By Kenan Miruka and Nick Oluoch
Cases of child rights violation continue to rise along the Kenya-Tanzania border. The most common child rights violations include defilement, early marriages and sexual exploitation where underage girls are trafficked from Tanzania and rural Nyanza to work in towns as prostitutes.
A recent case in Gucha where a pastor was arrested for allegedly facilitating child trafficking has added a new dimension.
The pastor who operates a church in Kenya and another branch in Tanzania was involved in the trafficking of an 11-year-old girl from Tanzania.
Childrenâs officers rescued the girl from a residential house in Ogembo town where she was working as a house help. Two people including a teacher recorded statements over the matter.
The child was reportedly trafficked from Ukeleni District, Tanzania into Kenya on August 30 and taken to the pastorâs home in Kenyenya District.
On interrogation, the pastor claimed that he was given the child by her uncle in Tanzania who wanted her to pursue education in Kenya.
Illegal entry
A teacher in whose house the child was found claimed the Tanzanian national was brought by his wife to keep company to her school going child.
Investigations by police officers and the Childrenâs Department revealed the child was in the country illegally.
Gucha District Childrenâs Officer Caleb Makatiani took the child to a Child Protection Unit at Ogembo Police Station as investigations continued.
The pastor claimed he handed over the child to the teacher so that she could be taken to school next year.
