SAVING
A GENERATION
WRITER: Mpoki Thomson
WRITER: Mpoki Thomson
Africa, the begotten land of mischief (as most people have known it to be over the years), where etiquettes have eroded and humanity is fast disappearing. The land where potential of prosperity is being dispersed for want of personal gains is becoming all but a promising land. We who have matured and have the full mental capacity to discern, rationalize and undoubtedly rebuke inhumane conducts by our fellow Africans linger by the mere fact that we have been nurtured in an urban environment.
An environment where the status quo of the state as a direct
rule from the parliamentarians is strictly adhered to, it is by such reliance
on what I would like to call ‘urban law’ that has kept us prevailing to more
fortune times.
As we turn the page and cross the road to the upcountry, the less civilized or uncivilized parts of our nations, or put more clearly; my nation ‘Tanzania’, we become solemn and are filled with immeasurable melancholy for the devastating conditions experienced by children in the rural areas (our children) is worthy of reproach beyond expression. Our children are being sold, they are being ‘legally raped’ by men who are old enough to be their fathers and uncles. But what does the law state? How are they being protected from the sinful sexually depraved minds of these elders? The bitter answer is that they are not! It is under our customary laws that these children of 7-14 years old are being forced to relinquish their innocence and become wives to full grown adults thereby being subjected to sexual acts at such tender ages.
International laws have vehemently condemned such appalling conducts that are being conducted in most African states. UNICEF has for many years been engaged in various programs and campaigns trying to eliminate atrocities against children and offer a protective shield to them.
One of the effective ways of eradicating these illegal formats of modern rape where children are being made to marry older men with or without their consent is by enforcing progressive laws aimed at putting a stop to such marriages. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) Article 16, African Charter on the rights and Welfare of the Children (2000) Article xxi and other laws associated to protecting the rights of children should emphatically and thoroughly be enforced throughout our continent so as to save these children who are our next generation.
As we turn the page and cross the road to the upcountry, the less civilized or uncivilized parts of our nations, or put more clearly; my nation ‘Tanzania’, we become solemn and are filled with immeasurable melancholy for the devastating conditions experienced by children in the rural areas (our children) is worthy of reproach beyond expression. Our children are being sold, they are being ‘legally raped’ by men who are old enough to be their fathers and uncles. But what does the law state? How are they being protected from the sinful sexually depraved minds of these elders? The bitter answer is that they are not! It is under our customary laws that these children of 7-14 years old are being forced to relinquish their innocence and become wives to full grown adults thereby being subjected to sexual acts at such tender ages.
International laws have vehemently condemned such appalling conducts that are being conducted in most African states. UNICEF has for many years been engaged in various programs and campaigns trying to eliminate atrocities against children and offer a protective shield to them.
One of the effective ways of eradicating these illegal formats of modern rape where children are being made to marry older men with or without their consent is by enforcing progressive laws aimed at putting a stop to such marriages. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) Article 16, African Charter on the rights and Welfare of the Children (2000) Article xxi and other laws associated to protecting the rights of children should emphatically and thoroughly be enforced throughout our continent so as to save these children who are our next generation.
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