LAMU, Kenya – In the remote villages of Lamu, a silent crisis is unfolding. Classrooms are growing quieter, not from a lack of children, but because many schoolgirls are now mothers.
Since early 2024, more than 1,000 teenage pregnancies have been recorded across the coastal county.
Human rights groups say the numbers represent more than a health emergency—they are a damning verdict on the failure of political leadership.
“This is a sobering example of systemic failure,” said the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and Muslims for Human Rights (MUHURI) in a joint statement. “Our daughters’ lives are hanging in the balance, and many will never get a second chance.”
The two organisations are now demanding urgent government intervention, accusing both county and national leaders of watching the crisis unfold in silence.
Letters have been sent to top officials, including Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale and Lamu Governor Issa Timamy, calling for action and accountability.
The issue is not new. In 2022, the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey named Lamu among ten counties with the highest number of teenage pregnancies, particularly affecting girls between the ages of 10 and 15.
A year later, a report by the National Syndemic Disease Control Council revealed that 696 girls were getting pregnant every day in Kenya.
Despite repeated warnings, activists say the government has done little to reverse the trend.
In response, KHRC issued symbolic “red cards” to the Health CS and governors of the worst-hit counties, declaring them “unfit to hold public office.”
“For these leaders to remain in office while teenage girls are forced out of school and into motherhood is unacceptable,” KHRC said.
In Lamu, the crisis has devastating consequences at a personal level. Some girls, barely in their teens, are now struggling to raise babies with no income, little education, and minimal support.
Advocates say many affected girls never return to school, and few receive counselling or medical care.
The result is a generation of girls whose dreams have been derailed—some permanently.
KHRC and MUHURI are urging citizens to demand better. With the next general election drawing closer, they are calling on voters to judge elected officials by their record on protecting sexual and reproductive health rights.
“Those who stood by as our young girls’ futures were destroyed do not deserve our votes,” they said. “They should be sent home.”
The groups have also called on Parliament to summon governors and the Health CS to explain what steps are being taken to reduce teen pregnancies—and what plans exist to reintegrate affected girls back into school.
“Teenage pregnancy is not just a statistic—it’s a stolen childhood,” MUHURI added. “We cannot let this continue.”
