• According to Kilifi county commissioner Kutswa Olaka 640 of the pregnant girls are in primary and the other 306 in high school.
• Only 235 of the pregnant primary school pupils reported back to school. For those in secondary school, 153 returned.
Kadii Bakari (not her real name) was raped by a boda boda rider when she delivered water to his house – an activity she had taken up to make money when schools closed.
The 14-year-old Kiwandani Primary School pupil is pregnant and has yet to return school weeks after reopening from the Covid-19 closure on January 4.
Bakari is but one of 946 schoolgirls in Kilifi county who fell pregnant in the period beteen April and December last year.
According to Kilifi county commissioner Kutswa Olaka 640 of the pregnant girls are in primary and the other 306 in high school.
Only 235 of the pregnant primary school pupils reported back to school. For those in secondary school, 153 returned.
Kadii was unaware she was pregnant until the aunt she lived with alerted her mother and grandmother.
“I used to fetch water for people for money. On the first day, an uncle to a boda boda rider asked me to fetch water for him. When I delivered the water, the rider dragged me to his house and defiled me. He started giving me money soon after. I missed my periods but did not realise I was pregnant,” she said.
Kadii’s mother reported the matter to the police and the children’s department.
“I reported the matter to the boy’s uncle. He never denied but ran away after he realised I had reported the matter to the police,” Kadii’s mother said.
Not far from Kadii’s homestead, Fatma, a Form 1 student at Korosho Secondary School delivered a pre-term baby through caesarean section following pregnancy complications.
Fatma, 16, was impregnated by another student who was visiting from Tana River county.
“He used to pick me from home and we would take a walk to the beach. It is during such times that we engaged in sex. He sometimes gave me money but I did not know where he was getting it from because he was a student like me,” Fatma said.
Both Fatma and Kadii are willing to go back to school.
“I am being raised by my mother who left my father when I was a baby because he was very abusive. My mother has got no job and survives on menial jobs. We are three girls and one of my sisters is in high school,” Fatma said.
“Sometimes we stay home due to lack of fees. If I get someone to sponsor me back to school I will be grateful.”
In Kilifi, 304,085 pupils in public primary schools have resumed learning, translating to 95.85 per cent return rate. Of this number, 153,331 are boys while 150,754 are girls.
In private primary schools, 40,018 pupils resumed learning which accounts for 95 per cent of the total learners.
In public secondary schools, 69,853 students have reported back to school which is 86. 67 per cent. There are 35,518 boys and 34, 335 girls.
In private secondary schools, 7,822 learners resumed studies which 81 percent. Some 3,982 are boys while the girls are 3,840.
Kutswa said he is in the process of coming up with a team of security officers and administrators who will be trained to sensitise community members on the dangers of early pregnancies.
“The team will include village elders. This is not something that will be wiped within a day but I believe with constant advocacy at the community will change and reduce the cases of early pregnancies,” he said.
Umoja women group chair lady Mumina Mahmoud said the figures are more only that many cases have not been reported.
“In Kilifi North, we have many cases which we are currently compiling. We have managed to bring together young mothers in the sub-county and we are using them to talk to young girls to go back to school,” she said.
Like Fatma and Kadii, the closure of schools last year due to Covid-19 pandemic disadvantaged many girls from poor backgrounds.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris