By Hassan Osman Kargbo
A member of Parliament from the main opposition APC party, and who also double as the Chairperson of the Committee on Gender and Children Affairs in Parliament, Hon. Catherine Zainab Tarawallie, has informed news men that approximately 800,000 children had undergone child marriages in the country.
She made this disclosure on Tuesday 25 July 2024 at the Ministry of Information and Civic Education press conference held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Corporation at Tower Hill Freetown.
According to Hon. Catherine Zainab Tarawallie, the issue of early child marriage in Sierra Leone is getting alarming, and, that’s why he said, the Act that was passed in Parliament few days ago was informed by the alarming data showing approximately 800,000 children had undergone child marriages in the country.
She said as a chair of the Gender Committee even when the President divide the Ministry of Gender and Children Affairs she has been the chair and uptill date she is the current chair of that committee in Parliament. She continued that in 2019 in Nairobi, Kenya, President Bio had signed and joined the world in Prohibition of Child Marriage and it’s not a strange thing because she said the President had given his commitment and they gave a deadline that in 2020 they could conclude it, but they didn’t meet the deadline and now they have passed it in Parliament.
She said to align with the new legislation, sections 28 and 34 of the Child Rights Act had been amended, and the three marriage laws of Sierra Leone (Christian, Muslim, and Civil Marriage) have been repealed to prevent any contradictions with the new Act.
She admitted that there were lots of challenges during the process but at the end of the day they have finally passed it in Parliament.
“there were lots of challenges during the process but at the end of the day we have finally passed it in Parliament. We have been meeting at the First Lady’s office for a long time now just to work on this Bill and sometimes we stay there for on to 10 a.m,” she said.
