How we’ve become grandparents in 30s

In Kasese District, hundreds of teenage mothers have become grandparents before they even reach 35 due to early marriages and teenage pregnancies.

Some mothers and daughters are taken into union at the tender ages of 11 to 17, with others facing the harrowing trauma of rape or defilement.

Oliva Mbambu, a 25-year-old resident of Kitsutsu 1 Village, Munkunyu Sub-county, in Kasese, has found herself performing the role of a grandmother.  Mbambu became a mother at the age of 15 in 2009 and 14 years later, her first daughter followed suit, giving birth at 11.

Living in semi-permanent houses with her husband, Mbambu says she gave birth after dropping out of Kitsutsu Primary School.  She was in P5.

Her education was cut short due to financial constraints following the demise of her father, who was their sole breadwinner

While in the village staying with her mother, she conceived and when the time approached for delivery, her mother presented her with two options: to either stay at home or go to the home of the boyfriend.

“The boy who impregnated me initially disappeared from home, and we couldn’t trace him for a while. Later, he returned, but our family lost interest in the matter. When I was about to deliver, my mother didn’t have money to take care of me. Knowing his whereabouts [boyfriend], I went to their home and delivered there. To this day, we have not celebrated any official marriage function,’’ she says.

Mbambu adds that they now have six children and they are looking after the grandson. Her daughter became a victim of early pregnancy last year after she was allegedly raped.

“One day, my elder sister came to our home requesting us to allow our daughter to go and help her at her home since she was weak after an operation during delivery. As a family, we couldn’t refuse because we knew she was going to be staying with her aunt and she had promised to pay her fees. However, I was disappointed to learn that our daughter was raped at her home,’’ she said.

Mbambu has never reported the matter to the police.

“I go through a lot to look after the children. To earn a living, I first cultivate crops and then sell the produce in the market, while my husband works as a carpenter,” she said.

Yodesi Masika, 32, has a similar story.  She gave birth to her first child, a daughter when she was 15 in 2009. Fourteen years later, her daughter who is now 15 years old became pregnant.

“It was my first time engaging in sexual affairs. I later dropped out of school. My parents never reported the matter to the police, instead, they requested the boy’s family to take care of me and my father-in-law accepted. I was taken to the boy’s family,’’ Masika says.

She adds that her boyfriend was never arrested because he was young and his family had agreed to take care of her before she would officially be married.

The Masikas now have five children. However, the man later married a second wife.

In 2022, Masika’s daughter requested to live with her father at her stepmother’s home, which she accepted as she continued with her studies.

“First of all, my husband had started giving less attention to me and our children after marrying the second wife, so I thought [sending her to the stepmother] would give her a chance to have the father’s care. I also wanted her to become a bridge between the two families,” she adds.

Turning point

After five months, her daughter returned to live with her. It was then that she discovered she was pregnant.

“As a mother, I reported the issue to my husband and he promised to take action, but to date, I have not heard from him. After some months, my daughter confided in me the name of the boy who impregnated her. I conducted undercover research about him and discovered that he was an orphan,” Masika says.

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Her daughter gave birth in 2022 and her grandson is now one-and-half years old. She declined her daughter’s proposal to marry the boy because she believed he was financially constrained to start a family.

“I was so disappointed that my daughter faced the same fate as me. I had high hopes for her enrolling in high school. I hoped that after completing her education, she would contribute to helping her siblings,” she says.

Catherine Masika, another 34-year-old resident of Kirembo Village in Kisinga Sub-county, gave birth at the age of 19 in 2009.

“While still young, I suffered from a mental illness for almost three years and my parents sought treatment in various hospitals, including Butabika Mental Hospital,” she says.

Catherine adds that in the process of getting better, she fell in love with a boy from her village.  “By the time my parents realised, I was five months pregnant,’’ she says.

Catherine says her parents were hesitant to allow her to get married to the son of a witch doctor.

“Because we are a Christian family, my parents refused me to marry him,’’ she says.

Her parents chose to support her until she gave birth to a healthy baby girl. After giving birth, she was enrolled in a tailoring course, which she completed and has since started earning a living from it.

“Like any other parent, I felt happy with hopes that I would pay fees for my daughter until she completes her Senior Four, but I was shocked when she was impregnated at 14 years and she gave birth before her 2022 PLE results were released,” Catherine says.

She adds that the boy who impregnated her daughter is still below 19 and he cannot allow her to get married.

The story of Oliva Mbambu, Yodesi Masika, and Catherine Masika mirrors similar narratives of teenage mothers in Kasese who have subsequently become grandmothers at a young age.

The Kasese District Gender-Based Violence Report for 2023 indicates that Munkunyu Sub-county has the highest teenage pregnancy rates in Bukonzo East County, with more than 26 percent of adolescent girls affected.

Ms Queengonda Asiimwe, the Kasese District community-based officer, says most teenage pregnancies result from domestic violence, child neglect, and parents’ failure to fulfil their roles.

She adds that many teenage mothers come from families with a history of young mothers.

“We have to adopt an elimination strategy if this problem of teenage mothers and pregnancies is to be controlled. As a government, we focus much on the response after the occasions and forget to eliminate the problem before it multiplies,’’ she says.

Poverty

Mr Ronald Kato, the executive director of Kasese Youth Link Development, asserts that teenage pregnancies are mainly driven by poverty among families.

“Some parents are still being hoodwinked by material property or dowry, and they forget about the education and future of their children. Some families view a girl child’s education as a waste of resources,’’ she says.

Mr James Mwithiwakyo, the in-charge at Kasese Municipal Health Centre III, revealed that the facility has been getting cases of girls aged between 14 and 17 delivering babies.

“These teenage mothers come to our facilities without the basic requirements because even their caretakers are their mothers. The majority tell us that they were raped or defiled at a young age,’’ he says.

SP Nelson Tumushime, the Rwenzori East Regional Police Spokesperson, says Kasese Central Police Station registered 114 sexual gender-based violence cases last year. Among them were two rape cases, 38 aggravated defilement cases, 72 simple defilement cases, and two indecent assaults.

SP Tumushime also reveals that 53 cases were taken to court, 51 are under investigation, and 10 are under prosecution.

“Most of these cases lack evidence, hindering prosecution. Others go unreported after illegal negotiations at the family level because the parents don’t want to expose their relatives, neighbours or even prominent people,’’ he says.

SP Tumushime warns that “If parents and caregivers of these children could take full charge of them, such cases would not be alarming. We need to control the freedom of our children and also the habit of giving out our children to stay with relatives.”

Records

Kasese Central Police Station registered 114 sexual gender-based violence cases last year. Among them were two rape cases, 38 aggravated defilement cases, 72 simple defilement cases, and two indecent assaults.

A total of 53 cases were taken to court, 51 are under investigation, and 10 are under prosecution.

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