Are you defaulting or refusing to pay your child support? Watch out, things could get tougher!
Murang'a Senator Irungu Kang'ata wants to amend the Children's Act to specifically target deadbeat fathers who intentionally fail to pay child support.
One notable proposal is for deadbeat fathers to be barred by Immigration from leaving the country should they defy court orders to pay maintenance of a child.
And for those who have no business traveling abroad, the proposed law has listed a number of measures to deal with them even as they go about their businesses while in the country.
The proposed law says county governments should be allowed to suspend trading licenses of deadbeat fathers and only renew them when they meet the financial obligations of their children.
And that is not all.
The proposed law further says credit reference bureaus should give adverse ratings for deadbeat fathers, and even rank them higher if they had defaulted on loans.
Therefore, failing to service your loan will not be the only reason to get listed with the Credit Reference Bureau as failing to pay child support will also get you noticed by institutions established to monitor behaviour of borrowers.
The proposed law if passed will make it difficult for deadbeat fathers to secure employment.
It says the Kenya Police Service should not give deadbeat fathers a certificate of good conduct.
This means if you are a culprit, you have a herculean task getting employment in government institutions and even some corporate organisations.
The certificate of good conduct is increasingly becoming a basic requirement for many employers as it ensures a potential employee has no criminal history as documented by the Criminal Records Office.
Section 23 of the Children’s Act provides for parental responsibility and it defines this as all the duties, rights, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and the child’s property.
Duties include maintaining the child and in particular to providing him or her with adequate diet, shelter, clothing, medical care and education and guidance.
There is also a duty to protect the child from neglect, discrimination and abuse.The certificate is valid for a period of one year from the date of printing hence is subject to annual renewal.
The proposed legislation also says employers should play a role in ensuring all male employees take care of their children financially.
The Children’s Act was enacted to consolidate all legislation that affects children and to give effect to certain international instruments which Kenya had ratified on the rights of children.
Kang’ata's proposals also seek to make resolution of children’s cases in courts easier and faster. He argues that court processes are labourious and expensive.
He wants the DNA costs to be borne by the parent with means and where a poor parent has filed an affidavit of means with the children’s officer.
DNA test is a biological determination of whether the parents share the same genes with their child.
“If DNA turns negative, then the costs can be shared,” the proposal says.
It adds that DNA costs have been used to deny children justice and the proposed law would enable poor parents access justice.
Depending on the hospital, the cost of doing a DNA test varies from Sh8,000 and more. However, for legal purposes, the cost can be Sh20, 000 and above.
In most cases, the main reason is legal purposes. Women in most cases demand money for upkeep of their children from their supposed fathers, who would deny siring them.
The Children’s Act says maintenance of children is the joint responsibility of parents and maintenance orders under the Act can be made whether or not matrimonial proceedings have been filed.
However, children's rights activists have received the proposed law with mixed feeling, arguing that if adopted it could be counterproductive.
Wanjeri Nderu, a social juctice activist who deals with cases of children abandoned by fathers, told the Star that the proposal would not be effective in addressing the issue.
She, for example, took issue with the proposal to cancel trading licenses of the affected father, saying this "could actually be an ammunition for them to refuse paying further."
"How do you cancel their trading licenses - effectively clipping their financial ability - yet you want them to pay? How will this work?" Nderu posed.
The activist asserted that addressing the challenge of parents, particularly men, failing to take responsibility in caring for their children will not be addressed by more legislation.
"We have enough laws in this country. There are also enough judgements that if effectively enforced, the problem would be perfectly handled. So this legislative proposal is not well thought through," she added.
Jerotich Seii, another social justice worker, told the Star that while the proposed legislation is well intentioned, it needs to be broadened.
She argued that with proposals such as restricting flying out of the country, adverse credit ratings to stymie accessing loans, the suggested law sounds to be assuming that most of the deadbeat fathers are in the middle class and upwards economically.
"Which struggling Kenyan working as a watchman or a bodaboda rider would be bothered by restricted flight out of the country? That piece of proposed legislation is narrow and it must appreciate that even those not financially stable are also failing to sustain child support," she said.
Seii, however, dismissed the blanket condemnation of men as deadbeat, saying that even women who fail on their duties should be targeted with equally punitive interventions.
"The law should not be unfairly weaponized to target any section of the society. There is an ongoing campaign that divides men and women on us-versus-them. I hope the proposed law is not driven with that attitude," she said.
"But I'm happy that it is a man proposing it."
