I have a confession: I am struggling to be a Kenyan.
Now that Uganda has criminalised street philanthropy, some Kenyans have called for the same to be imposed in our country.
Can you believe it? We want the law to hinder us from doing good works as we see fit? What exactly is the crime here — being guilty of generosity?
I understand Uganda has gone this route in order to eradicate these street families that force the public into giving them money and food.
Yet, if you read last week’s Saturday Nation, three children get lost every day; two are returned home safely leaving one out in the cold.
In the scenario where this child has not been abducted or trafficked and is alive, where do you think they are wandering off to? The streets.
They cannot work to fend for themselves so they rely on public goodwill to feed them, ensuring they get to see another day, hoping to be found by their families.
It is highly presumptuous to assume all children on the streets are there because they have chosen to live there, or because they have been coerced by their parents or guardians to be there.
Suppose we proceed to criminalise street donations — if you have had the misfortune of saying no to some of these children, it turns them violent pretty quickly and you end up being robbed.
Will this new law be worth being assaulted when you can’t file a case with the police because the child took off before you could even catch a glimpse of them?
You would have been better off giving that donation and avoiding a medical bill to treat your injuries, plus the cost of replacing all your valuables, assuming they can be replaced.
The proposed law appears to be imposed on the victims not the culprits. I’ll tell you what should have been enforced: the law against street muggings.
But it seems we have given up the fight against crime and are now more interested in turning on each other. We often come up with these grand ideas that don’t have contingency plans and when they fail, we all act very surprised.
Post criminalisation, what happens to these children? Do we just watch them rummage through public bins for food and do nothing? Watch them starve as we turn a blind eye?
If the goal is to clean up our streets, criminalising street charity is not the magic bullet we think it is. We have to find 360 solutions that allow everyone to come out happier for their involvement in making them work.
Do not punish us for being philanthropic and seeking to do good for our fellow human beings.
Seek out those parents and guardians who send out their children on a scheming mission. But not so fast; it might serve as a reminder that as a country, we are a bit of a charity case.
We receive donations ranging from fire trucks and ambulances to paediatric medical equipment. It’s funny how now one is looking into why a middle-income economy receives donations.
