This archive report was first published on 5 July 2020.
Yvette Bonareri: A Champion for the Elderly ¶
Yvette Bonareri, an 18-year-old from Kenya, has been making waves with her proposed Bill to compel children and relatives to care for elderly parents. The Bill, titled the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Bill 2020, aims to protect the rights of older persons and ensure they receive reasonable care and assistance from their family and the State.
According to Article 57 (d) of the Constitution, the government is mandated to protect the rights of older persons. Bonareri's Bill seeks to activate this provision and make it a reality.
Yvette's passion for supporting the elderly began in 2016 when she joined Alliance Girls High School and became a member of the school's social welfare society. During her visits to homes for the elderly, she realized how the elderly were suffering and needed help. This sparked her desire to assist them, and she began looking for ways to make a difference.
As a member of the social welfare society, Yvette convinced her friends to set aside a small portion of their pocket money to purchase gifts for the elderly. She also arranged for weekly visits to the Thogoto Home for the Aged, where they would engage in cleaning, washing utensils, and telling stories to keep the elderly entertained.
By the time she was in Form Three in 2018, Yvette's passion for supporting the elderly had grown, and her schoolmates, friends, and family encouraged her to pursue her dream. She registered the Ukongwe Bora Welfare Society, a charitable organization to take care and comfort the elderly, just a month after sitting her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exams in 2019.
Yvette's Bill proposes that a senior citizen, including parents who are unable to maintain themselves through their own earnings, shall be supported by their children and relatives. The Bill also proposes the establishment of a tribunal through which senior citizens can sue their children for maintenance if they fail to provide for them. Any person who neglects and abandons a senior citizen under their care shall be imprisoned for three months.
As a private member's Bill, Yvette is seeking the help of Members of Parliament to push through her dream for elderly persons through the Senate and National Assembly. Her Bill also seeks to compel the Government to establish homes for the elderly in each of the country's 47 counties to accommodate those with no relatives to take care of them.
