1,000 schoolchildren held for drinking in Kenya

More than 1,000 children suspected of underage drinking have been arrested in Kenya's capital Nairobi, BBC reported.

Bars and clubs were raided during the weekend after police received complaints that they had become crowded with school children, during a three-week teachers' strike.

Most of the children were later released because there were not enough cells to hold them, police said.

Teachers are on a nationwide strike to demand better pay.

Nairobi central police chief Patrick Oduma said the raids were carried out to put a stop to young boys converging on "reggae music discotheques".

"To our surprise, we found there is a very big number of underage children (drinking)," he told BBC.

The bar operators were arrested and 116 children are in custody.

Musau Ndunda, secretary general of the Kenya National Association of Parents, told BBC it was sad that children spent their time in bars and clubs instead of school.

"It is the government which should be blamed for not being keen to resolve the teachers strike. Instead of playing politics, why not pay the teachers and they will go back to class and our children will definitely stream back to school," he said.