Residents of Kisii County are up in arms over the rising cases of child labor after it emerged that minors were engaged in menial jobs to raise money for food for many families.
According to the Kisii Central sub-county children officer Evans Ondabu, they have received reports that many parents in the county overwork small children over the weekends and weekdays to earn more money.
The officer condemned the vice and challenged the community to ensure that minors were safeguarded against such exploitation.
He said that it was heartbreaking to encounter children in markets and in towns hawking while their parents are resting at home.
He noted that the education standards in the region will not improve unless children, who were within the school-going age, were taken to schools.
“This is a deplorable situation that should be stopped by all people in this county. These children must be taken to school and parents charged with negligence,” he said.
The officer though said he was gathering information about parents whose children were hawking so that they can be arrested.
He said that the names would be forwarded to the police and children department for further action against the erring parents.
“This vice is being encouraged by greed for money. Parents are sending their children to work in such terrible conditions in the hope that they will bring some money in the evening,” he said.
He revealed that children were preferred because they could claim they were doing the jobs to raise money for their school fees.
The officer was speaking while addressing the press in his office early this morning.