The National government of Kenya has banned a local dance by the name ‘Kwara Kwara’ in Kacheliba, Pokot County as the dance is being blamed for increased cases of pregnancies and early marriages.
Speaking at Kodich area, Kacheliba, the Deputy County Commissioner, Kennedy Kiprop banned the dance with immediate effect terming it as a catalyst to the increasing numbers of early pregnancies and early marriages in the area.
“There is this new dance called ‘Kwara Kwara’ that is popular among the youth and which has led to immorality among them. I am banning it with immediate effect. All the chiefs and their assistants should crack the whip and arrest those found disobeying the ban”.
The administrator further noted that following the dance popularity, there has been a steady increase in the number of girls dropping out of school due to early age pregnancies leading to their early marriage.
“I am urging you, locals, not to allow youths in the villages to hold this dance as it is really derailing the gains we had made in educating our children, especially the girls”.
He further noted that the county has succeeded in ensuring a 98% primary to high school transition of all school-going children.
“Most of our children are in school and our task as the national government is to ensure they stay there till they complete their studies”.
Another issue that Deputy County Commissioner raised was Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
It is worth noting that to date, some parents in Kachebila allow their female children undergo FGM especially when schools vacate.
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The administrator warned parents in the area who transport their children to neighboring Uganda to undergo the “cut” during the short school holidays, saying it was against the law.
“We have intelligence that residents of Kodich and Orolwa who live in the border zones are sending their female children to undergo the cut in the neighboring country. We are following possible leads and those found will be apprehended and face criminal justice”.
Well, most people will be in shock as to how a dance can be pinned as the main cause of the rise in the cases of teenage pregnancy. However, the case of teenage pregnancy in Kenya has been one that mostly raises brows.
The root cause of teenage pregnancy in Kenya has been attributed to several causes including insufficient funding for reproductive health services and lack of comprehensive sex education in schools. Last year, for instance, the rise of teenage pregnancies in Kenya was linked to COVID lockdown.
Kenyan media exploded with disturbing stories with headlines such as “Close to 4,000 school girls impregnated in Kenya during COVID-19 lockdown”, “Alarm as 3,964 girls impregnated in Machakos County in five months”.
The articles all cited data from a released Kenya government health information survey and most attributed the high pregnancy numbers to the COVID-19 lockdown.
During an interview with a local nurse who runs a reproductive health clinic, Elizabeth Mariara, disclosed that the number of pregnant 16–18-year-olds that came to her clinic between April and June 2018 was four, then three in 2019. Then in 2020, that number jumped to 30 for the period.
That notwithstanding, Mariara also noted that there was a rise in teenage girls who indicated they were pregnant from incest. According to her, she had never encountered an incest case before, however, in 2020, she had two cases.
“You know everybody being at home, even the uncles and the family are not even working. They’re still at home. They take advantage of the girl child”.
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