Narok Pastors Fellowship has resolved to keep a register of girls who attend night prayers commonly known as ‘keshas’ believing it will control teenage pregnancies during this festive season.
Through Fellowship secretary Pastor Fredrick Lemama, the pastors said the church has to be accountable for all the children who fellowship with them and guide them in a way to avoid teenage pregnancy that was rampant in the county.
“The church wants to ensure all girls who attend church services are well accounted for and no girl will sneak out of church or lie to parents they went for kesha only to go and do other businesses,” he said.
However, Pastor Lemama asked parents to counsel and guide their children so that they do not enter into temptations of engaging in premature sex.
He spoke at Nairesirasia Christian Covenant International (CCI) in Narok North during a pastors meeting where they vowed to work with the government to fight teenage pregnancy in the county.
Narok County Commissioner George Natembeya has in the past attributed night prayers to teenage pregnancy threatening to ban them.
Natembeya lamented that the trend of girls’ school dropout was too worrying and the government will take all measures possible to ensure 100 percent transition from primary school to secondary.
He asked Chiefs to take stock of school going girls in their areas of jurisdiction and report to him regularly in order to contain the girls in learning institutions.
“Chiefs are the government eyes at the grass roots, they should be aware of every school and the attendants in those schools in their areas, hence it is not acceptable for any chief to fail to give the girls return every two weeks,” he said.
Natembeya warned elderly men against marrying off their daughters while still in primary school saying they risked being arrested and prosecuted.
“Why should you marry off your daughter for a few cows that will not benefit you in future yet when you give your girl education it is a permanent investment you have put in her,” he asked.
Statistics show that Narok County led in early pregnancies in 2017 by over 40 percent, meaning hundreds of girls were forced to drop out of school after they became young mothers.
By Ann Salaton
