Samburu has emerged as the county with the highest rates of teen pregnancy across the country for girls aged 15-19 years standing at 50 per cent, the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022 by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics has shown.
West Pokot County follows at second place with 36 per cent while Marsabit County and Narok County come third and fourth with 29 and 28 per cent respectively.
Nyeri County and Nyandarua County recorded the lowest rates of the pregnancies each recording 5 per cent.
Nonetheless, the teenage pregnancy rate countrywide has declined to 15 per cent in 2022 from 18 per cent in 2014.
Poverty and lack of education were the main attributors with the highest rates of adolescent pregnancy; as 4 in 10 women aged 15-19 years who have no education have ever been pregnant, compared to only 5 percent of women who have more than secondary education.
Adolescent pregnancies are also more likely to occur among poor communities as 21 per cent of women aged 15-19 in the lowest quintile reported to have been pregnant, as compared to 8 per cent in the highest wealth quintile.
At the same time, the report shows that the prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has been on a steady decline as it now stands at 15 per cent compared to 32 per cent recorded in 2003.
Illiterate women account for those who have been mutilated more at 56.3 per cent compared to their counterparts with more than secondary education which stands at 5.9 per cent.
By Vostine Ratemo
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