DPP orders probe on teen pregnancies, early marriage

Director of Public Prosecution Noordin Haji has ordered police to investigate the many cases of teenage pregnancy and early marriage in Kilifi County and other parts of the country.

Mr Haji gave the instructions on Monday, asking the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to send the files to his office for action, once the investigation is completed.

CHILDREN'S CASES

Assistant DPP Lilian Ogwora read Mr Haji's speech during the launch of the Children's National Service Week at the Kilifi Law Courts.

Mr Haji noted that his office takes cases involving children seriously.

The DPP said he will work closely with the Judiciary and other agencies to expedite the cases.

Vincent Monda, the head of the office of the DPP in Kilifi, and Caroline Karimi, the head of the children's division, attended the launch.

President of the Court of Appeal, Justice William Ouko, was the chief guest.

The event was organised by the Judiciary in efforts to clear the backlog of children's cases in courts countrywide.

14,000 CASES

Some 13,624 pregnancies were reported in Kilifi County this year, among school children aged 15 to 19, a report by the children's affairs department revealed early in November.

The revelation was amid reports of many cases of pregnancy among candidates writing their national primary and secondary school examinations.

The numbers forced Governor Amason Kingi to form a team to investigate teenage pregnancies.

He gave the team a month to look into the matter and give recommendations on how to solve the problem.

Mr Kingi termed the problem a disaster, which needs urgent solutions to prevent the creation of a poverty-stricken generation.