The government should allocate funds for rehabilitation of street children

 A larger number of our heavenly brothers and sisters are on the streets of Nairobi and in almost all big Kenyan cities. It is a painful and very serious issue because the increase of street families in our cities is rampant.

Some of these kids have nowhere else to go and the only place they can call home is in the streets though only for a short while because they also don't live for long due to exposure to harsh living conditions.  

Many of the children claim that their parents are either deceased or have abandoned them. In short, the children are from economically poor families who suffer from lack of adequate attention and care at home as their parents spend most of their time and energy in securing their mere survival. Domestic conflicts is a lso a factor that pushes also features as one key factor pushing for streetism. Once on the streets, children are introduced into sexual activity either for recreation or money and others claim that they are being forced into it and raped.

These innocent souls feel that they are unfairly blamed by members of the public for theft, robbery and other infractions of the law. Often they are beaten and harassed for real or imagined misdemeanours.

The younger children, especially boys even fear the police who are human beings bound by the law to help citizens,  because they continually harass them instead. Girls’ lives in streets are painful as older street boys organise gang rapes if the girls decline to have sex with them or even just to torture them for no misdeed. They sleep without food, but who bothers to know? They get sick but who seeks medication for them? They have torn clothes but who bothers to bless them with clothes?

 Therefore the government and its citizens should know that there are clear violations of the children's rights; basic rights to life, housing, food, education, protection, sexual abuse, child labour and that this is a complex problem that would need a multi-pronged approach from different ministries.

The Government should set aside certain portions of public land for the rehabilitation of street children. Alternatively, increasing security would ensure that the children even though still on the streets are safe from abuse, HIV, risky abortions, drugs and alcohol addictions.

The Government should also control this by employing officers who are not in the police unit to minister to some children who have given birth and seen the face of death by enabling them to access free health care.

Some of them are mult-talented and as an example we have seen great footballers and musicians made from our brothers and sisters in streets. So I urge the government to enforce and even include the plans for the disabled people in the streets while allocating funds in the budget.