A typical 50-year old is expected to be married and bringing up a famil. It has emerged however that some 50-year olds in Muranga are busy impregnating other peoples’ daughters’ in particular, teenagers.
A survey done by Muranga County government revealed that 6,710 teenage girls were impregnated in 2018.
Seventy percent of those who impregnated the girls were above 50 years of age. The affected girls are aged between 10-19.
The report also disclosed that the girls were being lured using food such as chips, soda, and sausage.
It may not be easy to understand why one can fall prey to baits such as food, but life in rural Kenya can be very harsh. Kilometers of walking to fetch water, school and pangs of hunger.
On the promise of a boda-boda ride that will ease their feet of the long journey to school and offer of chips to relieve them from hunger pangs and routine meals cooked at home, the girls fall prey.
Muranga is not the only county suffering from teenage pregnancy crisis. A report released by the Ministry of Education last year July identified seven most affected counties that include -Narok, Meru, Bungoma, Busia, Migori, Nairobi and Homa Bay
Teenage pregnancy continues to be a problem challenging the 100 percent transition policy for education in Kenya.
Last year, former CS Education Amina Mohammed demanded a report done on teenage pregnancy after 10 KCPE candidates gave birth during the examination.
In Nairobi, it was reported that teenage pregnancies were as high as 60 per cent among school-going children. Boda-boda operators were accused of fanning the problem.
“Cases of child defilement have been accelerated by the youth operating motorcycles who lure young girls into sex in exchange for rides. The factors had in some cases led to school dropouts or poor attendance,” the report reads.
While the government and NGO’s have been actively working to reduce the statistics, it is clear that more needs to be done.
Sex education and family planning have been the common measures the stakeholders adopt to curb the teenage pregnancy crisis.