CJ Martha Koome Seeks To Decriminalize Prostitution
Chief Justice Martha Koome
Prostitution could soon be exempted from severe punishment could National Council on the Administration of Justice (NCAJ) chaired by CJ Martha Koome’s bill be passed.
The Penal Code (Amendment) Bill 2023 presented by NCAJ through the National Committee on Criminal Justice Reforms (NCCJR) seeks to have sections 153, 154 and 155 deleted by amending Section 4 of the Penal Code.
According to the draft Bill, prostitution will remain an offence not punishable through imprisonment but through other means which include:
- Attending a rehabilitation centre.
- Issuance of verbal sanctions
- conditional discharge
- Probation
- Community service
“Where a male person is proved to live with or to be habitually in the company of a prostitute or is proved to have exercised control over the movements of a prostitute in such a manner as to show that he is aiding her prostitution with any other person, he shall, unless he satisfies the court to the contrary, be deemed to be knowingly living on the earnings of prostitution”
“If it is made to appear to a magistrate by information on oath that there is reason to suspect that any house or any part of a house is used by a woman or girl for the purposes of prostitution and that any person residing in or frequenting the house is living wholly or in part on the earnings of the prostitute, or is exercising control, direction or influence over the movements of the prostitute, the magistrate may issue a warrant authorizing any police officer to enter and search the house and to arrest such person,” partly reads the bill
NCAJ and NCCJR submitted the Bill before National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula for consideration.
About The Author
