Five school girls fall pregnant

A Garissa based non-governmental organisation has expressed outrage over the news that five school girls became pregnant in remote Mansabubu, Garissa County.

Womankind chief-executive-officer, Abdullahi Mohamed, said it is not only unthinkable that such pregnancies can occur in a conservative society where sex before marriage is virtually unknown, but also a major drawback to education of girls, whose enrolment rates are less than 40 per cent.

He said it is unacceptable that only one person awaits a court hearing while the other culprits roam around free due to out of court settlements (maslah).

Mohamed said he is uncomfortable with maslah where elders are given about 50 goats at the expense of the poor girl who is driven out of school, traumatised, ridiculed and ostracised.

He said early pregnancy often leads to forced early marriages.  

“Maslah payment extends the girl’s unending suffering and she gets caught up in a union that will mostly likely end in divorce which is rampant in the area,” he said.