Stolen futures: The child brides of Kalonga
Several parts of the country have reported a major increase in teenage pregnancies during the last 5 years. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- Teenage pregnancies and child marriages in Mubende District are a direct result of the lack of educational opportunities for girls. With some sub-counties lacking government secondary schools, young girls who have completed Primary Seven are often idle and vulnerable to early sexual activity and exploitation. It is a vicious cycle that reinforces gender inequality and perpetuates the cycle of poverty. A secondary school in each sub-county would offer children an opportunity to study without trekking long distances to school, as Barbra Nalweyiso reports.
The distressing reality unfolding in Kalonga sub-county, Mubende District, is that the dreams of a generation of young girls are being prematurely extinguished.
A high number of adolescent pregnancies predominantly stemming from parental negligence and the absence of government-funded secondary schools is leading to a crisis. In a community where education is meant to be a beacon of hope, it has become an unattainable luxury for many.
Christine’s childhood was cut short at sixteen. At a time when she should have been in Senior Three, she instead found herself navigating the daunting journey of motherhood. Her ordeal did not begin in the delivery ward, but much earlier, within the confines of her own home. A stepmother whose heart harbored little warmth for Christine and her siblings subjected them to persistent mistreatment, sometimes going as far as locking them out of the home when their father was absent. When confronted with the injustices inflicted upon his children, her father dismissed their grievances indifferently.
"Our father was largely absent from home because he traveled long distances for work. Sometimes, he would be away for two months. Our stepmother only paid the school fees of her biological children yet our father is not a poor man. She never gave me the necessities of life,” the adolescent girl says.
The lack of necessities and school fees exposed Christine’s vulnerability. A boy, with promises, whispered and money offered became the illusion of escape she unknowingly grasped. What began as a desperate attempt to survive soon unraveled into a pregnancy, and with it, the inescapable fate that had befallen many before her: an abrupt transition into the life of a child bride.
“When my father found out that I was pregnant, he was furious. After some time, he realised that indeed our stepmother was mistreating us but it was already too late for me. The boy came home to negotiate with my father. In the end, my father agreed to let him take me as his wife,” she narrates.
Now, with a one-year-old infant, Christine’s dream of returning to school persists. However, the harsh reality of financial constraints looms.
"My dream is to become a doctor. I only wish my father would agree to support me and cover my school fees," she says.
Unlike Christine, Brenda Nakalagi, a resident of Kirumbi village in the same sub-county, has momentarily escaped the clutches of early pregnancy. She is among the three learners who passed their Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) at Kirumbi Primary School. She dared to hope that she would attend secondary school.
But hope, in Kalonga sub-county, is fragile. One must walk 10 kilometres to and fro, to attend the nearest secondary school. Her mother cannot afford to enroll Nakalagi in the boarding section of the school. The dangers of daily long-distance walking to school have put off her mother, her primary caregiver. Nakalagi has watched peers, once as hopeful as her, succumb to the burden of early motherhood. The longer she remains idle, the greater her fear that she, too, will be ensnared by the same fate.
“My mother told me that after completing Primary Seven, I would pursue vocational training. But, she does not have the money yet to pay for my school fees,” she laments. For Nakalagi’s mother Rose Nalukwago, a mother of eight, the anguish is profound.
“All my children have studied up to Primary Seven. That is where their journey ends because my financial situation cannot support their education beyond that point. Their father abandoned us,” she says.
The lack of accessible education options leaves her daughters vulnerable to early marriages and other forms of exploitation.
“I fear my daughter will follow in the footsteps of her elder sister, who sat at home for two years after completing Primary Seven. During that time, she got pregnant and was married off,” Nalukwaago confesses.
Stranded futures
The predicament is all too familiar in many homes in this sub-county. There is a pervasive sense of powerlessness among parents, many of whom would gladly invest in their children's education if they could afford the costs associated with secondary schooling.
Zadock Ssemata, a father and resident of Kirumbi village, has not been spared from this epidemic of lost futures. His daughter, now expecting a baby, fell victim to the same treacherous journey of long walks to school. His daughter was seduced and impregnated on one of her walks from school. In anguish, he turns his ire towards those in authority.
