- He said the rising numbers of young mothers is causes by poverty, illiteracy, sexual abuse, barriers to access justice.
- The medical officer said kangaroo courts by chiefs and their assistants remain a major barrier to access justice.
More than 30 per cent of childbirths in Likuyani subcounty, Kakamega, are by teenagers, the subcounty medical officer of health Daniel Mugabe has said.
Mugabe said the young mothers are aged between 10 and 17 years.
Speaking at Kongoni on Monday, Mugabe said stakeholders in the area have agreed to come up with programmes that will arrest the situation before it gets out of hand.
Officials from the provincial administration, civil societies, religious leaders, opinion leaders, National Police service and officers from the children department met in Kongoni last week to discuss the worrying trend.
“We agreed to come up with high impact intervention mechanisms in prevention of early pregnancies and the accompanying effects,” he said.
He said the rising numbers of young mothers is caused by poverty, illiteracy, sexual abuse, barriers to access justice.
The medical officer said kangaroo courts by chiefs and their assistants remain a major barrier to access justice and must be dealt with once and for all.
He said the stakeholders forum will be meeting quarterly to review the situation until it is tamed.
Boda boda operators are also responsible for a large proportion of the teen pregnancies, Mugabe added.
He said most of the affected girls ended up dropping out of schools hence ruining their future.
Mugabe said the measures will include how to address the stigma associated with early pregnancies.
He said relatives of teens who get pregnant conspire with the perpetrators, some close relatives to defeat justice in cases of sexual abuse.
"We are urging our parents to work closely with us in addressing the issues of early pregnancies to protect the future of our young ones. We want to work together to ensure the affected girls return to school after deliveries."
-Edited by SKanyara