Children now bear the brunt of war on terrorism

Haki Africa's programme officer Francis Auma with the wife of Mr Hemed Salim Hemed who went missing in 2014. Her two children cannot get birth certificates since the family does not have Hemed's documents. PHOTO | WINNIE ATIENO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Police raided two mosques in Majengo in 2014 and arrested several men who have never been traced.
  • Education ministry insists on a child's birth certificate before registration for national tests.

For weeks, Asha from Mombasa has been visiting government offices in search of a birth certificate to enable her son sit this year’s Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examination.

But it has been impossible for the woman to get the crucial documents for her four children, who are pupils at a public primary school in Mombasa.

Asha’s husband is among those who mysteriously disappeared when scores of officers from the General Service Unit, the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit, the regular police and prisons department stormed Musa and Sakina mosques at 2am sometime in November 2014.

WEAPONS

The mosques were widely believed to be bases for radicalising youths.

On that night, police raided the two mosques in Majengo, shot one person dead, arrested another 251 and reportedly seized an assortment of weapons.

Asha’s husband was among those arrested and he has never been seen since.

Several families maintain that they have not seen their kin who were rounded up at the two mosques during the raid.

Three families interviewed by the Sunday Nation said they did not know the whereabouts of their relatives.

For four years, Asha, 40, has avoided the limelight after neighbours linked her family to terrorism.

ACCURACY

“The decision to use birth certificates to register children for national examinations has not helped us at all,” she said.

The new government guidelines require that learners have their names and other details fed on the Ministry of Education Portal, the gateway to the National Education Management System.

The deadline for the registration is March 31.

The ministry thereafter will issue unique identity codes to all students. The number shall be used until completion of their education. 

The number shall also guide the ministry to ensure accuracy and accountability in utilisation of free primary and secondary education resources.

INDEX NUMBERS

According to the government, KCPE and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination candidates will use the unique identifiers instead of index numbers from this year.

Asha's eldest son is around 20 years but does not have a national identity card since one requires his or her father's ID to get one.

“I don't know if my father is alive. He disappeared with all his documents. We have only been hearing that he was a terror suspect. We don’t have his ID or death certificate. How will I get an ID?” he asked this reporter during an interview at a Mombasa hotel.

The young man has given up on searching for jobs.

TORMENTED

“It is tormenting but this is the price children pay for their parents ‘sins’. I don’t know if my father was a terrorist. As far as I am concerned, he was the best father a child can have. Who am I to judge him anyway?” he asked.

But he feels sorry for his siblings who have to suffer because of the new education rules.

“I hope the government relaxes the rules because many children will be affected,” he said.

Family members say they want to know the fate of their breadwinner.

“We hold onto hope that he will knock on the door and be reunited with his family,” Asha said.

WORRY

As she agonises over her missing husband, another woman faces a similar nightmare of securing birth certificates for her children.

“My husband was at Masjid Musa during the 2014 raid . I have never seen him since. Life for the family has been difficult without him,” said the Changamwe resident who refused to give her name.

“I have been isolated by family and friends and I worry my children will never get IDs.”

She pleaded with the government to allow children of terrorism suspects be registered for examinations without birth certificates.

“If only they could be prosecute! Enforced disappearances leave families in uncertainty and turmoil,” she added.

REVISIT

Mvita Nyumba Kumi elder Sophia Suleiman, shared the women's concerns.

“At village level, we meet people whose kin mysteriously disappeared. They are facing difficulties in acquiring birth certificates and IDs. Some children are not in school because they don't have their parents's documents,” she told the Sunday Nation.

Juma, a son of a terror suspect who disappeared, is at a loss since the hope of getting the certificate is distant.

“Education minister Amina Mohammed should revisit this issue because we are suffering,” Juma pleaded.

CONDEMNED

Jamila is in the same predicament.

The Standard Four pupil has been to Huduma Centre and the Registrar of Persons headquarters in Mombasa several times to apply for the document in vain.

Haki Africa Executive Director Hussein Khalid said the organisation was dealing with 100 cases of women whose husbands disappeared or died in the war against terrorism in Mombasa, Kwale, Lamu and Kilifi counties.

“Those suffering are those whose fathers died in Somalia or mysteriously disappeared. If a parent breaks the law, why should the whole family be condemned?” he asked.

ADAMANT

Efforts to reach police bosses to respond on our queries were futile.

Coast Regional Police commandant Noah Mwavinda referred Sunday Nation to the Regional Coordinator Bernard Lemparai who neither responded to our texts or calls.

“Kindly call Mr Leparmarai. I’m at Kiganjo for the passing out parade,” he said.

A senior officer at the Registrar of Persons office who sought anonymity was categorical that anyone without the required documents would not get a birth certificate or identity card.