By Jonex Babulya,
October 14th, 2025
Approximately 95% of the deliveries by girls between the age of 13 and 18 years in Kasese District are largely as a result of parenting gaps, inadequate accessibility to contraceptives and parental pressure on girls they ask to demonstrate their motherhood.
According to Ms Zorominah Masika 38 and Ms Faith Muhindo 45, are among the local residents and parents in Kasese municipality whose meager incomes partly as a result of the absentee husbands, have robbed their daughters opportunities to receive full parental care, including education, thus, ending up in teen sexual relationships.
Girls who have received insignificant education have 5 times chances more to turn into young mothers compared to those in school.
They however said some young girls are impregnated by rapists and through trial sex for minor gifts.
During the same interview, Ms Zerominah and Faith, repeatedly regretted the manner in which police officers deal with cases of defilement.
Both mothers alleged that some officers have turned into brokers between the families of victims and suspects, with the later ending up succeeding to get lighter punishments.
Ms Winnie Josebell Kahindo, a 17 year local resident of Isule Maliba Sub County in Kasese district who was impregnated at 16 years, said her life was treated by stress, sleepless nights, perceived for a misfit by her family, dropping out of school, threats by her parents and poor health.
Ms Winnie, who says she asked for forgiveness from her parents and begged to resume school but in vain, regrets her acts but thanks God for her baby boy, whose father has never welcomed though.
Pr. Herizon Bwambale, of the Kasese Better Living Centre seventh Adventist District church in Rwenzori field, who doubles as the coordinator for Lhukonzo Bible translation project in Kasese, sympathized with affected young girls she said were a manifestation that sex before marriage was a sword in life and a fertile ground for diseases, ill health, denial, poor parenting and poverty.
He asked parents and guardians to nurture their children basing on the foundation of the Church that emphasizes Spiritual and moral promotion aimed as breeding hardworking, focused and God fearing children.
Rt. Hon. Benson Kule Baritazale, the Rwenzururu Kingdom Premier, said teen pregnancies limit chances for young girls to complete school, thus, calling for the promotion of communal upbringing of children and formal education among the young people to check morals as well.
Rt. Hon. Baritazale who called for massive sensitization against sex among young girls, partly blamed domestic violence and poverty to young girls unready to make and contribute to their families’ welfare.
Earlier, Mr. Erifaz Muhindi, the Kasese district chairperson largely blamed the increasing cases of teen pregnancies to some parents and local leaders who shield defilers and give no evidence to support prosecution, leaving suspect out of the hook.
The Police Spokesperson for Rwenzori East region, SP Nelson Tumushime, reported a raise in the cases of defilement to 89 between January 2025 and September 2025, compared to 62 last year.
He said 33 cases had been registered at Kasese division, 28 for Hima division, 23 at Bwera division and 05 at Katwe Division 05.
SP Nelson calls for exemplary and focused parenting aimed as neutralizing the increasing moral decadency to check discipline among the teens.
Ms Jennifer Masika, the maternity Ward in charge at Rukoki hospital in Kasese district, revealed that 85% of the deliveries by mothers aged between 14-18, are by cesarean sections and 75% deliveries by mothers aged between19-24 years, are normal.
In a related development, Dr. Amon Bwambale, the Kasese district health district officer, regrets last year’s 488 prenatal death and 22 maternal mortalities in Kasese district, where most of them were adolescent mothers, thus, calling massive efforts by the Rwenzururu Kingdom, Civil society organization, faith based institutions, the political, opinion and technical leaderships, to reverse the trend.
In an interview with our reporter at Kasese district headquarters yesterday, Dr. Amon said intensified massive sensitization for immunization against self-medication and myths about killer diseases that masses misinterpret for witchcraft.
Dr. Amon was also concerned that some expectant mothers were not bothered about antenatal shifts, believe in the services of the Traditional Birth Attendants, have low attitude to modern health care and rushed to health facilities at the last hour, a move that fuels the cases of fatalities.
He however regretted that some of the 29% of the pregnant mothers that resort for services of the Traditional Birth Attendant, are forced by the un-equally distributed health facilities and lack of ambulances whose services must be improved to bridge the gaps especially in the rural mountainous areas.
According to Dancan Muhereza, the Branch Administrator-Reproductive Health Uganda Rwenzori Branch, teen pregnancies are a major contributor to maternal and child mortalities.
Mr. Muhereza Dancan, Branch Administrator-Reproductive Health Uganda Rwenzori Branch.
He added that 25.4% of adolescents are struggling with serious diseases such as Hepatitis B, Human papillomavirus, HIV, Chlamydia and Gonorrhea among others, thus appealing to government to improve on health care services especially in the rural areas that require strategic plans in promoting sexual and reproductive health education.
For many teen mother, pregnancy and childbirth are neither planned, north wanted.
In countries like Uganda where abortion is highly restricted, adolescent resort to unsafe abortion, putting their health and lives at risk.
According to the statistics obtained from the Ministry of Gender, Labor and society development, girls aged between 10-19 years, experience social sanctions and difficult choices that have life-long consequences like STIs and HIV/AIDs, greater poverty and economic hardship and at worst death UNICEF and UN reports. END
