Vusumuzi Dube
Michael Magoronga, Midlands Correspondent
A video of a carefree artisanal miner bragging about how he scored big when he married an under-aged girl recently went viral with parents and guardians raising alarm on the safety of their children.
In the video, the artisanal miner went on the quip about how they “marry” the girls for peanuts.
“In Zhombe, marrying a 15-year-old girl is nothing but the work of a hero. You are considered a man when you marry an under-aged girl in Zhombe. We pay as little as US$50 because we understand each other around here,” said the miner.
The video brought to the fore how girls are being married off in exchange for food and other items amid El Nino-induced drought in the area.
It also highlights how these matters are going unreported as it would be an agreement between two parties, the parents and the perpetrator.
During a recent Kwekwe District Child Protection Committee (DCPC) meeting, even more shocking details emerged after police revealed heart-rending cases of child marriages.
A representative of the police’s Victim Friendly Unit (VFU) revealed that about five girls are being married off every week in the Zhombe area.
“Most cases are going unreported because the guardians and the community would want to sweep the matter under the carpet. But through tip-offs from some sources and some aggrieved community members, we gathered that about five girls are being married off every week in Zhombe,” said the police officer.
She said they also handled a case where a Grade Six pupil was impregnated and recently gave birth adding that they are prompted to take action in such cases because they would want to protect the girl child.
“Even if the cases are not reported, using those tip-offs, we end up intervening because we would want to protect the girl child whose rights would be violated,” said the VFU representative.
She said the most volatile areas were the Zhombe East area, Samambwa in Zhombe as well as Silobela Gobo and Wozoli.
“We are following up on most cases but the problem is that the people are not forthcoming as they do not divulge the necessary information. It makes our job difficult because we will not be having the details,” she said.
Some girls are subjected to sexual and physical abuse before they are impregnated or married off.
The girls are forced into sexual intercourse by the artisnal miners and school dropouts who threaten them with unspecified action.
DCPC chairperson Mr Reason Machina said they had received disturbing reports about the lawlessness in some parts of Zhombe, which is largely contributing to these cases.
“This is why I called for this emergency meeting so that we can address the situation before it gets out of hand. The artisanal miners together with those who would have left school popularly known as ‘home defenders’ even wait for the girls during knock off time and they abuse them along the way. What is worrying is that these men will be carrying weapons and they threaten the girls with death and they end up giving in to their demands,” said Mr Machina who is also Assistant Kwekwe District Development Coordinator.
He said the perpetrators have become so wayward that even the community is afraid of reprimanding them.
“During one engagement at a school, we were told that these perpetrators are so violent that they go after whistleblowers so people are afraid of reporting them. They do whatever they want and they don’t listen to their own parents which is very worrying,” said Mr Machina.
He said the artisanal miners are luring the families with money.
“Those who would have dropped out of school and join the artisanal mining train then come back with the money and lure girls. They target those with poor backgrounds and if they give them money, they arrange that they take the girl away as far as Plumtree where the man will be working and it becomes difficult for the police to investigate,” he said.
In one instance, a teacher was beaten to a pulp for delaying the dismissal of the girls.
“It is a report we received but we are yet to verify the allegations. We heard a teacher was beaten up for delaying the dismissal of the girls. That is how bad the situation is and if we don’t act, the situation will get out of hand,” he said.
Although the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education could not give figures on the rate of dropouts, Plan International Kwekwe District Manager Mrs Lainah Matsikiti, whose organisation supports more than 12 000 girls with educational facilities, said the cases were worrying.
“We have the Dreams project where we support the girl child with tuition fees and uniforms among other items but it is worrying that a majority of them are falling victim to this child marriage scourge that has taken the district by storm,” she said.
Zhombe’s Chief Samambwa said: “I can’t say such things are not happening or confirm that they are but I can only say my court is yet to handle those cases. Perhaps it could be that they are sweeping the cases under the carpet to avoid legal action. But what I can tell you is that we do not tolerate cases of child marriages in this area.”
His counterpart Chief Ndabezinhle Gwesela of Zhombe said he has managed to contain the cases in his area.
“It is true that these cases are rife in other areas which are not under my purview. In my area, I have managed to control them because I don’t condone such. If push comes to shove, I even chase perpetrators from my area,” he said.
Officer Commanding Police Kwekwe District, Chief Superintendent Ison Chapeta said the police would go all out to weed out unruly elements.
“I urge those with information to approach their nearest police stations and furnish them with information of those elements who are causing unrest in the community and we will deal with them. All we want is information so that we act. Our duty is to protect the citizens and if we allow this abuse to happen, we would have failed,” said Chief Superintendent Chapeta without mincing his words.
He said efforts would be made to get details of the perpetrators and ensure that there are no people who disturb the learning process or cross the legal line.
He said plans were underway to conduct awareness campaigns against violence and child marriages.
“Already plans are in the pipeline to raise awareness against child marriages, violence and use of weapons and drug abuse among other social ills. We will have to expedite the campaigns first and then gather information on the unruly elements before dealing with them accordingly,” he said.
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