Residents of Kongoni area in Naivasha have protested over the increased cases of infants being locked up in cells during the weekend. They said that majority of the children are locked up when their mothers are arrested in swoops in the area. A 2-month-old child was over the weekend forced to sleep in the cells after its mother was arrested during a police swoop. Led by the Naivasha Women for Peace coordinator Purity Wanjira, the residents argued that the handling of such cases was unfair. “The children should be at least taken to the children department instead of being confined into the cells. They are often left there hungry and spend the weekend crying. This is inhumane,” she added. Wanjira said that in some cases, some children whose parents were living with HIV had a hard time especially since they could not access breast milk. “We are appealing to the police to at least consider the babies and try to track their relatives in case of any arrest. This is jeopardising the child and putting them at risk of dying from either hunger or congestions in the cells,” she said. Another resident Joyce Wangari said that this was disregarding the rights of the children. “They are innocent and should not be entangled in this mess,” she added.

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