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{
    "id": 764961,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/764961/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 179,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. M.D. Duale",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1377,
        "legal_name": "Mohamed Dahir Duale",
        "slug": "mohamed-dahir-duale"
    },
    "content": "Member which include funerals and weddings. When Members lose in an election, most of them are literally reduced to paupers. I have seen Members of Parliament who are really desperate. Sometimes they do not even have medical covers and have spent their lifetime savings trying to retain their seats during elections. The moment they lose their seats, they are forgotten. As for the pension scheme, Members who are appointed should swing into action immediately and start their work, so that those who do not come back to this House for whatever reason or those who may have lost their lives because of illness or other reasons, their benefits should be given without delay. The second thing I want to say and has been said by previous speakers is that it is difficult to get employment once one has served as a Member of Parliament. It is worse for the young Members. This is because our work is a public calling and very intensive. This is why I believe Members should access pension. The amount of money given as gratuity is very small. The new parliamentarians will realise that the work of a Member is very difficult. The SRC has actually given the Members of Parliament a raw deal. I notice that all these things happen immediately we go for elections and new Members have come in. For example, it is not fair when mileage is taxed. Mileage is normally used as allowances for drivers and for fuel. When you buy fuel, you pay tax. If you buy any other goods, you pay taxes yet your salary again is taxed. I find this very unfair. Even car grants have not been given up to now and with the kind of inflation in the country--- If you look for a four-wheel drive vehicle in the market, the cheapest you will find ranges between Kshs7 to Kshs10 million. Even the Kshs5 million we are given as car grant is far from the actual price which is again being disputed. Sometimes I wonder. Even though we are called Hon. Members and we are supposed to be bosses of civil servants, civil servants have a much better deal. Principal Secretaries (PSs) and Cabinet Secretaries (CSs) have fleets of vehicles fuelled and driven yet for Parliamentarians the best we can buy are second hand vehicles which do not last long. In the course of serving as parliamentarians, we do not make savings. The public expect us to do everything for them. When most Members lose their seats, they end up becoming paupers. My take is that Members who have been appointed to this Committee should take up this job and come up with a plan to have pension for all Members of Parliament paid on time. They should also see how gratuity can be increased to something reasonable that can make somebody do some meaningful activity after serving in Parliament. With those many remarks, thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this chance."
}