Listen to This Article Enhance your reading experience by listening to this article.

Parents on the Kisii-Narok border are reportedly deserting families to escape their responsibilities, a trend Catholic priest describes as alarming.

Husbands move from Kisii county to Trans -Mara nefore schools re-open to avoid pressure from their children for tuition fees, the Etago Parish cleric Fr Benjamin Ndemo says.

Some men leave home under the guise of looking for work, only to switch off their phones, he claimed said.

“The children and their mothers wait in vain. Some children resort to menial work, while others drop out of school,” he told People Daily by phone.

Poverty

There is high poverty in that area of the Kisii-Narok border, he said, and residents rely on sugarcane growing for their livelihoods. The crop takes two years to mature, and lack of a market means it doesn’t sell easily.

When one parent deserts the family, the cleric lamented, he leaves the burden with his spouse and children suffer.

“Menial work on farms is not readily available as in other parts of the Gusii region, where tea and coffee are grown,” Ndemo noted.

The church, he said, had started a campaign to sensitise residents not to over-rely on sugarcane but instead embrace horticultural crops that take a shorter time to mature.

He advised parents to consult other family members on finding solutions for their problems, stressing that deserting one’s home is likely to worsen the situation.

“Some parents go out to drink and return at night. There is no way such parents can unite their families and support children,” Ndemo said.

Payment plans

Meanwhile, Ndemo has asked parents who are unable to raise money for school fees to talk with school principals about payment plans.

Economic hardships

He said economic hardships are bearing heavily on low-income Kenyans, urging school principals to let children attend classes as parents work to raise money for school fees.