Covid-19 Fears Force Children to Live in Police Stations

A photo of the Central Police Station in Nairobi
Central Police Station in Nairobi
Daily Nation

Nakuru police stations have been playing host to a number of children who were rescued from the streets of Nakuru with nowhere else to go.

The young ones were left out in the cold after Children Officers in Nakuru refused to tend to them on account of the coronavirus pandemic.

As per a report by the Standard on Wednesday, March 25, The Nakuru East Police Commander Elena Kabukuru provided that the police had called the children's department only to be informed that no one was at the office by reason of Covid-19.

Railways Police Station in Nakuru Town.
Railways Police Station in Nakuru Town.
Daily Nation

One of the children sheltering at the prison is 10-year old Mathew Omondi. 

A pupil at Mahola Primary School in Kisumu, he had boarded a bus to Nakuru on Sunday, March 22 with plans to meet his parents in Nakuru town.

He, however, lost his bearings on arrival in the town and slept on the streets before a good samaritan found him and took him to Nakuru Central Police Station.

14-year old Sharon Namwea is in a similar predicament and is also sheltering at the Nakuru Central Police Station.

Namwea provided that she had travelled from Malaba where she used to live with her guardian.

She found her way to Nakuru after the guardian gave her Ksh 1,000 and asked her to look for somewhere else to stay.

Alice Wanyonyi. the Nakuru Children's Coordinator stated that the children officers were unwilling to go to work out of fear of contracting the virus.

“Officers from the department are working from home. Nobody is ready to visit children’s homes because of the risk,” she said.

Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris during a women empowerment session in Nairobi on October, 2020.
Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris during a women empowerment session in Nairobi in October 2020.
Photo
Esther Passaris

Vulnerable children including those living on the streets and those in homes will be significantly affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

In light of this, Nairobi Women Representative Esther Passaris put in a request for special food allocation to children's homes.

The request penned on March 24 states that children living in orphanages faced the risk of starvation as donor funding remains uncertain.