The government has launched a 90-day campaign to address the rising cases of violence against children in Nyeri, Murang’a and Tharaka Nithi counties following a series of disturbing incidents reported in the region.
Gender Cabinet Secretary Hanna Wendot Cheptumo announced the Rapid Results Initiative after a high-level security and child protection meeting held in the Central region on Thursday.
The initiative will focus on strengthening action against child abuse, neglect, exploitation and sexual and gender-based violence.
“The Ministry of Gender, Culture and Children Services is deeply saddened by the recent incidents involving violence against children reported in Nyeri, Murang’a and Tharaka Nithi counties,” Cheptumo said.
Her comments were made just days after the discovery of two children’s dead bodies along the Kiama river within Gatanga, Murang’a County. The two deceased children were a young boy estimated at age 14 years and a nine-year-old girl who was discovered on May 10th.
Also, in Tharaka Nithi County, the police force is investigating the murder of another missing child whose dead body was discovered in Mukothima. Further cases of violence on children have been recorded in Nyeri County.
Cheptumo characterized such incidents as very heartrending and said that they represent an alarming trend of abuse and violence towards children.
“The loss of innocent children is painful, distressing and unacceptable,” she said, adding that the government remains committed to protecting children as required by the Constitution and the Children’s Act.
As part of the new measures, the Ministry has strengthened coordination between the National Police Service, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, child protection officers, schools, health facilities and local security teams to improve response to abuse cases.
The CS also revealed their plans of putting into practice a national child helpline on a 24-hour basis, along with WhatsApp reporting system which would facilitate reporting the cases of abuse by Kenyans.
In addition to that, on the part of the Ministry, a meeting with representatives of several governmental bodies will be held on May 22, to address the problem of escalating numbers of cases of violence and find some ways of dealing with them in the long term.
This meeting will involve officials from such ministries as Interior, Education, Health and Gender, Judiciary, religious figures, county governments, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, community organizations.
Cheptumo instructed all governmental organizations involved in taking measures regarding the issue to do everything possible to eliminate sexual and gender-based violence in Central Kenya within the period of 11 months.
It appears that the region is characterized by 531 cases of violence, most of which are yet to go through the trial process. Government representatives expressed worries about another 680 cases of suicide in the region.