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"id": 811268,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
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"legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
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"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, allow me to congratulate Sen. Nyamunga for bringing up this matter. In her opening remarks, she talked about defilement of children in Kisumu County. However, this is not a problem that is unique to Kisumu County. This is because even in Homa Bay County, when we got statistics from the Ministry of Education, we found that my county was leading in cases of defilement of pupils by teachers. That is not something that I am proud of, as a representative or leader of the delegation of Homa Bay County. Mr, Speaker, Sir, this is a problem that afflicts the rich and the poor. However, the poor are afflicted to a greater degree because they do not have the capacity to follow up on the issues of defilement and to see to it that they are resolved properly. It is only the other day in Kisumu County, where Sen. Nyamunga comes from, where a lady was jailed for 15 years for having a liaison with an underage boy. Mr. Speaker Sir, we have the Sexual Offences Act, which was passed by Parliament. However, when it comes to the defilement of children, it goes beyond a sexual offence. In fact, we need not to call it a sexual offence. Paedophilia must be called for what it is; it is not a sexual offence and it is tantamount to murder. This is because we are killing the future of these children; we are leaving them with trauma, scars and, in the process, we are shattering their future. Sometimes, when men talk about these things, we speak as if we do not know who are defiling these children; particularly the young girls, who are defiled by average men. There have also been cases of boys who are defiled by average women. These are not things that are done by people from Mars or from another planet; these are done by us. Finally, Mr. Speaker Sir, the Senator talks of involving the counties in policing and enforcement of law and order. The county policing authorities are established by law. We must ask questions why these authorities have not been given effect across the 47 counties. It is not something that we have invented as a Senate; it is something that is grounded in law. This calls for us, as the Senate, to ensure that we revive the Implementation Committee, because there are a million things that this House has talked about, but we do not seem to follow them up to their logical conclusion. If we revive or activate the county policing authorities, even Governors will be involved in issues of law and order, and they will not just leave it to the County Commissioners, chiefs and the parallel national Government structures. I wish that Sen. Nyamunga could bring a substantive Motion on this matter so that we can save our boys and girls and ensure that we have a bright future for them. 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."
}