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"content": "needy families or persons with disabilities. So, if we were to pass this Motion and if the Government were to take action as urged by this House, then it would lessen the burden of dependence on our elected leaders and ensure the independence of such individuals towards self-reliance. I believe that the government would have the capacity to do so. If you look at the cost implication of such administrative action, I do not think it would cost a lot, yet the dividends would actually be quite significant, going forward. This is because when you have a healthy nation, then you also increase national productivity and, of course, you are also able to rank very highly in terms of the human development index. Mr. Speaker, Sir, why would we want to invest in persons with disabilities? We would want to invest in them in terms of health because disability is a club, anybody can be a member and there is no application. If you want to know whether that is the case, ask old people because you cannot differentiate between old age and disability. So, at some point, it will catch up with us. We may have already lost our earning power; we may have already lost the vigor to go out and fend for ourselves. So, when we invest in this, we are actually assuring ourselves of a prosperous future and the eventuality, should we or our children and even our descendants have disabilities. So, this leads to a better society, community and a future that would be sustainable; a future that would ensure that everybody would be living a dignified life. I want to inform this House of the story of a young person with disability who recently approached me. This person is an orphan, living in the slums; he had not managed to go to school and, as a result, he had actually tried to start a business but it failed. And there he was, he was sick, telling me to help him foot some medical bills. But, honestly, if he had an NHIF card, he did not have to come to me. This is not the story of only one individual; this is the story of so many Kenyans who are waiting for that time that the government can actually intervene and they have some respite. We represent special interests and counties. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to ensure that by the time we finish our tenure of being in the third Senate in the Twelfth Parliament, we leave a legacy that would benefit not only the people that we represent now but also the people that will be represented by other people when our time is gone. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to urge us to consider this Motion as very timely. I am persuaded that we will pass it as a House. After we have passed it, we should ensure that it is implemented by the national Government. I say so because with my experience of having been in the National Assembly, we have realised sometimes that we come up with very good Motions. Sometimes they even get support from across the political divide, the national media and people celebrate them but then they just remain as that. They are Motions that did not end up contributing to the development of Kenyans. It is also time that even when we have a Committee on Implementation and those that follow up, we come up with mechanisms that would ensure that whatever we debate in this august House ends up being implemented by the national Government. Mr. Speaker, Sir, in conclusion, we need this Motion. We need these facilities to ensure that we save lives. We need to ensure that we improve the dignity of all Kenyans. This also needs to be looked at as an indirect way of increasing the financing of our public institutions, hospitals and access to good quality health care."
}