It is now mandatory for all child care facilities operating within Kajiado County to have a license after the Kajiado County Assembly approved the Kajiado County Child Care Facility Bill 2024.
The bill was necessitated by research carried out by the African Population and Health Research Centre, which found that there is negligence in childcare among workers in flower farms in the county, consequently leading to a rise of malnutrition cases among children under the age of five.
The bill therefore provides for the management, recognition, registration, licensing, and inspection of facilities that offer child care services for children under the age of four years.
Under the bill, a person who operates a child care facility without a license from the county child care licensing committee is liable to a fine not exceeding Sh500,000 or to an imprisonment term of two years or both.
Apart from licenses, the child care facilities are required to keep and maintain up-to-date records of children at the facility, specifically immunisation records, emergency contacts, daily attendance registers, and the provision of healthy foods, among others.
The bill requires any employer who is engaging more than twenty personnel on any form of employment engagement to set up or subcontract an integrated child care facility for their employees.
Any employer engaging more than five employees is also required to set up a lactation room within their institution.
The child care facilities will be managed by the county’s department of health, which will come up with a committee that will have the powers to issue, decline to issue, or suspend a license for noncompliance.
The bill applies to childcare facilities operating within the county except childcare provided by hospitals to children who are patients at the hospital, childcare provided by churches during its services or as part of religious instruction, which does not exceed one day per week, and childcare provided at holiday camps for seasonal holidays.
Among the requirements for registration are a single business permit and fire safety certificate from the county government, a liability insurance cover to protect facilities, staff, and children, a certificate indicating that all the employees therein have undertaken training in first aid and safety, and a proposed age-appropriate daily schedule for the children.
By Diana Meneto
