Kakamega County first lady Prof Janet Kasili Barasa has taken it upon herself to take charge and lead the fight against teen pregnancies.
Speaking during the Teen Mothers Mentorship Programme, Prof Kasili said that poverty is the key factor that has made young girls suffer and eventually loose family values in search of greener pastures.
Prof Kasili being an educator and a mother, began the advocacy which has borne fruits and made progress by returning teen mothers to school giving them new hope. She revealed that over 134 teen mothers have gone back to school and TVET institutions across the county.
Prof said cases of teen pregnancies have reduced drastically from 14,000 to 9,000 through the Teen Mothers Mentorship Programme advocacy which is supported by many partners.
“The values that brought us up back in the day are no longer there. The way we are bringing up our children right now is very different from the way our parents brought us up.” She reiterated.
“Many teen mothers got pregnant due to defilement, rape and nobody has been punished over the same especially the men responsible.” She lamented as she called for justice.
Prof Kasili highlighted lack of justice and support from the community in particular the families of victims.
“Families and communities contribute so much to have cases continue being there because they do not punish anybody and they settle that case at home and the circle continues.” She explained as she lay blame for the injustices to the community and ‘Kangaroo Courts’ who in most cases opted to settle defilement and rape cases at home.
She also appealed to the county for budget allocations to her office to enable her continue reaching out and taking care of the vulnerable in the community.
The public relations and communication strategist working with Resolve Communication, Valary Ndung’u, said the reason for partnering with the county first lady was that the county had been rated position three in highest teen pregnancies according to the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC).
She added that governor Barasa, spouse to the first lady, received a red card for the cases of teen pregnancies in his county, little did they know Prof Kasili was doing campaigns against teen pregnancies which she termed as a “pandemic” in Kakamega.
YOU MAY ALSO READ:
“We are passionate about connecting communities to solutions. We have done that by identifying partners who are already doing something to eradicate the vice.” She noted
Launching the first campaign in Kakamega dabbed “Too pressed to wait,” the first lady has demonstrated her willingness and passion to address the issue and in her own capacity supporting the efforts of the county government in addressing the vice.
By Hilda Atika
You can also follow our social media pages on Twitter: Education News KE and Facebook: Education News Newspaper for timely updates.
>>> Click here to stay up-to-date with trending regional stories
>>> Click here to read more informed opinions on the country’s education landscape
