Children cry to judges for protection

Children on Thursday implored the Judiciary to help uphold their rights.

In a memorandum, the children took issue with the Judiciary for not handing down heavy sentences, in accordance with the Sexual Offences Act, to tourists who sexually abuse the young.

The children made their presentation to the Kenya Women Judges Association chairperson Roselyne Nambuye in Mombasa and said: “We are demanding that stringent measures are taken against such foreigners. They should not be allowed into the country,” read the memorandum.

The children presented the memorandum when women judges visited Mji wa Salama Children’s Home in Makande, Mombasa. They noted that some of the sex tourists were offenders in their countries yet they were allowed to visit and move freely in Kenya.

The children called for the vetting of tourists coming into the country. They called for deterrent sentences against parents involved in drug trafficking, noting that they tended to neglect their children and deny them their rights to education.

In a case involving child rights, a Nairobi court yesterday heard that a 14-year-old househelp was assaulted by her Danish employer for failing to make good pancakes.

Ms Hamdi Abdi Dirie, 34, denied the charges of cruelty to a child and failing to protect the househelp. She was granted a Sh100,000 bond with a surety until the hearing on September 27.

The prosecutor told the court that Ms Dirie, who is a Danish pharmacist, assaulted the househelp on August 8, at South ‘C’ in Lang’ata, Nairobi.

She is also accused of failing to protect the girl from psychological abuse, all because she had not made good pancakes.

“She tied her hands on the back and hit her with a stick. The girl’s eyes could not see and her face was swollen,” the court heard.

In the same court, a hawker was charged with defiling a 15-month-old girl whose mother was his former lover.

Mr Evans Kariga Njau denied that he defiled the baby at Mitumba in Lang’ata, Nairobi, on August 8.