Two Tanzanians have been charged with sneaking their countrymen into Nairobi for exploitation through commercial begging.
The suspects, Kuyi Paulo and Sita Yohana were on Monday, August 30, accused of violating children’s rights and exploiting them by dumping them for begging.
The accused were intercepted by the Police and children's officers from Shauri Moyo sub-county as they were dropping a 14-year-old physically challenged child they trafficked from Tanzania.
Prosecutors said the two defendants had been profiting illegally through handouts obtained by the victims for the past two years.
Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Zainab Abdul was urged by the prosecution team to impose severe bail terms while releasing them on bond.
The duo faces three counts of trafficking persons, economic exploitation and being in Kenya illegally.
“That on diverse dates between the year 2019 and August 20, 2021, jointly with others not before court transported and harboured E.T. a Disabled child aged 14 years from Tanzania to Shauri Moyo in Kenya for the purpose of exploitation in abuse of a position of vulnerability,” the charge sheet read.
In the second count, the two have been accused that on the same dates at Shauri Moyo area in Kamukunji sub-county within Nairobi County willfully negligently engaged the 14-year-old in begging for as which interfered with his education and physical health.
They were further charged that on August 26, 2021, at South B in Makadara, Nairobi County as the two were found in Kenya unlawfully and did not have a valid pass in contravention of the Kenya Citizenship and immigration.
The magistrate ordered each of the accused to file a cash bail of Ksh 300,000.
In its effort to prevent trafficking, the government, in partnership with an NGO, continued to operate a 24-hour hotline to report child abuse and exploitation, including child trafficking.
In 2020, the government reported identifying at least 16 cases of suspected child trafficking through the hotline, compared to 11 cases identified in 2019.
In December 2020, the DCI launched a new call center for the public to report crimes, including human trafficking; authorities reported identifying one potential trafficking case through the hotline.
