Kenya: Nomadic Tribe's Children Lured into Child Labour

Nomadic Tribe's Children Lured into Child Labour

By John Kamau, Rights Features service

Fishmongers operating at Kenya's lake Turkana, part of the great Rift Valley lakes, are luring school children to drop out and engage in childlabour, local officials have confirmed.

The lake, located some kilometres northwest of Nairobi is the livelihood of the pastoral communities who live in this semi-arid part of the east African nation.

Already, more than 500 pupils from Kalokol Division, one of the least populated regions of the expansive Turkana District are confirmed to be working at the booming fish industry.

"The minors are used by fish mongers, middlemen and fishermen in the booming fish industry to row boats, casting fishing nets, dissecting and cleaning fish while others fry fish fillet", said local administrator Mr John Lolimo.

" The hardest hit areas are lake-shore schools of Natole, Nabukuse and Longech whose parents have pulled out their children to engage in cheap labour", said the administrator.

In a candid interview the administrator blamed parents for "forcing children to work for very little instead of taking them to school".

The nearby Natole Primary School has only 30 pupils but has a capacity of holding 200 students.

Boys are paid Kenya shillings 50 (less than a dollar) for dissecting, cleaning and frying more than 600 fillet fish.

"We are then sent to sell the tilapia to people at the market and get a small commission", says 13-year old Peter Ewoi.

The boys carry fish from Lake Turkana to Kalokol town, seven kilometres away and in scorching sun of this arid area.

Locals say that the middlemen who hire the boys come from other areas of Kenya especially from the Lake Victoria region, Africa's largest fresh water lake.

Lake Turkana region is inhabited by the Turkana tribe, a nomadic tribe that has lagged behind in education.

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