Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1440388,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1440388/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 213,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Tinderet, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Julius Melly",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " I rise to support this Bill. First of all, I commend the co-sponsor and the Senate for coming up with such a very progressive Bill, which is tailored to the to the child parent. Many people in this country do not know about the existence of child-parents. Those are underage children. They are less than 18 years and some are as young as 10 years. This Bill seeks to bring into perspective who a child-parent is. The Bill seeks, among many others, to tell the society that there is a parent who is not of age giving birth. The two parents are not of age. It also goes ahead to note that, that child-parent has a right to go to school and access medical care. They give birth when their body systems are still very weak. They need a lot of medical attention. They need to undergo clinical checkups every other time. The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics has just pointed out that majority of the children-parents are in rural areas, especially in pastoral communities and households where the income is very low. This Bill seeks to bring awareness and to ensure that child-parent rights are well taken care of as stated in the Constitution. The child-parent should have proper medical care and undergo a lot of support socially, psychologically and economically. This is a girl who gets pregnant while in primary school and has a baby when she is less than 14 years old. So, she is stigmatised and never heard. As the Bill indicates, majority of the schools conduct forced pregnancy tests on those girls. Immediately they are re-discovered, they are stigmatised, ostracised by the school heads, parents, and communities. They get shunned. It is high time we took this up because it is a serious problem. About 15 per cent of all girls either become pregnant or lose their child. This percentage is very high and alarming. Through this Bill, the county governments are being alerted to come up with ways on how to stop child pregnancies. After the girl has given birth, the parents should know that this is not the end of her education. She should be permitted to go back to school. So, her parents are supposed to take care of her child and allow her to go back to school to finish her education and realise her dreams. This Bill goes on to ensure that we establish centres where those child-parents will be taken care of, if their real parents are unable to. That is why county governments are being informed of the need to take care of those child-parents so that they can continue with their lives. This Bill is very important. Because of the establishment of county centres, it is a Money Bill. So, this House needs to come up with ways of ensuring it is implemented and becomes the law of the land. By extension, it will ensure that many child-parents in the society are taken care of. Lastly, the child is also of concern because he or she is a citizen of this country. Whereas the mother is underage, that child has a right to be taken care of and even access medical attention. They need to attend all the post-natal clinics in order to grow strong. If the child-parent is not assisted, she will engage in child labour and by extension her child will not have the necessary 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."
}