Chief Kahare threatens legal action for marrying off children

—–Chief Kahare of the Nkoya people in Nkeyema district of Western province says he will start taking legal actions on parents who were in the habit of marrying off their girl children at the expense of school.

Chief Kahare said this when Chiefs and Traditional Affairs Deputy Minister, Taundi Chiseke, paid a courtesy call on him at his palace yesterday.

The traditional leader noted that many parents were in the habit of accepting dowries (lobola) instead of educating their girl children.

Chief Kahare said he wanted his chiefdom to have as many educated girls as possible so that meaningful development among women is enhanced.

And Chiefs and Traditional Affairs Deputy Minister, Taundi Chiseke, who is on a tour of chief’s palaces in Kaoma, Nkeyema and Luampa districts, said government is on a vicious journey of taking development to all parts of the country.

Mr Chiseke, who has embarked on a sensitization programme on the removal of fuel and maize subsidies, however, requested chief Kahare and his Indunas to assist government to explain to people in his chiefdom about the benefits of the money that will be realized from the removal of subsidies on the commodities.

He said the money will be put on infrastructural development such as construction of chief’s palaces, road network, schools and education among other developments.

Earlier, when addressing a public rally at Chilombo school grounds of Shikombwe ward, Mr Chiseke urged the public to rally behind the able leadership of President Michael Sata and the Patriotic Front (PF) government so that development is achieved across all the districts in Western province.

Mr Chiseke said the move taken by government on the removal of subsidies on fuel and maize should be supported by everyone in the country.

He said the stance will benefit everyone, especially people in the rural areas as they were the majority people who were badly affected, adding that even other countries in the world have also removed subsidies on commodities in order to assist its people.

And former Lukulu district commissioner in the Mwanawasa administration, Edwin Kasempa, appealed to government to consider increasing the number of farmers from 900,000 to over one million so that farmers in rural areas felt the benefits of the removal of subsidies on fuel and maize.

Mr Kasempa also commended the PF government’s intention of distributing and giving maize seeds freely to farmers during the 2013/2014 farming season.