FIRST Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa yesterday took her Gota/Nhanga/Ixhiba programme to Gokwe where she heard worrying reports of rape cases that are being perpetrated against juveniles in the area.
Amai Mnangagwa visited the area following an invitation by
Chief Njelele’s wife Mrs Virginia Njelele.
In one of the cases, a woman is under investigation for
allegedly forcing her 14-year-old niece to marry a 37-year-old villager who
regularly bashes the juvenile demanding back a beast he paid as part of lobola.
The young girl is now pregnant, amid reports that the
husband, who has a history of “hiring and firing” women, has to date sent three
other women packing. The girl gathered courage and reported the matter to the
chief’s wife who in turn took her to the police.
This comes at a time when the area is also seized with the
case of two sisters aged four and six who were reportedly raped by an
18-year-old relative.
In a separate case, a 15-year-old girl, who is three-months
pregnant, walked 62 kilometres to the chief’s homestead after being gang-raped
by four of her husband’s relatives and the chief referred the matter to the
police where it is now being handled.
Mrs Njelele said the First Lady’s eye-opening
Gota/Nhanga/Ixhiba programme had resulted in girls and boys knowing their
rights and they were now reporting various cases of abuse perpetrated against
them.
She decried the surge in child marriages and juvenile
delinquency in her community, adding that if it wasn’t for the First Lady’s
programme, most of the criminal cases perpetrated against juveniles would have
gone unreported.
“As chiefs’ wives we were taught a lot by our mother, the
First Lady, from manners and how to live with others in communities,” said Mrs
Njelele.
“Amai went across all provinces teaching young people on
the importance of respecting our values and culture.
“As part of her teachings, she also encouraged the girl
child to value her body and report any forms of abuse perpetrated against her
to the community leaders or the police. As the First Lady’s ambassador, I saw
the need to take her teachings further to our communities so that every child
benefits.
“Here in Gokwe South, we took what we learnt to the
headmen’s wives and we are working together in our wards teaching our children.
Following the teachings through Amai’s vision, the children who are being
abused, both boys and girls, are now coming out in the open. Today we have
invited the First Lady to come and see what we are doing in our community.”
Chief Njelele, Mr Misheck Moses Njelele, said they invited
the First Lady to ensure his community benefited from her life-changing
teachings. “Our aim for inviting her here is to reinvigorate our culture and
manners in Gokwe,” he said.
“We want the girl child to know her rights by the time she
becomes a mother and the same applies to boys. The biggest challenge we have is
that at our courts there are cases involving young girls who are being divorced
at 17 and you shudder to think at what age they got married. “The children will
tell you they would have spent two years in marriage which means they would
have started married lives at a tender age. During the Covid-19 induced
lockdown, many girls were impregnated and dropped out of school.
“Boys are causing these problems. As chiefs, I think we
should be allowed to punish parents who are not teaching their children good
manners
“Our boys are now drunkards at a tender age and some of
them put on seven trousers at once and you can’t make head or tail of their
behaviour. It is my wish as a chief that children, especially boys, must know
cultural norms and values of respecting elders and respecting the girl child.”
In the Nhanga with the girls was the First Lady, chiefs’
wives and elderly women. The girls were warned against bottling up and to speak
out when distressed.
Amai Mnangagwa said preserving morals helped girls maintain
dignity. “I am thankful for being invited to help counsel our children,” she
said.
“Your manners as a girl shows the status of your mother. Good behaviour spawns respect through good deeds. If you misbehave you embarrass us as your mothers. You should not sleep with boys. Do you know that your bodies are precious and we want you to value them and education. I heard that some of you are carrying clothes in your satchels purporting that you are going to school when you are not.”
The girls were encouraged to grow up as God-fearing people with the pastor’s wife, Mrs Susan Hohodza, spelling out the need for children to have a relationship with God.
“A girl must grow up fearing God,” she said.
She urged them not to make themselves “cheap like an avocado pear on the market” which is felt by every customer.
The girls were also taught menstrual hygiene and advised to bath in the morning before doing household chores like sweeping the yard, lighting the fire and warming water for parents to bath and cooking for the family.
As the health ambassador, the First Lady told the girls
that sleeping without cleaning plates was unhygienic and exposed families to
diseases caused by flies, roaches and rats.
She also implored them to abstain from sexual intercourse
before time, saying it brought diseases and tribulations.
“I was delighted to hear that you are regularly taught by
the chief’s wife here and I urge you to continue teaching good manners to your
friends in your communities and schools,” said the First Lady. Herald
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