By Burnett Munthali
Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Social and Community Affairs, Savel Kafwafwa, has urged girls in Mangochi to remain in school and reject early marriage, which continues to threaten their education and future prospects.
Kafwafwa made the call on Friday at Mangale Primary School in the area of Senior Chief Chowe during a community engagement aimed at examining challenges affecting girls’ education.
He said the school has experienced poor academic performance over the years, with very few girls completing primary education.
Kafwafwa said the committee’s visit noted several social and educational challenges contributing to school dropouts and early marriages among girls.
“For the past years, the school has performed poorly, with little or no girls finishing primary education. Our visit has revealed a lot of challenges that push young girls into early marriages,” he said.
Kafwafwa: Reject early marriages
Kafwafwa said combating early marriage requires concerted efforts from Government, communities and traditional leaders.
He said while Malawi has laws criminalising child marriage, stronger measures at community level are necessary to complement existing legislation.
“As a country, we have legislation that criminalises child marriages. We, therefore, need to bring bylaws to empower local leadership so that we have local ways of handling such issues,” he said.
On his part,Principal Child Affairs Officer in the Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare, Stephano Joseph, said Government is using a multi-stakeholder approach to address child marriages in Mangochi and other parts of the country.
Joseph said the National Strategy on Ending Child Marriages 2024–2030 provides a framework for addressing the practice.
He also acknowledged the need for legislation to facilitate the termination of child marriages and said the ministry is working with Members of Parliament(MPs) to support the development of such legislation.
Senior Chief Chowe welcomed the parliamentary committee’s engagement with the community, saying it created an opportunity for residents to raise concerns affecting learners at Mangale Primary School.
He said the school had only one female candidate sitting for national examinations during the 2025/2026 academic year, while the institution is also facing several infrastructure and resource challenges.
“Our school faces many challenges. Among them, there are no houses for teachers, no borehole, hence affecting hygiene, and a lack of teaching and learning materials. Please help us by addressing these challenges,” he said.
Vice Chairperson for Mangale Mother Group, Emily Maulidi, said some parents are not doing enough to encourage children to remain in school, a situation she said contributes to school dropouts and early marriages.
Maulidi said the mother group will continue conducting door-to-door campaigns to encourage parents to support girls’ education and help prevent early marriage.
She said the group remains committed to ensuring that children in the community stayed in school and not have their education and future opportunities cut short by early marriage.
