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{
"id": 1559872,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1559872/?format=api",
"text_counter": 863,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Suba South, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Caroli Omondi",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Hon. Speaker, therefore, the categorisation under Section 28 may not be accurate. Somebody could be an orphan, but he is not below the poverty line. You could be an old person, but you are not below the poverty line. You could be a person with disability, but you are not below the poverty line. I think there is some serious work we need to do here to avoid controversies in the future. Secondly, as a House, it would have been better to understand the full cost implication of implementing this Bill and the social programmes contemplated there under. You realise that it talks about Non-contributory Universal Social Protection Programme. We do not know whether this will take Ksh100 billion or Ksh200 billion. As a House, the Leader of the Majority Party should have informed us in the memorandum so that we could debate from a position of knowledge. It is going to apply to everybody. Those who will be excluded can easily go to court and claim discrimination and basically derail the entire system. Therefore, we need to do additional work. In any event, if you are talking about Universal Non-contributory Protection Programme, there are so many forms of social protection that already exist. We have schemes by the Government where we give subsidised food stuffs, waive fees or give free medical care. We have community health workers who offer assistance and service to those in need, bursaries, free education in some components and emergency funds which are not included in this new proposal. I am wondering where all this will sit. I thought we should have a comprehensive Bill that is dealing with social protection in all the spheres where Government funds are being spent. However, if you look at Section 31, we are being told that the board that is being proposed to be established will conduct an assessment to verify whether applicants are eligible for protection. In a country where over 50 per cent are below the poverty line, what kind of The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
},
{
"id": 1559873,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1559873/?format=api",
"text_counter": 864,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Suba South, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Caroli Omondi",
"speaker": null,
"content": "bureaucracy are we going to create that can access all applications? Is this really practical? I am just wondering how this monster will function in a place like Turkana where the poverty prevalence is 82.7 per cent of the population. How many forms or what system will they have to help us do this assessment? I understand very well that this is part of the conditionalities with our relationship with the World Bank. However, I think it is better that we do good work and improve on this Bill so that we do not create a monster that will not work, but will just create acrimony in society and eventually will be a conduit for corruption. I think we really need to do a lot of work. Thank you, Hon. Speaker."
},
{
"id": 1559874,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1559874/?format=api",
"text_counter": 865,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Speaker",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "I will give Hon. Timothy Kipchumba a chance as the last contributor to the Bill. Hon. Tim, you will have five minutes then we can ask the House if we can call the mover to reply."
},
{
"id": 1559875,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1559875/?format=api",
"text_counter": 866,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Marakwet West, Independent",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Timothy Kipchumba",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I rise to support the letter, intent and purpose of this progressive piece of legislation. This Bill collapses the Social Assistance Act. It says that when it is passed, it repeals the Social Assistance Act which, in my opinion had a lot of loopholes. Therefore, this is a very progressive piece of legislation that we should support as a House. It addresses the issue of second generation rights - social and economic rights. Those are rights that are provided for by the Constitution and, therefore, we cannot ignore them as a nation. Clause 28(3) of this Bill widens the scope of those who are entitled to social and financial assistance at the age that they attain. It expands that scope to include orphans and vulnerable children, poor old members of society, persons with disabilities, persons in extreme poverty and persons affected by shocks. That category of persons was not assisted under the Social Assistance Act which will be repealed once this progressive piece of legislation is passed. Apart from that, if you read Clause 30 of this Bill, it also includes a special category of non-Kenyan citizens in an emergency situation. There has been a challenge on how to handle non-citizens who have an emergency in this country. I believe that once this Bill is passed, that category of people will be provided for and, therefore, would be subject to assistance. Of great importance is in Part IV, on the issue of offences. For the first time, many vulnerable people have been a subject of fraud by those who collect money on their behalf pretending that they are the ones entitled to it. I have read Clause 35 on the issue of fraud which provides that any person who defrauds the board, conspires, aides or abets another person to defraud the board, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding Ksh2 million or imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years. That provision was not there under the current Social Assistance Act. Therefore, for me it is a progressive provision under this particular statute which will assist or curb the issue of fraud. Finally, in terms of transition under Part VI, there is a provision on repeal savings and transition provisions. Since we are repealing the Social Assistance Act and replacing it with this Social Protection Bill of 2025, it provides very clearly that any person who immediately before the coming into force of this Act was an officer or member of staff of the Directorate of Social Assistance of the National Social Protection Secretariat, not being under a notice of dismissal or resignation, shall, upon commencement of this Act, become an officer of the board. Hon. Speaker, many are the times, as a House, we have passed legislations that have ignored the issue of transition. I remember the issue of the Social Health Authority (SHA). We passed a Bill here, but we were not very clear on the issue of transition, such that officers from the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) would have been taken to work under SHA. The officers who were under the NHIF were not transitioned to the Social Health Authority (SHA) since there was no clear transition provision. This is progressive because the officers or any The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
},
{
"id": 1559876,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1559876/?format=api",
"text_counter": 867,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Marakwet West, Independent",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Timothy Kipchumba",
"speaker": null,
"content": "person who had been appointed to work under the Social Assistance Act that we shall repeal, shall now work under this statute. I submit and second this Bill. I urge the House to proceed to pass this piece of legislation. Thank you, Hon. Speaker."
},
{
"id": 1559877,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1559877/?format=api",
"text_counter": 868,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Speaker",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Thank you, Hon. Members."
},
{
"id": 1559878,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1559878/?format=api",
"text_counter": 869,
"type": "scene",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "(Hon. Julius Mawathe consulted Hon. Owen Baya in the aisle)"
},
{
"id": 1559879,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1559879/?format=api",
"text_counter": 870,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Speaker",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Order, Hon. Mawathe. Take a seat. Following the request by Hon. Atandi, I now put the Question to the House that the Mover be now called upon to reply"
},
{
"id": 1559880,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1559880/?format=api",
"text_counter": 871,
"type": "scene",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "(Question, that the Mover be now called upon to reply, put and agreed to)"
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"id": 1559881,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1559881/?format=api",
"text_counter": 872,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Speaker",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Mover."
}
]
}