Did you notice the high number of teenage pregnancies recorded during the 2018 national examinations? Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji has now shifted his eyes on the case as a way to figt the solution towards it.
On Monday the DPP ordered the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to investigate rising cases of teenage pregnancies and early marriages in Kilifi County and elsewhere in Kenya.
DPP Noordin Haji has ordered DCI to investigate high cases of teenage pregnancies & early marriages in Kilifi County & other parts of the country & forward files to his office for appropriate action. #childrenmatters_prosecution pic.twitter.com/AAyE38Ldlr
— ODPP_KE (@ODPP_KE) November 26, 2018
Haji promised that stern action would be taken in the matter that has captured public attention in recent weeks.
The DCI was directed to forward the files to his office for appropriate action to be taken once investigations were complete.
This was revealed in a speech read on his behalf by Assistant DPP Lilian Ogwora at the launch of Children’s National Service Week at the Kilifi Law Courts.
This year alone, 13,624 pregnancies were reported among school children aged 15-19 in Kilifi.
Haji promised to work with the Judiciary to ensure the cases were expedited as he sought to assure the public that his office cared about children’s issues.
The county’s Education and ICT Executive Prof. Gabriel Katana recently claimed that the correct figure was closer to 40,000 as most teenage pregnancies went unreported.
Haji said he will work closely with Judiciary & other agencies to expedite the cases. ODPP’s Kilifi County Head Vincent Monda & Head of Children Division Caroline Karimi attended the launch. pic.twitter.com/LZ1Zs6Gthy
— ODPP_KE (@ODPP_KE) November 26, 2018
“We need to carry out a study on pregnancies where some babies are born and others are aborted.
“If we look at it critically, you will realise the correct number of teenage pregnancies here is three times the figure that has been provided,” he stated.
Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi proposed that the Sexual Offences act be amended to allow for castration of men found to have defiled minors.
He maintained that this would go a long way in reducing teenage pregnancies in the county.
“Let those involved be subject to such hefty punishments as a lesson to others intending to commit such crimes,” Kingi stated during the official launch of 16 days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) at Matsangoni Primary School.