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{
    "id": 938379,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/938379/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 277,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Bungoma CWR, FORD-K",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Ms.) Catherine Wambilianga",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 523,
        "legal_name": "Catherine Nanjala Wambilianga",
        "slug": "catherine-nanjala-wambilianga"
    },
    "content": "When you meet former Members of Parliament, especially in my county, they are in pathetic state. When you look at the mode of transport that some of them use, they have gone as low as riding bicycles. One wonders whether they were once Members of Parliament or they are like the rest of the retirees. That alone has made the former Members lose the dignity they deserve in society. The society will at all times view a former Member of Parliament like a sitting Member. The common visitors that we get are similar to what former Members get. People believe that former Members still have something. Unfortunately, it is pathetic. The former Members of Parliament cannot even afford to sustain giving a cup of tea to the visitors. I will go further into details because I know how they even appear. I have seen former Members of Parliament wearing pathetic suits. You meet them in faded suits. Some are in old shoes and one will always wonder. It is high time this House passed this Bill, so that former Members have something extra to sustain their former lifestyles. The pension that has been proposed here, with the changing economy, is honestly very little. I wish the Member who proposed to have it amended brings the amendment to this House. I urge Members who are here and those who are not here to look at it critically. It is not that anybody is going to enjoy that money. Part of it will go to many other things that can help former Members to sustain their livelihoods. Most of the former Members left with a lot of debts which they are still paying. Some of them still come to our offices asking for even as little as Kshs5,000 for bursaries. That means that most of them cannot even afford boarding schools for their children, especially those from areas where people lead polygamous lives. From their young wives, they have very little children and as many as 10 or even 15, who are from a number of wives. When they come to our offices like the County Woman Representative’s office, our bursaries are so limited. But because you know this is a colleague, somebody who has been there before and somebody who was respected, you are forced to give them as little as Kshs5,000 just for them to go and reduce their debts or pay school fees. It is high time the House passed this Bill. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}