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{
    "id": 837349,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/837349/?format=api",
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    "content": "of society. From the outset, I congratulate my colleague, Sen. Cheruiyot, for having thought in depth about these important people in our country. This is a timely Bill and I support it. I urge my colleagues to also support it and add more flesh so as to make it law that will help many other generations to come. This Bill is important because it brings to realisation and the implementation of Article 57 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, which provides that- “The State shall take measures to ensure the rights of older persons- (a) to fully participate in the affairs of society; (b) to pursue their personal development; (c) to live in dignity and respect and be free from abuse; and (d) to receive reasonable care and assistance from their family and the State.” The one I like most is that they should live in dignity and respect and be free from abuse. Madam Temporary Speaker, many changes have happened in the society. For example, many people have moved to urban centres to pursue education. Some have gone to countries in the West in search of greener pastures and even gotten married there. This has changed the culture that used to be there. We used to have a very rich culture, where people valued their parents. People believed in getting a blessing from their old parents. Therefore, these changes that have come socially, culturally and even education- wise, have caused a lot of suffering to the old people. We now have our old people who are left alone by their children in their homes, mostly in urban centres. Some of the places are insecure and have no medical services. The infrastructure could be poor and accessing a hospital is a problem. Therefore, this population of our old people has really undergone a lot of suffering in the recent past, because of the changes in society. Again, we have issues of poverty. Many of our communities are either food insecure or there are different types of conflicts. We have areas that experience war most of the time. This has also made many families to neglect the older people. We also have the issue of unemployment and the type of economy that we are in. Many people are not employed and yet, they need money to pay fees for their children and upkeep. Therefore, many people cannot afford a decent life for their parents. Therefore, this Bill has come at the right time, so that we can have a framework where we can develop community and home-based care programmes for our older members of the society. One thing that has impressed me in this Bill is the registration process for these particular homes. I know that there are people who would wish to take advantage of any kind of gap to advance or benefit by getting an income from some of these homes. Some of these homes do not have a proper framework or decent services. Therefore, this Bill provides a proper registration process to ensure that one registers a home that meets the required standards to ensure that older people live a decent life. I say this because in many of our rural and urban areas, you will find some Non- Governmental Organisations (NGOs) trying to mobilize or source for funds from friends and organizations to build shelters in the name of homes for the elderly. When one visits these particular homes, one is shocked to see the suffering that the older people in these The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes"
}