Weakening family ties worry chief

By DOREEN NAWA
THE family structure in the country keeps weakening and this is putting the lives of children at risk, Chief Nyamphande of Petauke has said.
Chief Nyamphande said very few families in the country have the interests of children at heart.
Chief Nyamphande appealed to families countrywide to invest in children and to safeguard their future.
The chief was speaking at a stakeholders’ sensitisation meeting organised by the Panos Institute Southern Africa here yesterday.
Chief Nyamphande said issues of children are of paramount importance in the development of any society.
“As families, it is our duty as parents to ensure that we invest in children and safeguard their interests, but regrettably today, family structures have weakened so much that it has even affected the security of our children,” Chief Nyamphande said.
He said parental guidance is a vital component in raising children.
“Issues of generating income have taken centre-stage; parents are too busy engaging in income generating activities forgetting that their children need parental guidance. Children do not choose which family to be born from.
“It is the parents that lead children into situations they find themselves in because of the failure to unite with them and invest in their interests,” Chief Nyamphande said.
And Petauke district commissioner Velenasi Moyo said child marriages are rampant in Petauke due to bad traditional practices and disintegrated family systems.
In a speech read for her by Petauke district HIV/AIDS coordinating advisor, Martin Chishimba, Ms Moyo said children in Petauke are subjected to early marriages hence the need to promote child rights.
”Children are the future of our country but the situation here in Petauke is depressing. Early marriages and child labour is rampant and the lives of children are at risk,” Ms Moyo a said.