Nakuru County Senator Susan Kihika has proposed stiff penalties for those who impregnate school girls.
The senator was contributing to a Statement by Vihiga Senator George Khaniri regarding the alarmingly high rate of teenage pregnancies that have been reported in recent days.
“If you are a teacher who is responsible for the children and you impregnate them, you are worse than the devil. I mean that to all “women eaters.” As a teacher, you are supposed to be taking care of our girls. When you impregnate them, you should be stoned,” said Senator Kihika.
“I am somebody who believes in following due process but in this case, we should probably castrate them. That might be the softest punishment for them. No right thinking man can impregnate a 10-year-old girl unless they are crazy. They should be six feet under or in jail at a minimum,” she added.
Senator Khaniri had raised his concerns following the high number of girls who had been reported pregnant during their KCSE and KCPE exams.
“Since the start of the primary and secondary schools national exams this year, many cases of pregnant school girls have been reported. Several girls numbering hundreds missed exams due to pregnancy. Some missed exams because they had just given birth and were at home taking care of the new-born babies. Some gave birth while sitting for the exams yet others are expectant even as they carry on with exams,” lamented the Vihiga Senator.
An agitated Senator Kihika said the statistics of the teen pregnancies were shocking. She added that beyond speaking about it, some measures needed to be put in place so that this does not continue happening.
“There was a picture that was circulating in the social media where students – I think it was in Kisumu County – were going to classes to do the examinations. Each of them was carrying a baby and there was a line of about 20 or something. It looked ridiculous. This should not be happening,” said the Senator who has been in the forefront championing for the girl child.
Tougher action from the authorities
The Nakuru Senator has also challenged the Teacher Service Commission (TSC), to not only dismiss teachers who are found culpable but also the Director of Public Prosecutions and the get them prosecuted.
“We have statistics where some of the teachers have been found to have committed some of the vices as it is stated here. However, I am quite surprised that the most the TSC is doing is to terminate the employment of those teachers. We must get them prosecuted because just dismissing or firing people is not enough,” proposed the senator.
In addition, she has called on the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI)to get to the root of the matter.
“The DPP and the DCI should get on board and find out what is going on and who is impregnating the girls. I do not care that it could be their classmates. If they are responsible, they should be prosecuted,” said an angry Senator Susan Kihika who is also the Senate majority chief whip.
“Under no circumstances can a ten-year-old girl consent to having sex. So, under no circumstances can this be legal. I believe we must begin from the criminal part of it and move forward,” she added.
Shocking statistics
Quoting a report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Vihiga Senator said that between June 2016 and July 2017, 378,397 adolescents in Kenya aged between 10 and 19 got pregnant. Out of that, 28,932 were of ages 10 to 14 and 349,465 were aged between 15 and 19 years.
“This is very disturbing. Organisations working on children issues say that the number could be higher than the reported cases. This year alone, in Kilifi County, there has been close to 14,000 teenage pregnancies with 290 of them being children of 10 to 14 years. Last year in Kisumu County, 13,894 teenage girls got pregnant. One of our local dailies featured very shocking teen pregnancy statistics. Narok County had the highest rate of teen pregnancy of 40 per cent. That is the good County of my friend Sen. Olekina. Kitui County, which announced 110 pregnant candidates sitting for their form four exams, was number 30 on the list at 14 per cent.