Report: Low funding, slow response leave children exposed to abuse

One of the defilement survivor at Kamarandi Girls Rescue Centre during the interview in Tharaka Nithi County. (James Wanzala, Standard) Kenya continues to fail its children given the high number of offences committed against them, with Nairobi and Kiambu counties ranking as the most unsafe places. The revelations are contained in the National Council on the Administration of Justice 2024-2025 report. The justice sector, the report says, faces a shortage of specialised staff to support vulnerable groups, including children and people with disabilities. There was a gap in funding programmes aimed at children. The Directorate of Children Services requires Sh6 billion for operations, but has only been allocated Sh1.8 billion. Other key sectors in supporting the directorate are the Judiciary, the National Police Service (NPS), Kenya Prisons Service and the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP). NPS has the largest funding of Sh116 billion against the requirement of Sh171 billion leaving them with a gap of Sh55.2 billion. Prisons requires Sh63 billion but has only been allocated Sh33 billion, while ODPP needs Sh5.1 billion but has been given Sh4.2 billion. The Judiciary has a funding gap of Sh22 billion from the Sh23 billion allocation against a budgetary requirement of Sh45 billion. The report notes that the directorate received 177,482 cases involving children, but only 83,213 were resolved. Nairobi recorded the highest number of cases with 17,645 followed by Kiambu (11,028), Nakuru (5,706), Kakamega (5,094) and Kisumu (4,792). Samburu had the lowest with 532, followed by Laikipia (557), Lamu (610), Marsabit (619) and Vihiga (788). From the report, 59 Kenyans committed offences against children with males accounting for a majority of the crimes committed against females. From the 133 victims who reported their cases, 76 were female while 57 were male, and the most vulnerable group of children were those aged between 10 and 17. The report said that this reflected "their heightened exposure to sexual exploitation and abuse". These offences were committed by adults of ages between 18 and 39, who accounted for 82 per cent of the cases, with a majority of the incidents being defilement, child trafficking and child pornography. The Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Protection Unit of the NPS in the period under review finalised only four cases relating to defilement, incest and child pornography. The unit has nine defilement cases in court, one case of rape and 11 relating to child pornography. It is investigating 11 defilement cases and eight on child pornography. In the same period, 15,453 cases concerning children were filed and 17,099, some from previous years, were resolved. Of concern is the number of centres dedicated to children affairs, which are only 30 and at one time housed 3,640 children. Of the 1,063 still in custody, those in remand homes are 555, which represents 52 per cent. The report notes that there are five children rescue centres, 14 remand homes, nine rehabilitation schools and two national receptions, assessment and classification centres. "The higher rate of case resolution compared to new case filings demonstrates improved efficiency yielding declining backlog in the courts," says the report. It recommends for the finalisation of the Adoption and Children in Conflict with the Law Rules. The report hails the development of the draft children's policy, 2025. The Children's Court Users Committees reported that there was weak inter-agency coordination, a rising incidence of crimes against children and non-child friendly infrastructure in the pursuit for justice.

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