By CHUSA SICHONE –
A SNAP survey conducted by the Sunday Times has revealed that early marriages and teenage pregnancies have continued to be rife in rural parts of the country.
Muwele in Mpika District under Kanchibiya Constituency is one such area where it is plain to see that early marriages and teenage pregnancies are common place.
During a visit of Muchinga Province last week, President Edgar Lungu held a public rally in Muwele to solicit for votes.
It was at the rally in question that among those in attendance were about 50 teenage girls who were spotted either with children or pregnant and most of them were married.
Two girls talked to on condition of anonymity aged 18 and 17 respectively with one-year-old babies strapped to their backs said they were married, but did not want to give details and wondered why this author was interested in their personal lives.
The duo instead started pestering this author for money for them to buy food.
Their colleague aged 20 said she was unmarried although she had a two-year-old child on her back.
Some parents talked to attributed early marriages and teenage pregnancies in the area to poverty and thus were hoping to derive benefits by marrying off their underage children.
Others said they married off their children after they attained a certain age which convinced them that they were ripe to be in marriage.
Lack of recreational facilities and the absence of a college or university nearby were other reasons advanced for youngsters to engage in illicit activities after completing their secondary education especially those with parents who could not manage to take them to higher learning institutions.
Another notable phenomenon in Muwele was improper child spacing as evidenced by the several women in the area spotted with a maximum of three children with minor age differences, one child strapped to the back, the other in front while the third standing hand-in-hand with the mother.
Child abuse cases were also common in Muwele as about 10 children were seen carrying their baby siblings on their backs as their parents went about with other activities.
President Lungu observed during the rally that Muchinga was one of the provinces with the highest early marriage rates in the country and was hopeful that the opening of the Robert Makasa University which he commissioned would somewhat address the problem besides reiterating his appeal to parents to stop the practice.