Limuru law courts in Kiambu county will be making routine checks on children's cells in police stations.
Principal magistrate Miriam Mugure said children who are locked up often suffer due to lack of bedding and are left to sleep on the cold floor.
Speaking at Lari police station on Saturday, the judicial officer warned that children as well as women with children held in police stations should be handled with care.
She had led the children's court users committee to distribute mattresses, blankets, bedsheets, clothes, toys and stickers to children protection centres that are used as cells.
They distributed the items to Tigoni, Limuru town and Lari police stations.
“We have visited the three police stations to distribute these items. We have seen the children protection centres where children are held. Some come with cases while others are brought there as children in need of protection and care,” Mugure said.
“Others are brought when their mothers are arrested. They need to be treated with dignity. They need to feel warm.”
She was accompanied by senior resident magistrate Brenda Ofisi, lawyers Njigina Mwangi and Njau Ngigi, OCSs Christine Mudanya (Tigoni) and Njoroge Karega (Lari) among other officials.
Mugure applauded Limuru town police station for having two beds for children and advised the Lari and Tigoni to try their best to have beds, too.
She urged the OCSs to take care of the donated items and strictly use them for the intended purpose.
The court users committee resolved to source those items after visiting police stations on a fact-finding mission on how children are treated during the Children's Service Month in November.
“When we visited the children protection centres we realised children were suffering and we decided to source for the items we distributed. We shall be visiting the centres again to check on ways we can improve these them. The children held need to be taken of, just like we do at home” Mugure said.
Ngigi called for the protection of children's rights.
“This is a good gesture by our court and its committee. We are also members of the committee, and we feel we are heading in the right direction,” the lawyer said.
