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{
"id": 864282,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/864282/?format=api",
"text_counter": 440,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Orengo",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Minority Leader",
"speaker": {
"id": 129,
"legal_name": "Aggrey James Orengo",
"slug": "james-orengo"
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"content": "four years. He or she should not be in a position to overstay, because then, with the kind of structure that I see in this board, quite easily the board will become the CEO. Every time a new board comes in, the CEO will know all the tricks in the system and may at the end of the day, make it very difficult for the institution to operate. The most important positions in this old structure are three; the Fund Manager, the Custodian of the Scheme and the Administrator. I like the idea because internally within the management, there are three officers who have got various responsibilities. There is one whose duty is just to receive the funds. The other one becomes the custodian of the funds and, thirdly, there is the administrator, who then opens and maintains accounts for each member and, of course, keeps records. When it comes to payments on retirement, it is the administrator who will be dealing with the many problems that come when somebody is claiming his or her money, when he or she is entitled. I hope in this new age of technology we will not have a situation like the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) where you had somebody coming from Kapsabet Town claiming his funds here in Nairobi County from NSSF for 10 or 20 years and eventually he dies before receiving his benefits. It is very sad. By the time he gets paid, probably, he would have spent more than what he had saved. Madam Temporary Speaker, I hope this administrator, who is very important official, will not frustrate the members of this Fund. I hope he or she will work efficiently, so that the concept of mandatory membership would then make sense. When you want to get your benefits and, you again go through such suffering, then it should not become a mandatory scheme. I hope the experience of others under the NSSF in this regard would not arise with this Scheme. The other provisions that I am very uncomfortable with is Clause 48 which deals with offences. I am not quite comfortable when the punishment attracted under Clause 48 goes up to a sum not in excess of Kshs4 million, or to an imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years. When that relates to an administrator, manager or director in a company which is a sponsor or in relation to the directors of the Scheme itself, I would be comfortable with this particular clause. However, my reading of this provision would also cover even a member who for some reason, would want to frame a charge. Sometimes in the criminal justice system, we come into situations where it is so easy to craft a charge under which somebody can be frustrated. Those of you who have been charged under the „hate speech‟ clauses of the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission Act, you find that sometimes the law can be read so broadly that those who should not be charged in the first place are charged. Similarly, I hope that the provisions that relate to these offences would be looked at more carefully or scrutinized, so that an ordinary member does not find themselves punished to this extent, Kshs5 million or imprisonment for two years, for something which would, probably, have been created by a manager or director in a position to do so. I hope that when the appropriate time comes, we will draw that distinction so that people are not made to suffer. Madam Temporary Speaker, I support this Bill. However, those who have tried to make a case against this Bill have not convinced me that it should not find favour with The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}