When justice hurts: Kids endure hell in system not built for them

A boy and a girl studying together  /AI Illustration

Geoffrey’s first encounter with the law came just days after he completed his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exam.

At 17, he had gone to the house of a 16-year-old classmate on a Sunday for a hangout.

“There was no sexual activity, but her mother found me there, and suddenly it became a huge issue,” he recalls.

That afternoon, police arrived and arrested him from their home. He spent two days in a police cell before being sent to an adult prison, charged with defilement—a charge he believes stemmed from a family dispute.

In prison, Geoffrey found himself bewildered.

Fellow inmates offered advice about pleading not guilty, warning him it would give him a chance to explore legal options.

Following their guidance, he was released on bond, allowing him to appear in court when required.

“I was numb during the whole process. They photographed me, conducted a thorough body search and I handed over my valuables. I wore my own clothes, unlike others who changed into uniforms. We were placed in a hall with remandees. Meals were erratic and basic—black tea in the morning, supper by four, and locked in by six,” he recounts.

The conditions were unhygienic. Access to plates for meals depended on the goodwill of fellow inmates from the same village, and lice were common.

“Bathing was a luxury. Once the sun came out, we would remove lice from one another's clothes,” he adds.

Even after his release three days later, the trauma lingered, forcing his family to relocate to Tanzania. Though the charges were eventually dropped, the psychological scars remain.

Maggy was just 13 when she fled her parents’ home in Kitale after completing primary school, seeking manual work in Nairobi. Her cousin, Jecinta, two years older, who had escaped an abusive husband, joined her. They confided in a teacher about their plan, only to be handed over to the local police.

Thrown into a cell, Maggy recalls the deafening bang of the metal door and the slow dimming of light until darkness engulfed her. Days passed like a blur as she and her cousin operated in shock, forced to clean clogged toilets and endure beatings.

“We didn’t know what to do. Police shouted and ordered us around, and we lost track of time. They kept saying we’d be taken to court, but we had never stepped inside one. We asked other inmates for advice, but they were clueless,” she says.

Their freedom came only after a cousin paid bail. Even three years later, scars on her head and back remind her of the ordeal.

These individual stories reflect a broader pattern. During the 2025 Finance Bill protests, 10 minors aged 17 and below were detained for more than 10 days.

In 2023, eight Eritrean children between one and a half and 17 years, were held in an incomplete building at Lodwar police station during a sweep of illegal immigrants.

According to UN guidelines, no child under 16 should be incarcerated.

Kenyan law limits child sentences to three years, yet minors are frequently found behind bars, often for survival-related offences or caught up in mass arrests.

In September 2025, a Kitale police officer shocked a magistrate by admitting that his station had no special custody facilities for minors.

Children awaiting trial faced intimidation, bullying and psychological trauma in adult cells.

In October 2023, the High Court in Nyeri awarded Sh200,000 to four minors detained at Narumoro police station for 18 hours over alleged scrap metal theft.

The children, aged four to 10 years, endured cold cells, lack of food and physical abuse. Even their mother, trying to intervene, was locked up alongside them.

The 2024-25 State of the Judiciary report indicates Kenya’s courts handled 1,054 cases involving children in conflict with the law. Defilement was the most prevalent charge, followed by theft and grievous harm.

Sexual offences accounted for 45 per cent of these cases, while theft, robbery and handling stolen property made up 25 per cent.

Boys represented 94 per cent of minors facing criminal charges, with cases concentrated in urban areas such as Mombasa, Nakuru and Nairobi.

Children’s cases comprised seven per cent of all magistrate court filings.

The National Council on Administration of Justice (NCAJ) annual report for 2023-24 shows 1,881 cases involving child offenders. Kericho led with 249 offenders, followed by Murang’a and Mombasa.

Rehabilitation centres admitted 3,620 children, with additional placements in reception, assessment and classification centres. Vocational skills training—carpentry, masonry, baking, hairdressing and electrical work—is integrated into rehabilitation programmes to help children reintegrate.

Yet the human cost remains profound.

Ten-year-old Terry, whose mother has been imprisoned for assault for over a year, believes no one should endure what her mother went through.

“It’s lonely and sad in there. They eat undercooked ugali and poorly cut vegetables. Children cannot play, go to school, or even have friends. Writing letters and praying are the only ways I connect with her. No child deserves to be arrested,” she says.

 Jonah, whose mother is serving a 21-year sentence for murder, was raised by his aunt. He believes in the importance of freedom and forgiveness, noting that children often do not understand the consequences of their actions.

“Most children are unaware they are committing a crime. Adults should understand and protect them,” he explains.

Children’s rights lawyer Wahu Wangari says Kenya’s juvenile justice system, though grounded in the progressive Children Act 2022, still punishes rather than protects vulnerable children.

Outdated laws, inconsistent application of diversion programmes, and poorly funded child-friendly facilities contribute to systemic failures. Children are often arrested for minor or survival offences, with limited access to courts and inadequate separation from adults.

“Police rely on intimidation rather than child-friendly communication,” Wahu notes.

“Children often do not comprehend what is expected of them. Intermediaries or child-friendly interpreters are scarce and hearings can be delayed for months.”

Detention, which should be a last resort, continues to criminalise vulnerability rather than provide care. Street-connected children, rounded up during city clean-ups, are a common example.

Grace Wangari, a physiologist at Wangu Kanja Foundation (WKF), highlights the strain on social workers. Burnout, vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue can lead to neglect of children’s needs.

She stresses the importance of physiologists and disability experts at every stage of the justice process to accommodate marginalised children, including those with autism or other special needs.

Wangari recounts cases where children’s behaviour is misinterpreted as guilt, particularly in courts untrained to handle neurodiverse minors.

WKF also advocates for Kenyan Sign Language (KSL) interpreters for every child in court and counselling services for all service providers.

Peter Kabuagi, director of institutions at the State Department for Children Services, confirms the age of criminal responsibility in Kenya is 12.

Between 1,500 and 1,800 children in conflict with the law are held in 30 statutory institutions, including remand homes, rehabilitation schools and rescue centres.

The institutions offer counselling, vocational training, education and spiritual support, with a focus on reintegration.

Children are assessed upon admission and classified as high, medium, or low risk.

Boys and girls are placed in separate institutions according to risk levels, with stays capped at three years but reducible through rehabilitation and reintegration programmes.

Partnerships with special education institutions provide training for officers in sign language and special-needs care.

Kabuagi emphasises that children must not be mixed with adults, and that each Officer Commanding Station should have a Child Protection Unit.

Magistrates and judges are required to involve children’s officers in all hearings, ensuring that the child’s best interest prevails.

Reintegration is guided by Environmental Adjustment Reports, which assess community readiness and facilitate safe returns.

Kenya’s juvenile system is far from perfect, but efforts to strengthen rehabilitation, diversion and child-friendly courts are underway. Progress may feel uneven, but small steps show promise. When the system works as intended, justice can shift from harm to healing.

Names have been changed to protect identities.