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{
    "id": 983596,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/983596/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 183,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Isiolo North, KPP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Hassan Hulufo",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13348,
        "legal_name": "Hassan Oda Hulufo",
        "slug": "hassan-oda-hulufo-2"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I would like to support this Bill on the elderly members of our society. Our traditions, cultural norms and faith to which most of us profess, make it obligatory for us to care for our elderly. Most of our elderly in the society have contributed to what we are today. Therefore, they deserve to be supported. The elderly belong to vulnerable groups of human beings. For example, when we have natural calamities, they are more affected. As the Member for Nairobi County has stated, during fire outbreaks, more often than not, if you look at the causalities, elderly people are disproportionally affected. In other instances, when we have drought emergencies and hunger in northern Kenya, they are most affected alongside children. Therefore, as a society, we are obligated to care for our elderly when they are not able to take care of themselves. Ideally, in line with our African customs, it is children who take care of their parents in their old age. But in some instances, we have old people who have no children to take care of them. Therefore, the idea of county governments establishing homes for the elderly is timely. However, where elderly persons have surviving relatives who can take care of them, they should be supported from within their extended family set up instead of putting them in homes for the elderly. That is a very good practice. Sometimes we put so much emphasis on youths and other special groups to the extent that what we do borders on discriminating against the elderly. The elderly that we bash are the ones who are in good standing in the society and are sometimes given good Government jobs. They are still elderly persons who need to be respected and cared for. We also need to plan for them through a legislation, like the one we are debating. I fully support the provisions of this Bill. When it comes to accessing Government services like justice, and when dealing with law enforcement officers, elderly people have special challenges. Therefore, this Bill helps the law enforcement and those who dispense justice to handle senior citizens in a respectful way. Many times, elderly persons, especially those in towns and in high potential areas, are dispossessed of their properties. In my constituency, I deal with many cases where elderly persons who do not have sons and daughters to protect their interests, have their land grabbed by land speculators. We have many such cases. When they report to the police and land offices, the issues are not taken up quickly. When they file cases, they sometimes cannot meet the legal fees and have no way of accessing pro bono services from lawyers who are good enough to take up such cases. With this The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}