By Flata Kavinga
Two Zibagwe Rural District councillors have called for a review of Zimbabwe’s ban on corporal punishment, arguing that its prohibition has weakened parental discipline and contributed to rising cases of child marriages and delinquency.
The councillors — Emmanuel Tshuma of Ward 6 and Tichafa Chitate of Ward 31 — made the remarks on the sidelines of the Zibagwe Rural District Council Junior MPs and Councillors Engagement with Senior MPs and councillors held in Redcliff this week.
Tshuma, who also chairs the council’s Environment and Social Services Committee, said the law banning corporal punishment was enacted to protect children from abuse, but claimed it had unintentionally limited parents’ and guardians’ ability to correct children’s behaviour.
“There is a law that prohibits corporal punishment to protect children from people who go to the extreme in disciplining their children,” he said. “However, if we do not discipline our children using the old-age corporal punishment, we will not be able to control them. They will become wayward.”
Tshuma argued that warnings alone were not effective in guiding children, adding that some parents had adopted what he described as foreign child-rights standards that he believes have contributed to behavioural problems in communities.
“We are now in a crisis,” he said. “We must amend the law that prohibits corporal punishment so that children remain under parental control. I appeal to Parliament to review the law.”
He also urged communities to stop shielding perpetrators of child marriages, saying some parents resist prosecution of offenders to avoid taking responsibility for a child born from the abuse.
Ward 31 councillor and Finance Committee chairperson Tichafa Chitate echoed Tshuma’s sentiments, saying traditional mechanisms of community discipline had eroded over time.
“In the past, every parent could discipline a child within the community,” he said. “Children should be disciplined so that they grow up to be responsible citizens.”
Chitate said child marriages remain a major concern in rural areas and argued that discipline — including limited corporal punishment — could help prevent risky behaviour. He also cited parental negligence as a contributing factor, including failure to monitor children, late-night movements and exposure to drug use.
“Some parents do not monitor their children who end up taking drugs or impregnating young girls,” Chitate said. He added that parents must not block the arrest of sexual offenders, stressing that perpetrators of rape and abuse “must be arrested”.
Zimbabwe currently prohibits corporal punishment in schools and homes under constitutional provisions and court rulings that uphold children’s rights and protection from physical harm.
The councillors’ remarks come at a time when the government and child-rights advocates continue pushing for community awareness campaigns to curb child marriages and improve child protection across rural districts.
