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Four Kiambu boys have given a kickstart into rabbit farming after they were arrested while attempting to steal timber for making rabbit hutches.

The four boys were caught inside Jamhuri Primary School vandalising desks on Saturday. When asked, the boys said they were looking for timber to make hutches in faith they would acquire rabbits later.

Three Deputy County Commissioners (DCCs) from Kiambu County on hearing about the boys mobilised resources to help the boys into rabbit rearing.

The DCCs, Douglas Mutai (Thika West), Geoffrey Githinji (Ruiru), and Rose Chege (Githunguri) convinced the police to allow an alternative approach to correct the children’s mistake.

“Though the kids were wrong in their approach, we felt that their intention was good and needed to be nurtured,” explained Mutai who had earlier convinced the Thika police not to press any charges to the minors.

Mutai added that he saw some entrepreneurship minds in the minors which could produce future agripreneurs.

He, therefore, engaged his colleagues from Ruiru and Githunguri who helped come with the idea of actualising the children’s dreams of rearing rabbits.

The DCC Ruiru volunteered to buy the hutches for the boys as his colleague from Githunguri bought the rabbits. Mutai volunteered to give the initial pellets to kick-start the project.

In total, each of the four boys went home with a hutch, two rabbits; a buck and a doe.

Mr. Githinji advised parents to be more vigilant in monitoring the whereabouts of their children, especially during this COVID-19 forced holidays as they risked being lured into bad company.

He too agreed with his colleague that even though what the children did was wrong, it was the duty of adults to help them rectify their mistakes and guide them into the right path.

“This is what the entire Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC) is all about. It is about nurturing what each child is good at and helping to exploit their talents from within,” Githinji pointed out.

On behalf of the children’s parents, Dotty Mwangi thanked the three administrators for their kind gestures and for the support they accorded them.

She acknowledged the fact that they went out of their line of duty to help the boys see their mistakes rather than heading the legal way that would have seen them put into some correction facilities for breaking the law.

She promised to assist the boys achieve their dreams of rearing rabbits for commercial purposes as she monitored their academic progress.