By Chisomo Phiri
Minister of Local Government, Unity and Culture Richard Chimwendo Banda has challenged chiefs in the country to be pioneers in addressing cases of early pregnancies and child marriages that continue to exist in their respective communities.
He made the remarks on Friday in Mchinji during elevation ceremony of Sub-Traditional Authorities Ndawambe and Pinda to full Traditional Authorities.
Chimwendo-Banda said chiefs in the country have a big role to deal with parents that force their children into marriage adding the tendency is fueling cases of school dropout.
The Minister further asked the chiefs to help the government in ensuring corrupt-free implementation of the Affordable Inputs Program(AIP) that targeted 1.5 million beneficiaries in the 2023/2024 farming season.
“If these local leaders are not in the forefront fighting corruption in programs such as AIP, their subjects will still suffer from their conduct,” said Chimwendo Banda.
He also asked the chiefs to dissolve Village Development Committees-VDCs if they prove to be fuelling corruption in their respective areas of jurisdiction.
On behalf of other chiefs, Senior Chief Mavwere hailed the government for the speedy elevation of the two chiefs to Traditional Authority; saying the previous regimes were slow in such processes.
In his remarks , Mchinji South West lawmaker, who is also Lands Minister, Deus Gumba said the elevated chiefs would play a crucial role in working hand in hand with their VDCs; adding that’s where development starts.
The elevation of the two chiefs came a year after their elevation to Sub Traditional Authorities.
