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{
    "id": 575353,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/575353/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 176,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Korir",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1356,
        "legal_name": "Wesley Kipchumba Korir",
        "slug": "wesley-kipchumba-korir"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker for giving me an opportunity to support this sessional paper and make my contribution not only as a Member of Parliament, but also as a Member of the Committee responsible for social welfare. The country is making steps towards the right direction in taking care of vulnerable people in the society. A country that does not move with the below average people is a country that will never go far. As a country, we need to make sure that as the economy grows, every citizen of this country gets to grow with it, otherwise we will have a small percentage of people going forward and a majority of them remaining behind. With that, we are doomed to fail. We have talked about the cash transfer of the elderly people. I think it is a good move, but we also need to look at it and see how we can help these people become better. It is very unfortunate to give Kshs2,000 every month to somebody because when they get sick they cannot afford to pay their hospital bills. They will still come to you as a Member of Parliament, or they will go around begging for money. We need to restructure this so that whosoever benefits from the cash transfer for the elderly and orphans should also be a beneficiary of universal healthcare. If they are given Kshs2,000 some of that money should be guaranteed so that it goes towards getting them a medical insurance so that when they get sick they go to hospital because they have a medical insurance. Otherwise we will be giving people handouts of Kshs2,000, they use it to drink or use it for their own needs and will not have money to pay hospital bills when they fall sick. At the end of the day, we will not be helping them. We know there are two things that people need which are not a favour from the Government, but are rights as enshrined in our Constitution. These are providing healthcare to our people, education and food. If we cannot provide those things to our people, then as a country, we will be failing. But we need to look at better ways of helping these people. If the Government is giving these people money, it needs to know what these people need. As Members of Parliament, before our time comes to an end, we need to enact good laws that ensure that everybody in this country has a life insurance, health insurance and education insurance, so that their children can go to school. If we do those things, then we will be moving this country forward. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}