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{
    "id": 837332,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/837332/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 258,
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    "content": "checks in; while for women, other issues of cancer and age related diseases set in. If you look at the population pyramid, the elderly that we are trying to address in this Bill are defined by Sen. Cheruiyot as those being 60 years and above. If you look at the population demographics, those who are above 60 years in Kenya are just about five per cent of the total population, but you cannot ignore them. This is not a vote-seeking Bill or debate. We are talking about the vulnerable and the weak in our community. The dependable ratio in this country is about 78.3 per cent, whereas life expectancy is about 66.7. Therefore, it is legitimate for us to discuss this Bill because we know that more Kenyans will be living beyond the age of 60, which is the age defined as the elderly. Madam Temporary Speaker, there is something that happened around 2009 in this country. It was a debate which was almost similar to the one on the Value Added Tax (VAT). For a long time, the retirement age in Kenya has been 55 years. However, in 2009, the Government proposed and implemented a new retirement age in the country and pushed it to 60 years. Some of the arguments were to bring it in conformity with other East African (EA) countries. This debate did not attract as much debate as the issue of VAT, because the VAT was touching on Wanjiku, Otieno and Kamau directly. However, the impact of this policy is that this country has got a huge pension bill, which we might not be able to pay, leave alone the debt that we owe to the Chinese, the Americans and all sorts of shylocks. The pensions bill in this country is a disaster and the Government has not played its role in financing its obligations as far as pensions are concerned, more so, on the Civil Servants Pension Scheme (CSPS). Even though I support this Bill, there is something introduced here called the retirement homes or home care centres, which is an alien concept. I listened to your contribution and I realised that your culture is similar to mine. A curse shall be visited upon one, who sends an elderly person, their parent, to a home isolated somewhere. I have walked around Homa Bay County while seeking votes twice and I have not come across a home for the elderly because cultural traditions and practices demand that children must take care of their parents. My father is 86 years old today and he is Nairobi. Two days ago, I discharged him from hospital after undergoing a minor surgery. That is what is expected of children. I am raising my son to know that he will take care of me and not because I will be too poor to take care of myself. I might have all the money in the world without someone to support me to climb a stair into my house or someone to support me to climb into my car. We must raise our children to know that it is their duty to support their parents and to support the elderly in society. The support that I underline is not just about money. We have elderly parents who have done well for themselves and they have created funds for retirement but all the money in this world cannot create warmth in the heart of a human being. All the money in this world will not lift you when you are unable to get into a car or to get into a house. I hope that we will not see the encouragement of a situation where we are dumping our parents and elderly people into homes. When it comes to homes for the elderly in Kenya, the one that comes to mind is Nyumba ya Wazee. I believe this is where one of the heads of the Catholic Church, Cardinal Otunga, spent the rest of his life sitting The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes"
}