Nakuru County slammed for exposing identities of Njoro sisters in Facebook post

Like a goat that always finds the hole in the fence, Nakuru County seems unable to avoid stumbling into fresh controversy.

The latest controversy arose after the county government published photos revealing the identities of two sisters from Njoro who were humiliated by their teacher for allegedly not wearing undergarments.

The Grade 4 and Grade 9 pupils at Kenana Primary School had stayed away from school for over a week following the traumatic incident. After Mtaa Wangu publicised their story, county officials visited the family in Sosiot village, offering donations and pledging support.

However, rather than discreetly showing compassion, the officials posed for photos and posted them on the county’s official Facebook page. One particular image, which remained online for several hours, clearly showed the faces of the children alongside their family. By the time the post was deleted, it had already received over 1,600 likes and been shared 32 times.

Legal experts say that this mistake not only betrayed the children that the county claimed to be supporting, but also violated their rights.

Peter Bore, a lawyer based in Nakuru, argued that publishing the girls’ identities exposed them to further stigma and ridicule. “The law states that photos of children in distress should not be made public unless under special circumstances, which were not present in this case,” he noted.

Citing Section 27 of the Children’s Act, which protects children from unlawful interference with their privacy, and the Data Protection Act, Bore emphasised that Nakuru County had crossed legal and moral boundaries.

"Under Section 95 of the Children's Act, the disclosure of a child's identity, photographs or details of their parents in court proceedings is prohibited to prevent indirect exposure. The same principle applies here. Publishing these photos worsened the harm,” he says.

Mr Bore added that the damage cannot be undone. "The photos may already have been downloaded. Simply taking them down was not enough an apology should have followed. You can never unsee what you have already seen.”

Ironically, in the same post, the county quoted Governor Susan Kihika reaffirming her administration’s commitment to safeguarding children’s dignity and rights. However, by revealing the sisters’ faces, the county itself has undermined that very principle.

The question remains: Did the county have a duty to protect the two minors, aged just 11 and 16, more than it did to demonstrate its goodwill?