Nowhere to call home: Plea for street families as rehab projects stall

Plans by the government in 2003 to rid urban areas of street families appear to have crumbled, with devolution creating further confusion on the issue.

When Narc came to power under President Mwai Kibaki, concerted efforts by then Vice President Moody Awori saw many street families taken to rehabilitation centres while others joined the National Youth Service.

The Street Families Rehabilitation Trust Fund was formed for this purpose. But 13 years later, matters have gone from bad to worse. The fund has been allocated a mere Sh577 million this financial year. 

Fund secretary Robert Njogu told the Sunday Nation that street families have not increased; rather they are more “conspicuous”. He said many homeless people are drawn to Nairobi city from the nearby informal settlements.

“Some children come from the slums. They are not really street families. They come to the streets and return to their homes at night,” he said.

Mr Njogu added that many street children, for long addicted to “free money in the city”, find life in rehabilitation centres difficult.

Devolution has further muddled the issue, as county governments lack a constitutional mandate to allocate money for rehabilitation. 

The Council of Governors says the role has not been devolved, adding that they merely chip in to ensure order.

According to Kisii Governor James Ongwae — who is also the chair of the council committee on human resources, labour and social welfare — issues of street children are still under the national government, although his county budgeted Sh10 million for them in the current financial year.

“We cannot sit back as a county yet we are faced with this challenge. We [Kisii County] have come up with deliberate interventions; the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 allows counties to intervene even if the role is not devolved,” he said.

Last October, Eldoret County stirred controversy after it “dumped” more than 200 street children in neighbouring Bungoma County. Mr Njogu termed the action unfortunate, even as he admitted that the national government is responsible for street family rehabilitation.

“We are talking of partnering with counties to give us land to build rehab centres. That alone is like devolving,” he said, adding that Devolution Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri recently wrote to county governments on the issue.

Mr Ongwae said: “It is true the national government has written to us requesting that we provide land for establishment of rehabilitation centres for street families. We are in the process of doing so”. Already, Kisii county has allocated Sh10 million for construction of a rehabilitation centre at Kiamwasi.

Urban areas with high numbers of street children and homeless families include Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Eldoret, Lodwar and Nanyuki.

A recent charity function in Nairobi last month, organised by State House digital communications director Dennis Itumbi and the Chapati Forum, provided proof of the overwhelming numbers of street children. Hundreds flocked to the event.

The Nairobi County hopes that a rehab centre being built on a 40-acre plot in Ruai will deal with the problem. “Phase one of the centre, with a capacity to host 1,400 children, is under construction,” the county’s executive for social services, Ms Anne Lokidor, said in a statement.

Mr Njogu said they would conduct a swoop in Nairobi “to remove 300 street families. We shall start with Nairobi... and are targeting about 50 bases where street families live.”

Last November, the fund held a forum with county government officials “to brainstorm on how to deal with the issue,” Mr Njogu said.

One of the children netted in the 2003 street swoop, Mr Michael Onjiko, spoke to the Sunday Nation in January after graduating from Kenyatta University.

He was full of praise but was bitter that Gitathuru centre that helped reform him is a pale shadow of its former self.

Responding to the concern that care facilities are rundown, Mr Njogu said the dilapidated ones are mainly those that used to be run by defunct municipal councils.

Another challenge faced, he said, is acquisition of land bought at Mavoko for construction of a model rehabilitation centre.

Twenty acres were bought for Sh38 million in 2013 but the fund is yet to get the title deed owing to a valuation dispute, Mr Njogu said.

He lamented that many of the rehabilitees are not being absorbed by the National Youth Service, which took in more than 800 youths in the early years.

“Reformed street youth are no longer considered for NYS training We are recommending that 100 NYS slots be reserved for reformed street families; 20 of which should be for disabled youth,” he said.

He said that under fund, more than 80,200 reformed street children and youth have enrolled in primary and secondary schools countrywide, while 18,000 former street children have been re-integrated with their families.