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*HON. MANDIPAKA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for giving me the opportunity to make my contribution which I am going to make in Shona. This was raised by Hon. Gonese, seconded by Hon. Mpariwa. We thank Hon. Gonese and Hon. Toffa as members of SADC PF, because they went and shared some ideas with other countries regarding this important issue on early marriages of our youngsters, I believe in that. In this august House we just have to state our facts point blank without dilly dallying because children are the future of our country.
This motion raised by Hon. Gonese is calling for an early promulgation of a law which will lead a very heavy sentence being imposed on perpetrators of such heinous acts. As far as I am concerned, I am asking myself as to why people indulge in early marriages especially regarding young girls; there are many reasons. One of these reasons is because of the patriarchal system which we practice here in Zimbabwe. The way we are brought up in our families in Zimbabwe, the girl child is taken as an inferior being while the boy child is considered to a superior. As a result if people are admonishing children they will tell a young man not to behave like a little girl and the girl is told not to be a tom boy, for that reason, I am thanking the Government of Zimbabwe because of the steps we have taken since 1980. We have built so many schools to advance us in education which has made us to be very intelligent and make contributions in such debates. I am saying so because we have some countries in Africa which lack such education as in our country. In those countries because of their little education, they have little care and little protection for the girl-child. However, Zimbabwe is lucky, we have a Government which has a productive orientation. I am saying may the Government live long in giving guidance to Zimbabwe.
Another pain in this issue is that we have some countries overseas which talk of democracy and when they look at countries like Zimbabwe which will be protecting the rights of the children, these Western countries impose sanctions. The sanctions lead to poverty in the country. Consequently, when there is poverty, it leads to early marriages of these youngsters, as a way of running away from poverty and secondly, as a way of protecting their families from poverty. These early marriages lead to the decline in the development of our country and our finances.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I am calling for child activists, groups or individuals that are given monies. What I am calling for is that when these workshops are taken we should avoid them as much as possible. I think they merely waste money where people will be drinking tea and sleeping in hotels. I think we should use these monies for supporting the youngsters so that they grow up as people who have a future instead of holding workshops and spending money in hotels. I think these funds are being misdirected; they should be used for direct assistance to the children.
The other problem that leads to early marriages is the kind of houses which we construct, they are so small and families are crowded in those houses and are also in clusters. As a result when parents are in their bedrooms the children will be nearby and at times sharing a room with only a curtain in between. The children will be listening when the adults are indulging in sexual activities. I am saying we should stop this, let us build decent accommodation so that children do not copy or take attitude which are beyond their age. We need to fight overcrowding and poverty.
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