Early marriages and education disparity among girls in Nyamira County can be combated if all women gang against it, county first lady has noted.
Speaking during the celebration of International Women Day on Tuesday, Naomi Nyagarama expressed her disappointment in the alleged increment of the number of girls bowing out of school due to early marriages.
She urged women to stand against the vice in the society by reporting the cases to authorities for stiff actions.
“We have received a number of horrible reports that many of our girls are bowing out of school for early marriages. The sad thing is that as women, we sit back and watch. Time has come for us to fight for the place of women in the society. We are not a weaker gender,” she said.
“We can effectively fight these disparities against our girls if we gang up as women and report the unprecedented cases to authorities,” she said.
She further challenged women to ensure more girls are enrolled to schools for primary and secondary education, and also urged them to support the girl child for higher education studies.
“As women, we must be vigil to ensure our girls receive primary and secondary education which is subsidised by the government. We cannot deny them their rights. It’s also important that we do our best to enroll them to the institutions of higher learning. Their education doesn’t end in the secondary level,” she added.
She urged chiefs and their assistants to work with the police and arrest men found culpable of marrying underage girls.
“We want the provincial administration and police to work with is and arrest those men who marry underage girls. We will cooperate and identify them for the sake of justice,” Naomi said.
Naomi Nyagarama during the international women day. She has urged county women to fight cases of early marriages subjected against underage girls. AMakori/Hivisasa.