INCREASING CASES OF EARLY MARRIAGES AND TEEN PREGNANCIES WORRY CHIEF MAGUYA

Chief Maguya joins a growing chorus of traditional leaders in Zambia's Eastern Province sounding the alarm about a crisis that continues to undermine the futures of young girls. The region has long been among the most affected in Zambia, with Chipata District recording thousands of teenage pregnancies in a single year at the height of the problem. Despite years of sensitisation programmes and legal reforms, the situation in many communities remains stubborn.

Zambia has taken legislative steps to address child marriage. In December 2023, the country removed customary and tribal law exceptions that had previously allowed underage marriages to proceed lawfully, establishing 18 as the universal minimum age of marriage without exception. President Hakainde Hichilema has personally endorsed intensified sensitisation programmes with traditional leaders as part of the government's approach to driving behavioural change at the community level.

Yet legislation alone has not been enough. Eastern Province Gender officials have repeatedly flagged that incidence rates of teen pregnancies and early marriages remain high and continue to deny girls their fundamental rights. Poverty, long distances to schools, harmful traditional initiation practices and weak enforcement have all been cited as contributing factors. Girls who fall pregnant overwhelmingly drop out of school, foreclosing their economic futures and perpetuating cycles of poverty.

Chief Maguya's concern reflects the broader reality that progress depends less on national policy and more on whether traditional leaders actively enforce the law and mobilise their communities. Chiefs who have taken strong personal stands holding community meetings, dissolving marriages and establishing local bylaws have seen measurable reductions. Those who remain passive have seen numbers climb.

The Eastern Province context adds urgency to Chief Maguya's call. Zambia cannot achieve its gender equality and development goals while girls in Chipata are being married before they finish school or start their adult lives on their own terms.