Establishment of children homes is on the rise in Kiambu County despite a call by the government to incorporate orphans and vulnerable children in families.
The government's proposal was a way of containing the rising rates of street children.
Speaking from his office in Kikuyu on Wednesday, principal county children officer Mong’are Mwambi said that many parents neglect their children leaving them under the care of their grandparents who may not be able to adequately provide for them.
He said, "Such children end up in children’s homes due to neglect. They are thus labelled ‘orphans’ though their parents are alive enjoying life elsewhere."
Mwambi confirmed that a week will hardly pass without their office admitting a neglected child to a children’s home. His main worry is that the homes that are officially registered will soon be congested forcing the creation of even more homes.
Though the highest population of orphans in Kenya is caused by parents who succumbed to HIV/AIDS as per recent studies, Mwambi explained that it was the contrary in the county because most of those cases that they handle are of neglected children.
He has appealed to county residents to change tack as taking them to children’s homes will not give them a chance of growing up in a family.
"Neglecting them exposes them to further stigmatisation and numerous abuses even right in the homes where they are enrolled," he added.