News stories by AgnesOdhiambo

NAIROBI, Jan 17 (IPS) - I had already heard many disturbing stories of violence by the time I interviewed Mercy Maina, whose name I have changed to protect her privacy.  Even so, what Mercy told me was truly disturbing. She said she was raped during the post-election violence in August alongside her sister by two men wearing uniforms and helmets, and carrying guns and walkie-talkies.

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, Oct 29 (IPS) - "You cannot continue with your education. You have to get married because this man has already paid dowry for you," Matilda H's father told her. Matilda, from Tanzania, was 14 and had just passed her primary school exams and had been admitted to secondary school. She pleaded with her father to allow her to continue her education, but he refused.  

NAIROBI, Oct 10 (IPS) - Mary K. loved to study and wanted to be an accountant. However, when she was 16 and in class six (grade eight), her father forced her to leave school to marry a 50-year-old man who paid him 60 cows.