Sonko to provide thousands of street children with new jobs

dennis kibet

September 22, 2017 1:19 PM

The street children will also be provided with housing by the County Government.

The lives of thousands of Nairobi street children are set to change for the better after Governor Mike Sonkos new promise to them.

Sonko has promised to employ the street children as cleaners across the county.

Speaking when he met the street children at City Hall, Sonko also said he will provide them with housing by the county government.

“I am committed to working with you I hope you will not disappoint me. I will pay your rent for one month but make sure you don’t come back to the streets,” Sonko was quoted by Capital FM.

However the Governor said that the new perks will only come on condition that the street children turn away from their lives of drugs and crime.

The thankful street children responded by pledging to quit their lives of crime and drugs.

In the past few years, street children have turned into petty criminals and invaded the Central Business District in areas such as Market Road, Kenyatta Avenue, Kimathi Street, Ronald Ngala, Tom Mboya and Mfangano Streets.

Earlier this year, over 2000 street children were rescued and rehabilitated in Nairobi through an initiative by the County Government to get them off the streets.

Under the programme the children underwent counseling, receive treatment of their addiction and provided with life skills that included enrolling them back in school.

An estimate by the Consortium of Street Children (CSC), an international charity, suggests the number of street children could be as high as between 250,000 and 300,000 throughout Kenya, including 60,000 in Nairobi alone.

dennis kibet