Kaloleni MP Paul Katana has hit out at his Rabai counterpart William Kamoti for his call to lift the ban on disco matanga in Kilifi county.
Speaking in Kaloleni during the groundbreaking ceremony for Migwaleni Model Primary School on Friday, Katana said Kamoti is insensitive to the suffering disco matanga has caused the county.
“Culturally, we have our ways of mourning the dead and disco matanga is not in our culture. As much as this is a business, we need to look at the merits against the demerits. It is clear that disco matanga has done more harm than good. If Kamoti wants the ban to be lifted let it be only in Rabai. In Kaloleni we do not want it because we are losing a whole generation,” Katana said.
The MP argued that disco matanga provides avenues for teens to engage in sex and drug abuse, the same argument that led to the ban by Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i.
The ban was imposed last year when 17,000 teenagers were reported to be pregnant in the county.
“If you want to know that disco matanga is not our culture, just go when it is playing and you will find only teenagers there doing all sorts of immorality. In our culture it is elders who attend burial ceremonies. The disco only entices the teenagers who are not supposed to be there in the first place," Katana said.
"If you play the traditional dirges only, no teenager will attend that burial and that is how it should be. Let children bury themselves in books and not funeral discos."
The lawmaker further urged parents to ensure they are aware of the whereabouts of their children at any given time.
According to statistics from the Kilifi county department of Health, Rabai has the highest number of girls under 14 who are pregnant.
Last year Kaloleni subcounty recorded 3,800 cases of teen pregnancies.
Last week, Kamoti said the ban is infringing on the Mijikenda culture to mourn the dead.
The MP has also summoned CS Matiang’i to Parliament to explain the ban.
He said noise pollution does not fall on the CS's docket.
“When they arrest you they charge you with noise pollution. That is an environmental issue that falls under CS Keriako Tobiko so Matiang’i should keep off. We need to give last respect to the dead,” Kamoti said.
Mwanamwinga MCA Pascal Thuva said the effects of disco matanga are devastating. He said lifting the ban will have negative effects.
“Many teenagers have turned the discos as meeting places. Parents should take responsibility and as leaders, we must make sure we give a conducive environment to our teenagers to study,” Thuva said.
Edited by R.Wamochie
