This archive report was first published on 30 June 2020.
On June 30, 2020, Murang'a County Woman Representative Sabina Chege announced a series of measures to tackle the rising cases of teenage pregnancies in her county.
Her announcement came as a reported surge in teenage pregnancies during the Covid-19 period continued to shock the nation. For instance, Machakos County had recorded 4,000 teen pregnancies in the last three months.
Chege, who chairs the National Assembly Health Committee, held a meeting with Murang'a County Commissioner Mohammed Bare and all Deputy County Commissioners to come up with ways to deal with teen pregnancies.
With Murang'a having recorded 183 teenage pregnancies in three months, Chege proposed the formation of a County Security Multi-Agency Team Against Teenage Pregnancies to hunt down perpetrators responsible for teenage pregnancies in the county.
The team would include members from different security agencies.
Another team, known as the County Emergency Committee Against Teenage Pregnancies, would be formed to take a grass-roots, community-based approach to combat teenage pregnancies.
The committee would be created at any administration unit, headed by the county Commissioner, and would comprise of Education Stakeholders, Health stakeholders, Child Department stakeholders, County Government, National Police Service, NGOs, and Judiciary officials.
"The committee will be on a ground mission to ensure the vice is zero-rated in Murang'a county from the grass-roots level," Chege wrote.
She also announced plans to register all pregnant students in Murang'a under the Linda Mama program to ensure they access quality healthcare.
Chege further revealed plans to begin regular visits to young mothers in different areas, starting with Gatanga Constituency.
Additionally, she announced plans to create a 'list of shame' to publicly identify and shame those responsible for teenage pregnancies.
In collaboration with development partners, Chege plans to construct a rescue centre in Murang'a County for children who have been defiled, rejected at home, and those rescued from early marriages.
Chege also plans to work closely with FIDA to expedite cases against those responsible for teenage pregnancies and provide legal support to victims.
