Traditional leaders condemn child marriages

Narrating her story, the woman said the officer had given her a dollar to buy food while she was sitting in the charge office. “When I denied his sexual advances, the police officer wrestled with me arguing that I had to return his one dollar.He took advantage of the fact that I had disclosed that I had no other money for transport to return to Madziva.”

Mukudzei Chingwere recently in Nyamapanda
Traditional leaders have condemned the practice of marrying underage children as a vice that should be punished by law.

They are also encouraging their subjects’ early treatment-seeking behaviour and in Kotwa they introduced a token that should be paid by pregnant women who fail to register their pregnancies.

Mr Faison Tonde, headman for Goronga 1, said they are encouraging people in communities to report such marriages to the Police.

He said they have also taken it upon themselves to encourage people to take advantage of the available medical services availed by the Government to seek treatment. Botso Village head under chief Goronga, Mr Jona Botso said practices of marrying underage children is a vice that should be fought at every level.

He said they are also working with village health workers to encourage early treatment-seeking behaviour.

The traditional leaders also thanked Government and its partners for providing medical services as well as family planning services for free, the Population Services Zimbabwe specifically focuses on family planning.

The vice of child marriages was laid bare recently when a 14-year-old pregnant teenager died at an apostolic shrine in Manicaland.