I have always wanted to be a teacher, so that in the future, I can teach children from this area,” 16-year-old Samuel (not real name) says.
He comes from Chabandauka Village in Traditional Authority (TA) Mzukuzuku in Mzimba District.
Just like many other children in the area, Samuel’s hopes were shattered when his parents separated.
After their divorce a few years ago, his father remarried, while his mother entered into a new marriage. Samuel and his two siblings were left in the care of their elderly grandmother.
“After his parents remarried, all the children were brought here, to be under my care,” the grandmother, Justina Nkhata, recounts.
Nkhata, who lives hand to mouth, now supports five children-three from Samuel’s mother and two from his aunt who lives at Jenda area, within the same district.
“The only child support I receive from my children for my grandchildren is K3,000 per month and often they don’t send any support,” she says resignedly.
Life became challenging for the children, Samuel says, as his dreams slipped away with his irregular school attendance.
“That is when I decided to leave school and take on odd jobs to assist my grandmother in caring for us,” he explains. He was in Standard 7 that time.
Samuel found employment at a tobacco farm owned by a Mr Mumba, located 16 kilometres from his village, through labour agents.
He joined a group of tenants, including peers his age, recruited from various parts of the district. It was agreed that Samuel would receive K50,000 at the end of the growing season.
“I had no choice but to leave because we had very little at home,” Samuel explains.
At the farm, he received shelter in rundown mud huts and one meal a day as compensation.
Meanwhile, just a short distance from Samuel’s village, a 17-year-old named Chikumbutso stopped his education at Swaswa Primary School in Standard 4.
Chikumbutso, from Mayazi Saka Village, TA Mzukuzuku, began tending cattle with friends in 2013, despite his ambition to become a teacher.
Like Samuel, Chikumbutso and his three siblings were left in the care of their grandmother when their father remarried.
Samuel was lucky-though perhaps not luckier.
Six months into his contract on the farm, he was rescued by a child protection committee from his area.
However, Mumba was reluctant to pay him, citing breach of contract due to his early departure.
Only after intervention by the committee did Samuel finally receive K26,000 in compensation. Chikumbutso, on the other hand, is still awaiting his rightful payment.
Both Nkhata and Emily Kasambara, grandmothers of Samuel and Chikumbutso respectively, acknowledged allowing their grandchildren to work because they struggled to provide for them.
Fortunately, both boys were rescued from child labour by the child protection committees.
Denis Gondwe, a child protection officer in the area under TA Mzukuzuku, reported successfully rescuing 79 children from child labour this year.
Among them, seven were girls engaged in selling merchandise or other forms of employment, while the rest were boys working as tenants on tobacco farms or tending livestock.
“Many children are being exploited by estate owners due to extreme poverty while being cared for by their grandparents,” Gondwe says.
He adds that they collaborate with area development committees and chiefs and have formed farmer committees to address these issues.
Legal action is considered if necessary, following involvement with the district labour office.
However, the only court case concluded to date, registered in 2017, was related to wage disputes rather than child labour.
“The practice of leaving children with their grandparents after their parents divorce and remarry is contributing to child labour in the district.
“If grandparents are unavailable, these children end up fending for themselves, which exacerbates the problem,” Gondwe says.
Thankfully, Samuel and Chikumbutso are now back in school. Samuel recently sat for his Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education examinations, while Chikumbutso is now attending Standard 4.
Labson Nyirongo, Child Protection Chairperson in the area covering 14 villages under Group Village Head Muhabi Shaba, reports registering approximately nine cases of child labour monthly.
Main cases involve children working on tobacco farms, herding cattle, engaging in small-scale businesses instead of attending school and sometimes early marriage.
Nyirongo identifies parental separation and abandonment as the main causes of child labour cases.
Ministry of Labour Chief Labour Officer Francis Kwenda acknowledges that Malawi faces a daunting challenge in ending child labour due to widespread poverty.
“Currently, child labour in Malawi stands at 38 percent, according to the 2015 National Statistical Office survey,” Kwenda said in a recent interview with Malawi News Agency.
He said there was a slight increase from the 2002 survey’s 37 percent. Of these children, one percent work in the agriculture sector.
Kwenda said there are efforts by the ministry in collaboration with partners such as the International Labour Organisation, tobacco industry players and non-governmental organisations to effectively combat child labour.
