Following a recent increase of child mistreatment cases in the area, parents and guardians in Kikuyu Sub County have been urged to vet babysitters before hiring them.
Kikuyu Principal Children’s Officer Mong’are Mwambi says that such cases have been rampant in the area, pointing out that his office deals with approximately five to eight cases regarding child mistreatment in the area.
Speaking from his office on Wednesday, Mwambi said that child mistreatment cases mostly involve baby-sitters who take advantage of the absence of their bosses and ill-treat the young children they are left with to babysit.
He quoted an instance which occurred lately, where a four-year old boy who used to be beaten by the house help when he refuses to feed. He also mentioned of another incident of a babysitter who denied a seven-year-old enough food, and instead ate to her satisfaction.
Mwambi said that parents and guardians who usually go to work and may not have enough time to take care of their little children should ensure that they hire qualified babysitters who have solemn knowledge about babysitting and can be accountable in case of an emergency.
According to him, parents are obliged to ensure they are aware of the background of their house helps to be sure that they have enough experience in dealing with their children.
“Parents must ensure that they have details of where their babysitters or house helps come from in case their children are abused by them,” he said.
He also advised the parents and guardians to restrain from taking their children to unlicensed children day care centres which have recently sprouted all over. He noted that some have gone to a point of turning their residential homes into day care centres, stuffing people’s children there.
In addition, the officer sounded a warning to parents who mistreat and abuse their own children for unknown reasons, saying his office will pull all the necessary strings required to bring them to book.