Having kids is serious

Years ago, baby-making had a moral standing. This was the case irrespective of religion or cultural disposition; be it Christian, Muslim, Buddhist or traditional African customs.

But today, baby-making has been degraded from procreation to a hobby or even a centre for competition – irrespective of the dire consequences. For example, instead of having her focus on school or college work to become the breadwinner of the family’s economic gateway in the future, a young girl/lady will sleep with as many men as possible so that she can make babies just like her friends.

The future of that baby and the repercussions such as STDs is viewed as a fallacy by these girls. This behaviour does not only take place among juveniles, but also among so-called grownups. What matters to them is the number of children a woman has, not who the father is.

The social grant for child support will be there to subsidise her livelihood anyway, whether the fathers are around or not.

So sadly, innocent souls get deported or relocated to be burdens on their grandmothers deep in the rural areas.

These grandmothers hardly survive on their old-age pensions, while the mothers of these children exploit the child support grant through drinking and shopping sprees, looking to see which man will be the next in line for the baby-making database.

And when people with moral and ethical standing do not have a single child or few of their own, they get called degrading names like isishumani (bachelor), uyoyika-abafazi

(scared of women) or impotent.

And when you boldly stand out and make it clear that the mother of your children will be the one you intend to be with for as long as you live; you get called a dreamer.

– Ernest Nartey Hogah, via e-mail