Children found idling in Kitale Town, estates and villages will be taken to quarantine centres at their own costs, the county government has warned.
In a statement, Trans Nzoia County Children Coordinator Aston Maungo warned parents whose children will be found roaming that they risk arrest for failing to control their children.
Maungo stated there was urgent need for parents to play their roles in social intervention to address the influx of children in the streets during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking during a meeting with stakeholders in Kitale, Maungo said the number of the street children had shot up from 240 to over 600 at present, majority of them being boys.
“The large presence of the street children is adding up the street dwellers threatening an imminent spread of the coronavirus.
“This non-response from parents is taking us into making decisions that may have far reaching implications including jailing their parents,” said Maungo.
