Winstone Chiseremi @Wchiseremi

Eldoret Juvenile Remand Home, which hosts hundreds of children in North Rift region, requires Sh100 million for a major facelift,  manager Morris Okiru, has said.

Okiru said the institution’s dilapidated  building requires urgent refurbishment to accommodate the ever-increasing number of children facing charges including murder, stealing and sexual abuse.

Addressing the press at the institution yesterday, Okiru said they face the challenge of keeping the children in the home, adding that some of them have been escaping at night by scaling the perimeter wall. 

Most of the escapees, Okiru said, are aged between 15 and 18, adding that they have been forced to seek the services of police officers to rearrest them while others are still at large.

“We have been encountering cases where some of the children who are facing serious crime jump the perimeter wall at night and thereby pose a security risk to the society,” he said.

Okiru said lack of funds has paralysed key activities at the remand putting at risk the survival of the children at the facility.

No money even for fuel

He attributed the woes facing the institution to directive by government to cut the budgetary allocation which has  made it hard for the management  to continue with their daily activities including transportation of juveniles to courts in Eldoret and its environs.

He said they have no money to purchase fuel for the only van used to transport juveniles to various courts in Eldoret, Iten and Kapsabet.

Okiru  said  the van, which was purchased about 40 years ago, is in bad state with a lot of mechanical challenges.

“I am appealing to well-wishers to support us with food items and other forms of assistance, these are our children; we need to show them love and take care of them even though they are in conflict with the law,” said Okiru.

 The manager cautioned that it would be hard for the facility to receive more children if the situation persists.