Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 584997,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/584997/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 349,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "people’s homes in this country. However, we are in this transition and it does not mean that because some people are in old people’s homes, others should not be at home where you are able to enjoy life with your grandchildren in the village. Let us encourage that and create structures to support the old people to enjoy within that structure in the village. Where it is impossible, let us allow old people’s homes to be established and supported by both the national and county governments. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I know we introduced legislation to support cash transfers for old people in the last Government, but the impact of that legislation in the villages where we come from has been negligible. There have been no significant improvements in the lives of the old people in the villages. The Kshs2,000 cash transfer is nothing. You will take a bodaboda or matatu twice and the money is finished. Secondly, the method of dispensing that amount through the chiefs and assistant chiefs is an old leaking bucket theory where very little actually reaches the wazees because a lot of it is lost through the provincial administration loop holes. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we can borrow the Indian model where every person in India is supposed to have a bank account whether you have or do not have money. Once you have a bank account, we know your name and where you come from, the cash transfer should be done directly. We are lucky in this country because we have M-Pesa. Why can we not give that money to the old people through the M-Pesa service? We should get them registered and just sent the money directly to them instead of directing it to the chiefs. There is a case for delivering the money to the beneficiaries through modern money transfer services. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, what is exciting about old age is the fact that many of the worries that we have as young people are not there in old age. If we take care of an old person’s health and food, life can be good for them. This is because the things that worry young people, for instance, which young girl to marry or which man to get married to, do not bother old people who are 80 years old. They do not spend sleepless nights because young girls cheated them and they waited at a coffee shop for hours on end looking at everyone coming in to see whether she is coming in or not. The young people worry about whether to buy vehicles or not, while old people do not think about such things. The ones they had many years ago still serve them right. If they have none, they are not dreaming of buying it at the age of 80 years and above. The old people who have some kind of modest housing are not thinking of buying new ones or even buying land. Therefore, the high pressure stresses of modern life do not bother them so we should not stress the old people. When their basic needs of food and medicine are met, they can live a relatively stress free life. The critical thing that Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale talked about is love. The biggest challenge that the old people face in the country is that of loneliness. Many of them have very good stories to tell, but they have nobody to tell them to because the people they should be telling them to - their children - are busy at work in Nairobi, Mombasa and other places. They are not there to listen to those stories. The grandchildren who would also be enjoying those stories are also not there because they are in school. When many of them come back, they are either watching television or doing their own things. They have no time for those beautiful stories. 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."
}