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NWOYA, UGANDA | THE INDEPENDENT | Nwoya District Council has embarked on popularizing the Teenage Pregnancy Ordinance 2024 to protect children from harmful gatherings that lead to early pregnancies and school dropouts. The Nwoya Teenage Pregnancy Ordinance 2024 that was passed in November prohibits children from attending harmful cultural, social, and religious gatherings.
The harmful gatherings include funerals, forced marriages, market days, crusades held beyond 10 pm, and night discos. Tony Okello, the Nwoya District Speaker, says that the ordinance, which has been approved by the Solicitor General, stipulates the roles and responsibilities of every stakeholder from the village to the district level.
According to the ordinance, the district is expected to develop a Teenage Pregnancy Action Plan, which will advocate for an increment in the number of health practitioners at each health unit in the District, increase recruitment of health practitioners at each health unit, and carryout termly pregnancy tests at each learning institution in the district.
The district is also expected to monitor and evaluate the treatment of teenagers at the various health units, prioritize the treatment of a teenager in cases of an emergency, and ensure the arrest of perpetrators of teenage pregnancy, among others. Leaders at the village level are mandated to ensure the arrest of perpetrators of teenage pregnancy, ensure the participation of every person in teenage-related matters, and ensure awareness campaigns at the Village level.
A person who contravenes any provision of this Ordinance commits an offense and is liable upon conviction to a fine not exceeding two currency points (approximately 40,000 shillings) or a term of imprisonment not exceeding 6 months or both. Okello says the ordinance will be popularized through community sensitization meetings to be held across the district starting next week.
“In Acholi, funerals have become disco places. Where there is a funeral, there is a disco. We want to prevent children from attending such harmful activities and keep them in school through this ordinance,” says Okello. Denis Okema, the L.CIII Chairperson of Anaka Town Council, says the Teenage Pregnancy Ordinance should be widely popularized to deal with the issue. He says it has become a norm for children to attend funerals throughout the night.
“When there is a function or funeral, you will find many children attending night disco. It is happening everywhere in the district. It has always been the responsibility of local council leaders to send children away from such functions at night. But now that there is an ordinance, it should be enforced so that even parents are held responsible,” says Okema.
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