A social activist caused a scene in the Nairobi CBD Monday morning after chaining himself to a statue of Mau Mau freedom fighter Dedan Kimathi.
In a video shared by NTV, the unidentified man was captured holding a placard with a message to President Uhuru Kenyatta on the alarming rate of teenage pregnancies in the country.
“Over 150K teenage pregnancies in a period of four months! Kenya is losing a generation by not addressing teenage pregnancies candidly,” the placard read.
Police officers were called to the scene, where a large crowd had gathered to watch the man’s antics.
Man chains himself to Dedan Kimathi’s statue with a message to President Uhuru Kenyatta.
“Over 150K teenage pregnancies in a period of 4 months! Kenya is losing a generation by not addressing teenage pregnancies candidly!” – his placard reads. pic.twitter.com/c2W88Mcemu
— NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) September 14, 2020
The man’s protest comes in the backdrop of recent reports of a spike in teenage pregnancies across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.
According to the Kenya Health Information Management System (KHIS), the total numbers of teenage pregnancies reported between January and May 2020 are 151,433 compared to 175,488 for the same period in 2019.
Nairobi county is leading with 11,795 teenage pregnancies in the period Jan-May 2020. This is slightly higher than last year’s figures in the same period where there were 11,410 cases reported.
Here’s an extract from Kenya Health Information System (KHIS) on the current adolescent pregnancy situation in different counties of the country.
