Early marriages worry Karonga Chief Kasote; Drug and substance abuse on the increase

 

By Modester Kayange & Ruth Lengani, MANA

Group Village Head (GVH) Kasote in the area of Paramount Chief Kyungu in Karonga has expressed concern over behaviour of some parents, who are forcing their child girl to get married in order to receive Lobola and dowry.

And at the same time, Karonga District youth officer (DYO), Lapken Liwago has asked for collaborated efforts among different stakeholders in ending cases of drug and substance abuse among youth in the district.

In an interview on Sunday in Karonga, GVH Kasote said it was sad to note that teenagers were dropping out of school because of teen pregnancies and marriages, a tradition termed as counter-productive.

Kasote said they have since formulated some by-laws that would see that parents forcing their teenage girls to get married paying a fine of K20,000 and withdraw their child from marriage.

“I hope these by-laws will assist us to curb the malpractice because many parents would fear to pay the fine,” the GVH said.

Chairperson for Thola Primary School Mother Group, Maria Kondowe said apart from early marriages girls are exposed to small scale businesses which affects their education.

She said there was need to civic educate parents on the danger of sending young girls to do businesses.

“Sending young girls to be selling things at the market is as good as exposing them to boys and men. 

“This behavior too must be stopped if we are to educate young girls in our communities,” Kondowe said.

Karonga District is well known with cultural practices such Kupimbira and Chithyolaminga where a man pays cattle and a huge sum of money to the girl’s family to marry her.

United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) report of 2017 showed that 42 percent of girls in the country get married before the age of 18.

Meanwhile, in an interview on Sunday, DYO Liwago said many youth in the district are indulging themselves in drug and substance abuse due to peer pressure and lack of information on the negative effects of drugs.

Liwago said there was need to intensify civic education among the youth, saying failure to do so would derail them from being fruitful citizens for the county.

“We advise the youth to resist peer pressure and be able to set goals in life and this will help them to be focused,” he said.

Karonga District full council youth representative, Davie Kitalo said lack of youth centres prevent them from sharing ideas influential in shaping their future.

He said there was need for the District Council to have youth recreation centres where the youth would be spending their time rather than indulging themselves in drug and substance abuse.

“We are pleading with different organizations to assist the youth in the district by constructing youth centres where our youth should be learning different skills,” Kitalo observed.

He asked government to create job opportunities for the youth in order for them to be productive citizens in the near future.

One of the youths in Karonga, Frank Mwaungulu said increase of drug and substance abuse make youth to get involved in immoral behaviors like prostitution and theft that brings down the development in the district.