The ability to comprehend texts written in English helps to learn the target language. It isrnalso very significant for academic stud ies, enjoyment, survival and others. However, It wasrnfe lt that most students fail to understand texts. As different writers state the causes of thernfai lu re, different suggestions are also given to minimize the failure of students'rncomprehension skills as a solution. The relevance of the ab ility to comprehend tests, thernresearcher's experience and other views on the causes of the problem as well as thernso lutions initiated the researcher to figure out factors that affect grade nine students 'rnreading comprehension ability.rnThis study genera lly aimed at showing up-to-date mechanisms that enable students to berncompetent readers. It particularly attempted to find out factors that affect readingrncomprehension ability, the magnitude of the comprehension problem, and its possiblernsoluti ons. The identification of the magnitude of the problem was found to be the base forrnthe identification of the causes and the so lutions. Because, li sting down causes andrnsuggesting for solutions is pointless unless a problem is found rampant. With this intentionrnthe study was conducted on 40 sampled students and their four English language teachers.rnStudent questiOlmaire, classroom observation teacher interview and text book analysis werernused to gath er the req uired data. The findings were the students' insuffic ient practice,rnimproper reading practices, failure to read extensively and . poor reading habits.