Trans Nzoia: Church takes lead in fight against teen pregnancy

Alarmed by rising cases of teen pregnancies in Trans Nzoia County, the Catholic Church has set up a child protection group to end the vice.

St Patrick parish Kibomet priest Fr Sunkutu Chibesa, said the group is visiting schools and communities to discuss the trend that could compromise girl child education in the county.

Trans Nzoia is among the leading counties in cases of teenage pregnancies at more than 10,000.

Speaking during a thanksgiving ceremony at St Joseph's the Worker Academy last week, Fr Chibesa noted the vice was a threat to many girls’ dreams.

“Teen pregnancies is a big challenge in Trans-Nzoia and on our part, we have set up a child protection group to train teachers, students and parents in bid to trap the vice,” said Fr Chibesa.

He said moral decay and poverty are accelerating teen pregnancies, noting that the church group has been tasked with the promoting Christian morals in the society.

“As a church, we have been alarmed by the high number of school girls impregnated by their male colleagues. Our team will go round schools to scale up open discussion on the problem,” Fr Chibesa said.

Christian morals

He argued that schools with strong Christian morals had no cases of teen pregnancies, adding that parents should take their responsibility seriously.

“St Joseph’s the Worker Academy is the best example where high moral development has been embraced and this has culminated to remarkable performance,” noted the priest.

The school was among top Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) performers in the county with top student attaining 404 marks out of the possible 500 marks.

He said poverty in some areas in the county had led to school girls giving their bodies in exchange of money.

“Young girls from desperate families are enticed with even a chocolate or mandazi for sex. There is need for vulnerable families to be supported to escape such sex exploitations,” he added.

Butula MP Joseph Oyula, said parents’ reckless handling of children was to blame for teen pregnancies.

The MP urged security agents to be tough on parents and administrators who encouraged or presided over kangaroo courts to defeat justice for defilement victims.

“Most parents don't follow their children’s movement and this is why children are spoilt,” said Mr Oyula, the school patron.

At least 11,840 teenage girls had been confirmed pregnant in the county as of August last year.

Endebess Sub-county leads in the number of cases recorded among girls aged between 10 and 14 years. Kwanza is second, followed by Kiminini, Saboti and Cherangany, respectively.

Kiminini, however, leads in the number of pregnancies recorded among girls aged between 15 and 19 years.

Statistics also show that Kiminini has the highest number, overall, of school-going children who are expectant at 3,366. Saboti comes second with 2,424, followed by Cherangany (2,157), Kwanza (2,017) and Endebess (1,878).

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i during a tour in Trans Nzoia County few months ago, noted that the majority of the pregnancy cases were recorded during the school break occasioned by Covid-19.

[email protected]