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MP Zuleikha Hassan impressed with Parliament’s ‘new creche’

Kwale Woman Representative Zuleikha Hassan (R) addresses the press outside the National Assembly chambers after she was ejected from the House with her five-month-old baby. PHOTO | COURTESY

By  BBC

What you need to know:

  • Kwale Woman Representative Zuleikha Hassan had brought her five-month-old baby with her to work because of a domestic emergency, saying Parliament did not have a nursery.
  • After her eviction, the deputy speaker had said there was a facility for mothers working at Parliament to nurse their babies across the road from the main building.
  • In 2017, Kenyan lawmakers passed a bill compelling employers to construct special rooms where mothers could breastfeed and change their babies.

Lawmaker Zuleika Hassan, who was evicted from Parliament on Wednesday for taking her baby into the chamber, denies that a crèche had been made available for MPs’ children.

After the Kwale Woman Representative’s eviction, the deputy speaker had said there was a facility for mothers working at Parliament to nurse their babies across the road from the main building.

''I can tell you for free this place was not open to us female MPs before,” Ms Hassan told the BBC when she visited the nursery.

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"I know that some leaders are trying to embarrass me in Parliament by saying that there was a room before, but why didn't I know about it?

"No other member of Parliament or the staff of Parliament who has had a baby knew about that room."

"BRAND NEW"

Ms Hassan said Parliament had reacted fast after eviction.

"You can see that most of the stuff and furniture, it’s extremely brand new. It smells brand new, you can see that these items have never been handled or used before."

But she said that she was happy that it was now ready for her and her colleagues to use.

“Right now we have gone on recess for a month, but when I come back I will be happy to bring my child here,” she said.

DRAMA

Ms Hassan had brought her five-month-old baby with her to work because of a domestic emergency, saying Parliament did not have a nursery.

It caused a drama in the house, with male colleagues shouting at her and calling her action shameful.

In 2017, Kenyan lawmakers passed a bill compelling employers to construct special rooms where mothers could breastfeed and change their babies.

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