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{
    "id": 950440,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/950440/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 37,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Sakaja",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13131,
        "legal_name": "Johnson Arthur Sakaja",
        "slug": "johnson-arthur-sakaja"
    },
    "content": "This Bill is well intentioned and thought out. My committee, the Committee on Labour and Social Welfare, has conducted an extensive public participation on this Bill. The report was to be tabled today, but we will table it tomorrow for the benefit of the rest of the Members. Sen. (Dr.) Zani was away, but she was well represented in that meeting. I am sure that she got feedback on the thoughts on this Bill. Mr. Speaker, Sir, majority of the stakeholders, especially those who run children’s homes; and the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Services took part in the public participation of this Bill, and had very interesting thoughts on it. The Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) in the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Services, Mr. Wario, represented the Ministry and spoke on a number of things, as I will mention shortly if my memory serves me right. This Bill seeks to provide a framework for the registration and licencing of children’s homes so as to ensure the provision of care and protection to neglected children, who are all over the country. We have had serious issues in taking care of our children and children’s homes have mushroomed everywhere. To a great extent, children’s homes have become a business. At 9.00 p.m. today, an exposé will air on NTV on how children are being used by unscrupulous people who are supposed to provide care for them. Instead, innocent children are being mistreated and mishandled. The so-called caregivers are putting the children in terrible situations and dirty environments. The children are rarely given food, and are subjected to substandard medical care. The photos of those children are taken and shared with donors and sponsors across the world, who support many of the children’s homes. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I know quite a number of children’s homes that are doing a good job, some of which I personally support. We, therefore need to separate the wheat from the chaff. We need to have a way of regulating the children’s homes and how they are registered. We need to have inspectors to ensure that the law is adhered to. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we have the Child Welfare Society of Kenya (CWSK), whose work leaves a lot to be desired. One of the media outlets recently aired an exposé on the Mama Ngina Children’s Home to highlight the suffering that the children undergo there. The exposé brought tears to the eyes of very many Kenyans because this home was carrying out medical experiments on some of the children. It was a shame, because that is a children’s home that has been in existence for very many years, and it has done some very good work. We need to understand where the rain started beating us. The Committee on Labour and Social Welfare has summoned the management of the Mama Ngina Children’s’ Home and the leadership of the CWSK to highlight what is happening in the children’s homes after the expose. Currently, the world is moving to a regime of non- institutionalized care to children. Some of those who participated in the public participation of this Bill came from children’s homes. Children do better when they are brought up in a family setting. We have been unable to have proper laws and a legal framework to provide for foster care and support for those within the community or The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}