Makueni County leads in number of children living without fathers

A mother and her daughter. [Photo: Courtesy]

Makueni County leads in number of children living without fathers, a report released last week, shows.

The Standard Sunday visited various villages to ascertain the real state of affairs.

The Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey (KIHBS), 2015/16 report had indicated that 37.0 per cent of children live with their mothers despite the fact that their fathers are alive.

Sera Mueni, 25, is part of the statistics.

She says raising her children alone has been a challenge. So bad has the situation been, she cannot remember the number of times she has slept hungry.

“I am paid only Sh200 a day in a hotel where I have been working since 2010. It is tough but I am soldiering on,” says Mueni from Kibwezi town.

What pains her most is the fact that the father of her children is alive and able.

“He is a mechanic and can afford to take care of us. But since he has never shown concern.”

At Kalamba village, Mary Mbithe keeps busy at her job of crushing stones into pebbles. She is another case of a resilient single mum.

The mother of five says she has been forced to bring up her children alone, after their father left. In Ilawani village, in Kilome, Ms Victoria Kasina says she dated a man for years but he left when he realised she could only get girls. She has eight.

The man wanted boys. Indeed, these stories embolden the report that indicate Makueni and Kitui as counties where most women are raising children separately from the fathers.