Online Reporter
Rumbidzayi Zinyuke
FIVE men have been arrested in Mashonaland Central province after they allegedly sexually exploited a 14-year-old girl on different occasions.
The arrests followed a joint operation involving traditional leaders, the Zimbabwe Republic Police and Department of Social Development (DSD) after community members reportedly raised the alarm over a villager who was repeatedly buying contraceptives for the minor.
Chief Bushu of Shamva in Mashonaland Central said investigations revealed that the man, together with several others, had allegedly been taking turns to sexually abuse the girl.
“We found out that one man was buying contraceptives for this child and that he, together with other men in the community, was taking advantage of her and sleeping with her. The Department of Social Development brought the issue to us, and I immediately engaged the officer-in-charge (ZRP). Together, we came up with a strategy to catch these men and they were arrested,” he said.
Chief Bushu said the suspects were referred to the police because the alleged offences were criminal matters that fell outside the jurisdiction of the traditional courts.
The case was uncovered through the community-driven “Not in My Village” campaign, a community-led initiative spearheaded by the Zimbabwe Council of Chiefs, National AIDS Council with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) through the Safeguard Young People (SYP) Programme and the Health Resilience Fund.
The campaign mobilises traditional leaders, parents, teachers, religious leaders, police, social welfare officers and other community structures to prevent child marriages, teenage pregnancies, sexual abuse and new HIV infections among adolescents.
Chief Bushu said when he became chief in 2018, child marriage was one of the biggest challenges facing his area and province.
“Mashonaland Central used to constitute more than 50 percent of child marriages in the country. Over the years, we have worked hard with all stakeholders in a bid to fix our community. We realised that despite our different religions and beliefs, we had to work together to tackle this challenge,” he said.
Following consultations with communities, chiefs developed common guidelines that are now being used across the province to determine which cases should be handled through traditional courts and which should be referred to the formal justice system.
To better protect survivors, Chief Bushu said traditional leaders had also established special children’s courts, where cases involving minors are heard privately to preserve their dignity.
“We created a children’s special court because we realised we could not deal with such cases together with all other matters in front of everyone. We have to maintain the children’s privacy and dignity,” he said.
He added that regular engagement between chiefs and the Judiciary, including quarterly visits by magistrates to traditional courts, had strengthened coordination and improved the handling of cases involving children.
“All the chiefs are now part of the campaign, and we think these cases are significantly going down. This is why we are here today, still fighting for our children’s rights and for them to restore their lives and go back to school,” he said.
In recent years, Mashonaland Central has recorded significant progress in reducing child marriages, teenage pregnancies and new HIV infections among young people through community-led interventions under the “Not in My Village” campaign.
