Machakos County government has refuted a report indicating that 4,000 school-going girls were impregnated in the last four months.
Education CEC Lazarus Kivuya says it’s impossible that the high number of cases could have been recorded in just four months.
“It’s impossible to have such a big number within the last few months. Hospitals are better placed to provide the correct figures since that is where “most deliveries are done,” said the CEC.
Kivuya has called for the investigations into the report in a bid to have the numbers verified.
In a report by the Children’s Department, approximately 4,000 school girls below 19 years were reported to have been impregnated in Machakos County in the last four months alone.
Read: Boda Boda Riders, Touts Blamed For Rise In Teenage Pregnancies Across The Country
Through a media address today, June 17, 2020, Children’s department officer Salome Muthama has linked the surge of teenage pregnancies to the COVID-19 pandemic that resulted to the closure of schools.
The officer said the cases are distributed as follows: Masinga Sub-County-104 cases in the age bracket (10-14) while 601 in the age bracket (15-19). In Athi River, 7 pregnancies for minors (aged 10-14) and 561 for those aged (15-19). Yatta has 10 cases for those aged (10-14) and 462 cases for the age bracket (15-19).
Further, the officer, Salome called on parents to cater to their children since the majority of the cases were also as a result of parental negligence.
She also called upon the judiciary to provide a Children’s department composed of legal advisers and relevant authorities that would speed up child-related cases which have been stalled in courts due to lack of representation.
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