Mai Mahiu residents are calling on the government to act fast in finding a lasting solution to the on-going teachers strike to help avert cases of child prostitution in the area.
The residents, a majority of who are business operators within the shopping centre, are concerned at the rising number of school-going children engaging in prostitution activities in the recent past.
They attribute the influx to the strike, arguing that the number has increased ever since schools sent children home in response to an official announcement by teacher unions of commencement of the strike.
“The situation here is wanting because our young girls are all over the streets and back street corridors parading themselves as prostitutes,” said Alice Wairimu, an M-Pesa agent.
She further argues that authorities got to carry out an operation to help restore sanity in the area by flushing out the young girls from the streets.
“Now that our efforts to see them out have failed, let the concerned authorities help us deal with it because the situation is so embarrassing,” she added.
For Maina Chege, an owner of a popular restaurant at the shopping centre, as much as the young girls are finding their way in the streets, truck drivers are to blame for exploiting the innocent girls.
“I have been forced to literally chase some out of my rooms because of having underage customers,” he said, adding that he ensured that a notorious Rwandese was locked at Mai Mahiu police post for bringing a high school student with school uniform last week.
If the situation persists, the residents have threatened to hold a peaceful demonstration in protest of the long distance drivers accusing them of misusing their young girls.
They called on parents to remain vigilant and know the whereabouts of their girls during this striking period because some were finding their way to the centre to engage in prostitution.