Why city is now free of street families

Street families have vanished from the city centre apparently to evade an operation to flush them out ahead of US President Barack Obama’s arrival on Friday.

Last weekend, several street families were rounded up by National Youth Service recruits, bundled into trucks and taken to the Joseph Kang’ethe Community Centre in Woodley Estate.

They were locked up at the facility owned by the Nairobi City County government.

County askaris are guarding the centre 24 hours a day to prevent grown-up street boys from escaping.

When the Nation team visited the centre on Tuesday, there were several askaris armed with clubs guarding the place.

They said no one, including journalists, was allowed to talk to the homeless families.

There were reports that some boys had managed to escape, but the guards declined to confirm the claims.

“These are street boys, who were arrested recently. They were brought here first before they are taken elsewhere,” said a county askari, who denied knowledge of any escape.

But some former street boys at the centre, who were rescued from the streets four years ago, told the Nation that their colleagues, who were brought in at the weekend, stole their belongings, including school equipment, before they escaped.