Lusaka clarifies remarks on pregnant girls 'being banned from school'

By Peter Ochieng

Bungoma governor Kenneth Lusaka has denied calling for banning of pregnant girls from continuing with their education.

The governor was over the weekend widely quoted as saying that pregnant girls should not be allowed back to school, so as to serve as a 'deterrent to others.'

His remarks attracted criticism from various players, including Cabinet Secretary for Gender, Culture, Arts, and Heritage, Aisha Jumwa.

However, speaking on Tuesday during a stakeholders meeting aimed at addressing the high rate of teenage pregnancy in Bungoma county, Lusaka said he was misquoted.

"I did not say that girls who have gotten pregnant should be banned from going to school. I gave an example, I said that during our time if you got pregnant - in fact it was a taboo to get pregnant."

"And if you got pregnant you even feared going back to school. You just discontinued yourself and disappeared," he added.

He said those were good old days when a school-going girl getting pregnant was unheard off.

"We need to go back and see for example when you get pregnant, how will society look at you? how are you going to behave? and how about those girls who get pregnant once, twice and they go back to school."

He continued, "In any case, the law protects those girls. It protects both the boys and the girls."

During the meeting, resolutions reached focussed on education, parental responsibility and legal reforms.

"I am utterly shattered by the ballooning numbers," declared governor Lusaka, citing a recent report showing 26,149 teen mothers and 1,679 HIV positive girls aged 10-24 in Bungoma by June 2023.

Some of the resolutions agreed on by the stakeholders include guiding and counseling programs in schools, encouraging chaplaincy and mentorship, reintroducing pregnancy testing in schools and holding parents accountable.

Others are boosting school security and feeding programs, supporting menstrual hygiene, regular stakeholder forums, including the boda boda sector, stricter measures against teachers involved in sexual affairs with students, faster legislation on gender-based violence, rescue centers, counseling clinics, and treatment programs for teen mothers, mentorship for both boys and girls, and promoting collective parenting, role models, and family time.