Judges to change sex consent age

The Court of Appeal is proposing changes to lower the sex
consent age to 16years. While reversing a case where a man was sentenced to
15years in jail, three judges Patrick Kiage, Roselyn Nambuye, and Daniel
Musinga, ruled that it is time Kenya considered changing the sexual offences
act.

Our prisons are teeming with young men serving lengthy
sentences for having had sexual intercourse with adolescent girls whose consent
has been held to be immaterial because they were under 18years,” the judges
rules.

According to the judges, it is unrealistic to assume that
teenagers and maturing adults do not engage in sex.

In the reversed case, Eliud Waweru was jailed for impregnating
a form four leaver. In presence of an aea chief, Waweru and the girl’s father agreed
that he would pay a Ksh 80,000 dowry after the girl eloped with the man. When he
failed to pay, he was arrested and charged.

The judges said that the girl’s parents forced her to fix
the man according to the two letters she wrote threatening to kill herself. Waweru
had spent eight years in prison and was set fee on Friday March 22, 2019

The judges added that the country should talk about
challenges of maturing children, morality, autonomy, protection of children and
the need for proportionality in punishing sex pests.

The y observed that underage girls and boys often engage in
sexual relations willingly. “They may not have attained the age of maturity but
they may well have reached the age of discretion and are able to make intelligent
and informed decisions about their lives and bodies.”