Mixed Reactions over the New Bill Seeking Equal Childcare Responsibility For Men
Legislatures have backed a Bill, seeking to review sharing of parental responsibilities between men and women.
Gathogo Wanjiru 
The Children (Amendment) Bill of 2020, presented by Homa Bay MP Peter Kaluma, will allow men to have equal responsibility with women in the custody and upkeep of their children.
The proposed Bill was backed and a report presented before the House, by the National Assembly's Committee on Labour and Social Welfare led by the committee chair, Mwea MP, Kabinga Wachira.
"The Bill seeks to vest equal responsibility for parental care and protection of a child in both the mother and the father whether they are married to each other or not," stated the committee's report.
The Bill seeks to amend section 24 of the Children Act of 2001, ending child upkeep disputes for parents who end up in separation.
The Children Act of 2001 places full parental care on women in cases where parents are separated, sidelining men in the equal participation of parental care.
The half-half sharing of parental responsibility for couples will mean that neither the man nor the woman has superior responsibility for the parental care of a child, with women previously having the superior claim of a child over men.
"Neither the father nor the mother shall have a superior right or claim against the other in the exercise of such parental responsibilities," read the Bill.
Child upkeep disputes have been on the rise, with the Judiciary revealing that over 1500 cases have been filed since 2019.
