Mayor of Lira City Urges Scouts and Guides to Help Fight Rising Cases of Teenage Pregnancy

By Isaac Erick Odongo 

LIRA CITY- 13/ 7/ 2026  The Mayor of Lira City, Sam Atul, has called on scouts and guides to take a leading role in sensitizing the public in order to fight the increasing cases of teenage pregnancy. Speaking on Saturday, 12th July 2026 during the closure of a 4-day training for scouts and guides in Lira City, Atul said the problem of teenage pregnancy and early marriages is becoming very serious and is contributing greatly to school dropouts. Atul emphasized if scouts and guides are supported, they can start sensitizing people village by village every month and that will help reduce teenage pregnancy cases in the area. 

He further appealed to schools to allow scouts and guides to actively do their work so that they can raise funds to support their activities. 

He cited Apupat Primary School as an example. Also speaking, Andrew Ogwang Oyang, the Lira City Scouts Commissioner, said the challenge is very big at this time and it is the duty of the City Council to support them in carrying out the scout training. Ogwang Oyang added that in the past when they used to have scouts, Lira City Center used to be very clean and their work was effective because scouts would arrest people found littering and take them to court.

The training brought together schools including Top Star SS, Lira Town College, and Lango College, and other schools such as Otim Memorial Primary School which also participated in Lira City.

 Last year Nov 2025, CAFFP-PAC report shows 26.7% of girls in Lira become pregnant by age 19, higher than Uganda’s 24% national average.