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{
    "id": 1440405,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1440405/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 230,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Suba North, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I will proceed. As I have said, I support this Bill in principle. However, I want to comment on some issues which Members have raised. Even though I support it in principle, the architecture is challenging. The reason is that the Government normally has a policy on how to legislate certain issues. In the last Parliament, I brought a Child Justice Bill and I was encouraged to collapse it into the Children Act. This is because in the past, there were almost 66 pieces of legislation relating to children. The Government formed a taskforce headed by retired Chief Justice Effie Owuor, which agreed that we come up with one law on children, so that we do not give lawyers a difficult task. When I represented children while I was the Director at the Cradle, it meant that if I wanted to deal with adoption matters, I had to look for the Adoption Act. If I wanted to deal with the issues of orphans, I had to look for the Orphans and Vulnerable Children’s Act. There were over 66 pieces of legislation on children’s matters. That does not mean that what is provided in this law is wrong. It is excellent. However, the architecture is not good. Should we kill the Bill because of this? Perhaps not, especially because a Member has put in too much effort. However, it talks to an Executive that is asleep. The Executive should advise Members. Not only the Executive, but also the Parliamentary Office, and in this case, it is the Senate Legal Office, that should have offered guidance. The fact that Members want to bring Bills does not mean they should do so in any format. What they should have done is to bring an amendment to the Children’s Act, so that all that is provided here is in the Children’s Act."
}