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Senior Court Official Flees as Schoolgirls Held in Bar Raids

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Published on Saturday, 02 June 2007 07:23

A total of 115 schoolgirls and boys aged below 18 years were at the weekend arrested from bars, lodgings and night clubs in a major swoop in Kisii Town.

Those arrested included 55 girls, six of whom were aged 12 years, and 60 underage boys. Officers who carried out the Sunday evening operation said they were shocked to find a senior Judiciary official in the company of some of the girls. The official, they said, fled without paying for the drinks he had ordered for himself and the girls. The police raided Titanic, Tauras, Makuti and Backyard bars.Asked why those found buying the minors beer were spared, local police chief Allan Sangoro said: "Our officers were targeting the minors who were at the wrong places." He said it would have been difficult to prove that the adults were in the company of the minors as they may have merely shared a table.

As word spread about the arrests, parents and relatives jammed the police station on Sunday night and yesterday. "Some parents are saying they released their daughters to go and visit relatives during the December festivities only to learn that they were staying in lodgings with their boyfriends," said Mr Sangoro.

One of the parents said his Standard Seven daughter had left home saying she was going to attend a crusade by Pastor Pius Muiru, of the Maximum Miracle Centre, at Gusii Stadium but did not return home. "I convinced my parents to give me fare and money to contribute at Pastor Muiru's crusade. I was given Sh200 but I never went for the prayers but instead opted to join my friends for a disco," a 12-year-old girl confessed in the presence of her shocked parents outside the Kisii police station.

Another parent, who is a widow, said: "My daughter has not been at home for the last two weeks. I was told by a neighbour that she was spotted among a group of children rounded up from night clubs in the town."Another parent surprised a crowd at the police station when he disowned his 15-year-old daughter and urged police to detain her further.

"I want that naughty girl who is not worthy of being called my own to remain in police custody for two weeks and be disciplined," said the angry parent. He explained that his daughter left home on Saturday saying she was also going to attend Pastor Muiru's crusade. Parents and guardians of about 50 of those arrested had showed up at the station.

Mr Sangoro urged parents to know where their children were during the December festivities saying they risked being influenced to engage in sexual activity and drugs. "I am writing to the Kisii liquor licensing court to cancel the licences of the four night clubs for violating the law prohibiting underage children from frequenting them," said the police boss.

A woman arrived at the station with a one-year-old boy claiming his mother had abandoned him to go to a disco. However, the boy's mother was not among those in police cells.The swoop follows a similar one in Nairobi where a Cabinet minister, an assistant minister and a Narc MP were allegedly video-taped preying on college students and commercial sex workers on Koinange Street.