Raila Odinga Junior has criticised Malindi Member of Parliament Aisha Jumwa after she called for the arrest of pregnant teenage girls in her constituency.
Jumwa asked Kilifi OCPD to apprehend pregnant school girls alongside their boy partners as a way of reducing cases of underage pregnancies in the area.
Speaking during the Annual Malindi Education day celebrations, the MP said it was unfair and discriminatory to arrest and charge only the teenage boy with defilement, and leave the girl scot-free when both are responsible for the pregnancy.
‘‘Whoever is taken to court in cases of teenage pregnancy is a boy, the law cuts both sides; all girls and boys should be arrested if we want to solve the problem,’’ she said during a function held at Barani Secondary School on Saturday.
However, she noted that when the act is not consensual, the boy should be arrested and prosecuted for defilement.
Speaking on the proposal, Raila Junior termed Jumwa's remarks as "unfortunate", noting that jailing of teenagers who engage in sex was not the solution to increasing teen pregnancies.
Junior, the youngest son of Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader Raila Odinga, asked the legislator to come up with another proposal, observing imprisonment of teenagers was guaranteed to backfire.
"Very unfortunate remarks coming from a leader. Aisha has to be told that jailing these children will not solve the high cases of teen pregnancies , she should find out why the cases are high and offer a solution either through a legislation in parliament or other possible ways," he tweeted on Saturday.