Scars of Kilifi teenage pregnancy ‘pandemic’

Rotuba Kahindi has not yet finished primary school, but she is already bearing the burden of rearing a child while in school after falling prey to teenage pregnancy in Kilifi county.

Kahindi, 19, is still trying to come to terms with the reality of being a mother and a student in Mikiriani village, Kaloleni subcounty, as she waits to sit her KCPE exam at Mikiriani Primary School.

What pains her and her family is that the perpetrator is still walking scot-free, and to make matters worse, he rubs it in at every opportunity.

"He impregnated me and no action was taken. Now he mocks me in front of his friends every time I meet him in the village," she says.

It all started in 2017, when she got into a relationship with a boda boda operator and a year later, she got pregnant.

The seventh-born in a family of eight says they went to report the matter to Kizurini police station and went to Mariakani to fill a P3 form.

"Police told us the suspect would be arrested but to date, he is still free," she says.

HOW IT STARTED

We caught up with Kahindi at Mikiriani village, while with her ageing mother and a volunteer activist, who took the responsibility of following up on the matter and counselling her to go back to school.

She met the boda boda operator from Chanagande while on her way from school, and a relationship ensued which ended in a sexual affair.

Kahindi wonders why the police have never arrested him, despite the fact that they promised to take action against him.

"He spoilt me by giving me a child and does not support me in any way. I appeal to the government to help me bring up my child and educate me," she says.

After getting pregnant, Kahindi went on with school until she delivered a baby boy in the second term of 2018.

Her teacher told her to remain at home until the third term, when she resumed classes to date.

The child is now two and a half old. Kahindi thanks her parents for supporting her and the child as it has enabled her to continue with her studies.

"After school, I have a responsibility of looking after my child to ensure he is clean and all his clothes are washed," she says.

Her dream is to join Mariakani Secondary School after primary, and then go to medical school to become a doctor.

She wakes up at 5am, takes a bath and goes to school, leaving her child in her parents' hands.

She advises fellow teenage girls who become pregnant to ensure they give birth and still return to class.

"I urge the government to help girls whenever they report cases of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence so action is taken against the perpetrators," she says.

P3 FORM DISAPPEARED 

Kahonzi Kanao, the mother of Kahindi, says she reported the matter to a SGBV activist, who took her for pregnancy tests and it was confirmed that she was pregnant.

They later reported the matter to the police and followed all the procedures required but to date, no action has been taken.

"When I followed up the matter at Kizurini police station, I was told the P3 form we filled had disappeared. Police told me to go for fresh tests but I had no money,'' she says.

Kanao says her child delivered in the seventh month. The mother of eight has been forced to bring up her grandson, something she had not dreamt of as she is now ageing.

Kanao, who does odd jobs of farming, opted to spend the little she had to buy milk instead of pursuing the case after the security personnel disappointed her.

She is bitter that all the money she spent in hospital and filling P3 went to waste.

''Whenever I think about the suspect being free, my stomach turns. I do not know him; I was to see him after being arrested but it never happened," she says.

Ever since the tragedy struck her, she has been forced to spend a lot of money to buy milk and claims she still has debts to date.

Kanao said she would really love to see the man who impregnated her daughter and messed her life.

"I feel a lot of pain, having brought up my children, and now I'm forced to bring up a grandson whose father is unknown. I feel so sad," she says.

She appealed to the government to follow up on such cases so perpetrators are brought to book.

CHALLENGES OF GBV CASES

Fatuma Saro, a volunteer children's officer from Chanagande, provides support for SGBV cases.

She intervenes and supports victims' families whenever they are abused sexually as most are poor.

"The problem we still have is that after obtaining a P3, there is usually the process of arresting the suspect. This is not my work, it is the police who call the chief and ensure the suspect is nabbed. But mostly the suspects are not arrested," she says.

"We fill P3 forms, the suspects are seen, but we do not know what kind of business goes on between the chiefs and the police until they are left free." 

In the case of Kahindi, she filled a P3 form and the police promised to call the area assistant chief with a view to arresting the suspect, but nothing happened two years down the line.

She says it is disheartening to find the suspect walking freely in the village, while the girl gave birth and nothing was done to help her get justice.

"The girl is suffering. Each time she comes to my home and asks for help from me as a defender of girl child's rights," she says.

Her job being voluntary, she is not paid and feels happy when a case is prosecuted for the victims to get justice.

So far she has 10 cases which she reported, has OB numbers, and filled P3 forms, but the suspects have not been arrested.

Currently, she is being threatened by the suspects because they deem her a traitor.

"As we speak, my life is in danger because there is another case of a girl who was defiled. I can even see her now, she is passing, but the suspects have not been arrested. The case is with the police. Where should I go to seek help if the government does not take action?" she says.

Saro says she filled she filled a P3 form for the girl, 17, but to date, the suspect has not been arrested.

Cases are piling up, she says, and she does not know who is preventing the arrests, whether it's the police or the chief.

The volunteer, who is a farmer and a mother of three, says she depends on her farming business to survive, but spends most of her time on voluntary work for the last 13 years.

Police are yet to respond to the allegations of failing to prosecute the cases or arrest suspects.

Documents seen by the Star show some of the cases were resolved at community level, while others perpetrators are still being pursued.

Edited by T Jalio