Written by Jemimah Mutua
Laikipia university.
Child trafficking in Kenya is becoming a painful reality that we can no longer ignore. It is not something that happens only in foreign countries. It is happening here in our own estates, in our schools, at our border towns, and even on the phones our children use every day. Just the other day, three people were taken to the Kahawa Law Court for abducting a child in Nairobi and trafficking him across borders to Libya. That one case shows how cruel and organized this crime has become.
The way it happens is very cunning. Some children are lied to with promises of good jobs in Nairobi or Mombasa as house helps or shop attendants, or promises of playing football abroad. Others are simply abducted from schools, estates, or even from hospitals. Today, many teenagers are also lured online. People pretend to be lovers, sponsors, or job agents on Facebook, TikTok and WhatsApp, and before a child knows it, they are trapped. Once taken, these children are put through terrible things.
Some are forced to work as house helps without pay, others are forced to beg on the streets, some are sexually exploited or forced into early marriages, and some are smuggled to countries like Libya and in the Middle East to work under harsh conditions.
The effects of this crime are deep and long-lasting. A child who has been trafficked goes through beatings, hunger, sexual abuse, and great fear. Even after they are rescued, the trauma stays in their mind for many years.
Many suffer from depression and anxiety and cannot sleep peacefully. They also lose their education and their childhood completely. Once they are taken away from school, most of them never go back. Many also get serious health problems including HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, early pregnancy, and drug abuse.
Their families are left broken, living in guilt and fear, and the whole community loses trust. For the country, it is a big loss because we lose young people who would have helped build the nation, and we use a lot of money trying to rescue and treat them. It also spoils the name of Kenya in the outside world when our children are found being mistreated abroad.
To stop this, everyone must play a role. As parents, we must know where our children are, who they are walking with, who they are talking to on the phone, and teach them never to accept lifts, jobs, or gifts from strangers. If a child disappears, we must report immediately to the chief, the police, or call the child helpline 116, because the first hours are the most important.
We must also stop blaming rescued children and instead show them love and help them heal. Schools and churches should teach children about their safety and their rights and give them a safe place where they can report anyone who makes them uncomfortable.
As members of the public, we must refuse to employ young children as house helps, because that creates demand for trafficking. If we see a child begging late at night or working in a bar or building site, we should report it.
The government has a bigger duty to do. We have good laws like the Counter-Trafficking in Persons Act and the Children Act, but they are not enforced strongly enough. The government should treat child trafficking as a serious organized crime, just like terrorism and banditry. Our borders should have trained officers who can spot when a child is being smuggled out. Courts should punish traffickers with heavy sentences so that others fear to do it.
There should be a national database for missing children that links police, hospitals, and immigration so that a child who disappears in Nairobi cannot pass through Busia or Namanga without being noticed. The government should also build and fund safe houses in every county where rescued children can get medical care, counseling, and help to go back to school.
Many rescue centres today are run by small organizations with little money. Labour agencies that take Kenyans abroad must be checked properly, and those who use fake documents to send children to Libya and other countries must be banned and jailed. Most importantly, the government must fight poverty, which is the main reason why families fall into these traps.
When education is free and accessible, when poor families get support, and when young people get jobs, traffickers will have no one to deceive. There should also be a strong national campaign on television, radio, and in schools to teach everyone about trafficking.
A child should never be for sale. Every child who is trafficked is a sign that we as a society have failed. This fight cannot be left to the police alone. When a parent is careful, a neighbor reports what they see, a teacher listens to a child, and the government acts with firmness, we will close the doors for these criminals. We must protect our children today, because if we lose them, we lose the future of Kenya.
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