This archive report was first published on 3 July 2020.
On July 2, 2020, President Uhuru Kenyatta addressed a two-day training workshop on Kazi Mtaani for Regional and County Commissioners at the KICC in Nairobi.
He emphasized the importance of area chiefs being answerable for the defilement of school-going children under their watch.
"You as the area chief will have to answer, where were you when all this was happening?" President Kenyatta asked.
He also warned that those responsible for impregnating minors would face the full wrath of the law once DNA results were out.
"People must be disciplined, how do we allow people to go around impregnating young girls, and we do not say anything? We are going to wait for the DNA and those people will pay," he said.
According to a survey by the Kenya Health Information System, about 4,000 girls aged 19 years and below were reported pregnant in Machakos County between January and May.
Similar high numbers were reported in other parts of the country, with the incidences spiking after schools were closed in March over the coronavirus pandemic.
For instance, in Nakuru, 1748 cases of teenage pregnancies have been reported, while Kajiado, Garissa, and Kericho recorded 1,523, 901, and 1,006 cases respectively.
A report by the National Council on Population and Development (NCPD) showed that two out of five teenagers in Kenya are either young mothers or pregnant.
