More Than 28 Underage Girls Are Impregnated In Machakos In 24 Hours

An idle mind is a devil’s workshop and the increased number of teenage pregnancies in the country is clear evidence of just how idle the teenagers are especially in Machakos County

Long holidays such as the ones at the end of a year have previously left most teenagers impregnated and with COVID-19, the Holidays have been stretched beyond our imagination and the girls who carry the evidence of premarital sex are increasing getting impregnated.

Every 24 hours in Machakos County, more than 28 girls aged below 19 years conceive, this is according to a Kenya Health Information System Survey which shows that in the last five months 3,964 girls have gotten pregnant according to Salome Muthama, the Children’s officer in the County.

Sadly, the consequences of sex are carried by the female species and so when the young girls walk around being judged for their bellowing bellies, the men to blame for their pregnancy get to hide in the masses and not face the shame that comes with early pregnancies.

As Africa celebrated the day of the African Child, girls who have become mothers are forced to mature before their age, and sadly, the high rate of pregnancies among underage girls is a result of defilement by the men closest to them.

The number of pregnant underage girls in Machakos County could be worse as the nearly 4,000 are the recorded cases in Machakos County Hospital and most of them go unrecorded.

According to Salome, Machakos County Children officer, 200 of the 3,9674 girls are under the age of 14 years and majority of them have been impregnated by family members.

With the courts currently facing challenges of operation following the COVID-19 outbreak in Kenya, it is becoming obvious that the female species will be the worst hit by the consequences of the outbreak.

“All the people who have impregnated these children need to be arraigned but it is becoming a challenge. We need special court sittings to address and deal with these cases,” Salome said.

In Machakos County, Masinga sub-county is leading with more than 600 girls having been impregnated, followed by Athi River with more than 500 girls with  Machakos Senior Resident Magistrate Charles Ondieki, who was also present at the event, noting that the biggest challenge in handling the cases was the shortage of advocates.

“Cases that involve children demand advocates but the problem now is to get them and as a magistrate, I am not allowed to go get them,” said Ondieki leaving everyone wondering does that mean the girl child cannot be protected?

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