SAMUEL NJINGA
Sex for food among young girls has been on the rise in Gutu district, Masvingo Province, largely due to starvation and poverty.
Young girls are eventually forced into early marriages, said Siyano Machaya who is Chief Nyamande in Gutu.
“We have serious problems here emanating from hunger and starvation that has gripped our land. Young girls are not only indulging into early sex but early marriage itself.
“Sex for food is rife here,” Chief Nyamande told Business Times.
He said there are also some old members of Apostolic Zion sect Church with close to 15 wives who claim to be receiving revelations from God through dreams and visions.
“They are manipulating the young children by casting fear on them, telling them that they received instructions from God that these little girls should be their wives,” Chief Nyamande said.
Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council Masvingo Province spokesperson, Herbert Chikosi said: “We have often heard of such cases in the province. We have always been working together with traditional leaders, the police and other stakeholders in order to make sure that perpetrators of such evil practices are brought to book.”
Ward 19 councillor, Cleophas Muzindi said thousands of households in his ward were facing starvation.
He appealed to the government to take swift action and start the food aid distribution programme so as to get rid of this disaster. Gutu District Administrator Chiedza Tafireyi said the most affected are those in Bhasera area.
“People in ward 16,15,14, 12, 10, 20,21 and 13 are among others that are in desperate need of food help. We are also working together with Pentecostal Services Zimbabwe as well as Zimbabwe Council of Churches in order to get rid of issues to do with hunger in the district,” Tafireyi said.
Masvingo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister, Ezra Chadzamira said his office would work tirelessly to make sure ‘nobody is going to die of hunger in the province’.
