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{
    "id": 1368031,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1368031/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 211,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I rise to support the Care and Protection of Child Parent Bill 2023 that has been brought to the Senate by Sen. Miraj. When I listened to Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale speak to this Bill, initially, I thought he was speaking to the Bill that has been sponsored by Sen. Ogola, the Super Senator from Homa Bay County. There is need for the Clerk and the Secretariat at the point of pre-publication scrutiny, to ensure that related Bills are merged. I do not think Members have a problem in co-sponsoring Bills. Where there are serious overlaps in Bills, it makes sense for us to have one instrument and then have the two Senators who have made the proposals co- sponsors. I hope that we can still open a window if we find that there is strong relationship between this Bill and the one sponsored by Sen. Ogola. Nonetheless, being the representative of the people of Homa Bay, which is one of the counties with the highest leading instances of teen pregnancy, this Bill has come at the right time. It is unfortunate that 60 years after Independence and 10 years of devolution, we have not thought it fit to come up with some statute and legislative framework to care for and to protect child parents Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, child parents in this Bill have been defined as persons who have not attained the age of 18 years and is a mother or a father of a child. This has been a problem among the fishfolk in Homa Bay, the fishing communities along Lake Victoria and communities in Narok. If my memory is correct, the leading counties when it came to teen pregnancies were Narok, Homa Bay and several others where there is some nomadism. It could be nomadic pastoralism or nomadic fishing. When a child becomes a parent, the situation of children having children should not be a death sentence or the end of the road for them. When children have children, sometimes, it is not even as a result of what we have defined in the other statutes such as the Sexual Offenses Act. Sometimes it is not a premeditated act of illegality. It is not that The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}