The Zambia Police Service in Chadiza District has observed with grave concern that parents and guardians are resisting disolving child marriages, instead opt to resolving sexual offenses in secrecy without reporting them.
Zambia Police Service Child Protection Officer Bridget Mwape says that despite the Ministry of Health reporting 1,214 cases of child marriages and teenage pregnancies and the Ministry of Education reporting many cases of school dropouts due to pregnancies, only five cases have been dissolved this year by the police.
Ms. Mwape disclosed this during the commemoration of the International Day of the Girl Child in Mwangala Chiefdom.
She says many parents and village headmen are resistant and resort to settling criminal cases from communities and even those who report such cases tend to withdraw them after outside agreements are made for perpetrators to pay something.
Speaking at the same event, National Prosecutions Authority (NPA) Chadiza District Senior Prosecutor Bronson Banda warned that the Children’s Code Act provides for stiffer punishment of up to 10 years in jail for anyone involved in marrying a child.
Mr. Banda says the legal framework in Zambia prohibits many infringements on the rights of children.
Meanwhile, Chief Mwangala of Chadiza District says it is not the culture of the Chewa people to marry off children at a tender age, stating that the Chewa people are encouraging parents and guardians to take their children to school.
Chief Mwangala says he has taken the matter of child marriages seriously and warned that he will now be harsh on any individual who deliberately violates the by-laws and statutory laws.
By Samuel Khwawe
