GET /api/v0.1/hansard/entries/491358/?format=api
HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 491358,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/491358/?format=api",
"text_counter": 231,
"type": "other",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "have to be taken care of by the social workers. In the end, they are taken to children’s homes. Later on, they are catered for by some volunteers and towards the end, they grow up to be mature people. This is the kind of group I am addressing now; not the normal child who goes to school in the morning and in the evening goes home. This is not a child who will go through the normal primary system to Class Eight and then join Form One. I am talking about a child who does not even know whether he is in school and who cannot even be taught because he has not got to that level, psychologically, mentally and even physically. You find somebody just there. These are the ones that this Motion intends to capture. Madam Temporary Speaker, some of the reasons these children are found in the ASAL areas where parents keep on moving from one place to another looking for water and pasture for their animals. These children are left to die. They are left in homes without anybody to care for them because they have been condemned by the parents and the community. Some communities think that it is a curse to have children of this kind. This is very serious. We should pass this Motion and see what the Government can do to for these children. The Government should move them from their homes and take them to orphanages or to children’s homes that are well catered for by the Government.The Government should educate them and give them the necessary materials that they can use for learning purposes. The Government should put up the necessary infrastructure, provide transport and adequate supervision. The compounds where the institutions are based should be well fenced, supplied with water and they also have a right to entertainment. These are issues which many counties cannot address. Madam Temporary Speaker, Sir, if this Motion is passed, I am sure we are going to convince the 47 counties to come up with at least one institution which can cater for such children. It is only that people do not like talking about them, but they exist. The moment we invoke the Chief’s Act, we would be able to dictate who is keeping a child who should be going to school at home. Madam Temporary Speaker, I have been to some of these institutions and I have even donated to them various items. Kivirigwa School for the Handicapped in Kirinyaga County is one of them. When you go there, you will notice the teachers in the institution behaving like those children. A child is always attended to by one teacher because that child can jump over the fence, go to the road and get involved in an accident. This is the kind of institution we are thinking about. Do we have enough teachers who can handle these kind of students? This is one area which has not been explored. If it is not addressed properly, we will breed children who will become robots. We shall have a nation of robots. It will be very sad to have such a community in our country. I would like to call upon all Senators to support this Motion in the light of trying to see how we can improve the living standards of these children. I move the Motion and request Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale to second."
}