Female Chief sends kids to school, annulling 330 child marriages

November 12, 2015 9:47 PM

This chief has, according to reports, annulled about 330 child marriages, sending the parties involved, sometimes both parties to school.

Female Chief sends kids to school, annulling 330 child marriages in Malawi

A Malawian female traditional leader, has reportedly taken it upon herself to discourage the prevalence of child marriages within her constituency.

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Senior Chief Inkosi Kachindamoto applied the country’s new laws regarding child marriage, in this solo act.

In April, President Peter Mutharika signed into a law a ban on child marriage, setting the minimum age requirement for marriage in the country at 18.

“I have terminated 330 marriages of which 175 were girl-wives and 155 were boy-fathers, I wanted them to go to school and that has worked,” she told Nyasa Times, “I don’t want youthful marriages, they must go to school…no child should be found loitering at home or doing household chores during school time."

Malawi has one of the highest incidents of child marriage in the world with statistics proving that 1 in 2 girls get married before the age of 18.

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The practice is closely linked to poverty where, in the rural areas, girls are married off to improve their families’ financial situations.

This is a really big step and we hope that this new law is here to stay.