Technology has been cited as one of the major causes of endemic teenage pregnancies and early marriages in the West Nile region.

Lugbara Kari prime minister Ismael Tuku says because of technology, the region now faces a huge burden of teenage pregnancy and child marriages.

Tuku says it is important to save the girl child from teenage pregnancy, but that culture has greatly conflicted with the changing technologies.  

"As Lugbara Kari, we have come out to denounce the bad cultural practices which abuse the rights of the girls. Cultures from abroad have negatively contributed to teenage pregnancies and early marriages through the use of technology, which cannot be controlled by the Lugbara Kari as the individuals use phones silently," Tuku says.

He was speaking during the 2022 National Girls Pre-summit Focus in Arua on Friday, November 18, 2022, under the theme Children need a Society Free from Child Marriage and Teenage Pregnancy.

Tuku says the Lugbara Kari values and ensures that before a girl gets married, she is encouraged to keep her virginity until marriage. 

Some of the school children that attended the summit in Arua. Photo by Robert Ariaka

Poor parenting

The premier also blamed poor parenting where many parents (couples) do not agree on how to raise their children, which sometimes leads to them living a reckless lifestyle.

He said once parents speak one voice, they will be able to control teenage pregnancies and early marriages adding that the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the rot homes when it comes to parenting.

Tuku also cited peer pressure among the girls as a contributor to the high number of teenage girls getting pregnant. 

"Teachers should be able to ensure that girls are well-managed to avoid teenage pregnancy," he said.

Tuku said girls who delivered and returned to school with their babies face a huge stigma, which has forced some of them to drop out.

Teenage mother Doreen Wadiko from Maracha district and a student who has just completed S4 said she had been living with her aunt in Masaka district, but she was asked to return home and live with her parents.

When her father refused to pay her school fees, Wadiko's mother paid from the proceeds of her firewood business.

Wadiko accused her father of chasing her away from home asking her to look for a man to marry. She says her father's actions caused her to find a boyfriend from a nightclub who started supporting her.

When Wadiko got pregnant in S2, her education was interrupted. However, luck struck when shared her plight during a meeting at Maracha district headquarters when the Amani Initiative asked if she could return to school. Wadiko convinced them that her mother would take care of the baby.

She advised fellow girls to speak out about the trauma they experience to those in authority for help.  

Arua district LC5 chairperson Alfred Okuonzi said the rate of teenage pregnancies in West Nile is alarming. He said, while the teenage pregnancy rate for Uganda stands at 25%, that of West Nile stands at 37%.

Cultural institutions tapped

West Nile region Police spokesperson Josephine Angucia said the Police have been doing a lot of activism to ensure women leaders are in the society. When we educate a girl, we contribute to the development of the nation.

She accused some parents of hiding behind culture to use girls as a source of wealth, an issue she wants the cultural institutions to curb.

Job Awuruku, the child protection co-ordinator of World Vision, which organised the engagement, said many children are married off under cultural pretexts.