Boda boda operators in Lamu have been called out for being behind the increased number of early pregnancies among school girls and subsequent high dropout rates in the region.
The incidents are highest in Mpeketoni and Hindi areas where girls as young as 12 years old are getting pregnant and being forced to quit school to nurse the pregnancies and babies.
Most of the time, these young mothers barely get back to school once they deliver, a situation that has seen an enormous spike in the number of young girls dropping out of school.
Community administrators said the culprits are boda boda riders in their 20s and who are also school dropouts who quit to become riders.
They have called on the county government to institute harsh punishments on boda boda operators found culpable of impregnating school girls.
Simon Mwangi, a community administrator from Baharini village in Mpeketoni noted that the affected girls are aged between 12 to 16 years.
He urged police in the region to move in and arrest culpable riders whom he accused of destroying the lives of young school girls in the area.
“It’s an unfortunate trend and the number of girls affected is quite high. These boda bodas are known to offer them free rides to and from school after which they eventually lure them into sexual relations. They end up pregnant and quit school,” said Mwangi.
Most of these men however end up ghosting the young women once they are discovered to be pregnant or after giving birth, leaving them alone and struggling to raise the babies at the expense of their education and future.
Mwangi urged the boda boda operators to stay away from young and naïve school girls and instead pursue grown women who understand the repercussions of having sexual relations.
“Most of these girls are living pathetic lives with their babies in their parent’s homes. We are telling these riders to find grown women and allow girls to go to school. It is shameful and selfish,” he said.
