The wife of the former Prime Minister, Ida Odinga, has blamed older men who lure young girls into early marriages, cutting short their dreams of achieving academic goals. She cautioned the girls against being attracted to wealthy men, some of whom are the same age as their grandfathers. These men are supposed to guard them against immorality but instead mislead and turn them into their wives.
“Wealth is created through your hard work for excellence in education, which enables you to live a dignified life,” she said.
Mrs. Odinga was speaking at Tom Mboya University when she accompanied the First Lady, Mrs. Rachel Ruto, during a tour of the Nyanza region last Saturday.
Sharing her personal example in the pursuit of academic excellence at Obande Girls High School and later at the university, she encouraged the youth to endure all challenges they face and emerge victorious in life.
“Temptations come to shape us in life, but the way you face them will determine the position you will take in society. Do not bend low and compromise your good behavior and ambition in life,” she said.
She urged male youths to see their female counterparts as sisters, not as objects of sex to be used and discarded at will.
She also criticized the alleged trial marriages among Tom Mboya University students, which she said, unless handled with care, could ruin the students’ lives.
“I am told that some of you bring even secondary school leavers to live and cook for you in your rental rooms, but when they get pregnant, you abandon them with accumulated house rent debts,” she said.
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She lauded the First Lady for partnering with the Kenya Dairy Board to promote milk supply to primary schools in the country and expressed hope that the program will be sustained and eventually cover the entire country.
Homa Bay County Governor Gladys Wanga thanked the government for its continued support of Tom Mboya University through the provision of improved infrastructure. She noted that since its elevation to a full-fledged university a few years ago, it has significantly improved the lives of the community by fostering business expansions in Homa Bay town.
She encouraged female learners to aim at acquiring advanced knowledge that will enable them to become professors in the future.
“Time has come when women should rise to claim higher positions in all spheres of influence because anything a man can do, a woman can also do,” she said.
Wanga also urged the youth to be custodians of peace at all times for the prosperity of the country.
By Enock Okong’o.
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