• Uhuru said a family is a projection of the state and if the same family is under attack, the state is under attack.
• “If the family is weak, the country is weak," he said.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has directed the National Crime Research Centre to move swiftly and investigate increasing cases of gender based violence and teenage pregnancy.
Uhuru on Monday said his administration is concerned by increasing tension within homes across the country.
He said cases of gender-based violence have risen, mental health issues have worsened, and instances of teenage pregnancy escalated.
“I appeal to social institutions, including the religious institutions, to exercise civic responsibility to bring these unfortunate trends to an end,” he said.
Uhuru said a family is a projection of the state and if the same family is under attack, the state is under attack.
“If the family is weak, the country is weak. Therefore, to fortify our protection of the family as the foundation of the state, I direct and order that the National Crime Research Centre probe the escalating cases of gender-based violence, the worrying trend of cases where the girl child has been disempowered and the violation of children’s rights,” he said.
Uhuru said the centre is directed to prepare an advisory to security agencies on remedial action within 30 days and initiate immediate prosecution of all violators.
Last month, the Education ministry dismissed alarming figures of teenage pregnancies in the country released by the Children’s Department Technical Working Group during the celebrations of the Day of the African Child.
The report was released by Machakos children's officer Salome Muthama, indicating that 3,800 girls over 15 years and 200 others under 14 years became pregnant between January and May.
The report escalated a debate across the country, prompting Education CS George Magoha to intervene and cast doubt on the numbers.
But Health CAS Mercy Mwangangi set the record clear, dismissing the report as 'inaccurate.'
“We have been able to interrogate this data that is circulating in the media both within the Ministry of Health and also in conjunctions with the county governments to be able to ascertain the truth behind this numbers,” Mwangangi said.
"The current data from the study that was highlighted is inaccurate especially when you look at the explanation in terms of ante-natal visits by teenage mothers,” she added.
The CAS said that the actual number of pregnant teenagers is approximately a third of the reported cases.
Mwangangi however admitted that Kenya is not an exception to the global teen pregnancies, but the figures were not accurate.
The CAS called upon teenage mothers to make frequent visits to the clinics to avoid the higher risks associated with teenage pregnancies.
“Teenage mothers would be encouraged to make multiple visits and we are putting in place mechanisms to ensure that these mothers can access the care that is available,” she said.
Earlier on, Fida indicated they had received more child custody and maintenance cases compared to gender violence cases within the first three weeks of launching their hotline.
The gender-based violence hotline launched on April 15 had received 289 cases as of May 3 and is an intervention in response to the increasing number of gender violence cases in the country.
"The highest number of cases reported were gender-based violence cases at 81 and child custody and maintenance cases at 117," Fida said.
The nature of gender-based violence cases commonly reported is intimate partner violence, defilement and rape, especially in Nairobi and Kisumu.
Widow eviction and physical violence by in-laws are mostly prevalent in the Western region.