•Report shows among the different types of sexual offences, defilement is the most frequent.
•Assault and drug-related offences constituted 4.1 and 1.4 per cent of the cases handled
Image: FILE
Sexual offences accounted for 60 per cent of the cases involving children police handled between 2016 to 2019, a new report shows.
The Status Report on Children in the Justice System in Kenya was released on Wednesday by Labour CS Ukur Yattani during the World Children’s Day at KICC.
The report was prepared by the National Council on Administration of Justice (NCAJ ) special task force on children chaired by Justice Martha Koome.
Stealing (together with break-ins and burglaries) accounted for 7.8 per cent of the cases.
The report shows that assault and drug-related offences constituted 4.1 and 1.4 per cent of the cases handled respectively.
Miscellaneous offences like child neglect and cruelty, arson, murder, threatening violence, suicide, abductions, creating a disturbance as well as a few cases of truancy and fraud accounted for less than seven per cent of the cases involving children.
“Sexual violence against children, especially girls, some even below the age of six years, remains disturbingly high, persistent and pervasive despite the stiff penalties provided by law,” Koome said during the launch of the report.
The chairperson noted that there is delay in hearing cases involving children in courts across the country, poor investigations and inadequate training of the officers handling children’s matters.
Six out of 10 cases involving children take more than six months to resolve as required by law.
Thirty per cent of the cases take between one and two years, while one in 10 cases may take more than two years. Six of 10 pending cases are sexual offences, the report shows.
“Out of the six institutions of justice, only one has a budgetary allocation to deal with children. Cases involving children must be first tracked. Institutions of justice should be strengthened through adequate budgetary allocation,” the report recommends.
The report shows among the different types of sexual offences, defilement is the most frequent. Other related charges include incest, sexual assault, rape, indecent and unnatural acts and sodomy.
The report classifies abortion and infanticide under sexual offences to acknowledge that the pregnancy must have resulted from unreported defilement.
“A huge number of children, almost 80 per cent, in need of care are incarcerated in various institutions despite not having committed any offence known by law,” Koome said.
The task force was appointed by the Chief Justice in January 2016. It was tasked with seeking ways of achieving a coordinated, efficient and consultative approach in the administration of justice and reform in the judicial system.
It was specifically required to identify challenges that hinder the administration of justice in children's matters and provide recommendations.