Source: The Star
An operation is underway to identify and prosecute parents who have married off their schoolgoing girls, Lamu deputy commissioner Stanley Mutua has said.

Poverty, illiteracy, forced early marriages and Female Genital Mutilation are the biggest hindrances to the girls' education, Mutua said.

He urged parents to encourage their children to get an education in order to make the community prosperous.

Mutua was addressing parents from Hindi in his office on Thursday.

"Our joy is to see children, of both genders, receive an equal opportunity at education and not otherwise," he said.

"Many parents, especially from Baragoni, are on the forefront when it comes to forcefully marrying off small girls who should instead be in school. We are going to arrest and prosecute such parents. We want these girls to go to school."

Mutua warned men who prey on schoolgirls that they will be prosecuted.

He said boda boda operators have been blamed for most teenage pregnancies.

Mutua urged parents to report the men responsible for their teenage daughters' pregnancies instead of marrying off the girls.

"I am saddened by the fact that more than 12 KCPE candidates at Baragoni Primary School are pregnant. In the next few months, many others will have joined the lot," he said.

Mutua said parents should enrol the girls back to school immediately they deliver.

"It's a crime for anyone to engage in sexual activity with a schoolgirl. Whether or not it's voluntary.

If we discover such people, we shall without a doubt have them arrested and charged," he said.

We shall not allow the future of these young girls to be cut short by such individuals."

• Kenya