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{
    "id": 837322,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/837322/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 248,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "October 4, 2018 SENATE DEBATES 40 Sen. Nyamunga",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Thank you Madam Temporary Speaker forgiving me this opportunity to contribute to this Bill. First of all, I congratulate the Senator for Kericho County for the well-researched Bill that I have had an opportunity to go through. He has put a lot of time on it and touched on almost all aspects of what is required of a good Bill. The Bill is also timely because it takes care of Article 57, as already stated by one of the Senators who contributed earlier; that the elderly should be given care as they age. I pray every day and one of the issues that I tell God is that I would like to live to a very old age. Sometimes I even give Him the number of years that I would like to be around. But even as I ask for that, I know the dangers of living long in this world and the calamities and difficulties that can come with it. However, as human beings I think we are in a position to make sure that we take care of ourselves, relatives and friends as we age. It is also very important for us to note that this Bill will not be compulsory. If I can take care of my elderly parents or relatives, I do not have to take them to any home. I can stay with them within my reach and take care of them. The Bill is flexible and gives the type of rescue that we can give to the elderly people. It is a voluntary thing, within the law and very timely. Madam Temporary Speaker, as a country, we have never been proactive most of the time in how we do our things. This Bill is being very proactive because we are seeing the problem right in front of us. Most of the time, we wait until we are at the dead-end before we start thinking about what to do. We have so many old people around us who are suffering and nobody is taking care of them. We need to start thinking of how to solve the problem of the elderly and taking care of them early enough. I know that the Government is trying its best to support the elderly by giving them some disbursements per month. I think it is at Kshs2,000, which sometimes takes very long. However, we must commend the Government because, at least, it is doing something about it. We just want to extend it to the county level. It is very clear that the HIV/AIDS scourge has made it worse for many people who sometimes have lost all their children and are left with their grandchildren. They struggle to take care of the grandchildren and when they are gone, they do not have that attachment that they could have with their parents. As a result, the grandparents are left alone. It is a very common phenomenon in our communities and we see it all around us. When we talk of gender-based violence, I do not think that we are only talking about issues of defilement, rape or fights that go on within the family. Even the case of an old person, who is not well taken care of, to me is gender-based violence, because the suffering of such people cannot even be compared with some of the suffering that we pay much attention to. We know that the HIV/AIDS scourge has taken a toll on some communities, including mine. When we talk we know what is happening. Many people have also migrated to overseas countries looking for greener pastures and living their parents in the hands of nobody. They may be sending some Dollars every month and hoping that somebody is taking care of their old people, but sometimes that money never gets to them. The one thing I like about this Bill is that it takes care of all aspects of life. It takes care of the social, medical cover, recreation, spiritual nourishment, counselling and The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes"
}