Mombasa politician Suleiman Shabal has urged the county government to be thoughtful when evicting street children from the town centre.
Shabal said there was need to approach the matter holistically in order to offer sustainable solutions to the menace.
"I do support the efforts by the county government of Mombasa to give the town the tourist allure that it boasts of, but the county has adopted some strategies that usually fail like solving the problem of water vendors, banning tuktuk operators and hawkers from the city. They carry out their eviction without any alternative offered by the administration,” said Shabal in a Facebook post.
Shabal said street children are just like others who are forced by circumstances to seek refuge along the streets, adding that sleeping in the streets and on piles of garbage is a life that no one would choose to live.
“These children and families must not be condemned neither should they be punished. What they really need is understanding. There is need to match the eviction with sustainable programmes to rehabilitate the street families from the jaws of drugs. Those who have attained the age of enrolling in school must be accorded that chance to learn. Chasing them literally from the town centre would only serve to exaggerate the problem since they will eventually find their way back into the city,” said Shabal.
This comes after Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho ordered street children and families to be evicted from the town centre and its environs with immediate effect.