Many children still not free from abuse

By JOB WERU

In 1976, thousands of black school children protested in the streets of Soweto, South Africa, over the inferior quality of education and demanded to be taught in their own language.

Security forces shot down hundreds of boys and girls during the protest, and in the two weeks of protests that followed, more than 100 people were killed and over 1,000 injured.

To honour the memory of those killed and the courage of all those who marched, the Day of the African Child has been celebrated on June 16 every year since 1991, when it was first initiated by the Organisation of African Unity (now the African Union).

Pupils at Doldol Primary School in Laikipia North District. Two decades after the Day of the African Child was inaugurated, retrogressive practices such as early marriages and female genital mutilation continue unabated among pastoralists. [PHOTOS: JOB WERU/STANDARD]

But two decades after the day was inaugurated, children in Laikipia, among other pastoralist regions, still face retrogressive practices such as early marriages and female genital mutilation.

A fortnight ago, seven girls from Il’Polei Secondary School and one from Il’Polei Primary School were withdrawn from school after they fell pregnant.

Il’Polei Secondary School Principal Mr John Ngumba said another student was secretly withdrawn from the school and married off last year. Two others from Il’Polei Primary School, who had been secretly married off, were rescued from their abusive unions.

Rescued girls

And a 15-year-old girl boarded a Nanyuki bound lorry that had ferried traders to Ol’Donyiro market in Isiolo District to escape domestic violence..

In 2009, a child rights activist Ms Josephine Kulea rescued ten girls, aged between four and 12, in Kipsing area of Isiolo. Despite their tender ages, they had been beaded by suitors (morans) — an indication that the men had booked them for marriage. Going by tradition, the men could have sexual intercourse with them at will.

The girls, who have since rejoined school after gettin sponsorship from well-wishers, had scars all over their bodies as a result of being battered by their husbands.

And away from these retrogressive cultures, rampant conflicts and droughts in the region have shattered dreams of hundreds of children, who are regularly displaced by the fights.

Last year, Mary Kaparo, the wife of former National Assembly Speaker Francis ole Kaparo rescued 15 children, aged between four and 13, who were victims of the 2009 Kanampiu massacre in Laikipia North District. About 34 people, most of them parents, were shot dead in the dawn attack.

Foreign donors

Mrs Kaparo hosted the children at her Lentille Hills Academy, where their education and upkeep was sponsored by a local community-based organisation, One More Day for Children (OMDC), which is funded by donors from the Czech Republic.

Nine of the children have since acquired individual sponsorship from families in Czech Republic, through OMDC President Jiri Pergl.

Mr Pergl told The Standard On Sunday that his organisation, OMDC, has placed 123 children under sponsorship, 32 of whom were victims of early marriages.

Pergl, who is a Czech national, said OMDC was still getting more children whose lives and education is threatened.

"But we take note that these children are innocent, and were it not for those bad cultures, they would be leading decent lives. Some are living in squalid conditions in slums, where even raising daily food is a mirage," said Pergl.

Ms Hellen Gathogo, a child rights crusader and OMDC Vice President, attributed the never-ending child abuse cases to retrogressive cultural practices.

Female circumcision

Gathogo singled out rampant female genital mutilation and early marriages as major retrogressive practices meted out on girls in the arid areas.

"It is possible to rescue girls from early marriages but it is very hard to rescue them from female cut since it is shrouded in secrecy," she the child rights crusader.

But even as the malpractices continue unabated, the region is flooded with non- governmental organisations that ironically advocate for child rights.

Rights abuse

But as Gathogo puts it, most of these organisations are only found on record, while they lack representation on the ground.

"It is high time these organisations decentralised their activities from Nairobi and moved down to the people they serve," she said.

It is worrying that even though we have laws that guard children, their rights are being abused," she said.

And in Nanyuki, Nyahururu and other major towns within Mt Kenya region, the street children menace continues unabated.

Most of the children are from poor households and children rights experts say their parents encourage them to beg.

Laikipia North and East districts have only two children rescue centres, the Nanyuki Children’s Homes and Cedec.

Cedec is owned by the Municipal Council of Nanyuki and there have been complaints that children escape from the home due to lack of facilities.

At the moment, a row is simmering at Nanyuki Children’s homes. The national organisation that manages the home, the Child Welfare Society of Kenya, is being accused of misappropriating Sh25 million remitted by UK-based donors in the last ten years.

No pay

Mr Bill Kirk, the chairman of UK-based Nanyuki Children’s Home Trust, said workers at the home have gone six months without pay. However, the home management committee chairperson Ms Helen Kurutu said the home owed various secondary schools thousands of shillings in fees arrears.

Laikipia North does not have any children’s home but the OMDC recently announced it would put up a Sh30 million facility.