Chief Kasempa warns parents from forcing girls into early marriages

SENIOR Chief Kasempa of the Kaonde-speaking people in North-Western Province has urged parents in his chiefdom to desist from forcing girls into early marriages.
Chief Kasempa said the practice is detrimental to the development of the country.
He said his chiefdom and Kasempa district as a whole had been recording alarming cases of marriages involving girls of school-going age.
The traditional leader said yesterday that there was need for concerted effort in addressing the negative trend of parents marrying off underage girls.
He said parents needed to understand that the young girls they are marrying off had a right to education and that no one should block them from realising their full potential.
Chief Kasempa said it was disheartening to see parents rushing to marry off girls at tender age when they should be in the forefront encouraging them to get an education.