Authorities in Choma have retrieved a 19-year-old Grade 12 pupil of Batoka Secondary School from an early marriage she was lured into by her boyfriend after her parents failed to pay her examination fees. The school girl, who eloped with her boyfriend, Himaambo Simbwalanga, to Hanachula Village in Choma on March 14, 2019, was retrieved by the Musokotwane Compassion Mission Zambia (MCMZ) with the help of the Zambia Police Service.

This was after Batoka Secondary School management filed a complaint about the girl dropping out of school. MCMZ executive director Genious Musokotwane said in an interview on Thursday that the girl will be in the care of the organisation and will be sent to boarding school next term.
Mr Musokotwane urged men to desist from marrying child learners because the practice is detrimental to their health, education and economic development as well as that of the country.

“A long-term education plan to have the girl back into boarding school support once schools re-open in May, 2019 has been developed and agreed upon with our partner school, Batoka Secondary,” he said.

Mr Musokotwane appealed to stakeholders and members of the public to partner with the organisation to intensify the fight against early child marriages.

He said the partnership will help to achieve the 2030 goal for zero prevalence and provision of after-retrieval services to survivors of child marriages.
And Batoka Secondary School head teacher Passmore Ntiindu thanked MCMZ and the Zambia Police Service for taking action immediately the matter was reported