Street Children in Tanzania

Article/ Feature

31/May/2011

Street children: a price of being homeless child in Tanzania

By: Clarence KIPOBOTA (Advocate)*

There is nothing more in this world than loving our children. They come in the world through their parents. Because of their nature, they cannot support themselves. Their future belongs to adults. Their survival has a direct link to what the family, community and national or international would provide for them.

The Swahili adage says that, ‘Mtoto umleavyo, ndivyo akuavyo.’ Literally, it means people among whom children live, largely determine how they grow. It is from this setting that the ‘street children’ issue becomes family, community or national challenge.

   

A recently launched Tanzania Human Rights Report 2010 written by the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) in collaboration with Zanzibar Legal Services Centre (ZLSC) states that children still face many problems that threaten their lives in Tanzania.

Despite the fact that the report states that this situation is more vivid in rural areas, experience shows that the magnitude and trend of the problems are the same in both rural and urban areas. What is different is a nature of cruelty.

For instance, while in rural areas children are not taken to schools, in urban areas such as Dar es Salaam, they have no means of going to school. Again, while in rural areas children die because of lack of health services, in urban areas they die because of inability to pay for medical expenses. In rural areas, children are subjected to harmful child labour, while in urban they are prone to prostitution and begging along the streets. The torture and cruelty to children in Tanzania has no rural-urban barriers and exceptions.

The Tanzanian legal framework have been redefined to take in account what international human rights instruments such as the United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child (CRC) of 1989; and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) of 1990 require.   

In 2009, Tanzania enacted the Law of the Child Act to try to address confusions caused by multi-application of laws on the rights and welfare of the child. It now puts clear a child means a person below eighteen. However, the law does not curb other gaps on protection of the child such as those under the customary, family laws and labour related laws.

Some of the challenges which a child of Tanzania face such as harmful child labour are declared as criminal offences under this law and the Labour and Employment Relations Act of 2004. The Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania of 1977 provides for the rights to life and legal protection. However, does not give special protection to children despite their vulnerability.

There are laws to provide for maintenance of children, custodian of the same and others. Taking a child to primary school is mandatory under the Education Regulations of 2002 but, of course, no legal protection of school dropouts caused by pregnancies. The Penal Code, Cap. 16 requires a parent or guardian to ensure that he or she provides a child under his or her custody with all necessities. However, the ceiling of such requirement is only for a child of 16 years.

Therefore, there are progress and gaps under Tanzanian legal system. Probably the other main challenge is enforceability of those laws. The prosecutors, parents and judiciary do not take active role to ensure best protection of the children through legal channels. We have heard several times the police telling the parent or informer of the rape or defilement cases to ‘go back at home and negotiate the case at family level.’ This and other factors give the criminal confidence to continue mistreating the children.

Looking at all kinds of mistreatments to children, you will find that they are originating and come from our families and communities. Some of the factors include domestic violence, death or parents and poverty. These problems or rather, challenges injure children in many ways. Millions of them are injured, die or enter into streets to become ‘street children.’

Once they get into the street, the harsh environment and orientations become their ‘parents’ and ‘guardians’ and ‘community’ to take care of them. The LHRC report of 2009 estimated that, as of 2009 there were more than 2.5 orphans who are street children in Tanzania. This report quoted 2006 figures. Owing to the increased numbers of people and problems, the figure could be around 5 millions street children. 

It is also stated in different reports that about 6 to 8 percent of children in Tanzania are most vulnerable children (MVC) to mean that, they do not have proper control or support from parents or guardians.

This situation implies that, any intervention, be it legal or policy, should address community or family problems. That is, even if the law puts very severe punishment against child abuses, the possibility of continuing is obvious because the legal sanctions are blind of real community problems facing parents and children.    

The legal protection is also confusing and sightless of community or family problems because it does not give firm and clear safeguards of the children rights. Therefore, even the judicial interpretation of some of the laws affecting children, is completely blind of what goes on in the community. A case by Mkombozi Centre for Street Children (MCSC) of Arusha would confirm this point.

In 2000s the MCSC, LHRC and East African Law Society (ELS) lodged a petition in the High Court of Tanzania at Arusha arguing that, some of the sections of the Townships (Removal of Undesirable Persons) Act, 1958; Destitute Persons Act, Cap. 389; Penal Code, Cap. 16 are unconstitutional.

The trio argued that, those laws give the District Commissioner and other authorities powers to order removal (arbitrary arrest, harassment and detention/ deprived of their liberty) of children from the streets without considering factors that sent them there. Their basis of argument was Articles 15 and 17 of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania of 1977 which generally guarantee protection against arbitrary arrest and freedom of movement respectively.

After a long wait of the judgment, on 27 of November 2009 the High Court dismissed the trio’s arguments. The court stated that, ‘there is no doubt that the problem of street children is a product of socio-economic instability, which we are to date fruitlessly striving to balance. In our opinion stated clearly and correctly that it is a result of family problems, poverty, movement of persons from one place to another and insufficient rains in some regions.’

