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Thika MP to draft Child Support Bill to tame deadbeat parents.

Thika Town MP Eng. Patrick Wainaina is preparing a bill to be tabled in the National Assembly that will compel both parents to cater for the needs of the children they bear regardless of whether they live together or not.


According to the legislator, the current laws are somehow ambiguous to the detriment of the welfare of the child which has resulted to an increase in poverty levels and consequent influx of commercial sex workers, street families and petty criminals.


“Our country has been littered with so many street children, drug addicts, commercial sex workers and petty criminals who at most find themselves in their positions out of poverty. Sometimes this poverty is artificial because someone absconded their duties as parents. We must address this problem if we really want to tackle the problem of insecurity,” says Wainaina.


The MP plans to peg a 50-50 child support by both parents. This means any parent who willingly dodge responsibility after becoming aware of the child’s conception shall be ordered, by law, to pay half of the child's expenses for their support.

“The goal is to place the child in the position they would have been had the parents stayed together. With this law, both parents will be legally obligated to contribute to the financial support of a child even if the child is living with only one parent. The non-custodial parent will at least have to pay part of the child's food, clothing, childcare, housing and education,” he explains.


Wainaina reckons that when the laws are fair and  child support calculations are feasible on 50/50 basis, there is no reason for any man or woman not to take up their responsibilities as parents.

The legislation will also ensure proper determination of parenting, preferably DNA testing to avoid opportunistic claims.

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