Nairobi — A Motion that could lead to the castration of rapists was passed in Parliament yesterday.

Members of Parliament unanimously supported the Motion allowing the introduction of the Sexual Offences Bill and harsher penalties for sexual crimes.

Moved by Nominated MP Njoki Ndung'u (Narc), the Motion wants sexual violations such as rape and defilement to be clearly defined and that their prosecution be conducted faster and made more victim friendly.

It will now await the drafting of a Bill and further debate in the House. The motion proposes that chemical castration should be formulated into law as a punishment for repeat sexual offenders.

Moving the Motion, Ndung'u blamed the existing attitude on sexual crimes and the leniency of current laws for increasing cases of rape, paedophilia and incest.

"Rape is misunderstood because it is mistaken as a case of sex, yet it has nothing to do with sex. It is a crime," she told the House.

Ndung'u said statistics showed that two women were raped hourly in Kenya and that the figures were going up. She attributed this trend to laxity in prosecuting crime and the high percentages of acquittal in courts of suspects on flimsy grounds.

The Motion further recommends free anti-retroviral therapy for rape victims infected with the HIV/Aids virus, since evidence shows that three out of every 10 women raped end up with the infection.

The law should be amended to provide for a minimum sentence against convicted sexual offenders and specifically the law on evidence, which she said was friendlier to the suspect than the victim.

"Kenya is becoming a nation of rapists where rapists go scot-free. We are building a culture of immunity that leaves to court the discretion to give whatever ridiculous sentence they may wish to," she said.

Attorney-General Amos Wako, who came under attack for "sleeping while rapists were terrorising Kenyans", promised Government support for the Bill.

MPs urged the Government to financially support the Nairobi Women's Hospital, which specialises in the treatment and rehabilitation of sexual crime victims and to consider the establishment of similar public institutions countrywide.

They further called for the direct castration of victims, saying any attempted rehabilitation of convicted offenders amounted to waste of public funds.

Trade minister Mukhisa Kituyi said sexual crimes were threatening to get out of control and only severe action such as castration could act as a sufficient deterrent.

"I support castration. How is it every village has a father defiling his daughter? This motion gives an opportunity to show the outrage that sex criminals have caused to the society."

He was supported by Health minister Charity Ngilu who offered to have public hospitals undertake the castration and Nominated MPs Cecily Mbarire (Narc) and Prof Ruth Oniang'o (Kanu).

Said Ngilu: "The Bible says if any part of your body causes you to sin, it should be removed. I want to support that this part of our body can be removed in hospitals."

However, Bahari MP Joe Khamisi (Narc) cautioned against embracing castration, saying it risked being seen as a discriminatory law against men.

"If it is important to cut the male organ that offends sexually, what do we do with an offending woman part?"

Leader of the Official Opposition Uhuru Kenyatta said the current law lacked enough "legal seriousness to deal with the heinous crimes".

He said causative factors fuelling sexual crimes such as drugs and poverty must be addressed and appealed to Parliament to send a clear signal that "Kenya is not a haven for sexual terrorism."

Eldoret East MP Joseph Lagat (Kanu) suggested that rape convicts be sentenced to death by shooting as they were beyond rehabilitation.

Roads minister Raila Odinga said sexual offenders should be shown no leniency whether they were first-timers or repeat offenders.

Mwatate MP Marsden Madoka's suggestion that women's scant dressing was partly responsible for the spiraling rape figures was hotly contested, with some women MPs likening the claim to a robber who claims seeing a bank motivated him to rob it.