1,073 teenage pregnancies recorded in Lamu since 2024 - Report

The Kenyan Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and the Muslim for Human Rights (MUHURI) have increased calls to the various arms of government to act on the increase in teenage pregnancies in Lamu County.

This comes after an initial appeal made in 2024 by the two agencies for the government to act on the matter of teenage pregnancies in the county, following the publishing of a report by the Kenya Health Demographic Survey published in 2022 highlighting ten counties leading the chart of teenage pregnancies, particularly in girls aged 10 to 15 years and another report published in 2023 by the National Syndemic Disease Control Council showed that 696 girls were being impregnated every day.

KHRC issued “red-card” responses to the Health Cabinet Secretary and governors of the most affected counties.

“The governors of the affected counties and the Cabinet Secretary are unfit to hold public office because they have failed to protect vulnerable girls and ensure they are returned to school," cited KHRC on issuing the “red-cards”.

In 2024 and mid-2025, 1073 cases of teenage pregnancies were recorded, forcing KHRC and MUHURI to formally write to the leaders to take urgent action on the alarming increase of the pregnancies.

Both commissions termed the situation in Lamu as a sobering example of systemic failure, going on to urge Kenyans, particularly those from the affected counties to demand accountability from elected leaders who have failed to uphold their duty.

“As the next general election approaches, citizens must evaluate the performance of MCAs, MPs, senators, governors, and the national government based on how they have protected—or failed to protect—our sexual and reproductive health rights. Those who stood by as our young girls’ futures were destroyed do not deserve our votes. They should be sent home.

Our daughters’ lives are hanging in the balance, and many will never get a second chance. We cannot give failed leaders another opportunity to serve in public office and continue to destroy the lives of our girls”, read a part of the joint statement urging Kenyans to vote responsibly in the upcoming general elections in 2027 and send home, leaders who have failed to act.

They further called on the Parliament to not shirk from their responsibilities and to summon the governors of the affected counties and the Cabinet Secretary for Health to account for the steps being taken to curb the increase of teenage pregnancies and ensuring the policy of girls returning to school is adhered to.