While making analysis of the problem and solution, the court continued stating that, ‘this, in our view, suggests that the solution to the problem of street children lies in trying to address the root causes and not in the laws which are there to afford a balance between the interests of these groups and the rest of the members of the public on the other. In The circumstances, we hold that it will not be done away with because to do so will definitely remove the balancing mechanisms between individual rights on the one hand as against those of the other members of the society as a whole on the other.’

It is clear that the court understood the main driving forces which cause these children to flock in the streets for survival. Yet, it failed to consider the fact that children need special legal protection as the CRC requires.

The statement of the court also implies that, the current laws do not address root causes and effects of the socio-economic problems which cause street children in Tanzania. Despite this awareness, it did not go further to direct amendment or enactment of the law to address those problems.

Because of all these problems, most of the street children find themselves in conflict with laws which are blind of their tenderness. They have to roam around and beg. Others become prostitutes and drug dealers. Few luck ones are engaged in labour, which is extremely harmful. They lack psycho-social protection because streets could not provide one.

Gone are those old days when each member of the community had responsibility to take care of every child in the community. The Tanzanin First Lady’s campaign of ‘mtoto wa mwenzako ni wako’ could not work nowadays. People are unscrupulous. If you left your child under friend’s custody, you would find her or him defiled or sodomized or sold. It is a wild world we are living in.    

At this critical juncture of child rights protection, we need to think louder. Definitely we cannot rely on legal or social protections or a combination of the two. We need to revisit our strategies by going back to the root of the problems to research our lost souls.

Probably social protection and a public will can do something than mere legal sanctions which contain lots of loop holes.

In the past, the responsibility to protect and take care of children was the duty of the community. There were a humour and fond to all be all. One’s problem was yet more another’s problem. But as the community grows and intrusion of foreign cultures, the then social tie becomes elastic.

The companionship is now formulated in terms of level of education, financial or social status or other personalities including religion believes. Therefore, those who can take care of poor children are actually people who do not have sufficient means to support ruined children. This is why, once a child gets into the street, he or she would remain there until affirmative measure is adopted to revert the situation.

This brings in another important point of who should then take care of these children? In other countries including Botswana and Namibia, the government has active role to ensure that street children are taken care. It is very unfortunate that in Tanzania, this role is left to civil society and other charitable organizations such as Mkombozi and Dododogo Centres. Certainly, there is no even a place to keep these children and no budget for that.

The government has to take care of these children and support the charitable organizations because the community support is no longer in place.

It is also high time to amend these bad laws which do not support ensure best interests of the child. Some of these laws are already mentioned above.

Others include the Affiliation Act of 1949 which still provides that a punitive father of the child born out of wedlock can pay only Tanzania shillings one hundred per a month for up keeping of his child. The Law of Marriage Act of 1971 should also be amended to restrict marriage of children below eighteen years. Section 176 of the Penal Code, Cap. 16 restricts anyone (including children) to remain idle and placing himself in any public places in disorderly manner and procure charitable contributions.

These are kinds of laws which instead of protecting children, the actually perpetuate infringement of their rights.    

Providing children with safe and caring settlings guarantees children a sound future and development. Any country in the world develops through developed minds of its people who are capable of making sound decisions.

Ruined people can never sit down to think and plan. If the country ignores these children who form about 50 percent of the current population, it actually ignores its future as well. The most effective solution to the problem is certainly a combination of different stakeholders.

The government has to formulate and implement practical policies and strategies which mainstream traditional programmes such as ‘Mama Mkubwa’ programme of Makete district; Community Justice Facilitation on Most Vulenarable Children of UNICEF Tanzania; and others.

It can do that by using local governance structures such as village, ward and districts or municipal councils. They can spear some monies for taking good care of these children in their localities instead of allocating billions of funds for directors’ posh cars and renovation of offices every year. It is something which needs just a little push from the responsible ministries.

It should also use the private-public-partnership (PPP) strategy to mobilize resources from the public. The justification is easy. That is, if these prominent business companies can sponsor football and miss Tanzania, why not schools and dormitories for these helpless children on the streets. A little bit discussion of their corporate social responsibility could make all these possible.   

Businessmen and everyone has to see that this is a responsibility of everyone. Most of these children on the streets turn to be cruel criminals because of their early childhood orientation. A prove to this is quite simple. The statistics show that most of those who are in prisons are actually coming from poor background.

Living in the limbo and harsh environment is very costful to these children because street life is too harsh and rough for the children. We owe these children the better as we promised them. It is time to replace words and theories with practical terms.  

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* Clarence KIPOBOTA holds Bachelor of Laws Degree (LL.B (Hons)), Masters of Community Economic Development (Msc. CED) and Certificates in Human Rights and UN Treaty Monitoring Bodies. He is an Advocate of the High Court of Tanzania, currently working as Legal Consultant with LEGAL AND DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANTS LIMITED (LEDECO). He is also Human Rights Activist. Email: kipobota@yahoo.com Tel: +255 762776281/ +255 222700695.