Kwale Deputy Governor Fatuma Achani has launched a campaign among women to fight early pregnancies in the county through a vigorous sensitisation programme.
Achani launched the campaign (at the Methodist Church of Kenya) at Kinango where she said the programme will involve women in all the more than 70 village units across Kwale county.
She said teenage pregnancies have threatened education of the girl child saying the matter requires an immediate mitigation.
According to the Kwale DG, the campaign will involve economically empowering the parents and girls, such as providing them with life basics.
The initiative follows a national alarm over student pregnancies as manifested during the recent KCPE and ongoing KCSE examinations where several girls sat for their papers in maternity wards while some missed the exams.
Achani was hosting the second Women Round Table workshop in Kwale County. The first one was at Kinondo a few months ago.
The workshop sponsored by UN Women and the Council of Governors (COG) is a women initiative to sensitise them on socio-economic and political opportunities for the woman in society.
"From this gathering, I want you to go back to your respective village units, form committees and arrange programmes where we can visit all schools and talk to the pupils," she said "some of the reasons for this evil is poverty, broken families, single parenting among others. Some of our girls lack even soap and other basics thereby becoming easy prey to men."
The Women Round Table initiative is being conducted by all female deputy governors across the country.
"When you are ready with the committees, inform me and we shall kick off the visits immediately. I am ready," she told the 200 women adding that village, ward and sub-county administrators will also be involved.
She said Governor Salim Mvurya's administration had given education first priority with Sh400 million annually going to bursaries for national school students supporting 3,800 students, more than 1,400 others in universities, more than 40,000 in county schools as well as paying Sh15,000 per polytechnic student.