•A new Bill has proposed stingiest measures to lock out child traffickers and other consciousless individuals using children as tools of trade.
•The Bill seeks to provide a framework for the registration and licensing of children’s homes so as to ensure the provision of care and protection to neglected children.
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It will no longer be business as usual for unscrupulous individuals using children’s homes as avenues for trafficking children, if a new Bill is passed.
The Establishment of Children’s Homes Bill, 2019, has proposed stingiest measures to lock out child traffickers and other individuals using children as tools of trade.
The Bill, sponsored by nominated Senator Agnes Zani, places tough responsibilities on the person running or seeking to establish a children’s home.
The operator shall guarantee the safety of the child, provide nutritious food to keep the child healthy and should not use the child to solicit for money for maintenance of the home.
“A licensee shall ensure that each child is provided with sufficient and nutritious food to keep the child in good health and in the case of children of four or more years of age, children of different gender do not sleep in the same room,” reads the Bill.
“A child who resides in the home does not engage in the solicitation of money or other aid for the maintenance of the home from any member of the public and no child who resides, or is, at the home is employed in any work that is likely to impair that child's health,” reads part of the bill.
The Bill seeks to provide a framework for the registration and licensing of children’s homes so as to ensure the provision of care and protection to neglected children.
According to the Bill that has already been introduced in the Senate, County Governments, through the respective county executive committee member responsible for children affairs, will be responsible for the registration of homes and the licensing of persons responsible for the management of the homes.
The proposed law provides that the National and County Governments shall, to the extent of their constitutional mandate, promote the care and protection of neglected children.
“A person shall not establish or manage a children’s home unless the home is registered and a license issued in accordance with the law,” reads part of the bill.
Running a children’s home without a licence shall attract a fine of up to Sh500, 000 or a jail term of not less than one year.
The licensee will also be required to provide a daily routine of the home, including the hours appointed for school instruction, practical training, chores, meals, recreation, study and retiring to bed, are in accordance with the standards and conditions that may be prescribed by an executive.
And to ensure that the health of children in the home is taken care of, the bill proposes that a licensee shall appoint a medical officer, who is a qualified medical practitioner, for the home or make suitable arrangements for the treatment of the children of the home at a health facility located at reasonably accessible proximity to the home.