Eldoret West Deputy OCPD Nicholas Ngomo at the Eldoret Children's rescue center on December 19, 2017. [Photo: Joe Khisa]
Police in Eldoret now say a majority of petty crimes recorded within the town are committed by street children.
According to Eldoret West Deputy Officer Commanding Police Division (OCPD) Nicholas Ngomo, street children are the faces behind pickpocketing, mugging and other minor crimes that have been on the rise within the town.
Speaking to the press in Eldoret on Tuesday, Ngomo welcomed Uasin Gishu County government's move to remove all the street families from Eldoret.
He said the police will work closely with relevant officials to ensure the exercise succeeds.
"We hope this initiative will help drastically reduce petty crimes in our town as most of them were being committed by the street families," said Mr. Ngomo.
"A multi-agency operation to relocate street families from the town has already begun and will only stop once Eldoret town streets are free from those street children," he added.
The operation that begun on Monday has seen over 80 street children relocated to the Eldoret rescue centre with over 120 elderly persons that were found on the streets also being in police custody.
This comes just days after governor Jackson Mandago declared that he would flush out all street children from Eldoret town within the next two months.