This archive report was first published on 21 August 2021.
Trans Nzoia County is grappling with a teen pregnancy crisis, with a disturbing trend of teenage girls being killed to cover up cases of pregnancy.
According to Bishop Edward Khaoya of Kitale Family House of Hope, a teen mother's rescue center in the expansive Folk land area of Trans Nzoia County, the killings are a desperate attempt by perpetrators to avoid facing stiffer penalties.
"A number of pregnant teens have been found murdered, and their bodies mutilated, with the latest incident being of a teen who was coerced and defiled by a man leading to her pregnancy with her body found mutilated," Khaoya said.
He further lamented on the increase in deaths of female teenagers who have active cases in court regarding their pregnancy, attributing it to the awarding of bond to suspects.
"When someone hears that he will be jailed for more than forty years, and he is out on bond he resolves to end the life of the prime evidence thus leading to the rampant cases of these deaths," Khaoya said.
Published on August 21, 2021, Khaoya has also raised concern over the increase in numbers of the teenage mothers who got their second pregnancy due to stigma and poverty.
"Most teenage mothers bear their second children in less than two years after the first one, this being catalysed by stigma among the society and poverty making them vulnerable and forcing them to sleep with any man who will come their way," he said.
