Pastor Dorcas Rigathi has urged religious leaders to engage street children in tree-planting initiatives that align with the government’s ambitious goal of planting a minimum of 15 billion trees.
During a gathering of over 4,000 religious leaders at Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos County, Pastor Dorcas explained that involving street children in tree-planting activities would not only provide them with constructive tasks but also serve as a means of rehabilitation under her office’s care.
Religious leaders from Machakos, Kitui, and Makueni counties, have volunteered to mentor, counsel, and register the boys found on the streets in their respective regions. Their aim is to facilitate the boys’ rehabilitation and provide them with access to feeding programs.
Pastor Rigathi further called on them to be at the forefront of the fight against drug and substance abuse. She emphasized that religious organizations cannot remain silent regarding the activities of drug barons, who are causing harm to the youth by promoting drug addiction.
“We have a ‘pharaoh’ who is killing our boychildren and we must go for him. The drug barons must stop it, they cannot poison our children, kill them, make them zombies and keep quiet. We will pray and do something,” she said.
“And that is why we are saying that every primary school, secondary school, and TVET there should be a chaplain, so instill family values to tour children so that the future of children is secured,” she added.
Machakos Governor Wavinya Ndeti promised to establish a rehabilitation Centre in her county to support Pastor Dorcas’s initiative in rescuing the boychild.
The governor said the increased use of drugs and substance abuse had affected many youths in her county.
They spoke during the Lower Eastern Thanksgiving prayer service. Others present were Machakos Deputy Governor Francis Mwangangi, Lands, Public Works and Urban Development CAS Victor Munyaka and former Mbooni MP Kisoi Munyao among other local leaders.
