The government has formed a multi-agency team to help rescue street families whose number is growing in Nanyuki town.
Laikipia East Deputy County Commissioner Patrick Muli said the team is headed by the Department Probation and Child Care Services. Other organs included the National Government, Kenya Police and stakeholders who specialize in matters of children.
“We have done some rescue operations and the first day we rescued about 37 street families, both adults and children. When we sorted them out, we realized that 21 out of the 37 were adults, hence we released them with a warning,” Muli said, adding that the remaining 16 who were children, ranging from 10 months to 16 years were taken to different children’s homes.
According to the administrator, the purpose of the rescue operation is to enhance safety and maintain hygiene in Nanyuki town and its environs.
“Some of these children pose a security threat and we also don’t want them to commit heinous crimes. Therefore, this will be a continuous process as the street children move in groups,” Muli said.
The Deputy County Commissioner noted that some of the street children in Nanyuki come from as far as Makutano, Meru County. However, most of them come from Majengo and Likii estate, Nanyuki town.
At the same time, Muli said that the multi-agency team has managed to reunite some of the street children with their families.
“Some of these street children are just hard headed and they choose to run away from their homes to live their lives in the street, where they believe they can be their own boss. As a result of these operations, some of the children have been reunited with their families,” he said.
Muli added that they would impose strict actions against parents who choose to neglect their children.
“There are some parents who want to lead a free life and they are not concerned with their children,” Muli said, noting that the role parents played in a family, together with the environment they were brought up in affects child’s behaviour and the end results could be positive or negative.
By Naomi Gesare
