The government has pledged to upgrade the status of the Kisumu Children’s Remand Home following an oversight visit that exposed dire conditions at the facility.
Speaking during the inspection on Wednesday, March 25, Cabinet Secretary for Gender, Culture, Arts and Heritage Hanna Wendot Cheptumo said urgent measures are needed to raise standards in children’s remand institutions across the country, noting that many still operate in dilapidated colonial-era buildings. She said the Kisumu facility sits on 1.7 hectares of land, providing ample room for expansion, and that her ministry will present a report to Parliament seeking increased funding to replace outdated structures with modern ones.
“We will look at how they can have a state-of-the-art institution because they have land 1.7 hectares, and the space is vast. We will ask the government to replace the old structures with new ones,” Cheptumo said.
The CS also cited severe understaffing, saying the institution requires more teachers and caregivers to support the children adequately. She added that the ministry will pursue policy interventions in collaboration with the Health and Education ministries to ensure remanded minors receive proper schooling and healthcare. Cheptumo stressed that children in custody should be treated like any other children, including being transported to court without handcuffs, and pledged to facilitate the provision of a vehicle to ease court transfers.
“These are children like any others and must be taken care of. They should not be handcuffed when taken to court, so we need a vehicle to make the work easier for officers. We must also address staffing by adding more teachers and caregivers,” she said.
Cheptumo further raised concern over prolonged detention periods, noting that children are legally not supposed to stay in remand for more than six months, yet some have been held for over two years due to case delays. She disclosed that the Kisumu facility currently hosts 56 children, 50 boys and six girls, including some from Uganda whose cases have already been concluded but cannot return home due to lack of transport funds.
“These children are brought here from various courts, but many cannot attend school because their cases are delayed. Some are not even from Kenya; they are from Uganda, and although their cases are concluded, we need resources to repatriate them,” she said.
The CS, who was accompanied by Principal Secretary Caren Ageng’o and local leaders, thanked Members of Parliament who joined the oversight tour and pledged support for reforms. The delegation had earlier visited the Kakamega Children’s Remand Home, which they also described as being in poor condition.
