Kilifi county made headlines again when it was reported that one out of four teenage girls is either pregnant or already has a child at home. This has negatively impacted on the education of these young girls and has derailed them compared to their fellow male students.
In the 2017 report by the Faith to Action Network, the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (Supkem) and Kilifi County government, retrogressive cultural practices and poverty have been majorly blamed for the pregnancies.
To fully curb the menace, the National government through the Ministries of Education, Security and Gender and the Kilifi county government should not employ the help of elders in dealing with the perpetrators of the acts. With the area still grappling with poverty, the elders may be compromised when dealing with the cases.
Instead, the two governments should solely use the security levels from the assistant chiefs to look for those responsible for impregnating the young girls, arresting them and charging them in Courts for law to take its course.
As witnessed with cases of rape in some parts of the country, the elders have connived with the perpetrators of the heinous act with cash rewards of as low as Kshs 5000 proposed to negotiate a truce between the victim's family and the culprit.
The elders should take a back seat let the appropriate agencies take action and alleviate the girl child from the epidemic accosting them. Similarly, Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi should engage his county assembly and come up with strict rules that will define hefty penalties to those who impregnate young girls in the county.