Irked by the high number of teenage pregnancies in Kilifi County, Governor Amason Kingi wants all men who defile or rape school going girls castrated.
Statistics released by Kilifi County children’s department indicate that 13,000 girls were impregnated this year some of them who sat for national examinations. The statistic is the highest recorded across all 47 counties.
Consequently, Kingi wants the men responsible dealt with accordingly to the extent of threatening to mobilise youth to chop off the manhood of any man caught defiling a school going child.
“In Rabai there is a case where a ten year old girl was raped by a grown man. Then the case proceeds to court and they are only convicted to three to four years in prison. MPs should review that law so that we can right the wrongs. Meanwhile we will chop off the manhood of anyone caught raping or defiling a school going girl,” said a visibly livid Kingi while addressing his constituents on November 28.
According to Kilifi County’s Gender and Culture Executive Committee Member (CEC) Maureen Mwagonvya, parties held during overnight vigils popularly known as Disco Matanga could be major contributing factor to the high number of teenage pregnancies in the county.
“Our young girls could have fallen prey to men who take advantage of gullible girls during these vigils. All manner of drugs are sold there. It is possible that they get drunk and uncouth men pounce on them,” said Mwagonvya in a feature aired on November 17.
READ: KCPE: 32 TEACHERS DE-REGISTERED OVER TEENAGE PREGNANCIES
Girls as young as six go to these vigils due to their popularity in the rural areas where loud music is played as youth engage in promiscuity.
According to the Sexual Offences Act, consent in sex only suffices when a person is above 18 years of age meaning that engaging in sex with someone or while below the stipulated age is a crime.
During the release of the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) 2018 results a week ago, Teachers Service Comission CEO Nancy Macharia confirmed that 32 primary school teachers had been de-registered over the teenage pregnancies.
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Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed has already ordered her ministry’s quality control department to probe the matter with the view of acting on the recommendations of the report to ensure that the trend is halted.
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