20/11/2023
CHILDREN RISK EARLY MARRIAGE FOR FISH
MPULUNGU District in Northern Province harbors the only port in Zambia sharing lake Tanganyika with other countries of the Great Lakes Region; Republic of Tanzania, Bart of the Republic of Rwanda.
The main economic mainstay for most of the residents is fishing which is done on Lake Tanganyika which later involves processing and trade of the most common species, the SarKapenta and Buka-Buka” fish locally known as Nvolo among other species.
Where business opportunities become extremely difficult especially the increasingly high demand for fish, young traders scramble and consequently opt for desperate measures to o Traders in this case known as “Bana ma Bowl” meaning those who buy directly from fishermen go an extra mile to offer s*x for fish.
In similar circumstances, women traders expose their underage children to fishermen, who subsequently get married off at a te mostly the suppliers of fish.Mable Nakazwe, a trader at Ngwenye market says with her ten years experience in Kapenta trade, she has observed how women have been involI have seen women desperately asking fishermen to have their way and propose secret meeting place intheir children for s*x, and could see my fellow women traders progressing without difficulties when catches are high”.
She narrates that in most cases young girls involved in fish for s*x are married; “I could see my fellow married traders give in for s*x just for them to buy Kapenta or in kind”.There is a traditional myth in Mpulungu which says “Pela akakupela” and mama asikalila moonsiwenga” a dialect meaning “Give those who give you, scratch my back, I scratch yours” and a woman cannot live on one man alone”. These myths have justified such of these harmful practices.
The fish for s*x has given rise to increased early marriages in mpulungu District. Parents would leailies for a fishing season which lasts more than tmonths, thus exposing girls to s*x for monetary favours when they run out of food.And one of the concerned parents , Chola Sinyangwe narrates that during fish seasons, a lot of absenteeism is observed amongut of school and get married before they reach their seventh grade. “You would find that most girls are not attending class, and when you find out, it is shocking that aof her siblings” he narrates.Mpulungu being a porous border has led to increase in inter-marriages, and also prostitution and the HIV/Aery high.
However there is always light at the end of the tunnel, Government has introduced sound economic policies that are making traders less vulnerable to harmful traditional practices such as child marriages. The coming of the Fish for the African Caribbean Pacific FISH4ACP which is empowering traders involvtainable skills and ways of trade without manipulation.
The FISH4ACP is also sensitizing communities on the dangers of fish for S*x. Masilliso Phiri is FISH4ACP District Coordinator and shInitially we started with a research and we discovered that more than 200 traders are dealing with smoked Kapenta, and we though ma bowl”she explains.Gender advocate and District Women Association Chairperson,Marian Muyabala Mauluka has also narrated how young girls have been s*xually abused at the hands of fishermen who are often uneducated have taken younggirls by storm abusing them in any way; “Young girls have come to me and explained how they have been maltreated at the hands of fishermen” she narrates And Senior Chief Tafuna Chimwando II of the Lungu speaking tribe says he has engaged village headmen through their committees to ensure that harmful practices such as early marriages are completely sc address S*xual Gender Based Violence SGBV will alI have engaged all village headmen in my chiefdom to be on the lookout for cases of SGBV such as child marriages, and with the coming of projects such as the “Natwampane STOP! SGBV Prevention and Survivor project, as a chiefdom, we are fighting tooth and nailctices are a thing of the past” he says.
And Kakonde village headman, Kennedy Kaziya reveals that his committee has set aside every weekend tWe have set aside Sunday in the evening to talk about SGBV, Most of the times, we invite volunteers from Natwampane to run us through forms of SGBV” He says.And Mpulungu District Education Board Secretary DEBS, Amos Simutowe, says government’s move to deploy 30, 000 teachers in 2021 and an additional 4,500 teachers has helped narrow the pupil-teacher ratio advantaged with the introduction of the free education policy. He says more fe also the provision of programs such as the “Keeping Girls in Schools KGS” for girls in households receiving Social Cash Transfer; “I am happy that the teacher pupil ratio is now addressed with the massive recruitment and deploymentditional 4,500, also to mention programs like Keepe encouraged girls to keep on with education without high levels of drop outs as compared to the past he said. Meanwhile child marriages are exclusively banned in Zambia following President Hakainde Hichilema’s move to sign children’s code bill into law last year .
The already existing interventions and the call for a multi sector approach in addr go to make Mpulungu a better place.
End
