To encourage girl child education and abolish early marriages, this courageous chief annulled over 300 unions and sent the kids to school.
As has been expressed before, in this universe of contrast, negatives and positives do balance each other
out.
Unfortunately, negative news is more-often-than-not broadcast by mainstream media sources, and this does little to inspire global citizens to participate in peaceful change.
For this reason, recent news hailing from the African nation Malawi, which has one of the highest rates of child marriages in the world, should be heartily celebrated.
As Malawi’s Nyasa Times reports, in April, the African nation Malawi raised the minimum age of marriage to 18 years old. One might wonder, however, “What about the legions of underage children who were legally wed before the law took effect?
Well, one of the regional chiefs in Malawi – an elder woman who goes by the name Inkosi Kachindamoto – annulled the marriages of more than 300 youth in her district and sent them back to school.
In addition, she fired several village heads who had sanctioned the unions.
Child advocates around the world cheered on the effort to encourage girl education and abolish early marriages as soon as the news circulated.
Credit: Emmanuel Tobey
Said Chief Kachindamoto of Dedza District:
“I don’t want youthful marriages, they must go to school.”
Knowing the value education has in helping to empower citizens and strengthen the mind, the Senior chief terminated 330 marriages, of which 175 were girl-wives and 155 were boy-fathers.
Under Malawi’s new Marriage Act, children over 16 years of age are still allowed to marry with parental consent, but human rights activists are pushing to change that.
Said 18-year-old Malawian Memory Banda to The Guardian:
“Marriage is often the end for girls like me. “But if our leaders will invest in us and give us the chance to be educated, we will become women who create a better society for everyone.”
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