Kiambu county to abolish half of children homes
The Kiambu County government is set to abolish half of children homes in the area.
The county has the highest number of orphanages in the country most of them located in deplorable environments.
Deputy governor Dr.Joyce Ngugi opines that the county government would start supporting parents rather than orphanages.
Speaking at Kirigiti rehabilitation center in Kiambu town when she presented food donations yesterday, she said that most of the children at such facilities are not orphans but have ended there because of poverty, alcoholism among parents and neglect.
"Going forward, we are planning abolition of orphanages and embrace family based approaches which we believe will accord the children the much needed social psychological support found only within family units," she said.
This as it emerges that fraudsters have continually used orphanages to mint billions of shillings.
She said that the county government would ensure protection of children and also cordinate public education programs of their welfare while at home.
Ngugi noted that overcrowding in some children institutions exposed them to sexual vulnerability and other exploitations saying that the same leads to depression.
The DG who is the immediate former National Council for Children Services boss at the same time called upon law courts across the country to expedite juvenile cases.
She said that many juvenile cases drag in courts for ages thereby exposing suspects to trauma and uncertainties in their lives.
"We call for more friendly justice for children and ask courts to give children cases the first priority bacause some of the suspects grow up into adults in remands prisons and remand homes as they wait for their cases to be determined," she said.
She called upon parents to strictly monitor what their children are 'consuming' in the Internet during this Covid-19 holiday season.
"Parents should take the re responsibilities of controlling the contents their children's are receiving from the internet lest they get exposed to explicit and toxic materials to the detriment of their lives," she said.
The DG donated assorted foodstuffs including rice, maize flour and milk as well as face masks and sanitizers.
