Few parents aware of the Children’s Act- Activists decry.

Sheikh Mohammed Swaleh right shakes hand with Dream Achievers Youth Organisation DAYO executive director Seif Jira  at KIKODEP on Friday, photo  (Courtesy)

BY PETER KOMBE

A section of activists in Mombasa County have asked the government to descend to the grass root to sensitize Kenyans on the contents of the Children’s Act.

According to the human rights defenders, very few parents know of the existence of the Act.

At the same time the activists attribute the ballooning teenage pregnancy in Mombasa County to the little or no knowledge of the public on the existence of the Children Act.

“It is good to respect morals in society. Some parents have very little knowledge of the children’s policy as envisaged in the constitution,” the activists stated.

Speaking to the media in Mombasa on Friday at Kisauni Development Project KICODEP Dream Achievers Youth Organization DAYO programs coordinator Enos Opiyo says there is a need for parents to effectively play their parental obligations.

He is appealing to parents to bring up their children according to religious principles and teachings.

“The aim of this forum is to inculcate value based education in schools. We want to see how children can be modelled to become useful members of society,” he said.  

Mr. Opiyo argues that family feuds impact children negatively.

Dream Achievers Youth Organization executive director Seif Jira says there is need for both parents to inculcate positive values amongst their children.

Mr. Seif attributes the increase in incidences of insecurity in Mombasa County to poor parenting.

Religious leaders, local administrators  and teachers following through the session at KIKODEP at Bombolulu next to Ziwa La Ngombe Primary School Nyali sub county. photo courtesy

Kongowea location chief Yasmin Omar insisted that there is need for civic education to curb the rising cases of teenage pregnancy in Mombasa County.

She says most parent’s especially female parents are not aware of the existence of the Children’s Act.

She said “As administrators we are concerned about the education of our children. According to me women are not responsible,”  

The local administrator wants the government to conduct an intensive public awareness campaign to sensitize the public on the Act.

She holds the opinion that minors (both the girl and the boy) caught up in the teenage pregnancy circuit deserve special teachings and counseling.

“Teenage pregnancy is a challenge in Mombasa County. I think parents are not responsible enough,”

On his part, Mustafa Salim village elder from Majengo area Mombasa County accused parents on claims of failing to address education as a basic concern.

According to him education, security and drugs and substance abuse still remain a challenge in the entire county.

“Most of our students perform poorly in the final exams. Some scoring even a mean grade of D”

The event organized by DAYO brought together local administrators, school heads, grade one to three teachers, village elders and thespians from DAYO.