It's morally wrong to use children in demos

Only days after Lands Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi confirmed having issued title deeds to 1,000 schools in 13 counties in a move aimed at protecting them from unscrupulous developers, Kenyatta Golf Course Academy in Nairobi was demolished. Children coming to school in the morning found everything in disarray.

This raises fundamental questions; if anyone had a legitimate claim to the school land, why move at night to destroy property that benefits society? Were there no legal measures, like getting a court order that could have been employed? Civilised society should frown upon such action since dispute resolution mechanisms exist.

It was, on the other hand, wrong for parents and the school authorities to use children in demonstrations. Blocking a section of a busy road like Mbagathi is a criminal act made worse by the use of children. Speeding motorists unaware of the demonstration could easily have run over some of the children innocently sitting in the middle of the road in protest.

And inconveniencing people on their way work does not help the cause of the school. In 2015, the use of children in demonstrations saw children from Lang'ata Road Primary school hurt when anti-riot police officers pelted them with tear-gas canisters during a similar demonstration.

The Lands ministry should speed up surveys for schools and issue them with title deeds to avoid such incidents.