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{
    "id": 1157081,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1157081/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 311,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Funyula, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr.) Wilberforce Oundo",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13331,
        "legal_name": "Wilberforce Ojiambo Oundo",
        "slug": "wilberforce-ojiambo-oundo-2"
    },
    "content": "There is also an emerging trend that the Bill does not seem to have captured. I am talking about cases where probably vulnerable families or families that are unable to maintain a child to a certain standard undertake what we call voluntary surrender of parenthood without necessarily amounting to adoption or amounting to relegation of duty. How do we handle such a matter where a parent or parents have had voluntary surrender of parenthood? Those are some of the debates that need to be understood. If you go to Clause 12, it mirrors some provisions in the Basic Education Act. However, it would have been far much better to tighten it up and clearly make it mandatory that every parent has parental obligation to take their children of school-going age to school and the sanctions be imposed in the event of failure to do so. As it stands, in the Basic Education Act, it only mandates members of the national Government coordinating office to forcibly take the children to school. There seems to be no punishment. There seems to be no sanction. It would seem it is not an offence under the penal code or any other code for a child not to be taken to school. As a requirement, each child must have a right to go to school and it must be the obligation of the parent to do so. Clause 14 indicates that every child shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion and religious education subject to appropriate parental guidance and in the best interest of the child. That is fairly contradictory and impossible to impose. In law, a child has no ability to make decisions. Indeed, it will be difficult to understand the best interest of a child. If parents are Catholics and the child associates with Muslims, can the so called child decide they are going to become Muslims without parental guidance because that would be in their best interest? 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."
}