Poverty is the root cause for early marriages among young girls in Rongai Sub-county, a women group official has noted.
Ziporah Kigen, the patron of Rongai Women Groups Association when officiating over a table-banking workshop for the association’s members at Kambi ya moto business centre, said this has affected many young girls in the community.
According to Kigen, many young women in the area opt to get married, instead of pursuing education or other economic endeavors, because they get attracted to men who take care of their needs in terms of food and clothing.
She encouraged the women groups’ members to embrace savings and small-scale business ventures, in order to improve the living standards of their families.
“I encourage you to work hard so that you can change the lives of your families. Some of the problems we encounter like our young girls getting married so early instead of going to school can be solved if our mothers work hard,” she noted.
According to Kigen, poverty levels in the sub-county can be reduced, if local women embrace savings and economic projects, instead of depending on men for economic survival.
She further observed that many of the young girls, who get married early in life, end up living in poverty as many are abandoned by the men, who either are married, or get married to other women.
“Let us teach our young women not to depend on men for economic survival. Let us teach them business and the culture of saving. We can reduce poverty and save a lot of lives,” she added.