Nairobi — A policy aimed at ending child labour has been developed, Gender and Children Affairs minister Esther Murugi Mathenge has said.

Ms Murugi noted that through the formation of district and locational child labour committees countrywide, the Government had been able to make gains in its campaigns against child labour.

She said that the committees had already started working and that their most important objective was to create awareness on child labour at the grassroots level.

Workers' cases

The minister made the remarks in a speech read on her behalf by an assistant minister in the Gender Ministry, Mr Manyala Keya, during the World Day Against Child Labour marked at the Karisa Maitha Stadium in Kilifi Town.

At the same time, Coast leaders have expressed dissatisfaction at the manner in which labour officers handle workers' cases.

Led by Immigration and Registration of Persons assistant minister Francis Baya, the leaders said that the labour officers colluded with employers to deny workers their rights.

Speaking at the same function, Mr Baya said that workers in the region had been frustrated by labour officers for many years.

"We are now demanding that the Labour ministry investigates the officers. Workers have lost confidence in them," he said.