Finance County Executive Committee Member Monica Kathono has appealed to parents to remain vigilant during the ongoing school holidays, blaming parental negligence for the rising cases of teenage pregnancies.
“These teenage pregnancies are in high prevalence due to negligence of parents. Why let your teen girl be outside her house or compound at late hours? Let us take great care of our girls,” Kathono said.
She stressed that the responsibility of safeguarding children lies with the entire community, warning that teenage pregnancies are directly contributing to increased school dropouts.
“Education is both a right and a rare privilege that deserves full commitment from parents, leaders and society,” she added.
She spoke during a football tournament she had organised in the region over the weekend
Thangatha Ward MCA Elijah Kimathi raised a similar concern over the deteriorating state of the boy child, citing drug abuse, substance use and alcoholism among young people.
“We have youth who, by appearance, look very old because of drugs and alcohol. They are only 20 years old, but you would think they are in their 40s,” Kimathi said, calling for targeted interventions to save boys from self-destruction.
The alarming situation was further highlighted last week by Meru Senator Kathuri Murungi, who revealed that 17 schoolgirls sat their Grade Six and Grade Nine national examinations from a maternity ward at Maua Level 5 Hospital this year.
Kathuri spoke at his office during a mentorship programme for students sponsored by his Kamashinani Foundation, noting he was “deeply shocked” by the extent of the crisis.
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He disclosed that more than 4,000 girls have dropped out of school in Meru County over the past two years due to pregnancy.
The senator condemned the growing practice where parents negotiate with perpetrators to settle statutory rape and defilement cases out of court, often in exchange for livestock or other gifts.
“I was shocked that many of the men responsible for impregnating girls as young as nine and 15 were old men like me. It is sad to see very young girls dropping out of school with no action being taken because the matter was settled out of court,” Murungi said.
He urged chiefs, assistant chiefs and Nyumba Kumi members to intensify community surveillance and ensure all perpetrators are arrested and prosecuted without exception.
“You have a responsibility to safeguard the rights of our children. No negotiations,” the senator insisted.
By John Majau.
