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Child labour has been identified as an issue that calls the attention of stakeholders in Nyamira county.

Administrators and politicians from Nyamira county have said the number of children being engaged in informal employment was increasing by the day but were escaping attention of stakeholders.

Nyamira Woman Representative  Jerusha Momanyi yesterday said even as the world celebrated Labour Day, rights of children were yet to be fully recognized and observed as the rate of violation continued to rise.

According to Momanyi, stakeholders in the education and administration should carry out an audit of school dropout rates which was a key indicator of children engaging in labor for cash at the expense of attending school.

The legislator was speaking at Nyabogoye in Rigoma ward where she handed tents to self help groups in the area.

Dropping out of school

The Woman MP noted that investors in the boda-boda industry were employing boys who were dropping out of school as riders, a move that was endangering communities as most of the children end up engaging in juvenile delinquency.

“Our children from unstable or negligent families were being employed in people’s homes and businesses at the expense of their education. That is why we are tasking the Ministry of Education to carry out a thorough audit of the number of kids who are dropping out of schools. This will bring out the true image of how our administrative structures have failed to address this issue of child labour,” Momanyi said.

Dalton Ombaye, the Assistant Chief of Embaro Sub-location in Masaba North Sub-county said he was aware of such cases and that he had handled some of them administratively and that in his area he was playing role in addressing the rise.

“Child labour has been an issue most people are so ignorant about. I have found young kids engaged in labour activities where they are overworked and either underpaid or compensated with meals. It is even worse when we find young boys who have chosen to drop out of school getting employed as boda boda riders,” Ombaye said.

Momanyi tasked the provincial administration to take up the matter to bring out exact statistics of the situation in the county.