The Kavango West education directorate has recorded four child marriage cases over the past two years.
The latest occurred this year when a mother allegedly tried to take a girl out of school to marry her off to an older man.
Education director Pontianus Musore, who revealed this during a boy child engagement session at Nkurenkuru on Friday, said both the parent and man were arrested following the attempt.
The matter was allegedly reported to Musore by the school principal, who cannot be named to protect the child’s identity.
Names of parents and the child cannot also be disclosed.
Musore told The Namibian yesterday that two more cases were reported at Ncuncuni and Halili last year and that the parties involved were arrested.
“In 2024, it was reported from a school in the Musese constituency. No police were involved, it was dealt with by a social worker,” he said.
He said schools are regularly sensitised on child marriage and are encouraged to report cases to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare for urgent intervention, as child marriages are categorised as gender-based violence (GBV).
Although cases are usually reported directly to the ministry, Musore said the four cases were first brought to his office by schools before being referred to the ministry.
“Child marriage affects both urban schools at Nkurenkuru and schools in rural areas. However, due to certain cultural practices, some cases continue to go unreported,” he said.
He listed poverty, economic hardship, lack of parental guidance, cultural practices and child-headed homes as factors pushing families towards the practice.
“Without parents to guide, protect and provide, some children are taken advantage of by older men.
In other cases, children turn to older men for support, especially when parents are not around, leaving children to fend for themselves,” he said.
He said the directorate is currently compiling statistics on child-headed households to help design targeted interventions.
The process is ongoing, he said.
A 2022 report by the gender ministry titled ‘National Formative Study on Child Marriage’ has revealed that the Kavango East and West regions recorded the highest prevalence of child marriage at 39.7%, followed by Kunene at 24%. Oshana recorded the lowest (7%).
The earliest age at first marriage or cohabitation is estimated at 11 years, the report reveals.
Nationally, the prevalence among girls stands at 18.4%, compared to 4.1% of boys. Globally, an estimated 720 million women were married or in a union before the age of 18, compared to 156 million men.
Leaders in the two Kavango regions have rejected the practice, warning that it deprives young girls of their education.
“We cannot go on with such marriages.
This is denying a child’s basic rights. We cannot support it,” Kavango West’s Ncamagoro constituency councillor, Thomas Rengi, says.
Rengi advises communities to “strongly” discourage child marriage, warning that young girls often end up dropping out of school and becoming dependent on others later in life.
“We don’t want a society with dependent people simply because there was negligence in their upbringing,” he says.
Ncuncuni constituency councillor Michael Naiteta describes child marrriage as an “unlawful” practice which contradicts the law.
He says it is prevalent among rural girls.
The Child Care and Protection Act prohibits marriages involving children below the age of 18.
It also categorises child marriage as a criminal offence punishable by a fine or imprisonment.
Naiteta says some families marry off their daughters as a way of coping financially, adding that some young girls are influenced by the lifestyle of others.
He urges traditional leaders to protect girls and ensure they are not treated as financial solutions.
Mashare constituency councillor in the Kavango East region Petrus Kashumali says he has heard rumours of child marriage, but does not know whether it is a thing.
“If the ministry did the report, then they probably have proof of it happening and we rely on their information,” Kashumali says.
Mbunza Traditional Authority leader Alfons Kaunda says his jurisdiction has never received reports of such cases nor heard of similar incidents.
According to the report, a child who marries early is expected to become sexually active and begin childbearing before her body is fully matured.
She is also expected to do household chores over long periods, which could cause long-term physical damage.
In cases of pregnancy, the baby may also be born prematurely while underdeveloped, and may run a high risk of mental defects.
Marriage before the age of 20 is associated with an elevated risk of HIV infection and GBV, the report reveals.
Sofia Mundjembwe of the Shambyu Traditional Authority says early marriages contribute more to poverty than solutions.
She says five young couples had been officially married before the traditional authority in 2025 during her reign.
“Parents are always encouraged to teach children to be hard-working and not dependent on marriages as financial solutions.
We advise and call to order parents from marrying their daughters despite the challenges,” she says.
Rudhiva village headman Emanuel Mayira blames the government for enforcing protection of human rights, saying that it restricts parents from disciplining children.
He says children these days report their parents when they interfere in their freedoms and rights.
