National Assembly Majority leader Aden Duale has threatened to reintroduce the infamous Sexual Offences bill by Justice Njoki Ndung’u to curb pregnancies among schoolgirls.
Duale said the new bill will include a clause to castrate men who make schoolgirls pregnant. He spoke in Garissa town yesterday.
Duale raised concerns about the high number of KCPE and KCSE candidates who were either pregnant, breastfeeding or had given birth. Others are suspected to have procured abortions. “It’s shameful for a country like Kenya to have a high number of our girls giving birth in school,” Duale said.
“The only way to curb this vice is for the National Assembly to enact stringent laws that will deal with such characters who are hell-bent on destroying the future of our country.”
Duale partly blamed parents for abdicating their duties. “Parents, teachers and religious leaders have terribly failed in their responsibility. We cannot continue having our young daughters turned into mothers at an early stage. This is a ticking time bomb that should worry all of us,” he said.
Duale dismissed CS Amina Mohamed’s move to form a task force to deal with pregnancis among schoolgirls. He said it will not address the problem.
Parents faulted
Mohamed ordered a quality assurance team in the Education ministry to investigate and file a report on pregnancies among school girls.
She said this will enable the ministry to outline measures to curb such cases.
The CS urged parents to instill discipline in their children through guidance and counselling to ensure such incidents are prevented.
“It is the responsibility of parents to talk to their children and ensure that they do not engage in sexual relations at a tender age,” she said.
During the KCPE exam, many candidates gave birth. In Kitui, 72 KCSE candidates are pregnant.
The county has recorded the highest number of pregnancies among students sitting the exam. Another 38 candidates have newborns delivered since the test began last week.
County education director Salesa Adano said the number was shocking. Boda boda riders were put on the spot and accused of luring girls with free rides.
In Bomet county, two girls gave birth. In Meru, a candidate sat her exam in hospital after delivering an underweight baby. During the KCPE exam period, about 30 candidates countrywide sat their exam in hospitals after giving birth.