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{
    "id": 490987,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/490987/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 111,
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, at times, you will find that parents have to brew illegal alcoholic drinks so as to fend for their families. In that process, drunken grown- ups end up committing sexual acts with children who are underage. This Motion is very important. I want to suggest that people who are responsible for impregnating children should be brought to book; be it a parent or a small boy. The parent of that boy must also be held responsible. We should not only condemn the girl because she does not engage in the sexual act on her own. There is a school I visited in my county and the chief stood to speak. It was a closing day and all the parents were seated there. He said that the drop-out rate for girls in the school was very high. Whenever he raised the matter with their parents, they told him that the girls were already used to these acts and that they should be left to continue doing it. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the programmes that have been proposed by the Mover of this Motion are very important. Parents and grandparents need civic education. I imagine my underage child having a baby. This can stigmatise, depress and even embarrass. The child is also embarrassed and isolated by other children in the school. You can get a child dropping out of school because of such reasons. Some even refuse to go to school. Under-age children do not know about sex education. Some of them have not been exposed other than seeing it when the parents are doing it because they live in a small house where there is no bedroom. So the parents sleep on the Floor and the children are there. You may think that child is asleep, but it may not be. So, when the parents are doing it, the children hear about it. This is a fact in the slum areas. We laugh about it, but it is here with us. The problem is there and we need to find a solution to it. What the Mover of the Motion has suggested about setting out programmes and mechanisms by the Government is very key. When we pass laws, we need a follow up. If we do not do so, the trend continues. Our children continue getting children while still young. Sometimes you will find a small girl of 15 years getting a child and before you realise it the three of you are in the same category of parenthood. This is a serious matter which we need to consider critically. This Motion should be made into a law. Sen. Sijeny is coming up with a law on reproductive health which also touches on children and age-appropriate measures. When she tried to sell the Bill, some people branded it the “condom” Bill although it has nothing to do with the condom. What she was trying to state was that there is need to create awareness so that our children are aware that if you do “a”, “b”, “c” and “d” then the consequences are this. If we keep our children in the dark and avoid talking to them about sex education, there will be repercussions. As parents we need to be more careful so that our children are brought up in a nice manner until they finish their education so that they are useful citizens. I can imagine a child of ten years from a poor background getting a baby. That is adding problems to problems. How are we going to stop this? We need to have these policies enacted and when we go to our counties we should sensitize people. When a parent values the education of a child, he will do whatever is required to safeguard the child. 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."
}