Women have been urged to take up their parental roles in the family to salvage the future of their children.
National Maendeleo ya Wanawake Chairperson Rahab Mwikali Mwiu says the current moral decadence witnessed in the country was a clear manifestation that the traditional social fabric has all but broken down.
The official who was addressing women groups in Wamunyu in Mwala Sub-County over the weekend noted that many parents had been overtaken by the race lifestyle in the guise of fending for their families, and in the process have neglected their role of taking care of their children.
She said the situation is to blame for the runaway teenage pregnancies witnessed in the country.
She cited a recent report on teenage mothers in Machakos that was released by the Children’s Department, as a case in point and warned the situation may spin out of control unless parents took over the role of taking care of their children instead of delegating the task to teachers.
“Where are mothers when their daughters are being impregnated and why have women neglected their parental role in pursuit of economic gain?” she posed.
“Let us take care of our children even as we run up and down to fend for them to avoid ruining their future at the expense of materialism,” she urged.
Mwiu has also urged the youth to pursue wealth through decent means that would not put them at crossroads with the authorities.
She noted that the majority of the young people have resorted to underhand deals as a means of getting quick riches, but in the process put themselves on the wrong side of the law.
“Young people should be taught ways of earning decent wages by working with their own hands instead of taking shortcuts. Let them learn that working with one’s hands is the best method of earning a decent living that even God blesses,” she added.
Meanwhile, Mwala Mau Mau War Veterans Association branch chairman Mzee Reverend Johnson Kiiti has called on the government to ensure strictness in observance of Covid-19 regulations to weather down the new spike in Covid-19 infections being witnessed in the country.
Mzee Kiiti says the country cannot afford to sit on her laurels, as the number of people testing positive for the disease keeps rising in what health experts warn could be a pointer to a second wave.
“We appeal to the government to ensure the public adheres to the laid down health protocols in regard to the prevention of the Covid-19 transmission, including wearing of face masks, keeping social distance and sanitization. Unless we do this we risk watering down all the gains we have so far achieved in curbing the spread of this disease and end up going the way of Europe which is currently battling a second wave,” the liberation veteran said while addressing the press in Mwala ahead of the 57th Mashujaa Day fete to be held Tuesday.
He nevertheless said the fight against the pandemic does not sorely lie with the government as the public plays the central role in curbing its spread through adhering to the prescribed health regulations.
To date, Kenya has recorded a total of 44,881 infections, 31,857 recoveries and 832 deaths arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Globally, the disease has already claimed more than 1 million people with 27 million recoveries as at October 19.
More than 40 million others have been infected with the virus even as countries work round the clock to find a vaccine for the disease.
By Samuel Maina
