TRADITIONAL leaders in Mashonaland Central Province have welcomed progress in reducing child sexual exploitation and teenage pregnancies following the rollout of the Not in My Village campaign, as community-led interventions begin to yield tangible results. The province, known for gold mining and agricultural activity, has long experienced social challenges linked to economic opportunities. However, traditional leaders say increased awareness and community enforcement mechanisms are now contributing to a decline in harmful practices affecting children and adolescents.
In areas such as Shamva and Dotito, chiefs say economic activity, particularly artisanal mining and tobacco farming, had previously fuelled child exploitation, early marriages and increased HIV prevalence. Chief Bushu said traditional authorities have introduced community bylaws to protect minors. “We have many artisanal miners and many people who grow tobacco, so that has caused a problem of people marrying girls under 18, leading to a high rate of HIV.
The children meet men who coerce them to become their wives, so we established laws in our area that protect the girl child, and we succeeded as chiefs,” Chief Bushu said. Chief Dotito said collaboration with law enforcement and community stakeholders has strengthened protection for children. “We had a problem as children were getting pregnant.
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They would have problems during childbirth. A 12- or 13-year-old cannot carry a pregnancy, so that is why we say children must be encouraged to get married when they come of age. So we are moving with the Not in My Village programme.
It’s helping us because such incidents are being reduced. We usually work with the police, in some cases we refer to the police, and the police can also refer cases to us,” Chief Dotito said. The National AIDS Council says community engagement remains central in tackling HIV and related social challenges, with traditional leaders playing a key role in driving behaviour change.
“We also have interventions focusing on community engagement, where we engage community gatekeepers like chiefs, village heads, community gatekeepers and even government officials. We have a programme known as ‘Not in My Village’, started in 2024. We have managed to cover all 28 chiefs in our province, and all these 28 chiefs oriented rolled it out, thereby reaching every corner, the main aim being to reduce early child marriages, teenage pregnancies, forced marriage, child abuse and generally all forms of GBV,” NAC Provincial Manager Edgar Muzulu said.
Traditional leaders say initiatives such as ‘Not in My Village’ and the revival of Zunde Remwanasikana are transforming traditional courts into platforms for protecting children and addressing social challenges. Despite ongoing concerns such as drug abuse, chiefs say communities are increasingly taking a firm stance against underage marriages and child exploitation.
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