a lot. For example, if you look at the security officers defending this nation, the moment they become old, we do not bother about them. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, in the white highlands in the Rift Valley, we had very fine young men of those years just after the white man left, but as they aged, their beautiful farms are being divided quickly by the young generation and the old men are dying too fast. If we continue to keep those old people, it would be very easy to pass knowledge on how the communities should move on. When the idea of the payment of Kshs2,000 to the aged was mooted, we should have expanded it. The Mover actually indicated that about 1.2 million people are 75 years and above. This means that if you come to 65 years, you may get the bracket of the most needy close to two million persons. What does it cost us to take care of these people even if you gave all of them the Kshs2,000? If you gave them the Kshs2,000, you will spend about Kshs40 billion to Kshs48 billion per year. These people would be walking libraries for the children that are being born so that they can pass some knowledge to the young people. There are scandals that we can count, name and shame ourselves. There is the Goldenberg scandal. How much did we lose? We are talking about new ones that are coming up, like the laptops project. When we mention money, people get jittery. Most people in the rural areas do not have medical cover. I do not know if this will improve now that we have devolution. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the problem is that communities vary. My colleague here is suggesting that we should build homes for them, but if it becomes very expensive to build homes for them, can we think of giving them something small that they will be able to say: “Yes, we are proud of ourselves?” I was in the university and everytime we trained older people or they retired, we would get an invitation after a short while that they had passed on because of stress. This is because they realize that nobody is going to take care of them. We also know that payment of pension in this country is very worrying. The moment you exit, getting that little money that is due to you is like climbing Mt. Kenya barefooted. This is not good because we torture these people when they exit. This Motion is timely and I call upon my colleagues to think big and find ways of asking the Government to come up with a policy that is comprehensive. We need to start with whatever is necessary early and the rest can follow later on. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I beg to second."
}