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{
    "id": 251414,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/251414/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 324,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Kembi-Getura",
    "speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Agriculture",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 242,
        "legal_name": "James Kembi Gitura",
        "slug": "kembi-gitura"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if a child under Section 14 is not able to appreciate the nature of the act, how is that child then able or capable of deceit? The Bill is saying that if I can prove that a girl under 18 years deceived me that she was actually over 18 years, it is a defence. How is a child, as defined in the Bill, capable of deceit yet at the same time she is not capable of appreciating the act that is going to send him or whoever else to jail for ten years or more? This is important. The point I am making is that if rape is such a serious offence as defilement, like we say it is - indeed it is - then rape should be an offence of strict liability. There cannot be a defence. If you want to sleep with my daughter, ask her for her identity card (ID) or birth certificate. However, you should not come back and say that: \"She told me she was 19 years old when, in fact, she was 16 years old.\" It should be an offence of strict liability as it is known in law. I, therefore, want to submit that there cannot be a question of proof. However, we must define a child fairly and reasonably. To that extent, I will adopt almost wholly the argument of my colleague, Mr. Kajwang, on that score without repeating. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me now turn to the issue of Borstal institutions. Again, we are caught in a trap of saying that if you are under 18 years, you are a child. At Clause 47, you are not capable of appreciating what you are doing. How then are you going to send my son to jail, who is 17 years old, who committed or is alleged to have committed a sexual offence if, at the same time, he was not capable of appreciating what he was doing?"
}