RISING CASES OF MISSING CHILDREN

I am alarmed by the rising number of documented disappearances of children in the country, which has reached a crisis point.

According to the Child Protection Information Management System (CPIMS), between January 2025 and March this year, 10,581 child protection cases were reported. Among them 1,952 abductions, 1,636 missing children, and 173 cases of trafficking.

That’s an increase from 2024 when over 8,800 children were reported as missing, which translates to roughly 17 to 18 children every single day!

These are not statistics. These are our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters; children who went to school, were on an errand, or stepped outside to play, and never returned home.

This is a graphic manifestation of institutional failure and leadership. Yet the crisis has not attracted the national attention it deserves as the numbers rise year after year from 6,841 missing children in the 2022/2023 period, to 7,058 in 2023/2024, to over 8,800 in 2024.

By comparison, recovery rates remain tragically low. In the 2022/2023 period, only 1,296 of the nearly 7,000 children reported as missing were reunited with their families.

Each unresolved case is a family living in permanent anguish, and a child whose fate is unknown. This is unacceptable!

The government has a duty to protect the lives of every Kenyan and our security agencies; the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, county governments, and the Ministry of Gender, Culture and Children Services must treat every missing child case with the same urgency it attaches to other serious crimes.

The concentration of cases in Nairobi, Nakuru, Kakamega, Homa Bay, and Kiambu calls for targeted operations and sustained investigative action in these counties.

As a country, we must also address the growing threat of online exploitation: data shows that more than 70 percent of children aged 10 to 18 use the internet daily, exposing them to grooming, trafficking networks, and abuse that too often goes undetected and unpunished.

At the same time, we must invest in the systems and organisations working tirelessly on the ground. NGOs such as Missing Child Kenya are filling gaps where the state has failed.

We must also pay particular attention to the most vulnerable. Twenty seven of the unresolved missing child cases tracked in 2025, involved children living with disabilities including autism, epilepsy, and hearing and speech impairments. These children face compounded risks and deserve specialised protective frameworks. Our national child helpline - 116 - must be adequately staffed, widely disseminated, and genuinely responsive.

Every child in Kenya has the right to grow up safe. That responsibility falls on all of us to change - the government, civil society, communities, and families.

I urge every Kenyan to report any missing children to the National Child Helpline on 116, their nearest Children's Office, Chief’s Office, or the police, even as we demand action from the relevant authorities. By

David K. Maraga ___________________________________________ Presidential Flagbearer and UGM Party Leader