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"id": 490963,
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Adan",
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"legal_name": "Dullo Fatuma Adan",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. First, I would like to congratulate Sen. Elizabeth Ongoro for bringing this timely Motion. According to me, this Motion is long overdue because this is a big problem that we are facing in this country both at the urban and rural areas. First and foremost, I would like to say that there are so many children who are affected in our rural areas, and most of the time, you will find that the people who are responsible for fathering the babies from the babies are elderly people. In some instances, you will find that even parents or relatives are responsible for this kind of problems. So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is really important, as my colleagues said, that we must have proper structures in place to make sure that those who are fathering those babies should be held responsible. The challenge we are facing in this country is both from the Judiciary and the police. When these matters are reported, the police do not take any action. Again, when it comes to maybe a relative or people who are known within the community, most of the time you will find that they run to courts and say that “can we settle this matter out of court” and yet the child whose rights have been violated is not represented at all in this matter. It is the community actually making a decision for her and yet she is the one whose rights have been violated. So, we must put a stop to this. I think in these instances, the buck stops with the relevant institutions that we have in this country; the police, the Judiciary, the communities and even the chiefs. I am sorry to say this; the chiefs are also partisan in this matter. So, we must crack the whip. Secondly, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, as a country, we must take up the responsibility of taking care of both children – in this instance they are both children. So, in areas, for example, where I come from, sometimes you will find that it is even hard to get children welfare centres where these children can be taken. So, I think it is important that this country comes up with a system where we establish child welfare centres for these babies and also for the children because if we do not have these centres, sometimes it is a big problem. Again, as the Mover of the Motion has said, we must be able to separate the children who are affected because of the peer pressure and again also the stigma that follows them. Sometimes you can ask a girl to go back to school and she says “I am scared of my friends.” So, for me, it is important if we build or devolve the rescue centres that we have in this country. For example, county governments have a lot of money; why can we not build rescue centres for such girls, which is really very important? The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}