Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 671092,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/671092/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 362,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "to represent. In fact, many of them are on the payroll of employers. So, they go there and a worker has been injured and dismissed, the employer pays them and they call the worker and you are on your own and so on. So, we need some regulation to this so that we can guide it. I encourage my brother that at the Committee Stage, we have a Clause saying there will be regulations borne out of the tripartite arrangement of the trade union, the employer and employee so that they can address this. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we have Clause 4(e) which states that an employer shall not assign to any child the manual transport of agriculture. This vague structure of the law seems to indicate that child labour is condoned. A child has no business being in any employment and, therefore, cannot be assigned anything. So, when you say that an employer shall not assign to any child, it means that there is legitimacy in having children but you cannot assign them. The international law states that you cannot employ children. It is outlawed even in our Constitution. The penalty is superfluous because a person who employs a child commits a criminal offence that must be punished. You cannot say that you assigned a child to carry a load. There is no situation where a child should be in employment especially of this nature. There is retribution against Turkey, India and Pakistan for employing children to weave those beautiful carpets, wall mats and so on. Child labour is outlawed. Period! So, you may wish to recast this or just say, child labour is unlawful and anybody who is found employing children is punished. You can pick from the laws about child labour that exist already so that somebody cannot say, you are only complaining about carrying loads but you are not complaining about employment. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, there is the issue of punishment. The first instance of punishment of Kshs100,000 and six months is okay. However, if it is a persistent offender, then we need to qualify that a person who is persistent and consistently flouts this law then gets a heavier punishment because all they will do is; for somebody running an industry of a couple of billions, Kshs100,000 is nothing. When they are repeatedly found transgressing then the law should be a little harsher than we are proposing. Otherwise, this is a straightforward Bill. I thank my colleague for creating extra time so that we can dispose of some of these Bills that on the face of it look very small but are very critical for the good order within our labour structures in the country. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, with those remarks, I beg to second."
}