Starving villagers trade daughters for maize
By Staff Reporter
Monday, 11 October 2010 15:38
MASVINGO – As hunger wrecks havoc in arid Masvingo province, some desperate
and starving villagers in Chikombedzi in the Low-veld district of Chiredzi
are giving their daughters away in marriage for as little as ten bags of
maize each to elderly businessmen.
In a visit to Chikombedzi last week, the Daily News learnt with shock that
some villagers claiming to have harvested very little maize last season due
to poor rains and input shortages are exchanging girls as young as 14 to
elderly businessmen for maize or maize meal.
The businessmen cross the border into South Africa where they buy large
stocks of maize meal to sell to the starving villagers.
Most of the villagers cannot pay in cash so they end up exchanging their
daughters for maize meal.
Some of the young girls are given away in marriage for 10 bags of maize
each.
“We have no option that’s why we are trading our daughters this way because
we can’t let the rest of the family starve to death. In any case ,the girl
child will get married and leave the family, so we don’t see any problem
with that,” said Hlalati Baloyi of Mhlanguleni village.
Chief Chilonga from the same district was quick to defend the practice by
his people saying nothing was amiss as it is part of traditiona and is
called kuroodza mwana which is done during times of crisis like drought.
“I don’t think this should attract debate from people in the country. What
we are doing is not something out of this world if we are to consider some
of our traditional practices. You know very well that our fore fathers did
this sort of thing, especially in times of drought and here we are
experiencing it so we cant let our families die when tradition allows us to
give away our daughters in marriage,” said Chief Chilonga.
He said that his people will only stop the practice if they get food aid
from the government.
The Daily News understands that some donor oaganisations wre forced to pull
out of the area by Zanu PF officials who accused them of pushing the regime
change agenda in cahoots with MDC.
Efforts to get a comment from the Provincial Adminstrator Felix Chikovo
were fruitless.
Children rights groups have criticised the villagers and urged the
government to take action as the practice was violating the girl child
rights.
Sungano Zvarebwanashe, a representative of The Girl-Child Network in
Masvingo said the government should see that those who forced their
daughters into such
marriages should be arrested and tried.
“Government should instruct police to arrest all those who are doing this.
They are violating children rights by forcing minors into marriages with old
men who already have their wives. It is utter rubbish to claim that they
were doing a traditional practice in this modern world,” she said.
She added that besides violating child rights the young girls were exposed
to the risk of teh deadly HIV and AIDS from these men as some have scores of
partners .