- In 2019, some judges recommended that age of consent be lowered.
- CS Chelugui said reducing the consent age is not in a child's best interest.
Image: CHARLENE MALWA
The age of consent for sex shall remain 18 years, the government has decided.
Labour and Social Protection Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui said the government will not lower the age despite advice from a section of legislators and judges.
Speaking during the lunch of a report by the National Gender and Equality Commission in partnership with Plan International, Chelugui said it is not in the interest of children to have the age of consent for sex lowered.
The report is titled, ‘Minimum age of consent for sex: Addressing the dilemma’. It features voices of children aged between 10 and 17 years and other stakeholders.
The CS asserted that the Constitution of Kenya notes that a child is anyone who has not attained the age of 18 and the Children’s Act cannot have contradictory information.
“The Constitution is supreme and every law enacted must operate within its realm. It is no longer a debate. The age of consent for sex is 18 years or more,” he said.
The CS said the ministry in consultation with other stakeholders has recommended an amendment of the Children’s Act, 2001 which will soon be presented to Parliament.
Chelugui also said parents whose teenage children go missing without a proper explanation will be arrested and fined.
He blamed parents for abandoning their role of guiding their children, therefore burdening teachers with instilling values.
He said parents of the seven schoolgirls from Buruburu, Nairobi, who went missing before they were found at a party were fined.
“I urge Kenyan parents to take responsibility for their children and bring them up with strong moral values. Families should take centre stage in protecting children,” he said.
The CS also urged parents to join the government in taking teenage mothers back to school rather than punishing them.
“Abuse against children is on the rise and we must all play our roles actively to address the issue,” he said.
In March 2019, the Court of Appeal called for a serious re-examination and interrogation of the Sexual Offences Act, 2006, with a view to lowering the age of consent for sex.
The Court of Appeal ruling in a case where Eliud Waweru sought to have a defilement case against him dismissed stating that he had married the 16-year-old whom he had been made to believe was over 18 years and the sex was consensual.
The ruling generated great national debate and discussion on minimum age of consent for sex.
The ruling exposed the predicament regarding implementation of various provisions of the law and invited the country to rethink amendment to sections of the Sexual Offences Act and the Children Act on the broad consequences and criminal penalties for having sex for boys and girls.
The matter constituted the dilemma on how to apply the law while maintaining the best interest of the child as advocated for by international and regional instruments and the Constitution.
NGEC’s report recommends that the age of consent for sex remains 18 and above to help address the issue of teenage pregnancies and child abuse.
According to the report, children associated sex with adult behaviour. The children also understood the consequences of engaging in sex.
Most girls were of the opinion that if the age of consent for sex is lowered, the number of teenage pregnancies will increase.
The girls reported that there shall be an increase in school dropouts and poor performance while boys reported that younger boys will be forced to take responsibility too early for the children they sire.
NGEC commissioner Priscilla Nyokabi said maintaining the age of consent at 18 years and above will be preserving cultures and strengthening societal values.
“In my culture, those who molested children were punished heavily. We should not throw away our values,” she said.
Edited by Henry Makori