Mark Agutu And Peter Musa
26 February 2003
Nairobi — Former street children yesterday staged a peaceful demonstration to the City Centre to demand immediate admission to schools and tertiary institutions.
Close to 200 youths marched from the Pumwani Social Hall - where they are temporarily accommodated - to the Nation Centre to complain over their continued retention. They claimed there were no plans to take them to training and learning institutions as promised.
They complained of poor living conditions arising from overcrowding at the social hall. Food was also inadequate, they said.
And Nairobi Mayor Joe Aketch, who rushed to the scene after learning of the group's demonstration, promised to consult Local Government Minister Karisa Maitha so that their grievances could be immediately acted upon.
Mayor Aketch said the Pumwani Social Hall and other such centres were only meant for temporary accommodation adding the matter would be treated with utmost urgency.
"I am going to see the Local Government Minister or his permanent secretary this morning to discuss the issue. The children are excited that they would be going to school and some to NYS and something must be done before the excitement dies down," he said.
On complaints by the group that they were idle, the mayor promised to buy a television set and other games to keep them busy.
He managed to convince them to return to Pumwani only after promising he would visit the centre later in the day to address their other grievances.
Pumwani Social Hall is one of the several centres housing hundreds of street children and families rounded up in the City Centre in the ongoing campaign to enhance cleanliness and security.
Meanwhile, the Catholic Church has started a project meant to rehabilitate children involved in child labour, its secretariat announced yesterday.
The Kenya Catholic Secretariat said the project is being funded by the International Labour Organisation to the tune of Sh5 million to benefit two districts hit by child labour in Central Province and will run for 22 months.
The secretariat's research and advocacy unit, which is implementing the project said it would help the children's parents to start small income generating projects.
A study by the ILO and the Central Bureau of Statistics indicates that, of 1.9 children in child labour, 1.3 do not go to school. The study further reveals that 910,000 of those in child labour are girls.
The project manager at the Kenya Catholic Secretariat, Mr John Baptistar Kiragu, said: "We have identified 16 schools in Thika and Nyeri districts where the project will begin before moving to other areas." Five hundred children aged between five and 17 years working in Thika and Nyeri plantations will receive Sh1,200 each for their education support for the next 22 months.
"We are however not going to alienate the children from the community as the aim is to make the community actively participate in their integration and upbringing," Mr Kiragu said.
Mr Kiragu added that the government is seen as a key player if the project is to kick off. "Already we have formed District Child Labour Committees (DCLC) which will be the main decision-making body, to be composed of the Children's department, Labour, Education and Agriculture ministries.
The DCLC members in both districts have been trained. Under the DCLC will be the Local Child Labour Committees (LCLC). These will include the school management and parents and their work will be to oversee the activities of the children being rehabilitated.
The ILO/IPEC country programme co-ordinator for Commercial Agriculture Ms Wangui Irimu told nation that more projects will be implemented through the labour movements, child rights groups, and the civic organisations with communities being assisted to establish projects that best suit their geographical locality.
She said $4.5 million has been set aside on projects meant to rehabilitate children who have been involved in child labour in Eastern and Southern Africa on a return-to-school formula.
Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi are the countries ear-marked to receive this support with the focus on tobacco, coffee, tea, sugar and maize farming.
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