Take care of street families, let ‘green city’ see the sun once again

Street families

A police officers ordering street families to vacate Tubman Road in Nairobi during curfew hours on June 2, 2020.

Photo credit: Evans Habil | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • Some of the people living on the streets have university education.
  • They have just been let down by a government that should have enabled them get or create jobs.

I lost my handset to a group of street children in Nairobi just the other day. It was my first ever smartphone. I didn’t see it coming. I was still new in the city. 

Losing the phone does not hurt anymore. What concerns me is the knowledge that another person could fall victim to these gangs. Who knows, it could even lead to death.

According to a 2018 census by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection and Unicef, there are 46,639 people living on the streets. The report revealed that 74 percent of them are male and a majority are aged between 19 and 34. Nairobi has the highest number of street people. 

Some of these people have university education. They have just been let down by a government that should have enabled them get or create jobs.

Many resort to crime due to hunger, lack of healthcare and other challenges. Phone snatching, muggings, knife attacks and other crimes are on the rise in Nairobi, with one of the latest incidents involving actor Ainea Ojiambo of the Makutano Junction television series. 

Rehabilitation centres

Mr Ojiambo is under investigation after shooting two people as he battled a suspected street boy who wanted to snatch the actor’s gold chains on Moi Avenue last week. This worrying trend requires urgent intervention. The government should roll out policies and projects aimed at reducing the number of street families.

These include legislation of relevant laws and setting up of rehabilitation centres. The private sector, too, has a role to play in advocating for and advancing the rights of street children.

Non-governmental organisations are already on board as recently noted by Nairobi Metropolitan Services boss, Major-General Mohamed Badi, who noted that 22,413 NGOs registered with the NMS to take care of at least 19,768 street children in the city.

Nairobi desperately requires safety, peace and stability as Maj Gen Badi and his team battle to restore the lost glory of the “Green City in the Sun”.

Adams is a first year Law student at the University of Nairobi.

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