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{
    "id": 764936,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/764936/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 154,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Kubai Iringo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1574,
        "legal_name": "Cyprian Kubai Iringo",
        "slug": "cyprian-kubai-iringo"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for your indulgence. I support this Motion, which is long overdue. I thank the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Leader of the Majority Party for moving fast on this issue. As I speak, many Members who were here during the last Parliament are not here with us today. I believe come 2022, a similar axe will fall on many of us. Those who are lucky to have come for the second term like me should be feeling that those who were here with us in the last Parliament should be given a chance to start life out there. Naturally, the issue of pensions in this country is a thorn in the flesh. It is a hard nut to crack, especially when somebody retires from employment. When you go out there, the people who are supposed to process your dues so that, at least, life can continue, start dragging their feet as if they will never retire. Apart from Members of Parliament, if you look at teachers and other public servants and many others who have been in employment, there are those who spend five to 10 years without receiving their pensions. That is morally unfair. It is injustice to the senior citizens. Therefore, I am appealing to the Pensions Fund to ensure that when public servants retire, they get their pension. Such persons are delicate and vulnerable to so many things. Therefore, processing the dues must be done as fast as possible. We have had cases where people passed on before they see their pension. Their spouses and children start following the same. Maybe, at the end of the day, they lose everything or get peanuts. Equally important, this august House should serve by example by ensuring that when Members leave this House, they get their dues as soon as possible. Therefore, I pray that Hon. Dan Wanyama, who is my friend; Hon. Rehema Dida Jaldesa and Hon. Andrew Mwadime, who is also my friend, will take this noble job seriously. When they sit with officers from the National Treasury, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and the Pensions Fund, they should ensure that they remove any bottlenecks that may be introduced, especially by the National Treasury. The National Treasury always puts bottlenecks to ensure that they delay disbursement of pension funds or they disburse the money in piecemeal. Sometimes they just try to tax the money. Therefore, the colleagues we are sending there should be the eyes of this House. They should be looking at the interests of our colleagues. They should not be intimidated or coerced into letting Members get a raw deal. We want full payment and good support. Even if this is not in this Motion, we need to ensure that first-timers access pension. We tried to do it in the 11th Parliament, but the Pensions Fund became so difficult. This issue is worth revisiting. We can revisit it because we are losing around 70 per cent of our colleagues after every Parliament. The 70 per cent of the membership of the House who fail to make it back to the House should also be compensated by being given a lumpsum payment. Many of them are going to retire in their rural homes and start small businesses or other small-scale activities for their survival. If there is a continuous payment, it can be tailored such that one gets 50 per cent 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."
}