KenyaKE

Article 53 of the Constitution of Kenya

Article
53
Index row title
(1) Every child has the right—
Source document
The Kenya Constitution
Provision ID
093a2a6e-8595-4eab-8a2e-9272caeb4cf7

137 words

Verbatim text

(a) to a name and nationality from birth; (b) to free and compulsory basic education; (c) to basic nutrition, shelter and health care;35 (d) to be protected from abuse, neglect, harmful cultural practices, all forms of violence, inhuman treatment and punishment, and hazardous or exploitative labour; (e) to parental care and protection, which includes equal responsibility of the mother and father to provide for the child, whether they are married to each other or not; and (f) not to be detained, except as a measure of last resort, and when detained, to be held— (i) for the shortest appropriate period of time; and (ii) separate from adults and in conditions that take account of the child’s sex and age. (2) A child’s best interests are of paramount importance in every matter concerning the child. Persons with disabilities.

What this means

  • The index files this text under article 53 of the Constitution of Kenya.
  • The passage runs to about 137 words.
  • Read plainly, it mentions arrest and detention — it deals with arrest or detention, and the conditions attached to holding a person (the words used: “detained”); it mentions equality and non-discrimination — it requires equal treatment or forbids discrimination (the words used: “equal”); it mentions education — it concerns education, schooling or training (the words used: “education”).

The row’s stored title is a body fragment, not a heading (“(1) Every child has the right—”), so it is not used as the provision’s title here.

The index gives this passage an article number but stores a body fragment where a heading would be, so the number could not be cross-checked against the text. Check it against the official Constitution before relying on it in a citation.

This is a mechanical reading aid generated from the text above by matching words in it. It is not legal advice, not a lawyer’s interpretation, and not a substitute for the provision itself.

How to cite this

Constitution of Kenya, article 53, Portable Lawyer, https://www.portablelawyer.app/provision/093a2a6e-8595-4eab-8a2e-9272caeb4cf7 (accessed 25 October 2026).

Canonical URL: https://www.portablelawyer.app/provision/093a2a6e-8595-4eab-8a2e-9272caeb4cf7

Accessed 25 October 2026.

Link to the canonical URL above, not to a #section-… fragment on the jurisdiction page — the fragment is a scroll position, this URL is the provision.

Machine-readable versions