Interior CS Kindiki Kithure has ordered a crackdown on the organisers of disco matanga in the Coast region, citing concerns over early pregnancies and school dropouts. During a public baraza in Kilifi, Kindiki revealed that 93% of students had joined junior secondary school, but he was worried about the remaining 7% who were not in school. He directed National Government Administration Officers (NGAOs) and other security officers to search for learners who had not reported for Junior Secondary School and Form One and ensure a 100% transition by the end of February.
Kindiki believes that the disco is one of the reasons why 31% of children in the Coast region do not make it to Form One, hence the need to fight it. This directive comes months after Gender and affirmative action CS Aisha Jumwa lifted the disco’s ban in Kilifi, but ordered the police to arrest minors found attending the function. Jumwa lifted the ban in November 2022, stating that it had deprived many people of their livelihoods.
However, the previous ban had been imposed by former Interior CS Fred Matiang’i in 2019 after over 17,000 cases of teenage pregnancies were reported in the county. Kindiki’s crackdown on the organisers of disco matanga is an effort to ensure that all children in the Coast region have access to education and do not fall victim to early pregnancies and school dropouts.
