Its a cold world where those who don’t sit tight will be carried anywhere by the wind.In a county to county poor problem sharing strategy, a police officers attempted to violate human rights by forcefully exiling those he didn’t want in an area for missions not clearly known.
At least 41 street children have claimed county enforcement officers rounded them up and dumped them in CEldama Ravine sub-county Children’s Officer Kuria Muthandi.
The street urchins aged between 12 and 26 years said the officers told them the county government was taking them to school before bundling them into waiting vehicles.
Jackson Kuka, 26, said the officers approached him at around 9pm, told him of a plan to take street children to school and college, and asked him to get into a car.
“Those who refused to board the lorries were forced in. They told us the younger ones would be taken to primary school and the rest to colleges, only for us to end up in a forest in another county,” said Kuka.
He said the officers handcuffed some of them before bundling them into the cars and taking them to the forest 75 kilometres away.
Lembus MCA Ben Koech condemned the act, saying forceful transfer of people was illegal. He called for action against responsible officials.
“It is not right. Dumping street families here is not the solution. The officials were simply transferring a problem from Nakuru to Baringo. Let each county have a rescue centre for children,” said Eldama Ravine sub-county Children’s Officer Kuria Muthandi