Concerned youths in Machinga have accused authorities in the district of not showing interest in constituting child marriage by-laws that will help reduce cases of child marriages.
Grace Bowawa, a youth champion from Traditional Authority Chikweo said this when a group of youths delivered a petition to authorities including Paramount Chief Kawinga forcing them to formulate by-laws.
Traditional Authority Mchinguza said chiefs in the district already developed the by-laws and that they were waiting for approval from district council officials.
Meanwhile, the district chief administration officer Ellen Bikoko acknowledged having received the draft by-laws; saying the council was working on them before submitting to the Ministry of Local Government.
The meeting was organised by a consortium of Youth Response for Social Change, Forum for Youth Development and Nayuchi Development which are implementing a Social Transformation for Ending Child Marriage project in Machinga district with support from USAID.
