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{
    "id": 699137,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/699137/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 70,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Midiwo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 184,
        "legal_name": "Washington Jakoyo Midiwo",
        "slug": "jakoyo-midiwo"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I rise to comment on this Petition. I know that former Members have and are really suffering. I know very many who are suffering. Recently, I was called by a former Member and his voice was sad. They think we are the only lot that can help them. Sometimes while sitting here, we behave as if we will stay here forever. If you talk to the majority of these Members, they will tell you that they will come back. Nobody puts himself in the 76 per cent bracket that is going home. It is natural and human. Even the people who want our seats, even the ones who have nobody - he is the only voter for himself or herself - say they are going to win. The truth is that only 24 per cent comes back. I was reading somewhere that this time round because of the loose money in the counties stolen by governors and the way they are using it, the attrition will be like 78 per cent. So 18 per cent will come back. Hon. Speaker, what is important is, are we taking care of Kenyans? This society is very cruel to politicians. It is very very cruel. There are some things or games where there must be no shame. Four or five years after the SRC was put in place, other than just sit in the office, I thought the least they could have done was to work out a pension for senior citizens. Hon. Speaker, today, the Government has a cash transfer programme for ordinary citizens. Somebody who has served here for 20 years has no food in his house, yet he has served this country. You cannot benefit from the cash transfer programme because you are a former Member of Parliament. The other day, the Deputy President said that they want it increased. It will be more than pension. I know of a former Member of Parliament who earns less than Kshs2,000 per month, but people still visit his home for tea and other necessities. I do not think that is how we want our country to run. I am happy the Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee has tabled a report this afternoon that allows us to amend the wrong things in our Constitution, for example, the provision that took away Ministers from the House. We have gone for nearly four years without even knowing who our Cabinet Secretaries are. It may be too late for us to even figure out who they are. We have changed so much even where we did not have to change anything. We were fixing some things which were not broken. This House must rise to the occasion and help Kenyans. Some Kenyans have served this nation diligently and we should save them. We should even give them a chance in their old age to buy medicines or s ukuma wiki . Their situation is dire. Those of us who have been here for long have seen it all. Many of the new Members do not know the faces of many former Members of Parliament, but we cannot go to the tea lounge without seeing a former Member whose life looks like it has stopped. This morning, I hosted a few former Members in my office. It beholds upon us to do it right. I want to thank Hon. Eng. Nicholas Odero Gumbo for trying to do it. He also wants to be my Governor. I hope he will give pension to all the retirees in my village when he gets there."
}