FAKE BEGGARS IN THE STREETS OF

MOMBASA
 By Derick Otieno
Police officers in Mombasa county have arrested fake beggars who have been roaming the
streets of Mombasa.
The number of beggars in the county of Mombasa has been increasing. One cannot walk in
the streets without meeting atleast 7 beggars. Most of these beggars are people without any disabilities
but have difficulties getting jobs therefore resorting to seeking help from the residents.
The police have therefore executed a manhunt to track down some of the fraudsters that have
been operating in the Mombasa CBD and also some busy streets such as Mwembe Tayari. The police
have succeeded to bring into custody some while others are still out there scamming the residents and
manipulating their feelings. A good example is when the police arrested 40 Jordanian citizens who
were posing as beggars. The Jordanians, who were a total of 19 adults and 21 children were tourists
who were stranded and had to beg in order to raise funds to travel to Nairobi's Eastleigh. They were
later deported back to their country.

Inspector of police speaking to one of the Jordanians.

This is not the only incident as a few days ago the police nabbed some Tanzanians who were
caught begging. This issue has proved to be serious as some even use their children so as to get
money. You will find a group of up to 5 children walking together mostly barefoot in the scorching,
sun asking for help from passers-by. This has raised questions as to whether this is the right thing to
do or is it going against the child's rights.
Kenyans took to their social media pages to comment on the issue at hand, others rebuking
the act while others are calling out to the county government to put in place measures to remove them
from the streets and they be placed in a much safer environment. “These fakers need to be dealt with
as they are ruining the chances for the people with real disabilities. It is hard to differentiate whether
he/she is truly disabled or faking it, making it hard for me to donate to them.” One woman was heard
saying.
The county government of Mombasa is left in a hard spot as has to come up with solutions on
how to resolve the issue. “Police dressed in civilian clothes have been placed in the streets to
investigate and very soon we will capture the fraudsters.” The county inspector of police had this to
say.
 This has to be resolved as quick as possible since it is a high security risk to the homeless
children and beggars. There have been several cases of disappearances and most of the targets are the
children. It is easy for the perpetrators to get away with such evils since no one cares or looks after
them. As reports from the police show, bodies of little children have been found dumped at random
places with parts of their bodies organs missing.
This is not the first nor the last time such incidents of fake beggars being exposed has been
witnessed. A few months ago, a woman in Kiambu county who was pretending to be a crippled was
exposed of her fraudulent ways. All this may be due to the high cost of living and the level of
unemployment in the country. With all this, the county government is doing its best in resolving the
issue.