County with highest teen pregnancies despite high use of contraceptives

By BONIFACE GIKANDI

Murang’a, Kenya: Murang’a County has been singled out as having the highest number of teenage pregnancies in the Mt Kenya region despite reports that women have a use of family planning methods.

The National Council for Population and Development (NCPAD) has indicated that Murang’a accounts for 18 per cent of teenage pregnancies within Central Kenya region.

NCPAD Central Region official, Ms Fidelis Ndung’u, said cases of teenage pregnancy were alarming in Murang’a North districts where 24 per cent of girls are forced to drop out of school.

Speaking at Mukuyu Market during the World Population Day celebrations, Ndung’u disclosed that research has revealed girls who start to bear children early are at risk of having more children before attaining menopause.

She said the number of pregnancies rises if girls left school early but reduced if they remained in school.

Ndung’u said through partnership with several organisations and government departments, reproductive health education has been intensified in efforts to have girls stay in school.

“We realised there is a problem in Murang’a North, forcing the NCPAD officials to pitch camp in the area and educate the girls on the dangers of premarital sex,” said the official.

Murang’a County Commissioner, Ms Kula Hache, said the population in the county has risen to 959,700 from 942,581 since the last population census.

In a speech read on her behalf by Murang’a East acting DC Mr Edward Leglo, Ms Hache observed that youth accounts for more than three quarters of the population.

Central Kenya, she said, has the lowest population growth owing to the use of contraceptives as a measure to control birth rate.

“According to national figures the youth who are below the age of 18 account for 46 per cent of the national population,” said the county commissioner.