Continental Leadership Research Institute visited Mungule Chiefdom for a community outreach program where the team discussed issues of early marriages within the chiefdom at Mungule Clinic.
The program saw in attendance headmen and headwomen from various set ups within the chiefdom and a number of local women and men.
The chiefdom faces vast challenges which need quick response to by the community leaders and the institutions as well.
The institute set out to understand the causes of early marriages within the chiefdom and the following were the issues raised by the people who were in attendance;
1. Lack of support from parents to combat early marriages – parents do not play an active role in ensuring that their children receive proper comprehensive education about child marriage. It was noted that parents sometimes influence their children to marry at the tender age. Most parents only completed primary and did not pursue an education further hence they lack interest in providing education for their children.
2. Lack of proper education- residents complained that children had to walk long distances to access an education facility and this led them to drop out of school. The residents also about the quality of education being offered.
3. Peer pressure- children have been greatly influenced by friends into marriages. Sometimes the need of the title of Mrs., has led to high levels of early marriages
4. Lack of adult literacy- many adults are not educated in the chiefdom and lack the basic understanding of human rights hence it is difficult to make proper decisions with regards to early marriages
5. Lack of counseling and career guidance – majority of wrong decisions are made because there is little career guidance given to children within the community
6. Teachers drink alcohols with pupils- teachers are not instrumental in offering productive services to children. In their free time, they resort to drinking with their students
7. Human rights have given children the authority to talk and behave in which way they feel is best for them – lack of proper understanding of human rights was noted as the major cause of children behaving inappropriately and indulging in vices that destroy them at tender ages.
8. Love of money- many young girls have done a lot to ensure that they provide for their own needs. This has led them to marry older men who they feel are capable of taking of their financial needs
9. Lack of school fees- this was one of the critical issues raised. Many parents couldn’t afford school fees for children and this resulted in them resorting to marrying at very tender ages.
The participants also identified some solution that could be used to curb early marriages within the chiefdom and these are as follows;
1. Provision of night schools or adult education which was stated to be vital if parents were to make informed decisions and understand human rights
2. Children and parents within the community need motivational talks from various CSO’s and offer them guidance and counseling. Not only CSO’s but the clinic as well was identified as a place that can play a huge role within the community
3. Empowerment of youths and women was seen to be vital tool because once young ones were able to earn an income, it would reduce the chances of them being led into early marriages
4. The participants also requested that a school with mungule community should be built as this would help children lessen issues of dropping out of school.
The community commended Continental Leadership Research Institute for the step it has taken in providing this type of education in various places and edged the institute to highly get involved in mungule chiefdom and work closely with the locals.