Isiolo County Commissioner Geoffrey Omoding has raised the red flag over the increasing number of early child pregnancies and ordered for the immediate arrest of men who impregnated six KPSEA and KCPE exam candidates in the area.
He also challenged parents to take full responsibility of their children and cautioned them against extorting money from perpetrators in a bid to shield them from arrest noting this denies justice to victims.
Omoding said parents will be held accountable for failing to report those impregnating the innocent children because this made it difficult for the authorities to take action against the criminals responsible for the dropout cases among the girls.
Two of the affected girls wrote KPSEA exams while the rest sat for KCPE exams which ended this week.
One Form Four girl is pregnant while another gave birth recently.
Speaking to the media, Omoding said legal action would be taken against those responsible, describing the act as inhuman.
“This is unacceptable. How can you sleep with a Class Six girl? The government will not stand by and watch the lives of young girls being ruined,” said Omoding.
He said teenage pregnancies among school-going girls remain a major obstacle to reversing the region’s high illiteracy rate and urged parents to assist in ending it.
“Parents should know that they too have a responsibility to protect the girls from abuse. The government will assist those affected to transition to secondary schools in line with the 100 per cent transition policy,” he said.
The county boss said he has directed chiefs and their assistants not to allow any alternative dispute resolution in such cases.
He said the culprits will face the full force of the law in order to deter others from such inhuman practices.
Girls are lured into having unprotected sex with young men in exchange for basic commodities such as sanitary towels, mostly due to poverty, while others fall victim to curiosity, experimentation or peer pressure.
Omoding urged the police officers who will be manning the examination centres as well as the centre managers, invigilators and supervisors to maintain professionalism during the KCSE examinations, warning that ruthless action will be taken against anyone found guilty of examination malpractice.
By John Majau
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