NAIROBI: MPs yesterday disagreed on the boundary between parental responsibility and child custody amid claims that a bill seeking to amend the Children Act would go against constitutional provisions on the rights of the child.
MPs supporting the principle of equal responsibility on a child by both parents united to defeat changes proposed to the Children (amendment) Bill, 2014. Others said that the Bill was meant to give custody of a child to an undeserving parent through the backdoor.
The Bill, by Peter Kaluma (Homa Bay Town), seeks to open a window that would allow a child born out of wedlock to have the attention of both parents. The bill also takes away any superior claim to the child by either parent.
“Where a child’s father and mother were not married to each other at the time of the child’s birth and have not subsequently married each other, they shall have parental responsibility for the child and neither the father nor the mother of the child shall have a superior right or claim against the other in the exercise of such parental responsibility,” the bill says.
When it was placed before the committee of the whole House, Stephen Mule (Matungulu) rose to propose changes to the Bill, and in the process opened a stream of divergent opinions.
DELETE CLAUSES
The MP wanted five clauses that make up the bill deleted, arguing that some of the issues that had been canvassed were already taken care of under the Children Act and the Constitution. He wondered why the MP wanted changes to the law, arguing that it was not introduced in good faith.
“We need to know the genesis of amending the Act. The issues on how the rights of the child need to be respected are already enshrined in the Constitution. The drafter of the Constitution had a very clear mind why they brought the interest of the family to the fore,” said the MP.
His position was reinforced by arguments that fathers could take advantage of the proposed law to claim custody of children on the premise that they have equal responsibility.
James Nyikal (Seme) made reference to medical knowledge that allows mothers to have custody of children at a certain age. “Are we are going to see a situation where a father will say that since I have responsibility, I’m going to take a toddler into my care? From my paediatric knowledge, a child at a certain age can only stay with the mother,” the MP said
Alice Chae (Nyamira) argued that any discussion on parental responsibility and custody was a threat to the institution of marriage. Soipan Tuya (Narok) also warned against mixing up the two issues.
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