Parents in the rural areas in Kisumu County have been asked to educate their daughters, and avoid forcing them into early marriages.
Kisumu Nominated Member of County Assembly Farida Salim has asked parents to stop indulging in forced early marriages. She believed that it not only destroyed the future of the girl child but would, in time, limit the future of the county as well.
She condemned forced early marriages at a Tom Mboya labour college in Kisumu, where a wedding reception was taking place. “I have conducted a study on the number of girls who are married at an early age in our county and have realized that most of them come from the rural areas of Nyakach, Kisumu West, Nyando, Muhoroni and Seme constituencies.”
She appealed to the respective Members of Parliament to help curb this menace in their constituencies.
Salim challenged the police to stop taking bribes from those involved in the forced early marriages, and that in doing so they could allow the girls to follow the dreams they have in life. She asked the police to ensure that those involved in the whole process are arrested and put to book.
Salim urged the Police, “Instead of taking bribes from the culprits of this act, the police should ensure that they are arrested and arraigned in court as soon as possible.”