KENYA: Police in Kuresoi South have been accused of failing to arrest a county government employee who allegedly defiled a pupil.

The family of the 15-year-old girl said although police officers knew the county official's whereabouts, they were reluctant to arrest him and were instead giving excuses.

The minor was suspended from school last month after the management discovered she was seven months' pregnant.

The girl's guardian informed The Standard that the suspect had approached the family on several occasions persuading them to drop the case as he was ready to marry her.

The guardian said the man told her he was planning to sell a piece of land and share money with the family.

She claimed to have shared all this information with the police, who always claimed the suspect had gone into hiding.

"How can police claim the suspect cannot be traced when I am always giving them tips on his movements?" she asked.

Area police boss Timothy Kivuva said investigations were ongoing although the suspect was on the run. Mr Kivuva said the suspect was last traced to Nairobi on Sunday.

"Officers were dispatched to Nairobi where the suspect had been traced to but an arrest could not be made because he kept changing his mobile lines," he said.

The minor, who is in Standard Eight, is expected to sit for her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education later this year.

"I fear my niece might perform poorly because she is out of school at a time she is supposed to be revising with teachers to improve on her weaker subjects," the guardian said.

A source who requested anonymity told The Standard that the suspect was spotted in Kericho town last week and later in Nakuru while handing over his official vehicle.

"The suspect has been operating freely in a county vehicle before handing it back in Nakuru last week. Police could have easily traced him at that time," said the villager.

The guardian said the minor had been keeping her condition a secret until late last month when she noticed her strange behaviour.