Nakuru based human rights loby group want the government to take action against parents of street children.
David Kuria, the Executive Director of the Nakuru Human Rights Network claimed that many of the street children have parents who can feed and clothe them.
"There are many irresponsible parents who send their children to the streets to beg. The authorities should arrest these parents and prosecute them for contravening the children act,” said Kuria.
Speaking in Nakuru during a meeting with children stakeholders at Nakuru hotel, he cited a case in which a 35-year-old former street boy fell sick and was admitted to a public hospital and later died.
"The hospital and mortuary bill had accumulated to over Sh 30,000 and we had to appeal to the hospital authorities to waive the bill which they did,” said Kuria.
He stated in as much as the society wants to help the poor, it is unfair for able bodied parents to send their children to the streets to beg and expect other people to shoulder their burden.
"I don't think we have delinquent children in this country. What we have are delinquent parents,” he said.
He however said that children who are genuinely poor deserved to be assisted.
“The amazing mystery about street children in Nakuru is that they tend to increase as the day progresses. In the morning hours they are a hand full but in the evening the numbers tend to increase. There is a possibility that some attend school and after school they are sent by their parents to the streets to beg,” he said.
Kuria added that arresting and harrasing children was unfair since they are simply being obedient to their parents.