The Sunday Mail
WE were deep in conversation on our way from the bar when Jabulani turned back and ran as fast as his long legs could carry him until he blended with a crowd that was watching social soccer nearby.
We could actually see him fading with distance as he made good his escape.
Before we could investigate why the bloke had run away, an old lady who was coming from the opposite direction shook her head and threw her hands in the air in disgust, and said she will catch him one day.
“He can run away each time he sees me but I will catch him one day. This is the third time he is running away. The other time he actually backtracked from boarding a kombi after seeing me in the same vehicle. It is better he comes forward so that we settle the matter amicably.
“He is living with my underage daughter and the law will catch up with him,” the old woman said before continuing on her way.
Gentle reader, the way Jabulani vanished was the stuff of legend which would make even Usain Bolt green with envy.
But true to the old woman’s reasoning, that was not the best way to solve a dispute.
As I commit pen to paper gentle reader, there are a lot of men out there who are playing hide-and-seek with the families of child brides they took during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Called “Little Earthly Angels,” “Sweet 16”, “Young Lapsvusvu”, “Kabomber”, “Nhanha” or “Kechidiki”, young girls must be given a chance to grow and focus on education without dealing with men who ruin their future and expose them to diseases.
The communities in which we live are awash with cases of child marriages.
And the blokes unashamedly take pride in having married someone youthful.
“I won a jackpot. I have a very young wife who is full of innocence and does not have any history of dating men. She is so tender and just like an angel sent for me,” one guzzler told this writer during a beer drink last weekend.
But that is freedom outside the law. The best place for children is school and not motherhood.
“What is happening in the communities is baffling. Young children are doing things that are not of their age. The law must certainly take its course against men who are taking young children into marriage.
“Some girls as young as 14 are being forced into marriage yet at this stage they would not have fully developed to bear children. Letting this trend continue will leave the minors exposed to health complications.
“We need to run serious campaigns in schools and communities so that we stop this scourge. What is happening is not just acceptable,” an elderly woman said to this writer.
She added communities must make a stand and refuse to accept men who take children as wives since this was tantamount to child abuse.
The views come at a time when First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa was speaking boldly against child marriages which are rearing an ugly head in communities.
Through her Gota/Nhanga/Ixhiba Programme, the First Lady has been traversing the length and breadth of the country speaking out against child marriages and urging boys and girls to concentrate on their school work and not love.
“Love neEducation hazvifambirane, fambira chimwechete sadriver weambulance. Ukangodaro chete uchabudirira,” sang the late Paul “Dr Love” Matavire in his chartbuster called “Ungraded”.
The song highlighted the dangers associated with being embroiled in love relations at a tender age.
Gentle reader, we can achieve much more as a community by ensuring that we keep our daughters in school. They, too, must run away from things that affect their education.
Feedback: [email protected]
