District Social Welfare Officer Bernard Nangwale said his office receives a monthly allocation of 200, 000 kwacha which is not adequate. 

Nangwale made the remarks during a district level commemoration of the 16 days of activism against gender based violence on Thursday under the theme, End gender based violence: Prevent, Report, Respond and Fund.

"We meet a lot of challenges from failure to report cases, age cheating in cases of early marriages and above all we are inadequately funded, we receive only 200,000 kwacha a month from government which is not enough considering the vastness of the district", Said Nangwale.

Nangwale however said much of their work in child protection is being supported by non-governmental organizations working in the district.

"We are grateful and we commend non state actors who are working in the district for supporting most of the work we do in the protection of children otherwise there is not much we can do if we were to rely from government funding",Said Nangwale.

In the period March to October 2020 Mzimba south has registered over 120 cases of gender based violence 

Mostly the malpractices were against women and children with cases of rape and defilement featuring high  

Inkosi Kampingo Sibande said despite interventions by government and other stakeholders it’s sad to note that defilement and rape cases are still rife in the district 

Inkosi Kampingo Sibande urged other traditional leaders to engage their subjects on the matter saying it’s a setback to development  

"It’s sad to see that the district is still registering cases of gender based violence despite the many interventions being implemented in the district

You see gender based violence in a way has a negative impact on the general development of the country," Said Inkosi Kampingo Sibande.

The traditional leader called on the judiciary to mete out stiffer punishments for people charged with such offences especially defilement and rape saying the two vices are dehumanizing.

The district commemoration of 16 days of activism event was done under the theme end gender based violence: Prevent, Report, Respond and Fund

The event was mainly supported by Save the Children Malawi, CCAP Livingstonia Synod Education department, CCJP Mzuzu diocese, Action Aid Malawi and COIDA among others.