Missing children crisis marred by contradictions, delays

Missing children crisis marred by contradictions, delays. [istock]

Concerns over the rising cases of missing and murdered children have been compounded by conflicting statements from government t officials raising questions about the county’s preparedness and commitment to child protection.

While families continue to report disappearances and disturbing cases of killings, authorities appear divided on the scale of the crisis and how to respond to it.

Police Spokesperson Muchiri Nyaga dismissed claims of an increase in missing children cases, attributing the growing concerns to recycled content, manipulated video clips, AI-generated material and misleading posts on social media.

“We really don’t have a surge. It’s only that we have a public that is much more conscious, more aware and the spread of information is much faster. Something else we have noticed during our analysis is the intrusion of AI and fakes,” Nyaga said.

“Some of the clips we have seen in recent times contribute to the perception that there is a surge or an emergency. That is not the case. The best approach is calmness and reliance on facts,” he added.

His remarks triggered immediate backlash online, with critics accusing authorities of downplaying a growing child protection crisis and the suffering of affected families.

The ministry of Gender warned of a ‘growing national crisis’ but Kenya police seems to downplay the situation, causing confusion on the gravity of the crisis.

There are also conflicting statistics of the total number of missing children in the country.

While the Ministry of Gender reports that there have been 1,636 cases of missing children recorded between January 2025 and March 2026, police reported 893 cases from January 2025 to data.

According to Nyaga, police have recorded about 139 cases of missing children in 2026, and about 754 cases recorded in 2025.

He added that of the total cases reported in 2026, 41 are currently before the courts and 52 other cases under investigation by various police departments. In 2024, NPS recorded 1, 276 in 2024.

Gender Cabinet Secretary Hannah Cheptumo the initial reports that there were at least 10,581 children reported missing in the country within 15 months.

Instead, Cheptumo clarifies that the figure represented the broader Missing and Found Children caseload recorded in the Child Protection Information Management System between January 2025 and March 2026.

“The caseload includes cases of abandonment, lost and found children, abductions and trafficking, including children who were found, rescued, reunited or placed under protection and care interventions,” she said.

Other violations recorded within same 15-month period include 1952 abduction cases, 6820 cases of abandonment and 173 child trafficking cases.

In response to the growing GBV crisis, Cheptumo recently launched a WhatsApp reporting platform aimed at strengthening the reporting of gender-based violence and child protection cases.

However, critics argue that the move, while well-intentioned, falls short of addressing the urgency and scale of child disappearances.

“While statements like this raise awareness and acknowledge the crisis, significant gaps remain between acknowledgment and implementation. The response remains fragmented and reactive instead of preventive and coordinated,” said Njeri Maina, MP Kirinyaga.

“There is also weak accountability in investigations and prosecutions. Families continue to report delayed investigations, poor forensic capacity, negligence, victim-blaming attitudes, and failure to act on warning signs before violence escalates,” she added.

Child rights advocates and members of the public are now pushing for the introduction of a nationwide “Red Alert” system similar to Amber Alerts used in other countries to enable rapid response when children go missing.

The mechanism incorporated within local communication service providers would trigger immediate nationwide notifications when a child is reported missing to enable faster responses from law enforcement and the public.

They argue that delayed response times, poor coordination and lack of real-time public alerts have hampered efforts to locate missing children.

“The alarming rise in cases of femicide and child disappearances in Kenya is a national crisis that demands urgent, unified, and sustained action from all arms of government and collectively, the society,” said the MP.

“Every woman murdered for the mere fact of being a woman, and every child who disappears without trace, reflects a failure of the systems meant to protect them,” Njeri added.

But as the CS launches the WhatsApp platform to tackle the violence, the jury is out on what has been the major challenge in the fights against GBV and violence and against children.

Stakeholders stated that the institutions mandated to protect women and children are severely underfunded and implementation of the law has been slow.

According to According to Aggrey Juma, a senior manager in charge of violence against women and children at the International Justice Mission (IJM), severe low budgets in the children protection units and programs is a key hindrance in deterring the cases.

“I do not think as a country we are appreciating the extent of the problem of the prevalence of sexual and Gender-Based Violence (GBV). And because we do not appreciate it as we should, our response is lackluster,” said Juma.

“We have some initiative from select government officials. But a lot of them are not very well funded to respond with the magnitude that the problem has. As a result, these cases continue because people from a community perspective do not see cases as leading to justice,” he added.

Shantal Valerie Onyango, Director at the Parliamentary Caucus on Children and legal counsel at The Cradle-Children Foundation  reiterated stating that while the violence is still increasing Kenya’s child protection system remains critically underfunded.

“When you have an extremely underfunded law enforcement system, you are emboldening criminals. You’ll find one children’s officer serving an entire county, using their own vehicle, their own phone, airtime, and resources. That is not a system that can protect children,” Onyango said.

Besides poor funding, Paul Kuria, Director for Programmes and Research at the National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC) pointed the trend of violence to societal shifts, including the breakdown of community vigilance stating that people no longer look out for each other’s children.

“Even well-intentioned laws fall short without funding and if things are not planned for and budgeted for, they will never happen,” said Kuria.

“Likewise, when systems do not work, perpetrators become bold. When cases are not solved or justice takes too long, it gives others courage to commit similar crimes,” Kuria said.

While the brutality of the crimes is alarming, the sector players say the response systems are equally concerning.

Juma and Kuria pointed to delays in prosecution as a major weakness adding that the financial burden of pursuing justice further discourages families.

“If someone is arrested today, by the time they are convicted, it is three, four, even eight years later. By that time, nobody connects the offence to the punishment, and we lose the opportunity to achieve deterrence.”

“For survivors from places like Bamba, just to attend court in Kilifi or Mariakani costs nothing less than Sh2,000 for transport alone. Most of the time, the policemen are forced to carry both the perpetrator and the victim in the same vehicle and it is traumatizing.”

“If at the end of it you come out with nothing, most people lose interest, “said Juma.

He also highlighted the emotional toll on child victims navigating the justice system.

“A lot of the time, children show up in court with unprocessed trauma. Many cannot even narrate what happened to them,” he said, adding that insensitive questioning by some defence lawyers worsens the situation.

“Some ask questions like, ‘Did you enjoy what happened?’ And that is completely inappropriate,” he said.

On his part, Kuria there has been a challenge in accessing justice for the children and also retraumatizing the victims  

“We find there's a lot of buying time and making some decisions that ultimately reverses and delays access to justice for that child and the loved ones as well.” 

“All these actors within the Child Protection Units and those who are involved in the pathway for access to justice for children must be well coordinated,” he added.

Other proposed interventions to tackle the crisis include establishment of a multi-agency rapid response unit, strengthening forensic and investigative systems, gender-responsive budgeting, decentralization of special GBV courts, and community-based prevention systems.

Others include establishment of SGBV Rescue Centers by county governments, allocating more resources to child protection services and equipping staff with training, investment in mental health support, and public education campaigns.