Fourteen girls allegedly impregnated by police

Pupils at the Longewan Primary School play at braek time. Fourteen girls from the school are alleging they were impregnated by police officers in the area. [PHOTO: DANIEL PSIRMOI/STANDARD]

By Alex Kiprotich and Michael Saitoti

Samburu, Kenya: As the break-time bell rings, pupils rush out of class to play as others chatting incessantly.

Another group of girls however, converge and converse in low tones. From their looks, one wouldn’t fail to notice bulging stomachs, -a clear indication of not being full from lunchtime meals but from pregnancy.

The 14 girls aged between 12 and 18 have allegedly been impregnated by police officers deployed in the area to curb rampant insecurity in the region.

Samburu is synonymous with insecurity and the rugged region is dotted with tens of police camps meant to stabilise the security situation in the vast region where bandits rule. But the deployment of the officers seems to have complicated the lives of school-going girls as some of them demand for sex from the underage pupils.

The 14 pupils of Longewan Primary School are victims of the officers who instead of tracking bandits and cattle rustlers spend, all their time in their camps idle as they wait for ‘orders from above.’

Though the girls are conscious of their situation because it is the talk of the whole school, they attend classes perhaps waiting for their time to deliver and of course kiss education goodbye.

The location of the school in the bandit prone zone border between the Samburu and Pokot communities made the young girls easy prey for the police officers deployed in the area.

Just within metres, are anti-stock theft police unit camps and Administration Police officers meant to stabilize security in the region.

The girls who talked to The Standard team say the police officers lured them to their camps using biscuits, bread and sweets in exchange for sex.

They said the meetings are mostly during weekends and night dances, which expose the girls to the officers who prey on them for sexual escapades.

A Standard Eight igirl who alleges she was lured to the Anti-Stock Theft Unit camp by one of the officers after they met one evening while heading home in April is now two months pregnant.

Another Class Three pupil who is about four months pregnant also alleges she slept with a police officer.

She however says after a few months, the officer informed her he was going for an operation and he would be back.

Parents are now calling on the Government to move the officers to other places away from the school.

Josephine Kuleya, who has been involved in rescuing the girls and returning them to school, said that poverty and ignorance had led to the young girls being taken advantage-of by the officers. “It is a sad scenario and the society keeps mum as their young girls are wasted by the very officers supposed to protect them.