State should make condoms available to the youth

Hope Worldwide's Perez Owich, Grace Waweru and Rose Gikunda display condoms during the 2021 World Aids Day Chiefs camp. [Samson Wire, Standard]

Last year, I went to Kayole, Nairobi, to talk to teenagers about contraceptives. I found a group of girls, some already mothers while others were still students. One stood out; a Form Four student in one of the schools in Kayole.

The 16-year-old started engaging in sex when she was just 13 years. When I asked her whether she used condoms, she replied that her boyfriend, a university student, didn't like them. From our conversation, I discovered that the girl had another partner. Her other boyfriend was a secondary school student. He too didn't like condoms. The girl said she never demanded that they wear protection as she didn't want to upset them.