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"id": 952955,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/952955/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Zani",
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"speaker": {
"id": 13119,
"legal_name": "Agnes Zani",
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"content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you for that lovely title you have given me. I beg to move that the Establishment of Children’s Home Bill 2019 be now read a Second Time. As we know, children are very precious in any society, and sometimes, it is not easy for everybody to take care of them. It is a fact that we have neglected them at various levels, especially at the national level. Attempts have been made to take care of our children. For example, we have children’s homes. Some of them are privately run while others are owned by the Government. However, the whole idea of taking care of neglected children has not been cascaded to the counties. This is what this Bill hopes to do. It establishes in a very detailed format how these children homes should be run. It even outlines process to be followed in setting up these homes. It talks of licensing these homes, educational standards, health standards, level of homes themselves and their environment. It will be very easy for me to quickly move this Bill because the details are in the Bill itself. The most important component of the Bill is to ensure that neglected children have a place to go to, and this has to be facilitated at county level. At the county level, this Bill is legislated for County Executive Committee (CEC) Members to come up with specific procedures within their various ministries, to ensure that these children are well taken care of. It also allows for specific legislation to be done at the county level, so that these children can have a place to call home. You are aware that over time we have had children’s home, and sometimes heard most scary stories about what has happened there. It is important for us to legislate in order to ensure orphaned children, sick and those who have been disowned by their families are taken care of in these homes. Yesterday, we were talking about children with neurological and other disorders. Sometimes children really do suffer, yet we know they are the hope of tomorrow. This Bill is premised on Article 53 of the Constitution on the rights of the child. It answers to each of these rights; name, nationality, free education, nutrition, shelter, protection and parental care. They should not be denied food and everything else they desire in life. Considering that Kenya is an unequal society, we, as legislators, need to come up with laws to take care of neglected children in our society. This Bill also tackles the national aspect because it is already contained, but stresses on the county aspect. I want to pick on two clauses that I think capture the whole nexus of this Bill. This is what the licensee, the person who is running the home should be able to do. He or she should be able, for example, to employ a qualified person to run the home. He or she should employ qualified personnel using a particular criteria, ensure that each employees completes appropriate induction, et cetera . This will make sure that the caregivers do a good job. Clause 27(2) talks about the manager. The manager of children homes shall admit a child and ensure that, that child is not neglected. He or she should also ensure that the child is given the care and protection that is so desired. At the end of the day, they need to be able to have this child taken care of and protected within that particular home. 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."
}