“The absence of government secondary schools is a failure on the part of our leaders. From the comfort of their privileged positions, they are indifferent to the plight of the people who elect them into office,” he says.
Ssemata adds that if the leaders took the initiative, the residents would be willing to donate part of their land for the construction of a secondary school in their sub-country.
The situation is no different in Kirindi-Kirumbi Village, where a lack of secondary schools has entrenched a cycle of early marriages, teenage pregnancies, and exploitation as Aisha Musheshimana, a concerned resident, explains, “Girls drop out after Primary Seven to get married. Others migrate to Kampala City to look for menial jobs. For them, becoming something in life is a distinct hope that fades as they grow older,” she laments.
Anamaria Tebasuula, the women’s representative of Kalonga sub-county, reports a worrying number of teenage pregnancies. “Every month, I handle at least five cases of teenage pregnancies. While these cases are forwarded to the police, the perpetrators are rarely held accountable,” she explains.
Government response
Despite the overwhelming evidence of the educational crisis, Asaph Kabunga, Mubende district’s education officer, refutes claims that the absence of schools is the primary driver of teenage pregnancies and dropouts. Instead, he attributes the problem to parental negligence.
“There are government schools, even if none exist in Kalonga sub-county. Parents can still enroll their children in St. Mugagga Secondary School in Kiganda sub-county, in Kassanda District. In the past, children travelled long distances because secondary schools were scarce. Today, President Yoweri Museveni has ensured that schools are within reasonable reach,” he asserts.
While government policy mandates that every sub-county should have at least one secondary school, five sub-counties in Mubende district - Kalonga, Nabingola, Kiruuma, Kayebe, and Kitenga - do not have a government-aided institution. These sub-counties were created over five years ago, with promises of development and equal access to education. Kabunga urges parents to enroll their children in schools in the neighboring Kassanda district, but this solution overlooks the challenges of long-distance travel, the high costs involved, and the risks associated with sending children to far-off schools.
The medical view
Prossy Nangendo, a midwife at Kalonga Health Centre III, has witnessed the crisis unfold firsthand. Month after month, she finds herself tending to between 16 and 25 young girls, barely out of childhood, yet already carrying the burdens of motherhood.
Aged between 15 and 19 years, they come seeking medical care, but what they truly need is a future that was denied them before they even had a chance to fight for it.
Nangendo attributes this harrowing trend to the very thing community members have cried out against - the absence of government secondary schools.
Without an education to anchor them, these girls are left to drift, and too often, they are swept away by the currents of vulnerability and manipulation. “For the last two months, we have been receiving 16 mothers consecutively. These are the ones who report to our facility. Many others remain in their villages.
At 16, children should be actively engaged in their education, but once a learner completes Primary Seven, she is often forced to abandon her studies,” she says. The recently released police crime report indicates that Mubende district ranks highest for cases of aggravated defilement, with 88 cases. The numbers, though, tell only a fraction of the story.
Behind each statistic is a girl like Christine or Nakalagi, whose potential is being stolen in plain sight. While officials attempt to downplay the crisis, with no immediate plans to bridge the educational divide, questions remain. How many more girls must be lost to early marriages, teenage pregnancies, and a lifetime of poverty before access to education becomes a tangible reality?
About
Child marriage is often the result of entrenched gender inequality, making girls disproportionately affected by the practice. Globally, the prevalence of child marriage among boys is just one sixth that among girls.
Child marriage robs girls of their childhood and threatens their well-being. Girls who marry before 18 are more likely to experience domestic violence and less likely to remain in school. They have worse economic and health outcomes than their unmarried peers, which are eventually passed down to their own children, straining a country’s capacity to provide quality health and education services.
Girls drop out after Primary Seven to get married. Others migrate to Kampala City to look for menial jobs. For them, becoming something in life is a distinct hope that fades as they grow older,”
Impact
While government policy mandates that every sub-county should have at least one secondary school, five sub-counties in Mubende district - Kalonga, Nabingola, Kiruuma, Kayebe, and Kitenga - do not have a government-aided institution. These sub-counties were created over five years ago, with promises of development and equal access to education.
Kabunga urges parents to enroll their children in schools in the neighboring Kassanda district, but this solution overlooks the challenges of long-distance travel, the high costs involved, and the risks associated with sending children to far-off schools.
