The number of high teenage pregnancies in the just concluded 2018 National exams shocked the entire country with the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Ambassador Amina Mohamed terming it as a ‘national crisis’.
Narok County is now taking precaution measures and has now announced a plan to test school girls for pregnancy before the start of the next school term in January next year. The plan announced by Narok County Commissioner George Natembeya is part of the county’s efforts to minimise or end cases of teenage pregnancies in the region.
Speaking in Nairegie Enkare in Narok East, Mr. Natembeya said that they will also be looking to establish whether girls underwent female genital mutilation during the December holidays. The administrator issued a stern warning to parents who subject their girls to FGM saying that they would arrested and prosecuted.
He further said that those who are found to be pregnant will have to reveal the identities of the men who impregnated them.
“It will not be business as usual. I hereby direct school heads to have girls in secondary and upper primary schools undergo the tests at local health facilities once the institutions reopen,” said Mr Natembeya.
Although FGM is illegal in Kenya, the practice is still rampant in counties such as Narok. Natembeya blamed the rising cases of teenage pregnancy to FGM arguing that girls who undergo the cut feel mature enough to have sex.
The police boss said that a special police unit called the Anti-FGM unit has been formed and tasked with investigating the cases during the holidays.
The plan comes after a report by Demographic Health Survey (DHS) showed that Narok county is leading nationally in teenage pregnancies, the rate being 40%.
The commissioner also issued a stern warning to chiefs and their assistants against condoning the vices saying that those found culpable will be fired.
“I understand there is a section of chiefs who are bribed with cows to allow FGM, teenage pregnancies and early marriages to take place. Be on the lookout because we are coming for you. We shall fire you, arrest you and prosecute you,” he said.
Do you think the move by the Narok county will do much to curb the teenage pregnancy menace?