An MCA from Kisii on Monday raised concern over the rising number of teenage pregnancies in the region.
Josephine Ombati of ODM said it is worrying that some men have taken advantage of the prolonged closure of schools due Covid-19 to defile learners.
“It is really worrying that some men have taken advantage of the prolonged closure of schools to sexually abuse young girls,” Ombati said.
She said there is need for the government to take stringent measures against those found to have impregnated the girls.
“There is need for all stakeholders to work together in curbing this menace. The future of the young girls must be protected at all cost,” she added.
Ombati said she was perturbed by the recently released data by the Education ministry on the state of the pregnancies in the country.
She said the Constitution envisages the right to education for all, which is violated when young girls are impregnated.
“This trend of irresponsible males impregnating our naïve, immature and helpless teenage girls is taking this country backwards,” she told the Star by phone.
Her remarks come three days after a multi-agency programme was launched by Kisii County Education Board to trace impregnated girls in the county.
Under the programme, chiefs, their assistants, village elders and members of Nyumba Kumi community policing will identify and pursue men who prey on the girls for them to be prosecuted.
“The multi-agency child protection model will profile the number of schoolgirls who have been impregnated in the entire county during this period of prolonged school closure,” Board chairman Henry Onderi told the Star on the phone.
An angry Ombati said all those involved should be dealt with, further noting some girls have been impregnated by close relatives.
Kisii is among the counties with highest number of teenage pregnancies, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Education in March.
The statistics showed that out of the 11,950 girls who fell pregnant, 2,885 of them were in primary school, while 9,065 were in secondary.
Edited by EKibii
