Josephine Naserian (not her real name) sits pensively in her mother’s
manyatta, nursing her three-month-old baby.
Next to her in this quiet and cramped bedroom that also serves as
the living area is her mother, equally absorbed in thought.
This is Kisima village, near Maralal town, in Samburu County, a place
that has become Naserian’s home after the man who impregnated
her absconded his responsibilities.
“This is not what I bargained for. But I have to accept and support my
daughter,” says Naserian’s mother.
Naserian’s world crumbled when she had to drop out of school in
2023 while in Form Two due to pregnancy. Her dream of becoming a
teacher was shattered.
Today, her fate lies in her father’s hands.
Naserian’s only consolation was that the perpetrator, a moran, paid
a penalty to the family for the troubles he caused her. This was after
elders adjudicated the matter and asked him to pay the fine.
“I don’t know what the future holds for me and my baby because my
fate is in the hands of my father,” says Naserian, “I have observed
them holding several meetings but we are not privy to any of the
discussions.”
According to 18-year-old Naserian, going back to school is the best
option for her to realise her dream. But there are many challenges
she has to overcome, especially after being in a boarding school.
“The nearest school from here is about 10 kilometres away and I am
unable to commute due the distance,” she says.
“On the other hand, I have no one to take care of my baby because
my mother is overwhelmed with household chores, which include
taking care of livestock.”
Naserian is among many girls in Samburu County whose future hangs
in the balance due to unplanned pregnancies and child marriages.
This has impacted on the efforts to increase the number of women
and girls empowered in this communities. It is no surprise that
Samburu County is one of those lagging behind in gender equality
ratings.
It is equally sad to note that while Kenya celebrates remarkable
progress towards gender parity in institutions of learning, the story is
different for girls from pastoralist communities. For young women
like Naserian, the theme for the 2024 Women’s Day of Investing in
Women to Accelerate Progress is a must do.
According to Milcah Lolkurum, the Executive Director for Community
Safety Initiative based in Maralal, the pastoralist girl child faces
myriad challenges on their pathway to empowerment. These include
retrogressive cultures such as Female Genital Mutilation and child
marriages.
“The education of the girl child is not prioritised by families since
they are looked at in terms of the number of livestock they will bring,
in terms of bride price when they are married off to older men,”
laments Lolkorum.
Lolkorum adds that many girls are denied justice when they face
violations as their cases are resolved by elders as was the case with
Naserian. A modest penalty in form of livestock and cash is paid and
that is it.
She says the county is yet to recover from the effects of Covid-19
when many girls were married off to morans who had just graduated
during the lock down.
According to a study conducted by the Kenya Institute for Public
Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) titled: Towards Attainment of
Gender Equality in Kenya’s Education Sector, Kenya has made
progress in achieving gender parity with successes in areas such as
pre-primary and primary education. However, gender disparities
persist in secondary and tertiary education.
However, in marginalised communities, these gains have been
eroded by some of the socio-cultural practices.
Like other countries, Kenya has committed to ensure inclusive,
quality education for all by 2030 in line with the Sustainable
Development Goal (SDG) No. 4. The enactment of the Constitution of
Kenya in 2010, and the Basic Education Act of 2013, emphasises the
right to education for all children, regardless of gender.
Reports from the World Bank indicate that literacy rate in Kenya
currently stands at 83%, only a 4% increase from the 2014 literacy
rate of 79%. Enrolment in primary schools was 10.3 million in 2021,
against a total population of 24 million children; with a completion
rate of 49.8% at primary school level and 24.5% at high school level.
These are worrying trends.
For girls like Naserian, there is need for a collective and deliberate
action to promote girl child education in marginalised communities,
including improving infrastructure and ensuring young mothers are
given a second chance to pursue their education.
