In early 2014,a social media page started in Kenya went viral and had everyone talking about it. In just a week’s time, Dead Beat Kenya had attracted about 180,000 members.
The page, dubbed Dead Beat Kenya, purported to expose absentee parents. It included information that made most privacy advocates cringe.Brash and in-your-face, administrators post pictures, phone numbers, employers and other private details of the alleged absentee parents, prompting a collective shudder nationwide.No one is safe, either: Local politicians, women, even celebrities are getting named and shamed.
No one was safe, either: Local politicians, women, even celebrities were getting named and shamed.
The then founder of Dead Beat Kenya,Jackson Njeru said he started it after seeing women struggle to raise children alone.
In what now makes it harder for absentee fathers to reject or fail to maintain children they sire, the court decreed that parental responsibility is mandatory and cannot be left to the woman alone.In a ruling that touches on the Children Act and the Succession Act, Justice Jesse Njagi also ruled that a man cannot escape parental responsibility by virtue of unemployment and that in case his partner dies, he must take full responsibility of the child he sired.
In the case, former Attorney General Githu Muigai defended men, saying the contested section was meant to protect them from extortion.
Its not clear if the dead beats will all adhere to this or not.Let’s wait!