CHIEF Madzimawe of the Ngoni people of Chipata district has called on men to take advantage of the free education policy to send girl children to school and not to sexually abuse them.
In an interview with Kalemba, the traditional leader said there is no excuse of keeping girl children at home and sending them off to early marriages, now that they can go to school for free.
Chief Madzimawe explained that the move will help a number of them acquire knowledge on how to stand up for themselves, thereby reducing the number of gender based violence cases.
“Sometime back, there were excuses of not taking girl children to school due to lack of finances and people were marrying off girls at very young ages. But what is the excuse now that we have free education? Please take a girl child to school,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chief Madzimawe has applauded the people of eastern province for opening up and reporting GBV cases to the authorities.
He said he is impressed that a number of cases are reported on a daily basis in the media, the move he said is encouraging.
“We read and listen to a lot of GBV stories in the news, coming from Eastern Province and we are proud because people are beginning to stand up for themselves by reporting these cases.
“We are attributing this move to the sensitization programmes that are taking place in the province. Most people now know their rights,” he said.
The traditional leader further said people may think that Eastern Province is full of notorious men, but that GBV cases may also be rampant in other provinces only that they are not reported.
The Chief, further commended the media for bringing out such stories because they are encouraging others to report more, especially when the perpetrators are brought to book.
By Sanfrossa Mberi
Kalemba March 24, 2026
